150802 God in Captivity — Ha!

1 Samuel 5:1-6 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. ³ And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. ⁵ This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. ⁶ The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

1 Samuel chapter 4 records the horrible circumstances of the captivity of the Ark of the Covenant! The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, had taken the ark from Shiloh to use as a powerful tool! They believed that the presence of the ark would cause God to defend them. We need to remember that God is not subject to us and will not do as we want. We are subject to God and we always are required to follow his will in everything. The armies of the Philistines were terrified at the presence of the ark because they knew the history of the plagues in Egypt and the Exodus.

The capture of the ark came about because…

The sons of Eli were not godly. Let’s look at 1 Samuel 2:24-25.  No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵ If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

The dysfunctional family is not a new experience! The first dysfunctional family, of course, was that of Adam and Eve. They brought two sons into the world at the beginning of human history and when they became adults the older killed the younger out of jealousy! From that time forward families have often been dysfunctional. Eli may have been a widower since we have no mention of his wife. That’s not an excuse for his sons, but it may be a reason. Eli was busy about the things of God and trying to maintain godly order in Israel. Perhaps he was so busy that he could not take time for his own family. As time went by Hophni and Phinehas grew more and more evil. Even though they took on the family “business” as priests they did not act out a godly lifestyle. These two men were so despicable that…

 God rejected the entire house of Eli. Look ahead to 1 Samuel 2:31-34. An unnamed prophet came to Eli to bring him a word from God. Let’s read part of that. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. ³³ The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. ³⁴ And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.

Eli the priest of God was now warned that his family was being rejected by God because of the evil actions of his sons and the fact that he had not controlled them. Eli would not see the final destruction of his family because it would be done during the reign of Solomon many years later.

In preparation for the days of destruction God had made arrangements for a man who would be faithful to him in all ways. God provided this new priest through a woman who had, up until then, been unable to bear children. Hannah was her name!

Hannah had come to Shiloh for the annual sacrifices and had poured her heart out in prayer to God for a son. She promised the Lord that if she were given a son she would give him back to God. She went home from that prayer meeting and soon found that she was pregnant!

When her son was born she loved and cherished him. The next year she did not go to Shiloh for the annual sacrifice because she wanted to be able to present this boy to God. She told her husband that when she had weaned the boy Samuel she would bring him to Shiloh and loan him to God for as long as he lived. Little did she know that she had conceived the man who would change Israel from a scattered group of tribes into a great nation under King David. One of the last acts that Samuel did on earth was to anoint David as King. That anointing set the stage for Jesus to come into the world through the house of David.

The unfaithful sons of Eli would die and his descendants would eventually be  wiped out. But…

God had in place a faithful priest. Look with me at 1 Samuel 3:19-21. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Samuel came into Eli’s house and became like a son to him. Things had gotten so bad, spiritually, that there was no longer any frequent vision from God. In fact there was an interesting statement made at the time when God did reveal himself to Samuel. That statement was, “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord is not yet been revealed to him.” (1 Samuel 3:7) At the same time Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

One night, while Samuel was sleeping in the temple, God called to him and he went to Eli because that’s who he thought had called him. Eli soon realized that it was God speaking to Samuel and he gave the boy directions on how to hear from God. During that conversation Samuel learned about the prophecy concerning Eli and was told why Eli and his descendants would be removed from the office of priest, indeed, from the very earth itself. This would happen because Eli had allowed his sons to blaspheme God.

Samuel grew and God again appeared at Shiloh. The people of Israel soon recognized that God had a new prophet. Yet, Samuel did not have the authority to prevent the ark from being carried into battle against the Philistines. But we need to remember that…

The battle belongs to the Lord. Let’s read on in 1 Samuel 4:10-11. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. ¹¹ And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Contrary to the expectations of both Israel, and the Philistines, Israel lost the battle. 30,000 men died along with the two sons of Eli. In the report that was brought to Eli.

The glory departed — Ichabod! Turn with me to 1 Samuel 4:15-22. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. ¹⁶ And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” ¹⁷ He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over 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. He had judged Israel forty years. ¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, 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. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

With the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, and the defeat of Israel’s army, Eli the priest died. Eli’s daughter-in-law went into labor and delivered a son that she named “Ichabod” because the glory had departed from Israel.

Very soon…

The Philistines found that the ark was not a safe guest. Turn with me to 1 Samuel 5:8-12. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. ⁹ But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” ¹¹ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

As a result of all this…

A plan was developed to send the ark home. Let’s look ahead to 1 Samuel 6:8-16. And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way ⁹ and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.” ¹⁰ The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. ¹² And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. ¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. ¹⁴ The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

After these events twenty years passed with a kind of peace between Israel and the Philistines. During that time Samuel matured and the people looked to him for leadership.

Samuel took charge. Let’s read on in 1 Samuel 7:3-4.  And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. ..

7-11 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

The people of Israel put away the nasty gods that they were worshiping and came back to the Lord during those years. Realize that when someone, individually, or as part of a group, turns to the Lord away from the evil of the world around them the enemy will bring his forces out to attack. The people of Israel saw the armies of the Philistines coming and asked Samuel to pray for them. Samuel offered a sacrifice and raised up a prayer and the Lord, with the sound of his voice, drove the Philistines from the battlefield.

The twenty year peace was ended and the animosity between Israel and the Philistines was resumed! When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into battle God had allowed it to be taken. Now a prophet of God was present and in response to his prayer God came on the scene and in his strength defeated the Philistines and Israel was able to drive them from the land in preparation for the coming kingdom.

After God defeated the Philistines with his voice Samuel took a stone and set it up and called its name Ebenezer. That stone was to remind the people that it was God who helped them. All the days of Samuel there was peace. Because the people of Israel had seen a very clear proof that God was on their side. Just as Moses had described, the people began to cry out for a king. They had seen what happened when Eli grew old and now they were seeing Samuel growing old and they wanted a stable plan of government. Samuel was very offended because he considered they were rejecting him. But God already had a plan for a king and a path for Israel to follow to get to him. David was that king but he was simply an illustration of the real king — Jesus! Have you put your faith in him? Are you willing to obey him now?

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.