Saul Rejected.
Meanwhile the most of his troops had scattered, through fear of the
powerful foe. But Jonathan determined to make a bold onset, and, with
his armor-bearer, climbed a high cliff, and fell upon the Philistines.
They supposed the Hebrews were rushing from ambush upon them, and began
to fly. Saul entered the field and aided in the overthrow of the
defeated warriors, slaying and treading each other down in the wild
confusion of the retreat.
During the last years of Saul's reign, conscious that God had forsaken
him, in one of his campaigns against the Philistines he sought the
counsel of a witch. When he beheld the vast force which the Philistine
states had, by a mighty effort, brought into the field, dire misgivings
as to the result arose in his mind; and now, at last, in this extremity,
he sought counsel of God. But the Lord answered him not by any of the
usual means--by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. Finding himself thus
forsaken, he had recourse to a [witch at Endor], not far from Gilboa, to
whom he repaired by night in disguise, and conjured her to evoke the
spirit of Samuel, that he might ask counsel of him in this fearful
emergency. Accordingly, an aged and mantled figure arose, which Saul
took to be the ghost of Samuel, though whether it were really so or not
has been much questioned. The king bowed himself reverently, and told
the reason for which he had called him from the dead. The figure, in
reply, told him that God had taken the crown from his house, and given
it to a worthier man; that, on the next day, the Philistines would
triumph over Israel; and that he and his sons should be slain in the
battle. The king swooned at these heavy tidings, but soon recovered,
and, having taken some refreshment, returned the same night to the camp.
The engraver's art has produced a picture of this strange scene, one
which cannot be clearly and satisfactorily explained.
Saul received orders, through Samuel, to execute the Lord's "fierce
wrath" upon the Amelekites, who had formerly been doomed to utter
extermination, for opposing the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.
The result of the war put it fully in the king's power to fulfil his
commission; but he retained the best of the cattle as booty, and brought
back the Amalekite king Agag as a prisoner. Here Saul again ventured to
use his own discretion where his commission left him none. For this the
divine decree, excluding his descendants from the throne, was again and
irrevocably pronounced by Samuel, who met him at Gilgal on his return.
The stern prophet then directed the Amalekite king to be brought forth
and slain by the sword, after which he departed to his own home, and
went no more to see Saul to the day of his death, though he ceased not
to bemoan his misconduct, and the forfeiture it had incurred.
The next engraving is a very good view of this crisis in Saul's
destiny--his rejection by God and his prophet. When Samuel turned to
leave the king, the terrified ruler seized his mantle, and in the
struggle it was torn. The prophet improved the incident by telling him
that thus should his kingdom be rent from him, and given to a neighbor.
We cannot follow Saul through all the achievements and crimes of his
eventful reign; the abandonment of him by the grieved and indignant
Samuel; his deceptive prosperity; and his conscious desertion by God,
until his fits of depression bordered on madness. He had genius and
heroism, but a bad heart, and the hour of his overthrow drew near.
The venerable and gifted prophet who anointed the king was commanded by
Jehovah to consecrate the successor to the throne. He was directed to go
to Bethlehem, and there anoint one of the sons of Jesse. He knew that
should Saul be informed of the errand, his days were numbered. The doom
of a traitor would follow the solemn act.
To protect his servant the Lord told Samuel to offer a sacrifice, and
tell the king he was going to Bethlehem for the purpose.
When Samuel reached Bethlehem, he laid the offerings upon the altar, and
invited a worthy citizen and his family to the sacrifice. The good man's
name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. Eliab, the eldest, like Saul, was
fine-looking--tall, athletic, and commanding in his personal appearance.
Samuel thought he must be the future king of Israel; but God revealed to
him his mistake. Six brothers followed him in their presentation to the
prophet, and the Lord gave the same intimation of his will he had
respecting Eliab.
The man of God was perplexed. What could he do, if these were the only
sons of Jesse, as it seemed, for no more came? It occurred to him,
however, that possibly there might be another boy, and he inquired of
Jesse if it were not so.
The excellent father had sent the youngest son, about fifteen years old,
to keep the sheep, and it did not even enter his mind that this mere
child could have any thing to do with the affairs of the kingdom. He
stated the facts to Samuel, who immediately desired to see the lad. He
was sent for, and soon stood before the prophet. The patriarchal servant
of the Infinite One looked upon the noble boy, with his "ruddy and
beautiful countenance," and saw in him the next monarch of Israel.
Christ Blessing Little Children.
David stood among his brethren, a modest, bewildered shepherd boy,
uninjured by unholy gratification of passion and appetite--a
pure-minded, manly, and devout youth.
God told Samuel to anoint him, and he poured the consecrating oil upon
the fair brow of the astonished David. Then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon him, and departed from Saul altogether. The juvenile shepherd and
hero, who had slain a lion and a bear, in defence of his sheep, returned
to his flocks, a king in destiny.
Remorse, the predictions of Samuel against him, and baleful passions,
made Saul so wretchedly melancholy, that some of his attendants
suggested to the monarch that he should try the soothing effect of
music. The proposition was favorably received, and upon the
recommendation of another friend, David, the son of Jesse, of whom Saul
knew nothing before, was sent for to play upon the harp. The young
minstrel won the respect and affection of the royal household, and his
harpings were the principal solace of the infatuated and gloomy king,
who at length made David his armor-bearer.
You know the warriors of ancient time wore armor made of metal to
protect the body from the spear and sword, the common weapons of the
battle-field; and men were appointed by monarchs to have the care of it.
Since their last great discomfiture, the Philistines had recruited their
strength, and in the thirtieth year of Saul's reign, and the twentieth
of David's life, they again took the field against the Israelites. It
curiously illustrates the nature of warfare in those times, to find that
the presence, in the army of the Philistines, of one enormous giant,
about nine or ten feet high, filled them with confidence, and struck the
Israelites with dread. Attended by his armor-bearer, and clad in
complete mail, with weapons to match his huge bulk, the giant, whose
name was Goliah, presented himself daily between the two armies, and,
with insulting language, defied the Israelites to produce a champion
who, by single combat, might decide the quarrel between the nations.
This was repeated many days; but no Israelite was found bold enough to
accept the challenge. At length David, who had come to the battle-field
with food for his brethren, no longer able to endure the taunts and
blasphemies of Goliah, offered himself for the combat. The king,
contrasting the size and known prowess of the giant with the youth and
inexperience of Jesse's son, dissuaded him from the enterprise. But as
David expressed his strong confidence that the God of Israel, who had
delivered him from the lion and the bear, when he tended his father's
flock, would also deliver him from the proud Philistine, Saul at length
allowed him to go forth against Goliah. Refusing all armor of proof, and
weapons of common warfare, David advanced to the combat, armed only with
his shepherd's sling, and a few smooth pebbles picked up from the brook
which flowed through the valley. The astonished giant felt insulted at
such an opponent, and poured forth such horrid threats as might have
appalled anyone less strong in faith than the son of Jesse. But as he
strode forward to meet David, the latter slung one of his smooth stones
with so sure an aim and so strong an arm, that it smote his opponent in
the middle of the forehead, and brought him to the ground.
The praises of the people lavished on David excited Saul's jealousy, and
he sought in various ways to kill David, who seemed to have a charmed
life; for God was with him, and no blow aimed at his life was
successful.
The king's son, Jonathan, loved David devotedly, and more than once
saved him from the wrath of Saul.
After hunting the son of Jesse, consulting witches in his desperation,
and fighting the Philistines in bloody conflicts, near Mount Gilboa,
defeated and wounded, he committed suicide by falling on his sword. Thus
ended the career of the first king of the Hebrew nation.
David, under divine guidance, went to Hebron, and was there publicly
anointed king by the tribe of Judah. But Abner, a splendid general, and
a great friend of Saul, induced the rest of the tribes to acknowledge
Ishbosheth, the only son of Saul then living, as their sovereign. Soon,
however, a quarrel with his protege, led him to join David, who was at
length proclaimed king by all the people.
After years of prosperity in war and peace, he had a sanguinary battle
with the Ammonites. This occurred in the eighteenth year of his reign.
The conduct of this war David intrusted to Joab, and remained himself at
Jerusalem. There, while sauntering upon the roof of his palace, after
the noonday sleep, which is usual in the East, he perceived a woman
whose great beauty attracted his regard. She proved to be Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah, an officer of Canaanitish origin, then absent with the
army besieging Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. David was so fascinated
with her that he determined to add her to his royal household. He sent
for Uriah to Jerusalem. Having heard from him the particulars of the
war, which he pretended to require, the king dismissed him to his own
home. But Uriah, feeling that it ill became a soldier to seek his bed
while his companions lay on the hard ground, under the canopy of heaven,
exposed to the attacks of the enemy, remained all night in the hall of
the palace with the guards, and returned to the war without having seen
Bathsheba. David made him the bearer of an order to Joab to expose him
to certain death, in some perilous enterprize against the enemy. He was
obeyed by that unscrupulous general; and when David heard that Uriah was
dead, he sent for Bathsheba, and made her his wife. He had already
several wives, as was customary in those times; and among them was
Michal, whom he had long ago reclaimed from the man to whom she had been
given by the unprincipled Saul.
The Woman of Canaan.
David, whose undisputed authority, and admiration of the beautiful
Bathsheba, deceived him, blinding his moral vision, thought all was
safe. Death and royalty seemed to cover forever his sin.
But never was a man more mistaken. God sent Nathan, a fearless, faithful
prophet, to rebuke him. So the seer went to him, inquiring what should
be done with a man who had robbed a poor neighbor of his only and pet
lamb. The king, who was really loyal to God, and just in his aims,
indignantly said that the robber should die, and the lamb be restored.
Then Nathan fixed his eye on the king, and, pointing to him, exclaimed
courageously, ["Thou art the man!"]
David bowed his head and wept under the pointed reproof, and began to
cry, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, oh, God, thou God of my
salvation."
What a fine example of faithful preaching, and of an honest hearer! This
illustration of true penitence, which is given in the picture at the
beginning of this history of the kings, suggests a good story of modern
date. Jacob, an intelligent negro, was bribed and intoxicated to make
him commit murder. He was convicted of the crime, and sent to the State
prison for life. He could not read, but a bible was in his cell, and he
learned so rapidly that soon he could pick out the words and get the
meaning. He would run his finger over each letter of the fifty-first
Psalm, especially the fourteenth verse, until he enamelled it with his
touch. The bible is still kept by an excellent man, as a relic of
prison-life. For Jacob was pardoned, went to the lovely town of C-,
N.Y., and became an eminent Christian. His monument is one of the
highest in the cemetery.
The Scriptures describe David as "a man after God's own heart." By this
we are not to understand that David always acted rightly, or that God
approved of all he did. Its meaning is, that, in his public capacity, as
king of Israel, he acted in accordance with the true theory of the
theocratical government; was always alive to his dependence on the
Supreme King; took his own true place in the system, and aspired to no
other; and conducted all his undertakings with reference to the Supreme
Will. He constantly calls himself "the servant (or vassal) of Jehovah,"
and that, and no other, was the true place for the human king of Israel
to fill. In thus limiting the description of David as "a man after God's
own heart," it is not necessary for us to vindicate all his acts, or to
uphold him as an immaculate character. But the same ardent temperament
which sometimes betrayed his judgment in his public acts, led him into
great errors and crimes. It also made him the first to discover his
lapse, and the last to forgive himself.
Domestic afflictions humbled David, and persecution by enemies
embittered his life. The kingly crown had its thorns. An only child died
in infancy. Afterwards, his handsome and popular son, Absalom, was
ambitious to get the throne of his father, and became the leader of a
great revolt, in whose conflicts he was slain.
Solomon, another son, was the heir chosen by the Lord, to the crown of
David. And when the monarch of Israel drew near the close of his stormy,
yet splendid reign, he called the intellectual, comely, and dutiful boy
to his bedside, to give him his last words of counsel and blessing.
[This scene is depicted in the colored engraving.] Among the paternal
exhortations to the young prince was the following impressive address:
"And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy fathers, and serve
him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the
thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee but if thou forsake
him, he will cast thee off forever."
Solomon, the second king of Israel, desired and sought, before riches
and honors, wisdom from God, to govern well the people, and it was
freely given.
Under his father's sceptre, Palestine was great in martial achievements,
national wealth, and the fine arts; for the king was a poet and a
musician. Solomon was a man of peace, and during his reign the kingdom
reached its highest glory in oriental splendor and luxury. The temple he
built was a monument of munificence, skill, and royal zeal for God's
honor.
What a wonderful display of wisdom was that decision in the case of the
two women, one of whom, in her sleep, lying upon her babe, had smothered
it, and claimed the living child of the other, who lodged with her. He
knew when he sent for the executioner, and told him to cut in two parts
the live babe, giving to each a half, that the mother would be seen in
the effect of the command to slay. And so it was. The faithless woman
said let it be so; the loving, yearning mother exclaimed no, rather let
the other have the child. Solomon wisely decided the matter, directing
the attendants to give the unconscious object of controversy to her to
whom it belonged.
But this rich and popular monarch was led into sin by his unbounded
prosperity, and indulging in forbidden pleasures. Afterwards he bitterly
mourned over his folly and shameful weakness, in departing from the
living God. This varied and, much of it, wasted life, led the king, in
his sober years of declining age, to write the Book of Proverbs and
Ecclesiastes, so full of the profoundest knowledge of mankind and wisest
counsel. It is said that the Scotch are preeminently discerning and
intelligent, because they are so familiar with the Scriptures,
especially the proverbs of Solomon.
There were no more such monarchs in Israel, after David and Solomon, and
the kingdom became divided and weakened, until the Jews were conquered
and enslaved by their enemies. The expensive magnificence and luxury of
Solomon's reign, and his departures from God into idolatrous worship,
awakened the divine indignation.
A prophet was commissioned to tell the wise, yet foolish monarch that
the kingdom should be rent in twain, and the grandeur of his empire
depart before the revolt of the ten tribes from Judah, which had
absorbed the small tribe of Benjamin. Solomon was about sixty years old
when he died. He had ruled forty years, and was buried nine hundred and
seventy-five years before the advent of Christ. Rehoboam, the son of
Solomon, was made king over Judah, and Jereboam, an Ephraimite, became
sovereign of the ten tribes, who were called Israel.
How interesting and instructive the history of the Hebrews, at this
period!
They got tired of the sovereignty of God, visible only in written rules
of conduct, family government, and the prophet-judges, and desired to
imitate their pagan neighbors in the pomp and power of royalty. Under
their second monarch they quarrelled among themselves, engaged in civil
strife, and became divided, rival kingdoms. During the five hundred
years which followed, the successive kings of the two realms had, the
most of them, brief sovereignty. Some of them were excellent kings, but
the greater part were wicked and oppressive.
Pre-eminent in crime was Ahab, whose wife, Jezebel, was a fit companion.
Their names live in the world's history with a bad preeminence, like
those of Herod, Nero, and similar rulers of ancient and modern times.
The corpse of a ruler, or of the humblest subject, was ordinarily wound
in grave-clothes, and laid in a sepulchre. This, in the early ages, was
a room hewn out of a rock, a cave, or a grave which had no mound, nor
any other mark, excepting monumental stones, with no inscriptions.
The Arabian patriarch, Job, talked of kings and counsellors, who built
for themselves "desolate places," which probably has reference to
sepulchral monuments, cut out of the rock.
The expression "a sepulchre on high," is an allusion to the custom
anciently of placing the dead in tombs made in cliffs, sometimes
hundreds of feet in height--a lofty, inaccessible resting-place for the
body of a distinguished person.
Some nations of the heathen world have always burned their dead. In
Japan, recently, an American traveller witnessed this singular disposal
of the lifeless remains. A priest was placed in a sitting posture in his
coffin, and a fire built behind it, consuming to ashes the body. These
relics were carefully gathered up, and put in a safe and sacred place
for all coming time.
It is a remarkable thing that the Bible does not record any solemn
parade or imposing ceremonies over the burial of the Hebrew kings.
Of David it is written, he "slept with his fathers, and was buried in
the city of David." The same simple and impressive mention is made of
Solomon's death. Monarchs were only men--sinners to be saved by grace,
if rescued at all from the power and ruin of sin. It is hoped and
believed by Christian people that Solomon, in his declining years,
reviewed prayerfully and penitently his career, and found peace with a
pardoning God.
The sepulchre of royalty in Jerusalem, is well worthy of a visit by
travellers in the Holy Land. Some of the stone coffins lean against the
solid walls, others lie in massive richness of sculpture on the floor.
The Jews called their burial places the house of the living, because of
the expected resurrection--a beautiful sentiment, which rebukes the
dismal thoughts and mourning of many Christian persons over the newly
made graves of their departed friends.
The beautiful tomb in the "valley of Jehosaphat," is one of
comparatively modern construction, but it shows the admiration felt by
the Hebrews for Absalom, with all his waywardness.
Joseph Elevated to Power by Pharaoh.