said, "Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like
all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us,
and fight our battles." It would thus appear that the monarchy which the
people sought would necessarily become nearly absolute, limited only by
the will of God as interpreted by priests and prophets,--for the
theocracy was not to be destroyed, but still maintained as even superior
to the royal authority. The future king was to be supreme in affairs of
state, in the direction of armies, in the appointment of captains and
commanders, in the general superintendence of the realm in worldly
matters; but he could not go contrary to the divine commands as they
would be revealed to him, without incurring a fearful penalty. He could
not interfere with the functions of the priesthood under any pretence
whatever; and further, he was required to rule on principles of equity
and immutable justice. He could not repel the divine voice, whether it
spake to his consciousness or was revealed to him by divinely
commissioned prophets, without the certainty of divine chastisement.
Thus was his power limited, even by invisible forces superior to his
own; for Jehovah had not withdrawn his special jurisdiction over the
chosen people for whom he was preparing a splendid destiny,--that is,
through them, the redemption of the world.
Whether the people of Israel did not believe the predictions of the
prophet, or wished to have a kingly government in spite of its evils, in
order to become more powerful as a nation, we do not know. All that we
know is that they persisted in their demand, and that God granted their
request. With all the memories and traditions of their slavery in the
land of Egypt, and the grinding despotism incident to an absolute
monarchy of which their ancestors bore witness, they preferred despotism
with its evils to the independence they had enjoyed under the Judges;
for nationality, to which the Jewish people were casting longing eyes,
demands law and order as the first condition of society. In obedience to
this same principle the grinding monarchy of Louis XIV. seemed
preferable to the turbulence and anarchy of the Middle Ages, since
unarmed and obscure citizens felt safe in their humble avocations. In
like manner, after the license of the French Revolution the people said,
"Give us a king once more!" and seated Napoleon on the throne of the
Bourbons,--a ruler who took one man out of every five adults to recruit
his armies and consolidate his power, which he called the glory of
France. Thus kings have reigned by the will of the people,--or, as they
call it, by the grace of God,--from Saul and David to our own times,
except in those few countries where liberty is preferred to material
power and military laurels.
The peculiar situation of the Israelites in a narrow strip of territory
which was the highway between Syria and Egypt, likely to be overrun by
Aramaeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians, to say nothing of the
hostile nations which surrounded them, such as Moabites and Philistines,
necessarily made them a warlike people (like the inhabitants of the
Swiss Cantons five or six hundred years ago), and they were hence led to
put a high estimate on military qualities, especially on the general who
led them to battle. They accordingly desired a greater centralized power
than the Judges wielded, which could be exercised only by a king,
intrenched in a strong capital. Their desire for a king was natural, and
almost excusable if they were willing to pay the inevitable price. They
simply wished to surrender liberty for protection and political safety.
They did not repudiate the fundamental doctrine of their religion; they
simply wanted a change of government,--a more efficient administration.
The selection of a king did not rest with the people, however, but with
the great prophet who had ruled them with so much wisdom and ability,
and who was regarded as the interpreter of the will of God.
Samuel, by the direction of God, did not go into the powerful tribe of
Ephraim, which possessed one half of the Israelitish territory, to
select a sovereign, but to the smallest of the tribes, that of
Benjamin,--the most warlike, however,--and to one of the least of the
families of that tribe, dwelling in very humble life. Kish, the
Benjamite, had sent out his son Saul in quest of three asses which had
strayed away from the farm,--a man so poor that he had no money to give
to the seer who should direct his search, as was customary, and was
obliged to borrow a quarter of a shekel from his servant when they went
together to seek the counsel of Samuel. But this obscure youth was "a
choice young man, and a goodly." He had a commanding presence, was very
beautiful, and was head and shoulders taller than any other man of his
tribe,--a man every way likely to succeed in war. Samuel no sooner saw
the commanding figure and intelligent countenance of Saul than he was
assured that this was the man whom the Lord had chosen to be the future
captain and champion of Israel. He at once treated him with
distinguished honor, and made him sit at his own table, much to the
amazement of the thirty nobles who also were bidden to a banquet. The
prophet took the young man aside, conducted him to the top of his
house, anointed him with the sacred oil, kissed him (a form of
allegiance), and communicated to him the will of God. But Saul was only
privately consecrated, and with rare discretion told no man of his good
fortune,--for he had not yet distinguished himself in any way, and would
have been laughed to scorn by his relatives, as Joseph was by his
brothers, had he revealed his destiny.
Nor did Samuel dare to tell the people of the man whom the Lord had
chosen to rule over them, but assembled all the tribes, that the choice
might be publicly indicated. Probably to their astonishment the little
tribe of Benjamin was "taken,"--that is pointed out, presumably by lot,
as was their custom when appealing for divine direction; and out of the
tribe of Benjamin the family of Matri was chosen, and Saul the son of
Kish was selected. But Saul could not be found. With rare modesty and
humility he had hidden himself. When at length they brought him from his
hiding-place Samuel said unto the people, "See ye him whom the Lord hath
chosen, that there is none like him among all the people!" And such was
the authority of Samuel that the people shouted, saying, "God save the
king!"--a circumstance interesting as being the first recorded utterance
of a cry that has been echoed the world over by many a loyal people.
Not yet, however, was Saul clothed with full power as a king. Samuel
still remained the acknowledged ruler until Saul should distinguish
himself in battle. This soon took place. With heroic valor he delivered
Jabesh-Gilead from the hosts of the Ammonites when that city was about
to fall into their hands, and silenced the envy of his enemies. In a
burst of popular enthusiasm Samuel collected the people in Gilgal, and
there formally installed Saul as King of Israel.
Samuel was now an old man, and was glad to lay down his heavy burden and
put it on the shoulders of Saul. Yet he did not retire from the active
government without making a memorable speech to the assembled nation, in
which with transcendent dignity he appealed to the people in attestation
of his incorruptible integrity as a judge and ruler. "Behold, here I am!
Witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed. Whose ox
have I taken, or whose ass have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Or of
whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes therewith? And
they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us; neither hast
thou taken aught of any man's hand." Then Samuel closed his address with
an injunction to both king and people to obey the commandments of God,
and denouncing the penalty of disobedience: "Only fear the Lord, and
serve Him in truth and with all your heart, for consider what great
things He hath done for you; but if ye shall do wickedly, ye shall be
consumed,--both ye and your king."
Saul for a time gave no offence worthy of rebuke, but was a valiant
captain, smiting the Philistines, who were the most powerful enemies
that the Israelites had yet encountered. But in an evil day he forgot
his true vocation, and took upon himself the function of a priest by
offering burnt sacrifices, which was not lawful but for the priest
alone. For this he was rebuked by Samuel. "Thou hast done foolishly," he
said to the King; "for which thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord
hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded
him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which
the Lord commanded thee." We here see the blending of the theocratic
with the kingly rule.
Nevertheless Saul was prospered in his wars. He fought successfully the
Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Amalekites, and the
Philistines, aided by his cousin Abner, whom he made captain of his
host. He did much to establish the kingdom; but he was rather a great
captain than a great man. He did not fully perceive his mission, which
was to fight, but meddled with affairs which belonged to the priests.
Nor was he always true to his mission as a warrior. He weakly spared
Agag, King of the Amalekites, which again called forth the displeasure
and denunciation of Samuel, who regarded the conduct of the King as
direct rebellion against God, since he was commanded to spare none of
that people, they having shown an uncompromising hostility to the
Israelites in their days of weakness, when first entering Canaan. This,
and similar commands laid upon the Israelites at various times, to
"utterly destroy" certain tribes or individuals and all of their
possessions, have been justified on the ground of the bestial grossness
and corruption of those pagan idolaters and the vileness of their
religious rites and social customs, which unfortunately always found a
temptable side on the part of the Israelites, and repeatedly brought to
nought the efforts of Jehovah's prophets to bring up their people in the
fear of the Lord, to recognize Him, only, as God. It was not easy for
that sensual race to stand on the height of Moses, and "endure as seeing
him who is invisible." They too easily fell into idolatry; hence the
necessity of the extermination of some of the nests of iniquity
in Canaan.
Whether Saul spared Agag because of his personal beauty, to grace his
royal triumph, or whatever the motive, it was a direct disobedience; and
when the king attempted to exculpate himself, inasmuch as he had made a
sacrifice of the spoil to the Lord, Samuel replied: "Hath the Lord as
great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying his
voice?... Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than
the fat of rams,--for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and
stubbornness as an iniquity and idolatry." The prophet here sets forth,
as did Isaiah in later times, the great principles of moral obligation
as paramount over all ceremonial observances. He strikes a blow at all
pharisaism and all self-righteousness, and inculcates obedience to
direct commands as the highest duty of man.
Saul, perceiving that he had sinned, confessed his transgression, but
palliated it by saying that he feared the people. But this policy of
expediency had no weight with the prophet, although Saul repented and
sought pardon. Samuel continued his stern rebuke, and uttered his
fearful message, saying, "Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from
thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine that is better
than thou." Furthermore Samuel demanded that Agag, whom Saul had spared,
should be brought before him; and he took upon himself with his aged
hand the work of executioner, and hewed the king of the Amalekites in
pieces in Gilgal. He then finally departed from Saul, and mournfully
went to his own house in Ramah, and Saul saw him no more. As the king
was the "Lord's anointed," Samuel could not openly rebel against kingly
authority, but he would henceforth have nothing to do with the
headstrong ruler. He withdrew from him all spiritual guidance, and left
him to his follies and madness; for the inextinguishable jealousy of
Saul, that now began to appear, was a species of insanity, which
poisoned his whole subsequent life. The people continued loyal to a king
whom God had selected, but Samuel "came no more to see Saul until the
day of his death." To be deserted by such a counsellor as Samuel, was no
small calamity.
Meanwhile, in obedience to instructions from God, Samuel proceeded to
Bethlehem, to the humble abode of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, one of
whose sons he was required to anoint as the future king of Israel. He
naturally was about to select the largest and finest looking of the
seven sons; but God looketh on the heart rather than the outward
appearance, and David, a mere youth, and the youngest of the family, was
the one indicated by Jehovah, and was privately anointed by the prophet.
Saul, of course, did not know on whom the choice had fallen as his
successor, but from that day on which he was warned of the penalty of
his disobedience divine favor departed from him, and he became jealous,
fitful, and cruel. He presented a striking contrast to the character he
had shown in his early days,--being no longer modest and humble, but
proud and tyrannical. Prosperity and power had turned his head, and
developed all that was evil in him. Nero was not more unreasonable and
bloodthirsty than was Saul in his latter days. Prosperity developed in
Solomon a love of magnificence, in Nebuchadnezzar a towering vanity, but
in Saul a malignant envy of all extraordinary merit, and a sullen
determination to destroy the persons it adorned. The last person in his
kingdom of whom apparently he had reason to be jealous, was the ruddy
and beardless youth whom he had sent for to drive away his melancholy by
his songs and music. Nor was it until David killed Goliath that Saul
became jealous; before this he had no cause of envy, for kings do not
envy musicians, but reward them. David's reward was as extravagant as
that which Russian emperors shower upon singers and dancers: he was made
armor-bearer to the King,--an office bestowed only upon favorites and
those who were implicitly trusted and beloved. Little did the moody and
jealous King imagine that the youth whom he had brought from obscurity
to amuse his melancholy hours by his music, and probably his wit and
humor, would so soon, by his own sanction, become the champion of
Israel, and ultimately his successor on the throne.
In the latter part of the reign of Saul the enemies with whom he had to
contend were the various Canaanitish nations that had remained
unconquered during the hard struggle of four hundred years after the
Hebrews had been led by Joshua to the promised land. The most powerful
of these nations were the Philistines. "Strong in their military
organization, fierce in their warlike spirit, and rich by their position
and commercial instincts, they even threatened the ancient supremacy of
the Phoenicians of the north. Their cities were the restless centres of
every form of activity. Ashdod and Gaza, as the keys of Egypt, commanded
the carrying trade to and from the Nile, and formed the great depots for
its imports and exports. All the cities, moreover, traded in slaves with
Edom and southern Arabia, and their commerce in other directions
flourished so greatly as to gain for the people at large the name of
Canaanites,--which was synonymous with 'merchant,' Even the word
'Palestine' is derived from the Philistines. Their skill as smiths and
armorers was noted; the strength of their cities attest their strength
as builders, and their idols and golden mice and emerods show their
respect for the arts of peace." It is supposed that they had settled in
Canaan about the time of Abraham, and were originally a pastoral people
in the neighborhood of Gesar, or emigrants from Crete. When the
Israelites under Joshua arrived, they were in full possession of the
southern part of Palestine, and had formed a confederacy of five
powerful cities,--Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron. In the time
of the Judges they had become so prosperous and powerful that they held
the Israelites in partial subjection, broken at intervals by heroes like
Shamgar and Samson. Under Eli there was an organized but unsuccessful
resistance to these prosperous and warlike heathen. Under Samuel the
tide of success was turned in Israel's favor at the battle of Mizpeh,
when the Israelites erected their pillar at Ebenezer as a token of
victory. The battle of Michmash, gained by Saul and Jonathan after an
immense slaughter of their foes, was so decisive that for twenty-five
years the Israelites were unmolested. In the latter part of the reign of
Saul the Philistines attempted to regain their ascendency, but on the
death of Goliath at the hand of David they were driven to their own
territories. The battle of Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan were slain,
again turned the scale in favor of the Philistines. Under David the
Israelites resumed the aggressive, took Gath, and completely broke
forever the ascendency of their powerful foes. Under Solomon it would
appear that the whole of Philistia was incorporated with the Hebrew
monarchy, and remained so until the calamities of the Jews gave
Philistia to the Assyrian conquerors of Jerusalem, and finally it fell
into the hands of the Romans. The Philistines were zealous idolaters,
and in times of great religious apostasy they succeeded in introducing
the worship of their gods among the Israelites, especially that of Baal
and Ashtaroth.
Samuel did not live to see the complete humiliation of his nation which
succeeded the bloody battle when Saul was slain; but he lived to a good
old age, and never lost his influence over the Israelites, whom he had
rescued from idolatry and to whom he had given political unity. Although
Saul was king, we are told that Samuel judged Israel all the days of his
life. He died universally lamented. There is no record in the Scriptures
of a death attended with such profound and general mourning. All Israel
mourned for him. They mourned because he was a good man, unstained by
crime or folly; they mourned because their judge and oracle and friend
had passed away; they mourned because he had been their intercessor with
God himself, and the interpreter of the divine will. His like would
never appear again in Israel. "He represents the independence of the
moral law, as distinct from regal and sacerdotal enactments. If a
Levite, he was not a priest. He was a prophet, the first in the regular
succession of prophets. He was also the founder of the first regular
institutions of religious instruction, and communities for the purposes
of education. From these institutions were developed the universities of
Christendom."
In a spiritual and religious sense the prophet takes the highest rank
in the kingdom of God on earth. Among the Hebrews he was the interpreter
of the divine will; he predicted future events. He was a preacher of
righteousness; he was the counsellor of kings and princes; he was a sage
and oracle among the people. He was a reformer, teaching the highest
truths and restoring the worship of God when nations were sunk in
idolatry; he was the mouth-piece of the Eternal, for warning, for
rebuke, for encouragement, for chastisement. He was divinely inspired,
armed with supernatural powers,--a man whom the people feared and
obeyed, sometimes honored, sometimes stoned; one who bore heavy
responsibilities, and of whom were demanded disagreeable duties. We
associate with the idea of a prophet both wisdom and virtue, great gifts
and great personal piety. We think of him as a man who lived a secluded
life of meditation and prayer, in constant communion with God and
removed from all worldly rewards,--a man indifferent to ordinary
pleasures, to outward pomp and show, free from personal vanity, lofty in
his bearing, independent in his mode of life, spiritual in his aims,
fervent and earnest in his exhortations, living above the world in the
higher regions of faith and love, disdaining praises and honors, soft
raiment and luxurious food, and maintaining a proud equality with the
greatest personages; a man not to be bought, and not to be deterred
from his purpose by threatenings or intimidation or flatteries,
commanding reverence, and exalted as a favorite of heaven. It was not
necessary that the prophet should be a priest or even a Levite. He was
greater than any impersonation of sacerdotalism, sacred in his person
and awful in his utterances, unassisted by ritualistic forms, declaring
truths which appealed to consciousness,--a kind of spiritual dictator
who inspired awe and reverence.
In one sense or another most of the august characters of the Old
Testament were prophets,--Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Elijah, Daniel,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. They either foretold the future, or rebuked
kings as messengers of omnipotence, or taught the people great truths,
or uttered inspired melodies, or interpreted dreams, or in some way
revealed the ways and will of God. Among them were patriarchs, kings,
and priests, and sages uninvested with official functions. Some lived in
cities and others in villages, and others again in the wilderness and
desert places; some reigned in the palaces of pride, and others in the
huts of poverty,--yet all alike exercised a tremendous moral power. They
were the national poets and historians of Judaea, preachers of
patriotism as well as of religion and morals, exercising political as
well as spiritual power. Those who stand out pre-eminently in the
sacred writings were gifted with the power of revealing the future
destinies of nations, and above all other things the peculiarities of
the Messianic reign.
Samuel was not called to declare those profound truths which relate to
the appearance and reign of Christ as the Saviour of mankind, nor the
fate of idolatrous nations, nor even the future vicissitudes connected
with the Hebrew nation, but to found a school of religious teachers, to
revive the worship of Jehovah, guide the conduct of princes, and direct
the general affairs of the nation as commanded by God. He was the first
and most favored of the great prophets, and exercised an influence as a
prophet never equalled by any who succeeded him. He was a great prophet,
since for forty years he ruled Israel by direct divine illumination,--a
holy man who communed with God, great in speech and great in action. He
did not rise to the lofty eloquence of Isaiah, nor foresee the fate of
nations like Daniel and Ezekiel; but he was consulted and obeyed as a
man who knew the divine will, gifted beyond any other man of his age in
spiritual insight, and trusted implicitly for his wisdom and sanctity.
These were the excellences which made him one of the most extraordinary
men in Jewish history, rendering services to his nation which cannot
easily be exaggerated.
DAVID.
1055-1015 B.C.
ISRAELITISH CONQUESTS.
Considering how much has been written about David in all the nations of
Christendom, and how familiar Christian people are with his life and
writings, it would seem presumptuous to attempt a lecture on this
remarkable man, especially since it is impossible to add anything
essentially new to the subject. The utmost that I can do is to select,
condense, and rearrange from the enormous quantity of matter which
learned and eloquent writers have already furnished.