thanks for the promise of the true Anointed, and which we sing in thanksgiving for His Incarnation.

The child was left, wearing the sacred white scarf, or ephod, which marked him for the service of the tabernacle, growing in holiness before the Lord; and his mother saw him when she came to the feasts, and yearly brought him a little coat, i.e. a long robe down to the feet, like the priests', which no doubt she loved to spin and weave for him, thinking of him as he attended duteously, in all a child Levite could do, on the services of Shiloh. But she had other joys; for God, rewarding as He always does those who give unto Him, made her mother to five more children, that "her joy might be full."

LESSON XL.

HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS.

I SAMUEL ii. 12-17; 22--36.

Now the sons of Eli were the sons of Belial: * they knew not the LORD.

And the priest's custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething,† with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand :

And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now and if not, I will take it by force.

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

* Emptiness-good-for-nothing men.

+ Boiling.

Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress.

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

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, ind 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 thine house.

And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which 'God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine 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 thine heart and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on 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 mine 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 thine 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 priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

COMMENT. It must have been a great trial of faith to Elkanah and Hannah to leave their little son at Shiloh. They could only have done so in the security that if they gave their child to God, He would take care of him; for though Eli, the high priest, was good, gentle, and godly, he was very old, and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were said to be sons of Belial, that is, "wickedness,” * Destroy thy strength.

according to the Eastern fashion of saying that a person is the son of any quality he possesses in a great degree. Though living at the sanctuary, and the chosen priests of God, they knew not the Lord. For, unhappily, it sometimes happens that young people who are bred up among holy things let themselves grow used to them, as it were, and so familiar that they lose their awe and reverence, and then are worse than those who have been more on the outside, and have their feelings fresh. While Samuel shows how blessed it may be to grow up among holy things, Hophni and Phinehas show how dangerous it may be.

Now the Law had declared (Lev. vii. 31—35) that when the people came up with their yearly gifts at the feast of ingathering, bringing their peace-offerings to feast upon in honour of the Lord, the blood of the animal sacrificed should be poured out, and the fat burnt on the altar by a priest, as the Lord's part; then that the shoulder and the breast should be waved before the Lord, by the same priest, and remain with him as his share, and that the rest should be feasted upon by the offerer, his family, and friends, and portions given away to the poor. But Hophni and Phinehas were not content with this arrangement. Instead of attending to present the sacrifice as the priests of God, they only cared to seize a goodly portion from the feast, and whilst the flesh was being cooked they sent a servant with a great three-toothed hook to snatch out of the vessel all that he could bring up. Or before the fat was burnt by the priest, the servant would come down and seize upon the meat, fat and all, for himself or his masters, adding to the vexation of the plundered Israelites by rude words and threats, so that they began to loathe and dread the coming up to the sanctuary, where they were sure to be insulted and ill-treated, not only in this, but in other ways, so that Shiloh had come to be a disgrace.

When the gentle old Eli at length heard of his sons' doings, he reasoned with them. He reminded them that when man sins. against man, the Judge decides between them, and there is room for redress; but when a man sins against God Himself, as they were doing, what intercession could avail? It was terrible, hopeless, wilful sin! Eli felt the evil deeply, but he only spoke, he did not hinder it; he was too weakly kind to put down his sons from

the office of which they were so unworthy, and thus he became in truth an enemy to them and to his much-loved Shiloh, which he let them defile and drive Israel from. Warning was not wanting. A stranger prophet brought Eli a message from God, reminding him how God had appeared to Moses and Aaron, and had given to Aaron's family their due share of all burnt-offerings. Yet Eli was allowing these rules to be transgressed. He was honouring his sons more than God, in that he permitted them to continue to dishonour God, thus either loving or fearing them more than his Maker. Therefore the great sentence is declared, "Them that honour me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed,” -and therefore a terrible punishment should come, no other than a lasting and awful doom on all the descendants of these wicked They should lose the honours they used so ill, there should not be an old man among them for ever, and they should die in the flower of their age (as we shall see fulfilled in the slaughter of the priests by Saul). Hophni and Phinehas themselves would both perish at the same time, and a faithful priest should be raised in their stead, to whom their children should come crouching and begging for the humblest employment as a priest.

men.

This promise of the faithful priest pointed first to little, innocent Samuel, who, though only a Kohathite by birth, was for his holiness raised by God to exercise the priestly office; then to Zadok, the direct descendant of the great Phinehas, whom Solomon raised to be high priest on the treason of Abiathar, the descendant of Eli; and, above all, to our blessed Lord, the faithful and true, the Great High Priest, not after the order of Aaron, but the order of Melchizedek, before whom the priesthood of Aaron vanished away. Hannah had first sung of Him as the Anointed, and now He is promised as the High Priest.

LESSON XLI.

THE BIRTH OF SAMSON.

JUDGES xiii. 2—24.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren: but thou shalt bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

For, lo, thou shalt bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God to the day of his death.

Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? and he said, I am.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. order* the child, and how shall we do unto him?

How shall we

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me,

* Treat.