of Baal, and cut down his groves. And Gideon did so, by night. He did it not by day, for he feared the men of his city, who worshipped Baal. Now, all the Midianites and Amalekites were gathered together in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and sent messengers, and a multitude of those that feared God came around him. And Gideon said unto God, If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor, and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the earth besides, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said. And it was so, for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

and served not Him, but strange gods, the gods of the heathen. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines; and the children of Ammon fought against them, so that Israel was scre distressed, and cried unto the Lord. And He said, Go, and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen : let them deliver you. And the children of Israel said, We have sinned. And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord. And His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. Then Jephthah, who feared God, was made head and captain over Israel, and he went and fought against the children of Ammon. And the Lord delivered them into his hands. And Jephthah judged Israel six years, and then died. And after him, Ibzan, and Elon, and Abdon judged Israel in peace.

How ungrateful were the children of Israel to God! While under the rule of some good judge who feared God, they kept themselves from idols; but as soon as they were left to themselves, they seemed to forget all that had been done for them, and all the mighty works of the Lord, and began to bow down and

worship the idols of wood and stone, made by the hands of men. It was because they had disobeyed God that they were tempted to commit such sin. They had allowed the heathen men and women to live in peace amongst them. They had even married amongst them. And to bring them to a

sense of their sin, God was obliged to punish them heavily, and sell them as slaves amongst the heathen. Then, when they suffered, they remembered God, and cried to Him in their anguish. And He never cast them off; but in His great mercy saved them again and again.

Did the children of Israel obey God, and destroy all the heathen?

What was the consequence of their disobedience? Who judged Israel after the death of Joshua, and all that generation?

What was the story of Sisera?

Who was raised up by God to save Israel?

How did God show His power through Gideon and the three hundred men?

Did Israel remain faithful to God after the death of Gideon?

N

AMSON, the strongest man of old,
Judged Israel twenty years;

His birth an angel had foretold,
The child of hopes and fears.

A lion roaring in his way,

He rent it like a kid ;
And honey found, another day,
Within its carcase hid.

He slew the heathen Philistines
With jaw-bone of an ass;

He burnt their olives, corn, and vines,
As so much withered grass.

And whilst his enemies await,

In Gaza's bounds, their prey,
Samson tore up the city gate,
And bore it far away.

Alas! he turned aside from good,
Betrayed his secret strength,
And then, abandoned by his God,
Was made a slave at length.

The Philistines put out his eyes,
But God forgives him then,
And, in the hour blind Samson dies,
He slays three thousand men.

残

ND the children of Israel did evil

again in the sight of the Lord; and

the Lord delivered them into the

hand of the Philistines forty years.

And there was a certain man of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah, and he had no children; and the angel of the Lord appeared unto his wife, and told her that she should have a son. And the angel said, No razor shall come on his head, for he shall be a Nazarite, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his