1 4 – Fatal Presumption, Part 1 The Ark is Lost Big Idea

In this chapter, God is treated presumptuously. He is not humbly sought out. Israel treats Him as their servant, demanding that He show up for them and grant success to all their plans. God must discipline Israel, giving them a painful lesson that He must be treated reverently. This event is a graphic example of the rottenness at the heart of Israel’s spiritual life at this time. It also shows the need for Samuel’s ministry to repair the damage done during the priesthood of and his sons. Overview of the Passage

Israel engages in battle with the Philistines. The Israelites are soundly defeated. So, the elders decide to bring the into their war camp, assuming that God will be with them and give them victory. They are wrong. The second battle is far worse, and the ark is taken away by the Philistines. One commentator summed it up this way: “Israel loses without the ark; Israel loses with the ark; Israel loses the ark.”

Judgment has fallen on Israel, and on the house of Eli. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are killed. Eli hears all the terrible news, then he dies. And Phinehas’s wife dies in childbirth after hearing the news. Outline of the Passage

• The Tragic First Battle (4:1b-2) • Presumption of the Elders (4:3-4) • The Catastrophic Second Battle (4:5-11) • Eli Hears the News (4:12-18) • Phinehas’s Wife Hears the News (4:19-22) Read 1 Samuel 4 Commentary

The first part of verse 1 most likely goes with chapter 3. It states that “the word of Samuel came to all Israel” (v. 1a). In 3:1, it was noted that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days.” Now, God is using Samuel to bring His word to all of Israel. But as we will see, the hearts of all Israel have not yet returned to the LORD, and there are some serious errors in their thinking.

The Tragic First Battle (4:1b-2)

The Israelites had some pesky neighbors with whom they fought on a regular basis. The Philistines were a constant thorn in Israel’s side. In our text, these two nations have decided to engage in battle once again. The Israelites “encamped at Ebenezer” (v. 1b), which was about 25 miles from , and about two miles away from Aphek, where the Philistines were encamped. Aphek was a well-watered and strongly fortified place.

PHILISTINES

One of the “Sea Peoples,” who migrated into the Palestine area around 1200 B.C. By the time of the judges, the Philistines had settled along the coastlands of southern Canaan. They had a league of five capital cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza (6:17; Judg. 3:3). The Philistines often tried to expand their territory, and in the time of Samuel and the early monarchy, they were in direct conflict with the Israelites to the north and east.

In one verse, the battle is described. “The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle” (v. 2). In short, matter-of-fact terms, the tragic loss is recounted.

Presumption of the Elders (4:3-4)

The elders of the people make some serious errors in judgment here. First, they blame God for their defeat, as if they were righteous sufferers under a capricious God. “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?” (v 3). God is sovereign and does work all things according to His purposes, “the battle is the LORD’s” (17:47). But He will not reward rampant disobedience. In the Mosaic covenant, one of the curses for disobedience was that “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies” (Deut. 28:25; see also Lev. 26:39). In a crisis or before a battle, God was to be sought to ARK OF THE COVENANT determine if it was His will for Israel to fight or not The ark was a wooden box, open at the (1 Kgs. 22:5-12; 2 Kgs. 3:11). The elders of Israel, who top, approximately 3 to 4 feet in length should have known better, never sought the LORD to and 2 ¼ feet in both width and height see if He was calling them to go to battle in the first (based on 18 inches a cubit). It was place. They did not submit themselves to God’s will or overlaid inside and out with sheets of the to His law. They took matters into their own hands and finest gold. Four rings (also gold covered) paid the price. were attached to the sides for the Next, the elders think that they can assure Israel of insertion of two gold-encrusted poles, victory if they bring the ark of the covenant into the which were used to carry the ark and war camp. “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the protect it from the touch of all but the high LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and priest. A golden cover, decorated with two save us from the power of our enemies” (v. 3b). winged cherubim, sealed the ark. The primary function of the ark was to store The nations all around Israel had idols representing the tablets and to serve as a “footstool” their false gods. They believed that they could harness for God’s throne, thereby providing an or control the power of their gods by bringing the idol earthly link between God and the or symbol of the god with them. The tragedy here is Israelites. The ark was a symbol of the that Israel has treated the LORD and the ark of the presence of the LORD God in the midst of covenant in a similar fashion. They think that they can His people, Israel. It normally resided in harness the power of God, and use it to defeat their the Holy of Holies within the tabernacle, enemies, by bringing the ark into the camp. They are and later, the temple. superstitiously treating the ark of God like a good luck charm, or talisman, that magically guarantees victory. They are presuming upon God. They are trying to force His hand into helping them win their battles.

It should not surprise us that Hophni and Phinehas, Eli’s two wicked sons, went along with this plan. They already have established a pattern of reckless disregard for the things of God (see 1 Sam. 2:12-17, 22-25). And under their priesthood, the spiritual maturity of Israel has plummeted.

The Catastrophic Second Battle (4:5-11)

When the ark arrives in the war camp, “all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded” (v. 5). The army of Israel erroneously believes the same thing as the elders—the presence of the ark equals the presence of God, and if God is among them then victory is assured. But while the ark was with them in the camp, the LORD God was against them.

The Philistines hear this great shout from their camp, which is two miles away. They learn that the ark of the God of Israel has moved into their camp. At this news, the Philistines begin to fear. They have heard the stories of Israel’s God. “Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness” (v. 8). Notice that the polytheistic Philistines think that Israel has a plurality of gods, rather than one God. The news of the events surrounding the Exodus has impacted surrounding nations, even generations later (6:6; Josh. 2:9-11).

The Philistines try to bolster their courage, telling each other to basically “Man up.” They say, “Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight” (v. 9). The result of this pep talk is that the Philistines came out swinging—they fought tenaciously.

Israel and the Philistines engage in battle again, and this time, the results are far worse. “There was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell” (v. 10). God will not be “used” by men in order to achieve their selfish and sinful purposes. God will not be mocked (Gal. 6:7), and He cannot be manipulated.

There were two other consequences of this battle, mentioned in verse 11: Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died (in fulfillment of 2:34 and 3:12) and the ark of God was captured. Five times in verses 11- 22 the phrase “the ark of God was [or is] taken” (vv. 11, 17, 19, 21-22). Never before in the history of Israel had the ark ever fallen into enemy hands! The symbol of the presence of God among His people was now in the presence of their foes.

Eli Hears the News (4:12-18)

Word reached Shiloh of the defeat of Israel’s army. A man from Benjamin ran back to Shiloh, with clothes torn and dirt on his head (signs of lament), telling the tragic news (v. 12). The text says that Eli was “sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God” (v. 13). Earlier, he had been rebuked for honoring his sons more than the Lord (2:29). So, now Eli shows a concern for the ark of God that surpasses his concern for his own sons (see vv. 17-18). Eli asked what the uproar was all about when he heard the outcry in the city (vv. 13-14). The man ran up and told him.

The text says that Eli was 98 years old and basically blind (v. 15). The Benjamite man who fled the battle and brought the news told Eli that “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people” (v. 17a). This is very bad news. But it gets worse (and more personal for Eli). “Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead” (v. 17b). This is terrible, indeed, but the worst news is yet to come. “…and the ark of God has been captured” (v. 17c). This was the greatest tragedy of all!

It was the mention of the ark of God, and its capture by the Philistines, that had the deadly effect. Eli must have suffered a heart attack or a stroke, for it says that “As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy” (v. 18). Thus, judgment fell on Eli and his sons, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD. Eli “had judged Israel forty years” (v. 18b). An interesting historical note is that the town of Shiloh, where Eli and his sons had ministered, was itself destroyed about 1050 B.C., soon after the Israelites were defeated at Ebenezer (see Jer. 7:12; 26:6).

Phinehas’s Wife Hears the News (4:19-22)

Eli was not the only one to react strongly (and fatally) to the news. His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, “was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her” (v. 19). Apparently, there were complications in this birth, for she died as a result of childbirth. “And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.’ But she did not answer or pay attention” (v. 20).

Before dying, she had time to name her son. Being WHAT’S IN A NAME? overcome with grief and despair, “she named the child , saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ Ichabod – Hebrew name meaning because the ark of God had been captured and because of “No Glory,” “Inglorious,” or “Where her father-in-law and her husband” (v. 21). The intensity of (is) the Glory?” This name speaks of the tragedy was emphasized in the fact that she states it the spiritual state of Israel at this twice. “And she said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for time. the ark of God has been captured’” (v. 22). Some commentators question the order – had the glory of God departed because the ark was captured, or was the ark captured because the glory of God had already departed from Israel? Surely God was not being honored or glorified in the ministry of Eli and his wicked sons. God had removed His glory because Israel had sinned against Him. It would happen again when the glory of God departed from the temple in the days of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 10:18).

This event was so significant that Asaph the psalmist included it in one of his psalms (Psa. 78:60-61). It was more than just the loss of the ark; the LORD abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh and (as previously mentioned) He allowed it to be destroyed (Jer. 7:12-14; 26:6, 9). The next two chapters of 1 Samuel detail the journey of the lost ark through Philistia and back again to Israel. What Does This Passage Teach Us About God?

God is holy. In a world filled with idols and substitutes, the LORD alone is God. God is Almighty. God is sovereign and in control. God will not be mocked or manipulated. He will not be treated like some good luck charm. He must be approached humbly, in reverence and submission. He is worthy of all glory. He is jealous for His glory. As a good Father, He disciplines His children. What Does This Passage Teach Us About Man?

Man desires to be in control and will attempt to use any means necessary to accomplish his own will. However, man is not in control, despite his best efforts. Man does not and will not seek after God on his own. Because man has a sin nature, the regular drift of his heart is away from a proper fear and worship of God and toward idols and substitutes. Man, in and of himself, is not capable of correcting this problem. Gospel Connection

The world offers us many substitutes to the pure worship of God and complete trust in God. Our very hearts are idol factories. We can even take religious symbols and substitute them for God. And we struggle with the idea that we are not in control. In our sin and disobedience, we stand guilty before a holy God.

The good news is that God, in His amazing love, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty of our sins, to die in our place, that we might believe in Him and have eternal life. Part of what it means to believe in our Lord Jesus, and what He has done for us on the cross, is to place your trust in Him—to trust that He is in control (which means you don’t have to be). We can cast all our cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for us. We can trust that our sovereign Lord is both almighty and all good. He will do what is right, and we can rest in Him.

Another part of what it means to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be a Christian, is that you have repented of your sins. This means that you turn away from sin and turn toward God in Jesus Christ. You actively pursue Christ and relentlessly root out sin and idols in your life. Repentance is not just a one-time thing; it is a lifestyle.

In all things, the Christian ought to seek the glory of God. And while we frequently mess this up, even God’s grace and forgiveness in our mistakes is cause for more glory to God. May it never be said of our homes or our churches that “the glory has departed” (1 Sam. 4:21, 22). May the glory of God be on display in every facet of our lives! Discussion Questions

o Do people today take religious symbols for granted? How many religious symbols can you name, and what are the basic meanings behind them? o Can you list any religious symbols, traditions or attitudes—sacred cows—that tend to take on a life of their own and become like God to some people? o How would you feel if someone wrote “Ichabod” across the front of your church? Would they be justified in doing so? o What does it mean to reverence and fear God? o How can we turn to the Lord with all our hearts? What specifically can we do? o Is it easy to trust God in all things? Name some ways and steps that we could take to show our trust.

Resources used in this Lesson:

Anders, Max, ed. Holman Old Testament Commentary: I & II Samuel. Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009.

Chapell, Bryan, ed. The ESV Gospel Transformation Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013.

Dennis, Lane T. and Wayne Grudem, eds. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.

Evans, Mary J. New International Biblical Commentary: 1&2 Samuel. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2000.

Fields, Wilbur. Old Testament History: An Overview of Sacred History & Truth. Joplin, MO: College Press, 1996.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV Edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010.

Sproul, R.C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible. Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament History. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2003.