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We are today all saved by grace, but it is a question of accepting by grace a hope and
inheritance which is "better". There is a parallel to this in the epistle to the Hebrews,
where the apostle exhorted his hearers to follow the example of those indicated in
chapter 11:, who had looked beyond earthly promises and blessings to one which was
heavenly, the heavenly city, New Jerusalem (Heb. 11: 16, 39, 40).
There is a further striking parallel in Numb. 16: Korah, and some 250 others of the
elect tribe of Levi, took a stand against Moses and Aaron, leaders chosen by God, saying
"Ye take too much upon yourselves, seeing all the congregation are holy". It is true that
Israel was an elect nation, but they failed to see that there was an "election within an
election" as ordained by God. The awful result of this rebellion was that they were
judged and destroyed by God. This episode, and others related to it, are dealt with very
fully by Charles H. Welch in his first hardback volume entitled Dispensational Truth,
pages 223 to 233. It is our sincere hope, therefore, that the reader may be able to
perceive the peculiar hope as revealed in the epistle to the Ephesians (and in the
companion epistle Colossians) and rejoice in the acknowledgement of Christ as Head of
the Church which is His Body, the Fullness of Him that filleth all in all.
No.9.
7: 1 - 17.
pp. 196 - 200
The Philistines had been forced by God to return the Ark they had captured from the
army of Israel. They had sent it back to Bethshemesh, the nearest town across the border.
The people here, however, had desecrated the sacred coffer and the Lord had punished
them for their sin. As a result of this they ask the men of Kirjath-jearim to come and take
it. Kirjath-jearim means "the city of woods", so it must have been surrounded by forests.
Situated only 8 miles west of Jerusalem, before Joshua's conquest of Canaan the city had
been a seat of the worship of Baal, and a notable "high place".
"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" (I Sam. 7: 1).
So the Ark found a resting place in the house of Abinadab, and his son Eleazar was
commissioned to keep it. He was "sanctified" for this work. In other words, set apart to
give constant attendance to it and to act as a watchman over it. The faithful in the city
would no doubt wish to worship before it, and perhaps the curious would want to go and
see it. This young man's job was to guard it and keep it in safety.
"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" (7: 2).
There is something very touching in these words: a sense of sadness for the length of
time. Those twenty years must have been a period of strenuous service on the part of
Samuel.