PERIOD IV.]

JOTHAM'S PArable.

by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon." He then told the men of Shechem of all that his father had done for them, and of their ingratitude, and fled to Beer. Soon afterwards Gaal conspired against Abimelech. The Shechemites were also dissatisfied with him. He was slain by a stone from a fortress, which a woman cast upon his head.

Tola was of the tribe of Issachar, and he dwelt in Mount

Ephraim. He judged Israel twenty-three years Jair was judge

over Israel after Tola. He was a Gileadite, of the tribe of Manasseh; he owned thirty villages. During most of his reign the Israelites were oppressed by the Ammonites.

The Israelites began to serve the gods of Sidon, Syria, and Moab, and God suffered the Ammonites and the Philistines to prevail against them. They cried unto the Lord, and he reminded them of their many deliverances, but that they still forsook him. While they were confessing their sins the Ammonites came against them. God then raised up Jephthah to deliver them. Jephthah made a rash vow to God before he went to battle; to fulfil which he had to sacrifice his daughter, after he had conquered the Ammonites. The Ephraimites quar

relled with Jephthah because he had gone against the Ammonites without them. They said also, "Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim." The Gileadites then took the Passages of Jordan

EPHRAIMITES SLAIN.

[1451-1095 B.C.

before the Ephraimites, and when the Ephraimites said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said unto him, "Art thou an Ephraimite?" If he said, "Nay," then said they unto him, "Say now Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth;" for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the Passages of the Jordan; and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty-and-two-thousand.

Beer-'a well;' the place to which Jotham fled is supposed to have been Beeroth, an ancient city of the Gibeonites, in the tribe of Benjamin, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Sidon the most ancient city of Phoenicia, much older than Tyre; said to have been founded by Sidon, a grandson of Ham; it was in the tribe of Asher, but it was never subdued by the Israelites,

Syria-a large country of Asia, between the Euphrates and Arabia on the east and south, with mount Taurus on the north, and the Mediterranean sea and Canaan on the west. Damascus and Hamath were its principal cities. The ruins of Baalbec and Tadmor are still to be seen in its wildernesses.

LESSON 39.

JUDGES xii. 8-xiii. 25 & 1 SAM. i-iii.

Of Samson, Eli, and Samuel.

After the death of Jephthah, Ibzan judged Israel. He was succeeded by Elon, after whom Abdon was judge. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon governed Israel twenty-five years. The Israelites again forsook God, and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines, who oppressed them for the space of forty years.

The coming of Samson was foretold to his mother. She was the wife of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan. An angel told her that her son should begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines, and that he must never be shaven, but be brought up a Nazarite from his birth. Manoah and his wife promised to obey the injunctions of the angel, and in due time Samson was born.

PERIOD IV.] HANNAH'S PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING.

When Eli was judge and priest of Israel, a woman named Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, prayed for a son. Elkanah comforted Hannah, saying, "Why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? Hannah vowed, if the Lord answered her prayer, to dedicate her son to the Lord all his life. As she was praying, Eli watched her; she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunken. He said unto her, "How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee." And Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD." Eli then said, "Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him." Then her countenance was no more sad.

The Lord heard Hannah's prayer, and gave her a son, whom she called Samuel. After the child was weaned, she brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And she said to Eli, "Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked him; therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord." She also sang a song of thanksgiving to the Lord, in | which she praised his goodness, and wisdom, and power.

Eli had two wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas. He reproved them, but they would not hearken to their father. They did evil, and he did not restrain them. A prophet came to Eli, and spoke of the approaching downfall of his house. He said that Eli's two sons should die in one day-that God would raise up a faithful priest in Eli's place;—and that Eli's seed should come to poverty and dishonour.

The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The Lord called to Samuel as he lay asleep. He thought Eli had

SAMSON'S MARRIAGE AND RIDDLE. [1451-1095 B.C.

called him; but Eli knew the call was from the Lord, and told Samuel how to answer. The Lord revealed to Samuel his judgment on Eli's house, which Samuel made known to Eli the next morning.

All Israel knew that Samuel was appointed to be a prophet of the Lord.

LESSON 40.

JUDGES XIV. xv.20.

The Acts of Samson.

When Samson grew up, he went to Timnath, and he saw there a woman of the Philistines who pleased him. He told his father and mother to get her for him to wife, but his parents did not wish it, for they knew not that it was of the Lord. The Philistines at that time had dominion over Israel. As he was going to Timnath, he slew a lion. On his return, there was a swarm of bees in the carcase of the lion, and he took some of the honey, and did eat. He afterwards proposed a riddle to the Philistines, at a feast which he made, saying, If ye find it out and declare it to me within seven days, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments; but if ye cannot declare it to me, ye shall give me thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. Then he put forth the riddle, "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." But they could not declare it. They induced his wife to entice her husband to tell her its meaning, that she might tell them, and that they might answer Samson. She did so, and they answered him on the seventh day, "What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion ?" he knew that his wife had revealed it to them.

Then

The father of Samson's wife gave her to his companion. Samson then caught three-hundred foxes, and put firebrands to their

tails, and let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, which was burnt up. The Philistines were angry, and burnt SamHe afterwards smote a great | The men of Judah were

son's wife and her father with fire. many Philistines, near the rock Etam. angry with Samson, for the Philistines were rulers over them; they came to the rock Etam to bind him, that they might deliver him to the Philistines; and they bound him with two new cords, and brought him to Lehi. The Philistines shouted against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily on him; the cords became as burnt flax, and his hands were loosed; he found a new jaw-bone of an ass, which he took, and slew a thousand men therewith. After this slaughter he nearly died of thirst, but God clave the jaw-bone and water came out, of which he drank, and' was refreshed.

Timnath-an ancient city of the Canaanites, first assigned to the tribe of Judah, and afterwards to Dan; it long remained in the possession of the Philistines; it is chiefly noticed in the history of Samson.

Etam-a town and a rock in Judah, between Bethlehem and Tekoa; in its vicinity was the rock to which Samson retired after he had destroyed the standing corn of the Philistines.

Lehi-the place at which Samson slew a thousand Philistines with a jaw-bone; its exact situation is unknown, a fountain sprang up at this place in answer to his prayer.

LESSON 41.

Further Acts, and Death of Samson.

JUDGES xvi.

Samson came to Gaza, and the Gazites closed the gates and compassed him in the city and lay in wait for him all the night, saying, "In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him." At midnight Samson arose, took the gates of the city from their hinges, and carried them away to the top of a hill, before Hebron.