was far away from Ramah, in the extreme south of Canaan. We often read the expression

"from Dan to Beersheba", meaning from north to south.

How many good and honest men have been spoiled through preferment and power. It

does not seem that Samuel's sons were quite so profane or vicious as the sons of Eli, but

love of money was their downfall. Whatever they were in other respects they became

corrupt judges by accepting bribes. This base sin made a mockery of justice, and has

been in the past fatally common, particularly in the eastern countries. In both the books

of Exodus and Deuteronomy the command of God to Moses was "Take no gift, for the

gift blinded the minds of the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous". Samuel

himself could say, "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? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind

mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded

us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand" (I Sam. 12: 3, 4).

This honourable testimony to the integrity of Samuel throughout his long public

ministry is left as a record concerning the character of this great servant of God. The

apostle Paul, when writing to his young "son in the faith" Timothy, says also "For the

love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they have

erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows . . . . . men of

corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness . . . . . but

godliness with contentment is great gain". It is impossible for any Christian to sincerely

love the Lord and be covetous. If we put Him first in our heart and life we shall always

be equal to this temptation. To do this, however, we have to know Him well, and love

and believe His Word.

Despite his splendid life of service, even Samuel seems to have failed at the end of his

life in relation to his sons. Aaron had a similar tragedy with his two sons Nadab and

Abihu (Lev. 10: 1, 2). Has there ever been in the history of our race so much sadness as

there is today among families because of the disregard of the children for their parents?

Brought about largely by the war, the desire for freedom from all restraints, and the

neglect of the Word of God and turning away from the Lord Jesus Christ. We have only

to think of Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. Then Noah whose faith and

righteousness brought him and his family through the wrath of God, yet whose progeny

included such evil people as Canaan, Cush and Nimrod. Further we have Abraham's son

Ishmael, Isaac's son Esau, and finally the sons of Jacob who sold their brother into

slavery for envy. So the Scriptures reveal that no man other than the Son of God was

ever perfect. The O.T. characters with their outstanding typical qualities reveal the

frailty, failure, and sin of even the greatest men that have ever lived.

In the book of Samuel we find illustrated another principle that is revealed in the

Scriptures as being characteristic of God's dealing with men. Contrary to what we may

expect, God takes the second place, not the first. Note, we said "in his dealings with

men": thus we have Adam, the first man, before Christ, the second Adam: Cain "who

was of that wicked one" before Abel, Ishmael before Isaac, Esau before Jacob; Saul is