Matthew Poole on 1 Samuel (cont.)

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[Poole on 1 Samuel 5:7-9.]

As a nation, the season of mercy continues...

But rather than turning from our sins in repentance, and toward the Savior in faith, we continue in our wayward course!

Wouldn't surrender to this Great King make more sense?

Consider the case of the Philistines...

 

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Poole on 1 Samuel 5:10-12.

As it turns out, God does not need men to defend His honor. With no Israelite in sight, God defends the Ark and glorifies Himself by His own outstretched arm!

For everyone interested in the glory of God, but sensible also of human frailty, this will not doubt be a most encouraging thought.

 

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The translation of Poole's "Synopsis" on 1 Samuel 5 (God's glory and the abasement of Dagon) is now available in its entirety!

www.fromreformationtoreformation.com/1-samuel

 

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"Was it God? or chance?"

The ancient Philistine question is still with us in the modern West, whether we are contemplating origins or recent judgments.

God's answer is still the same.

 

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With paganism on the rise, it is good for Christians to be reminded: "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?" (Isaiah 8:19).

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:1, 2.

 

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The way to reconciliation with God has been opened in Jesus Christ ... and He is the only way.

In vain does the sin-darkened mind of man contrive other ways.

In this post, the example of the Philistines...

 

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Golden hemorrhoids?

In this post...

 

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More golden hemorrhoids.

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:5.

 

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"It is much cheaper to learn by other people's experience than by our own." --Matthew Henry

We should learn from the judgments that have fallen upon other nations.

Even the Philistine diviners get it...

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:6.

 

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God, or Chance?

This question has long been with us in the West.

In this regard, we have not advanced beyond the ancient Philistine diviners.

In this post, they put it to the test...

 

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What became of the coffer of golden hemorrhoids and mice beside the ark?

Poole provides the hint of a tradition...

 

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'When the time comes that the Lord makes sin to find out the sinner, O what wrestling do sinners often make to avoid the meeting. They shut their eyes, and they will not see, though God is writing their sin before them in legible characters.... If they meet with a stroke sent from God for the very purpose to charge it home upon them, they will say it is but a chance, 1 Samuel 6:9. Beware of this.' Thomas Boston

In this post...

 

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A comforting thought concerning the cause of God in our own land...

"God will be no loser in his glory, at last, by the successes of the church's enemies against his ark, but will get himself honour from those that seek to do dishonour to him" (Matthew Henry).

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:10-11.

 

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"What are the chances that these things have come to pass by chance? Not a chance" (Sproul paraphrase).

In this post, the lesson of the milch kine...or, the diviners taught by cows...

 

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The Church is in a low condition, but...

"God will in his own time effect the deliverance of his church, not only though it be fought against by its enemies, but though it be neglected by its friends" (Matthew Henry).

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:13.

 

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Think of the simplicity of the worship of the New Testament: prayer, Bible reading, preaching, sacraments...

"The intrinsic grandeur of instituted ordinances ought not to be diminished in our eyes by the meanness and poverty of the place where they are administered" (Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 6:14).

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:14-15.

 

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Apart from human agency, God glorifies Himself in the eyes of the nations!

Poole on 1 Samuel 6:16-18.