Israel in Mizpeh heard of the hostile approach of the Philistines, "they were afraid" (ver. 7). But as rebellion

had caused their desertion, so would return bring them help from the Lord. As so generally in this history,

all would happen naturally in the ordinary succession of cause and effect; and yet all would be really and

directly of God in the ordering and arrangement of events. Israel must not go to war, nor must victory be

clue to their own prowess. It must be all of God, and the Philistines must rush on their o wn fate. Yet it was

quite natural that when the Philistines heard of this grand national gathering at Mizpeh, after twenty years

of unattempted resistance to their rule, they should wish to anticipate their movements; and that, whether

they regarded the assembly as a revival of distinctively national religion or as preparatory for war. Similarly,

it was natural that they would go on this expedition not without serious misgivings as to the power of the

God of Israel which they had experienced during the stay of the ark in their land; and that in this state of

mind they would be prepared to regard any terrible phenomenon in nature as His interposition, and be

affected accordingly.

All this actually took place, but its real causes lay deeper than appeared on the surface. While Israel

trembled at the approach of the Philistines, Samuel prayed,68 and "Jehovah answered him." The great

thunder-storm on that day, which filled the Philistines with panic, was really the Lord's thundering. It was a

wild mass of fugitiv es against which Israel went out from Mizpeh, and whom they pursued and smote until

under the broad meadows of Beth-car, "the house of the lamb." And it was to mark not only the victory, but

its cause and meaning, that Samuel placed the memorial-stone on the scene of this rout, between "the look

out" and Shen, "the tooth," probably a rocky crag on the heights down which the Philistines were hurled in

their flight. That stone he named "Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us."

Helped - but only "hitherto!" For all Jehovah's help is only "hitherto" - from day to day, and from place to

place - not unconditionally, nor wholly, nor once for all, irrespective of our bearing. But even so, the

outward consequences of this Philistine defeat were most important. Although their military possession of

certain posts, and their tenure of these districts still continued (comp. 1 Samuel 10:5; 13:4, 11-21; 14:21), yet

the advancing tide of their incursions was stemmed, and no further expeditions were attempted such as that

which had been so signally defeated.69 More than that. In the immediate vicinity of the field of battle, all the

cities which the Philistines had formerly taken from Israel, "with the coasts thereof," - that is, with their

surroundings - were restored to Israel, along the whole line extending north and south from Ekron to Gath.70

Moreover, "the Amorites," or Canaanitish tribes in that neighborhood, had withdrawn from their alliance

with the Philistines: "And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites."

Similarly, order was introduced into the internal administration of the land, at least so far as the central and

the southern portions of it were concerned. Samuel had his permanent residence in Ramah, where he was

always accessible to the people. But, besides, "he went from year to year in circuit" -to Bethel, thence to

from time immemorial, he "judged Israel," - not in the sense of settling disputes between individuals, but in

that of the spiritual and national administration of affairs, as the center and organ of the religious and

political life of the people.

We have no means of judging how long this happy state of things lasted. As usually, Holy Scripture

furnishes not details even of the life and administration of a Samuel. It traces the history of the kingdom of

God. As we have no account of events during the twenty years which preceded the battle of Eben-ezer (1

Samuel 7:2), so we are left in ignorance of those which followed it. From the gathering at Mizpeh, with its

consequences, we are at once transported to Samuel's old age.72 He is still "the judge;" the same stern,

unbending, earnest, God-devoted man as when in the full vigor of manhood. But he has felt the need of help

in matters of detail; and his two sons are now made "judges," with residence in Beer-sheba,73 the ancient

"well of the seven," or "of the oath," on the southern boundary of the land. Their office seems to have been

chiefly, if not exclusively, that of civil administration, for which in the border district, and so near a nomadic

or semi-nomadic population, there must have been ample need.