for him?" This reproof was entirely too mild, and seems to have been given at too late a period, for it is assigned as a reason why it took no effect, that the Lord had determined to slay them. These young men ought to have been removed entirely from the service of the altar and the tabernacle. There were men enough of the sacerdotal order to perform these sacred services and Eli, as the high-priest, had the authority to commit to whom he would the several parts of divine worship which was daily celebrated at the tabernacle. At any rate, his rebukes should have been more seasonable, more frequent, and more severe, for conduct which was so enormously wicked; and it seems that the young men made no attempt to conceal their transgressions: their sin was so public that all the people were acquainted with it, and, as is commonly the fact, all others knew it sooner than their father; for his knowledge was derived from public report. A pious father cannot be held responsible for the bad conduct of his sons, if he has faithfully performed his duty towards them; but if he has been acquainted with their acts of iniquity, and yet has refrained from reproving them; or if he has neglected to exercise wholesome discipline, and to remove them from those situations in which they have much power to do evil, he is guilty of a grievous sin, and one for which God will punish him with chastisements which will cause his own heart to bleed, and the ears of every one that heareth of them to tingle. And perhaps, among good men, no sin is more common than undue lenity towards sons, who are living in open transgression of the commandments of God. If they suffer the evil to run on for a long time, and should at last undertake to administer reproofs, they may come too late, and, as in the case of Eli, may produce no salutary effect. Such parents, however, commonly receive, in the providence of God, and from his word and Spirit, frequent admonitions of their duty. During the whole period of the theocracy, there were inspired men in Israel. It is probable that some of these received communications only at particular times, and were appointed to deliver special messages to individuals. In a number of cases, prophets are introduced as delivering communications from God, of whom we never hear any thing more, and whose names are not even given in the sacred record. We have an example of this sort in the history of Eli. "And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my

sacrifice, and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel saith, I said, indeed, that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy heart: and all the increase of thy house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, in one day they shall die, both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart, and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine Anointed for ever. And it shall come to pass that every one that is left in thy house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's offices, that I may eat a piece of bread."

This solemn message from an anonymous prophet claims the attention of all parents, and especially of the ministers of the Lord. There is awful severity in the judgments denounced on the house of Eli, which were executed literally, as the sequel of the sacred history clearly demonstrates. The case of Eli's iniquity is pointed out distinctly by this unknown man of God. It was, that he honoured his sons more than he honoured God. Let all parents beware of the sin of preferring the indulgence and gratification of their children to the honour and glory of God. Let them remember that the temptations to this sin are exceedingly strong, on account of the strength of parental affection; and it is an insidious evil, because it does not consist in any positive act, but in the mere neglect of our duty: and it is often connected with a kind and amiable disposition, which feels an insuperable reluctance to inflict pain on the persons beloved. But it is a fair trial of the state of the heart. It serves to show whether we love God or our children with supreme affection.

SECTION XXXIX.

JEHOVAH SPEAKS TO THE CHILD SAMUEL, AND REVEALS HIS PURPOSE IN REGARD TO ELI'S FAMILY-ELI'S HUMBLE SUBMISSION.

ABOUT this time the instances of divine communications had become rare; "and there was no open vision." Some time had elapsed since the anonymous prophet had been sent with God's awful message to Eli; and yet no reformation had taken place in his sons; and it does not appear that he had become more faithful and decisive in the treatment of his sons, and probably the deep impression which the prophet's words must have made upon his mind, was nearly obliterated, when it pleased God to send him another message by his young servant Samuel, who ministered unto the Lord before him. "And it came to pass, at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again; and he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord came and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel: then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin I will also make an end, for I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not. And, therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord; and Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son, and he answered, Here am I. And he

said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me, of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." As the Lord is very merciful and repenteth him of the evil which he has intended and threatened, it cannot be doubted, that if Eli, upon the first divine warning, had immediately set himself to reform his house and to restrain his sons, or to put them out of the way of doing so much evil, the dreadful judgments denounced against his family would have been averted; for in such threatenings there is commonly an implied condition, that if the parties concerned repent and turn unto God with all their heart, their iniquities shall be forgiven. But when men persevere in transgression, there is a certain point beyond which mercy will not pursue them; when the Lord utterly refuses to hear any intercessions or accept any sacrifices or offerings in behalf of the guilty transgressor. There is a day of grace; and there is a time when, in just judgment, the things which make for peace are hidden from the eyes of men. Eli and his sons might have escaped from these heavy judgments, if they had repented when the man of God was sent with the solemn admonition, which we have recorded above; but now, the day of grace was past. Now the purpose of God is irrevocably fixed, that his house shall not be purged, and that the threatened punishment shall fall upon him. The submission of Eli to the divine will in this matter is truly remarkable. He was conscious of his own ill-desert, and was convinced that he justly deserved to suffer all that had been threatened. He said not a word, therefore, in extenuation of his sin; nor did he complain of the severity of the divine wrath; nor ask that the awful curse should be averted or mitigated. He bows in submission to the divine will, and meekly says, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." He knew that the Judge of all the earth would do right; and as he had revealed that his sin should not escape punishment, he sees nothing left for him but humble submission. There is a remarkable parallelism between the conduct of Eli and that of Aaron. Indeed, the resemblance between these two saints is very striking, and also between the calamities which befel them. Both were high-priests-both had irreligious sons, who, while they ministered at the altar, by their transgressions provoked Jehovah to cut them off; and it is probable that, in either case, the oldest of these young men, if he had lived, would have been advanced to the office of high-priest. When Nadab and Abihu were struck dead, "Aaron held his peace;" and Eli spoke, but only said, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.",

From the time that the Lord made himself known unto Samuel, when a child, he continued more and more to make communications unto him, until it was well understood from Dan even to Beer-sheba, "that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord." "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the Word of the Lord." And the word of Samuel was regarded by all Israel as a revelation from God; and he was respected and venerated as a prophet of the Lord.

"And

SECTION XL.

THE ISRAELITES DEFEATED BY THE PHILISTINES—THE TWO SONS OF ELI SLAIN, AND THE ARK TAKEN-THE INTELLIGENCE OVERCOMES ELI, WHO FALLS BACK AND BREAKS HIS NECK-THE WIFE OF PHINEHAS ALSO EXPIRES.

In this period a war occurred between the Israelites and their inveterate foes, the Philistines. The Israelites encamped in a place which afterwards received the name of Ebenezer, on account of a circumstance which shall hereafter be mentioned. The Philistines pitched not far off, in a place called Aphek. The contending armies soon joined battle, and Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. "When the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies." This was a very unlawful enterprise. The ark, when deposited in the tabernacle, was not to be removed, but by divine direction; and on this occasion, no prophet was consulted, and no inquiry was made of the Lord by Urim and Thummim, or by any other means; but a hasty resolution was formed in the camp, under the consternation produced by their recent defeat. Besides, it was a weak and superstitious opinion that the mere presence of the ark could save them from their enemies. If God was not on their side, in vain did they trust to the ark, which was, indeed, a symbol of the divine presence, but possessed no power whatever independent of God. Eli, to whom the care of the ark belonged, ought firmly and strenu ously to have resisted this desecration of the ark of the covenant; but it was the weakness of this good man not to be able to oppose the will of others, even when it was evil. And his two wicked sons, who seem to have had the charge of the tabernacle and its sacred furniture, would be disposed to comply with the wishes of the people and the elders. Accordingly,