19 23. The disarmament of the Israelites<\/p>\n
19<\/strong>. Now there was no smith found<\/em>, &c.] A signal proof of the severity of the Philistine oppression, and the difficulties against which Saul had to contend. This general disarmament clearly points to the lasting subjugation of a large district in the later years of Samuel’s judgeship and the beginning of Saul’s reign, and was not merely the temporary result of the present invasion. A similar tyranny was practised by the Canaanites before Deborah’s victory (Jdg 5:8<\/span>, cp. Jdg 3:31<\/span>); and Porsena is reported by Pliny to have prohibited the Romans from using iron except for agricultural purposes ( Hist. Nat.<\/em> XXXIV. 14).<\/p>\n There was no smith – <\/B>This was the result of the fierce inroads described in the preceding verses, and the method adopted to make the Philistine conquests permanent.<\/P><\/p>\n 1Sa 13:19-21<\/span><\/p>\n Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The blacksmiths captivity<\/strong><\/p>\n What a scalding subjugation for the Israelites! The Philistines had carried off all the blacksmiths, and torn down all the blacksmiths shops, and abolished the blacksmiths trade in the land of Israel. The farmers and the mechanics having nothing to whet up the coulter, and the goad, and the pick-axe, save a simple file, industry was hindered, and work practically disgraced. The great idea of these Philistines was to keep the Israelites disarmed.<\/p>\n Philistinian policy<\/strong><\/p>\n The care here taken by the Philistines to leave no smith in Israel, who should make any arms for their defence, is an usual policy with conquerors, in order to disarm and keep in subjection those whom they have subdued. Our spiritual enemy, represented by these Philistines, never failed to use the like stratagem. The souls which they hold in captivity they first deprive of their arms, and prevent, as much as possible, the use of any weapons which may rescue them from their tyranny and regain their liberty. These arms are principally the word of God, and the use of the Holy Scriptures, which are not only a light and lantern to our path, but a buckler of defence, and a sword to smite and subdue our enemies. Thus the spirits of error and lies employ their utmost efforts and craft to take away both the knowledge and means of truth.<\/p>\n Verse 19<\/span>. Now there was no smith found<\/B><\/I>] It is very likely that in the former wars the Philistines carried away all the smiths from Israel, as Porsenna did in the peace which he granted to the Romans, not permitting any iron to be forged except for the purposes of agriculture: “Ne ferro, nisi in agricultura, uterentur.” The Chaldeans did the same to the Jews in the time of Nebuchadnezzar; they carried away all the artificers, 2Kg 24:14<\/span>; Jer 24:1<\/span>; Jer 29:2<\/span>. And in the same manner did Cyrus treat the Lydians, Herod<\/I>. lib. i., c. 145. See several examples in Calmet<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n This was a politic course of the Philistines, which also other nations have used. So the Chaldeans took away their smiths, 2Ki 24:14<\/span>; Jer 24:1<\/span>; 30:2<\/span>; and Porsenna obliged the Romans by covenant, that they should use no iron but in the tillage of their lands. <\/P> <\/p>\n 19, 20. Now there was no smith foundthroughout . . . Israel<\/B>The country was in the lowest state ofdepression and degradation. The Philistines, after the great victoryover the sons of Eli, had become the virtual masters of the land.Their policy in disarming the natives has been often followed in theEast. For repairing any serious damage to their agriculturalimplements, they had to apply to the neighboring forts.<\/P><\/p>\n Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel<\/strong>,…. The Philistines, when they ruled over them, having removed them into their own country, and forbid any to learn or exercise that trade in Israel:<\/p>\n for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make swords or spears<\/strong>: this they did to prevent their having arms, and the use of them, that they might not rebel against them, and fight with them, and overcome them; it was a piece of policy to keep them subject to them; so Nebuchadnezzar, when he conquered the Jews and carried them captive, took care particularly to carry away their smiths, and left none but the poorest sort of people in the land, 2Ki 24:14<\/span> and Porsena, king of the Etrusci, when he made a covenant with the Romans, upon the expulsion of their kings, made this a condition of peace with them, that they should use no iron but in husbandry h. When this course was taken by the Philistines with the Israelites, and how long it had continued is not certain; it is probable it might be in the space of forty years they ruled over Israel, in which Samson was born, for we never read of any sword or spear that he made use of; and though there were two battles in the times of Eli, in both which Israel were beaten, they might make use only of bows and arrows, slings, and stones, clubs, c, as also in the battle of Saul with the Ammonites and as for the defeat of the Philistines in the time of Samuel, it was by thunder; and though the Philistines were then subdued, yet, as Samuel grew old, they regained their power in a good measure, and the Israelites had not spirit enough to oppose them, nor diligence and industry to learn and revive the trade of smiths among them; not even for what was necessary to husbandry, as the following verse shows.<\/p>\n h Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 34. c. 14.<\/p>\n (19) Now there was no smith found.<\/strong>We must allow a year, perhaps two or three, to have elapsed while Saul and Jonathan . . . abode in Gibeah, during which period the Philistine raids went on unchecked, the Israelitish forces being too weak to venture with any hope of success into the open country. The statement respecting the destruction of the smithies probably only specially refers to the southern districts of Canaanespecially the territory of Benjamin, whence Saul and Jonathan, in the earlier years of the formers reign, drew, no doubt, the majority of their men of war. These devastating forays are alluded to in 1Sa. 13:17-18<\/span>.<\/p>\n 19<\/strong>. <\/strong> No smith <\/strong> , a graver, a workman: <\/em> whether in wood, stone, or metals, is usually determined by the context. The Philistines, like other conquerors, had, during the long period of their dominion over Israel, removed all the artificers. After their deliverance by the hand of Samuel, (1Sa 7:13<\/span>,) the Israelites seem to have taken no measures to supply themselves with workmen and arms, such as they had formerly possessed. For the purpose of sharpening their agricultural implements they were obliged to resort to their enemies; and yet so loth were they to do this that their instruments often became very dull. See on 1Sa 13:21<\/span>. In the war with the Ammonites the Israelites probably found the sling and the bow ( see note on 1Sa 11:9<\/span>) so serviceable that they saw no particular necessity for swords and spears, and took no pains to collect them. Still, we are not to suppose that Saul and his son were the only ones in all Israel that had weapons of this kind. 1Sa 13:22<\/span> expressly tells us that it was with the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, <\/em> that is, the six hundred with Saul, (1Sa 13:15<\/span> and 1Sa 14:2<\/span>,) and perhaps a still smaller number with Jonathan, that neither sword nor spear was found. The writer’s object in introducing the statements of 1Sa 13:19-22<\/span> seems to have been to show how illy prepared, according to all human appearance, the Israelitish army under Saul and Jonathan was to cope with its thoroughly equipped antagonist.<\/p>\n YHWH Delivers Israel From The Philistines ( 1Sa 13:19<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> to 1Sa 14:23<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> a). <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The passage that now follows commences with a description of the hopeless situation of Israel in the first part of Saul’s reign, and concludes with the declaration ‘so YHWH saved Israel that day’. All was thus seen as due to YHWH. The Philistines had rendered Israel as a whole powerless by preventing them from making weapons, and especially iron weapons, for the Philistines had a monopoly on the way to smelt iron. No doubt some of the tribes not affected by the Philistine occupation and control were able to make bronze weapons, but even these were seemingly not available to Saul’s own small army. Only Saul and Jonathan as the recognised leaders were properly armed. <\/p>\n But the whole point of the narrative is in fact to bring out that with YHWH as their Saviour they did not need proper weapons, because YHWH fought for them. It commenced by Him inspiring Jonathan and his associated armourbearer to slaughter a small Philistine garrison, and then by His using the news of that fact, possibly combined with an earthquake, to put the Philistines themselves in a quake so that they felt that they had no alternative but to flee back to their own country. Meanwhile Saul was playing around with his new found ‘toys’ and was left as a mere spectator until the final chase. Thus there is a great contrast between Jonathan the man of faith, and the favoured of YHWH, and Saul the malingerer, who was totally lacking in faith. <\/p>\n Analysis. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears,” but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock, yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads (1Sa 13:19-21<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> So it came about in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found (1Sa 13:22<\/span>). <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. And it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on that side over there.” But he did not tell his father. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron, and the people who were with him were about six hundred men, and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of YHWH in Shiloh, wearing an ephod (1Sa 13:23<\/span> to 1Sa 14:3<\/span> a). <\/p>\n d <\/strong> And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone. And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba (14:3b-5). <\/p>\n e <\/strong> And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that YHWH will work for us, for there is no restraint to YHWH to save by many or by few.” And his armourbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn yourself, see, I am with you according to your heart” (1Sa 14:6-7<\/span>). <\/p>\n f <\/strong> Then Jonathan said, “Look, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, “Wait there until we come to you,” then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them” (1Sa 14:8-9<\/span>). <\/p>\n g <\/strong> But if they say thus, “Come up to us,” then we will go up, for YHWH has delivered them into our hand. And this will be the sign to us” (1Sa 14:10<\/span>). <\/p>\n h <\/strong> And both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hidden themselves (1Sa 14:11<\/span>). <\/p>\n g <\/strong> And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armourbearer, “Come up after me, for YHWH has delivered them into the hand of Israel” (1Sa 14:12<\/span>). <\/p>\n f <\/strong> And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armourbearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan, and his armourbearer slew them after him. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land (1Sa 14:13-14<\/span>). <\/p>\n e <\/strong> And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked. So there was an very great trembling. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and, behold, the amassed men melted away, and they went hither and thither (1Sa 14:15-16<\/span>). <\/p>\n d <\/strong> Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Number now, and see who has gone from us.” And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there (1Sa 14:17<\/span>). <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring here the ark of God.” For the ark of God was there at that time with the children of Israel. And it came about that, while Saul talked to the priest, the tumult which was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased, and Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand” (1Sa 14:18-19<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> And Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle, and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture (1Sa 14:20<\/span>). <\/p>\n a <\/strong> Now the Hebrews who were previously with the Philistines, and who went up with them into the camp from round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Similarly all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. So YHWH saved Israel that day (1Sa 14:21-23<\/span> a). <\/p>\n Note that in ‘a’ ‘the Hebrews’ were bereft of swords and spears by the Philistines, and thus rendered unable to save themselves, while in the parallel they were able to spoil the Philistines because YHWH saved them. In ‘b’ Israel had no swords and spears, and in the parallel YHWH made the Philistines destroy each other with their own swords. In ‘c’ Ahitub was with Saul and with all who were gathered with him, but they were doing nothing under the pomegranate tree, (while at the same time Jonathan went out to make a stir among the Philistines garrison), and in the parallel while Saul was talking to Ahitub he noted the increase of the tumult among the Philistines. In ‘d’ the people did not know that Jonathan had gone, and in the parallel they number the army in order to discover who has gone. In ‘e’ Jonathan asserts his faith that YHWH can work for them, working by many or by few, and in the parallel YHWH does work for them and the amassed army of the Philistines melted away. In ‘f’ Jonathan and his armourbearer prepare for the possibility of going up among the Philistine garrison, and in the parallel they go among the Philistine garrison and slaughter them. In ‘g’ the test of whether they should go up will be that they are invited up, and in the parallel they are invited up. Centrally in ‘h’ when they disclosed themselves to the Philistines, the foolish Philistines jeered at the two brave men as cowards, something that they were soon to regret. <\/p>\n The Parlous Situation Of Israel’s Fighters ( 1Sa 13:19-22<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n We might wonder why Israel were not being more positive at this stage, but the reason for this is now explained to us. It was because of a careful and well thought out strategy of the Philistine overlords by which Saul’s men were left in a parlous position in that none of them (apart from Saul and Jonathan) had proper weapons. This had been ensured by the previous confiscation of their weapons, and by the Philistines then not allowing them to have metal smiths in their land. It is the first real indication that we have of the iron control that the invaders had maintained for some years over a good part of Israel. Combined with the Philistine’s monopoly in iron smelting, it meant that Israel could be no match for them in battle. <\/p>\n The consequence of this was that Saul’s men had been unable to make proper swords or spears for themselves, and thus had to make do with clubs, axes and farm instruments, or home-made weapons. It is no wonder then that the general host of ‘all Israel’, who were on the whole in the same situation, did not like the thought of meeting up with the well armed Philistines. The only ones, in fact, of the three units of Saul’s standing army, who had proper swords and spears, were Saul and Jonathan. It would be natural that the leaders would have first choice of any weapons that became available, but this lack of weapons serves to demonstrate that they had not killed any Philistines recently. <\/p>\n 1Sa 13:19-21<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears,” but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock, (yet they did have a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes), and to set the goads.’ <\/p>\n The Philistine strategy is described. They had allowed no smiths in Israel, and the result was that if the farmers wished to sharpen their tools properly, and to point their goads, they had to go to a Philistine smith. In between times they had to make do with using a file, which was of limited use. (A coulter is a cutting blade for a ploughshare). The aim in this was in order to make it impossible for Israel to produce swords and spears. <\/p>\n 1Sa 13:22<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> So it came about in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but only with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found such a weapon.’ <\/p>\n And that was the reason why Saul’s soldiers had no spears and swords. Such sophisticated weapons as there were, were only possessed by Saul and Jonathan themselves. The remainder had primitive ones. This serves to bring out the courage of Saul’s men. In spite of their lack they were still present with Saul with whatever sharp instruments or effective clubbing instruments they had been able to lay their hands on. <\/p>\n 1Sa 13:19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make [them] swords or spears:<\/p>\n Ver. 19. Now there was no smith found.<\/strong> ] For the Philistines had either slain them, or carried them away, By a like wicked policy, Julian the Apostate forbade Christians the use of the liberal arts: and Antichrist, the Word of God. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.<\/strong> ] See the like care of disarming, and disabling an enemy to rebel, in Jdg 5:8<\/span> . So Cyrus disarmed the Lydians, after that he had subdued them: a<\/em> and William the Conqueror the commons of England; he prevented also their night meetings with a heavy penalty, that every man at the day closing should cover his fire, and depart to his rest, &c. b<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n a<\/em> Justin., lib. i. <\/p>\n b<\/em> Daniel’s Hist., <\/em> p. 46.<\/p>\n no smith. This explains why Ehud had to make his own dagger (Jdg 3:16); why Shamgar had only an ox-goad (Jdg 3:31); why Samson “had nothingin his hand” (Jdg 14:5-6); and why “not a shield or spear among 40,000 in Israel” (Jdg 5:9). In other days we read of how many “drew sword”. <\/p>\n land. Some codices read “bounds”. <\/p>\n there was no: It is probable that the Philistines in the former wars had carried away all the smiths from Israel. Jdg 5:8, 2Ki 24:14, Isa 54:16, Jer 24:1 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Deu 28:29 – thou shalt be Deu 28:43 – General Jdg 3:3 – five lords Jdg 3:31 – an ox goad 1Ki 20:6 – and they shall search 2Ki 13:7 – fifty horsemen 1Ch 17:10 – And since Psa 60:1 – scattered Psa 73:8 – speak wickedly Psa 83:3 – They Psa 106:43 – brought low Psa 129:1 – have they<\/p>\n 1Sa 13:19. There was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel To this miserable condition the Philistines had reduced them during the forty years tyranny which they exercised over them, as we read Jdg 13:1. But after Samuel had put an end to that tyranny, by the great overthrow which he gave the Philistines at Eben-ezer, it seems something strange they had not restored their artificers. But the sloth of the Israelites appears in their whole story: and it was not easy, in so short a time, for men to learn this trade, which the Philistines wisely destroyed, as the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, carried away all the smiths to Babylon, that they who remained in the land might not arm themselves again, 2Ki 24:14. <\/p>\n Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make [them] swords or spears: 19 23. The disarmament of the Israelites 19. Now there was no smith found, &c.] A signal proof of the severity of the Philistine oppression, and the difficulties against which Saul … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 13:19”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>I learn first from this subject, how dangerous it is for the church of God to allow its weapons to stay in the hands of its enemies. We are too willing to give up our weapons to the enemy. The world boasts that it has gobbled up the schools, and the colleges, and the arts, and the sciences, and the literature, and the printing press. Infidelity is making a mighty attempt to get all our weapons in its hand, and then to keep them. You know it is making this boast all the time; and after a while, when the great battle between sin and righteousness has opened, if we do not look out we will be as badly off as these Israelites, without any swords to fight with, and without any sharpening instruments. I call upon the superintendents of literary institutions to see to it that the men who go into the class rooms to stand beside the Leyden jars and the electric batteries, and the microscopes and telescopes, be children of God not Philistines. We want to capture all the philosophical apparatus, and swing around the telescopes on the swivel, until through them we can see the morning star of the Redeemer, and with mineralogical hammer discover the Rock of Ages, and amid the flora of all realms find the Rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. Recapture these weapons. Let men of God go out and take possession of the platform. Let the debauched printing press of this country he recaptured for Christ, and the reporters, and the type setters, and the editors, and publishers be made to swear allegiance to the Lord God of Truth.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Again, I learn from this subject what a large amount of the Churchs resources is actually hidden, and buried, and undeveloped. The Bible intimates that that was a very rich land–this land of Israel. It says: The stones are iron, and out of the bills thou shalt dig brass, and yet hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of this metal was kept, under the hills. Well, that is the difficulty with the Church of God at this day. Its talent is not developed. The vast majority of Christians in this day are useless. The most of the Lords battalion belong to the reserve corps. The most of the crew are asleep in the hammocks. The most of the metal is under the hills. O, is it not time for the Church of God to rouse up and understand that we want all the energies, all the talent, and all the wealth enlisted for Christs sake? I like the nickname that the English soldiers gave to Blucher, the Commander. They called him Old Forwards. We have had enough retreats in the Church of Christ; let us have a glorious advance. And I say to you tonight, as the General said when his troops were affrighted. Rising up in his stirrups, his hair flying in the wind, he lifted up his voice until 20,000 troops heard him, crying out: Forward, the whole line!<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Again: I learn from this subject, that we sometimes do well to take advantage of the worlds sharpening instruments. Let us go over among sharp business men, and among sharp literary men, and find out what their tact is, and then transfer it to the cause of Christ. If they have science and art it will do us good to rub against it. In other words, let us employ the worlds grindstones. We will listen to their music, and we will watch their acumen, and we will use their grindstones; and we will borrow their philosophical apparatus to make our experiments, and we will borrow their printing presses to publish our Bibles, and we will borrow their rail trains to carry our Christian literature, and we will borrow their ships to transport our missionaries. That was what made Paul such a master in his day. He not only got all the learning he could get of Doctor Gamaliel, but afterward, standing on Mars Hill, and in crowded thoroughfare, quoted their poetry, and grasped their logic, and wielded their eloquence, and employed their mythology, until Dionysius the Areopagite, learned in the schools of Athens and Heliopolis, went down under his tremendous powers. That was what gave Thomas Chalmers his power in his day. He conquered the worlds astronomy and compelled it to ring out the wisdom and greatness of the Lord, until for the second time, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Again, my subject teaches us on what a small allowance Philistine iniquity puts a man. Yes; these Philistines shut up the mines, and then they took the spears and the swords, then they took the blacksmiths, then they took the grindstones, and they took everything but a file. O, that is the way sin works; it grabs everything. It begins with robbery, and it ends with robbery. It despoils this faculty and that faculty, and keeps on until the whole nature is gone. Was the man eloquent before, it generally thickens his tongue. Was he fine in personal appearance, it mars his visage. Was he affluent, it sends the sheriff to sell him out. Was be influential, it destroys his popularity. Was be placid, and genial, and loving, it makes him splenetic and cross; and so utterly is he changed that you can see he is sarcastic and rasping, and that the Philistines have left him nothing but a file. So it was with Voltaire, the most applauded man of his day. Seized with hemorrhage of the lungs in Paris, where be had gone to be crowned in the theatre as the idol of all France, he sends a messenger to get a priest, that he may be reconciled to the Church before he dies A great terror falls upon him. He makes the place all round about him so dismal that the nurse declares that she would not for all the wealth of Europe see another infidel die. Philistine iniquity had promised him all the worlds garlands, but in the last hour of his life, when he needed solacing, sent tearing across his conscience and his nerves a file, a file. So it was with Lord Byron. Is it not so, Herod? Is it not so, Hildebrand? Is it not so, Robespierre? Aye! aye! it is so; it is so. The way of the wicked He turneth upside down. History tells us that when Rome was founded, on that day there were twelve vultures flying through the air; but when a transgressor dies, the sky is black with whole flocks of them. When I see sin robbing so many of my hearers, and I see them going down day by day, and week by week, I must give a plain warning.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>I learn from this subject what a sad thing it is when the Church of God loses its metal. These Philistines saw that if they could only get all the metallic weapons out of the hands of the Israelites all would be well, and, therefore, they took the swords and the spears. They did not want them to have a single metallic weapon. When the metal of the Israelites was gone their strength was gone. This is the trouble with the Church of God today. It is surrendering its courage It has not got enough metal (T. De Witt Talmage.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"