None of us know God until He reveals Himself to us in His own good time. Samuel had been brought up in the temple, had taken part in the forms and ceremonies, and yet did not know God. We should pray that He will lighten our darkness and make us to know Him. Q-Is there not a peculiar force in the words, "When I begin, I will also make an end?" A.-It is another assertion of the fixed purpose of the Lord, with whom "there is no variableness nor shadow of turning." The punishment for the wicked acts of Eli's sons would be certain, although not immediate. We may also take these words as an encouragement. When God has begun a good work in our hearts He will complete it.

Q.-Where were Dan and Beersheba ?

A.-They were places which marked the extreme limits of the land possessed by the Israelites, Dan being the most northern, and Beersheba the most southern city.

Q. What special sign was given that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord?

A.-The Lord appeared again in Shiloh, which seems to mean that He again manifested His presence between the cherubim as the mercy seat of the ark. It is distinctly stated that He revealed Himself to Samuel, from which we may understand that Eli was still deprived of the privilege of communicating with the Lord, which previous high priests had enjoyed by means of the Urim and Thummim.

all Israel.

Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched. in Aphek. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

And 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.

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout

in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp.

And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you quit yourselves like men, and fight.

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he came, lo, Eli, sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God.

And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.

Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons. also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was, at this time, about to have a child; and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself.

And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

And she named the child I-chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD.

And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel,

and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.

And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them and take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send

it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.

And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: and they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.

And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; and the golden mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the

LORD which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.

And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

And they sent messengers to the

inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.

And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

Question.-Where was Eben-ezer, beside which the Israelites "pitched" or encamped? Answer.-Eben-ezer means "the stone of help." The place was not so named at the time the battle was fought, but Samuel, as we shall see afterwards, placed a stone there after the defeat of the Philistines at Mizpeh, and the spot was known by that name when the books of Samuel were written.

Q-Who were the people who came into the camp, to whom the elders proposed to fetch the ark out of Shiloh?

4.-Those who had escaped from the battle. Q-Why were the Philistines afraid when they

heard the shouting of the people who were with the ark, and why did they speak of "the gods that smote the Egyptians with the plagues in the wilderness?"

A.-The Philistines had heard, in an imperfect manner, of the wonderful acts of the Lord when He brought His people out of Egypt, but they were not well acquainted with all the particulars, for they spoke of the Egyptians being plagued in the wilderness. But they knew enough to show them that they were fighting against the Almighty, and so committing a terrible sin, and that in worshipping their idols they were committing idolatry.

Q-How are we to understand the words of the Philistine leaders, "Be strong, and quit yourselves like men?"

4.-The words "quit yourselves"

mean, do your duty as, or behave like men. St. Paul uses almost the same words when writing to the Corinthians, "Quit you like men, be strong."

Q-Why did the man of Benjamin, that is, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, who bore the news to Eli, put earth upon his head ?

4.-It was a mode (frequently referred to in Scripture) of expressing great grief.

Q. We read that "the heart of Eli trembled for the ark of God." Why should he have feared that misfortune would come?

4. His sons, Hophni and Phinehas, took the ark without asking whether the Lord would permit them to do so. Eli had probably objected to its being taken away from Shiloh, but, as he was very old and infirm, his sons paid no regard to his wishes. He knew that the Lord would punish disobedience, and He did punish it, for Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the ark taken by the Philistines.

Q-Why is it mentioned that Eli's eyes were dim, and that he could not see?

A. If he had been able to see the dirt on the head and the rent garments of the messenger, he would have known that some great disaster had occurred, and understood why the people cried out.

Q.-Why did the widow of Phinehas name her child "Ichabod?"

4.-The name means, "Where is the glory?" and she explained the choice of the name, by saying, "The glory is departed from Israel."

Q.-In what manner did the idol Dagon fall when the ark of the Lord was brought into the temple at Ashdod?

A.-On its face, as if worshipping. It broke as it fell, only the stump, or lower part, resembling the tail of a fish, being left.

Q. Why afterwards did the priests and those who came into the house of Dagon avoid treading on the threshold?

A. The threshold, or the floor at the entrance of temples, was considered sacred, and those entering stooped their faces to the ground and prayed. Idolatrous and wicked as the Philistines were, the falling down of their idol must have made them feel that there was some mysterious holiness in the place, and perhaps they supposed that if they trod on the threshold, it would be