Lesson 201 - Senior
Memory Verse
"The LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him" (Habakkuk 2:20).
Cross References
I Judgement upon Israel
1. The Philistines slew 4,000 men when the Children of Israel tried to overthrow the yoke of bondage, [1SM:4:1-2]; [JOS:7:4-5]; [PS:44:9-10].
2. The elders of Israel inquired for the reason of defeat, [1SM:4:3]; [JOS:7:6-12].
3. The Ark of God was brought into the camp, [1SM:4:4-5].
4. The Philistines rallied their forces and again defeated Israel, [1SM:4:6-10].
II Israel's Crushing Loss
1. The Ark of God was taken, and Eli's sons were slain, [1SM:4:11]; [PS:78:59-64].
2. The report of disaster was brought to Shiloh, [1SM:4:12-13].
3. When Eli heard that the Ark of God had been captured, he fell from his seat and died, [1SM:4:14-18].
III God's Care for the Ark, and Its Return
1. The Philistines' idol fell before the Ark, [1SM:5:1-5]; [ISA:19:1].
2. After seven months of great affliction, the Philistines decided to send the Ark back to Israel, [1SM:6:1-3].
3. A test was made to determine whether God's hand had been in the affliction upon the Philistines, [1SM:6:7-12].
4. The people of Israel received their Ark with rejoicing, [1SM:6:13-15].
5. The men of Beth-shemesh looked into the Ark and were smitten by the Lord, [1SM:6:19-20]; [2SM:6:6-7].
Notes
Servitude and Its Cause
"The word of Samuel came to all Israel." This word was in all probability the revelation from God to Samuel that Eli's house would be judged because sin and iniquity were found there ([1SM:3:11-14]). Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's sons, who were acting as priests in their father's place, knew not the Lord; and made themselves very vile. The Lord said that He would bring about a change in the priesthood ([1SM:2:35]), and events moved swiftly to bring about this change.
The Children of Israel had been a long time under the domination of the Philistines. No doubt the yoke of servitude was oppressive, for the Philistines admitted in a measure that their rule over Israel had been rigorous ([1SM:4:9]). In any wise, the army of the Children of Israel attempted to overthrow the Philistines' control of their land. The battle was put in array with high expectations, but the Israelites soon found themselves put to the worse before their enemy. Four thousand of their men were left dead on the field of battle. The question arose that evening in the camp Israel, "Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines?" There was a reason: the Lord had departed from the Children of Israel because they had sinned against Him.
Wrong Procedure
The elders of Israel proposed a remedy for their defeat, and the people seemed to endorse the suggestion. "Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies." The people knew that the Lord was not fighting for them, that He had allowed them to be smitten by their enemies. However, they did not seek in the right way to win His favour once more. The elders of Israel seemed to think that if they had the emblem of God with them, they would be assured of His presence; whereas, the sins of the priests and the people had caused God to withdraw Himself entirely. When God heard of their unfaithfulness, "he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men" (Psalm 78:59, 60).
There is only one thing, sin, that causes God to turn His faced away from His people. The only way to win God's favour, once sin has been committed, is to repent of that sin and return to God, seeking His mercy. This is the action that the Children of Israel should have taken when they found themselves defeated before the enemy. They had an example to follow in the action that Joshua took when the Israelites were defeated at Ai. He went down upon his face before God in humiliation until the source of the trouble was revealed. As soon as the accursed thing and sin were removed from the camp, God could again visit His people with victory. God is ever merciful to the people who come with contrition and repentance, but He will judge those who persist in their sins against Him.
No Power in Emblems
The Children of Israel at this time were little better than the heathen around about them. They seemed to think that the sacred things of God could be used as a sort of charm to induce God to help their cause, much as the heathen superstitiously used their fetishes and talismans to invoke the aid of their gods. The fact that the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the camp was not a guaranty that the presence of the Lord would disregard the sins of the people and come with the Ark. On the contrary, the people who misuse the sacred and holy things of God and the Gospel heap unto themselves the greater condemnation.
The days in which we live are called enlightened days, but millions of people have not progressed beyond similar false suppositions. Countless people have a copy of the Bible in their homes as a sort of good-luck charm. They seem to think that keeping the Word of God on hand will ward off evil. The Bible may be relegated to the attic, or be covered by the dust of neglect; but that is not considered by them to make any difference. Other people feel that attending a church service once or twice a year will keep the God for the universe appeased. The remainder of the year they do as their evil heart dictates. Still others will attend church service to improve their business relations, or to improve their standing in the community. God does not look with any degree of favour upon these types of worshipers. He seeks the class of men who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Right and Wrong
When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the camp, the army of Israel gave a great shout, so that the earth rang again. It was probably a frenzied shout of an uncertain army trying to work up its courage, rather than the victorious shout of an army whose faith and trust in God were complete. The Ark had been taken into battle before, but not in the manner in which the Children of Israel tried to use it on this occasion. During the battle of Jericho the Ark had led the army in its march around those walls for six days; and on the seventh day it had been at the head of the procession on the seven circumferential marches. However, there had been no shouting in that battle until the last day and the last march around the walls. Also, the Ark had been carefully prepared for its work; it had been completely wrapped in the folds of the Tabernacle, so that no man looked upon its structure. Only the high priest should enter where that sacred Ark was, and that only once a year -" on the Day of Atonement; but here the whole army of Israel stood and gazed. Instead of shouting, they should have mourned at the turn of events!
Hold Fast
Those who lightly esteem God's blessings will soon have those blessings taken away from their lives. The army of Israel did not continue in possession of the Ark of God very long, once they wrested it from its rightful place. The Philistines heard the noise of the shout that the Children of Israel made; they rallied their forces for the hard fight ahead, and won the victory. They captured the Ark as a prize of war and they slew 30,000 men of the army of Israel. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, died also, according to the word that the prophet had spoken. The army of Israel left the fled in total disgrace, each man fleeing for his life. It was a sad day for the people who called themselves the children of God, but they had to lay the blame at their own door. Israel knew beforehand the results of sin. "The LORD shall cause the to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them" (Deuteronomy 28:25).
"Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11). God expects and requires that men use rightly the things of God that have been placed in their trust, or God will remove those things. Jesus illustrated this fact with the parable of the servant who received the one talent, who went and hid his lord's money in the earth. The servant knew what should have been done with that money, but he was reluctant to put forth the effort. When the lord returned from his journey and found the talent unappreciated and unused, the command went forth, "Take therefore the talent from him" (Matthew 25:28). He lost not only the talent, but he lost all, rewards and his life as well.
The Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God. When the Children of Israel misused the Ark, they suffered its loss. The Bible today is the best-selling publication in the world, but how terribly the Word of God is being mistreated and misused! Men should take heed, because the Word declares that the day will come when that Word will be taken out of the world. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it" (Amos 8:11, 12).
Message of Disaster
The message of the disastrous defeat soon reached the city of Shiloh. Eli sat by the wayside, waiting to hear the results of the battle, for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. The messenger seemed to pass by the old priest, perhaps on purpose, to avoid telling the sad new that awaited him. When the man came into the city and told the story of ignominious defeat, the people of the city cried out. Eli heard the cry and inquired the reason. The message was brief, but each sentence added to the grief of the hearer, each woe mounting in height. Eli could bear the message, including the death of his two sons, until the last exclamation was reached, "The ark of God is taken"; then his courage failed him. He fell off the seat backward; and being a very old man and heavy, his neck was broken and he died.
God's Witness
God has not left Himself without witness. When the Children of Israel failed to glory God through the life they lived, then God received glory through other means. The Philistines regarded the God of Israel as just another god, but they soon found that He was the powerful God of the universe. They took the Ark that had been captured, and placed it beside their god, Dagon, in his temple. The next morning the Philistines found Dagon prostrate upon the earth before the Ark of God. Thinking that this was a mischance, the Philistines restored their god to his place; but upon investigation the following morning, they found Dagon on his face on the ground once again. This time only his stump was left; his hands and his head had been cut off.
The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines. Everywhere the Ark was carried the men were smitten with a very peculiar plague, until they began to cry out for deliverance. After seven months of suffering, the people called for their priests and diviners to ask what could be done to send the Ark of God back to its place. A method was devised, and a test was made to determine if the Lord had actually caused all this distress. "Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; and take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart;... and send it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us" (I Samuel 6:7-9).
The kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. They turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. Thus the God of Israel proved Himself to the Philistines in a way that would not be questioned. Thus will God prove Himself to all men, if they will give Him an honest chance.
Questions
1. Why were the Children of Israel smitten before the Philistines?
2. Should the Ark of God have been brought into the battle?
3. What happened when the second battle was fought?
4. What did the Philistines do with the Ark of God?
5. What persuaded the Philistines to send the Ark back to the land of Israel?
6. How was the Ark of God sent back?
7. In what way did the Philistines prove whether it was God or not who had caused their suffering?
8. Were the Children of Israel happy to receive their Ark?
9. Why did the Lord find it necessary to smite some of the men of Beth-shemesh?