Lesson 201 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?" (I Samuel 6:20).

Notes

War with the Philistines

Eli continued in the office of priest until Samuel grew up. Eli was not careful to teach the people about God, and the Word of the Lord was precious, or scarce. Eli was slack also in admonishing the Children of Israel to pray and seek God. Perhaps Eli did reprove them, but he did not insist on obedience to God.

We do not read that the Children of Israel asked God's advice when they went to war against the Philistines. There is no indication that the people prayed. The Children of Israel were smitten by the Philistines, and about 4,000 of them were slain.

Sin in the Camp

Many years before, the promise of God to the Children of Israel had been, "One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you" (Joshua 23:10). The Children of Israel were no longer obeying and serving God, so He was not fighting for them.

The people talked among themselves and wondered, why, they had been smitten by the Philistines. Seemingly, they blamed God for permitting the Philistines to win the battles, but the Israelites had not fasted and prayed nor even asked Eli to pray for them.

Even though Eli had failed to teach the Children of Israel the ways of the Lord, certainly some of them had heard how God had dealt in times past with the Children of Israel in similar circumstances. In the days of Joshua, they were defeated at Ai because there was sin among them when Achan took the accursed thing ([JOS:7:1]). Joshua, their leader, rent his clothes and, along with the elders of the people, put dust upon his head as a sign of repentance before God. Joshua prayed before the Ark of the Lord until the eventide. God told Joshua that they had sinned, for which reason they could not stand before their enemies. Moreover, God said that He would not be with the Children of Israel unless the sin was destroyed and the guilty person punished ([JOS:7:12]). The Children of Israel uncovered the sin. The accursed things were burned outside the camp, and the guilty man was punished. When the Children of Israel had thus obeyed God, they went to battle against Ai again, and God gave them the victory.

The Council

This time the Israelites held a council. They acted very foolishly in trying to get God's favour without praying and repenting. The Children of Israel decided to remove the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh. The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the Spirit of God and His presence at the Mercy Seat.

The Ark had been carried only once before in a battle. At that time, the Lord gave the instructions how the Children of Israel should take Jericho. The Ark of the Covenant was carried about the city with them as the Children of Israel marched. God had told them to take the Ark that time.

God's Chosen Place

He also told them that the Ark must be set in the "most holy place" (Exodus 26:34) in the Tabernacle, their place of worship. In a place where God chose ([DEU:12:5]), they were instructed to worship when they went into the Land of Canaan. In Shiloh the Tabernacle of worship was set up ([JOS:18:1]), and there had been no instruction from God that it should be moved. It would be dangerous to move the Ark without God's permission; but Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests, went along with the Ark.

They did not seem to realise that though they still had the Ark, the Spirit of the Lord had departed from them because of their sin. The Children of Israel put their trust in the Ark rather than in the Lord whom it represented. They should have looked to God, for it would have been His power that would scatter the enemy. There are some people today who are satisfied with a form of religion but deny the power thereof. They are concerned about the outwards appearance rather than with a clean heart.

The Ark and the Enemy

When the Ark was taken into the camp, the Children of Israel shouted with a great shout as if the victory were already theirs. The enemy heard the shout, and saw the Ark. The Philistines knew that the Ark was a token of the presence of the Lord. The shout of the Israelites and the presence of the Ark put fear into the hearts of the Philistines. Being idolatrous people, they knew not but that the Ark was God Himself. They remembered what miracles God had performed during the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the wilderness when the Ark was carried with them. The enemy knew that the Ark had never before been thus moved into battle against them. The Philistines did not surrender but encouraged one another to be strong, to act like men, and to fight.

Defeat and Death

The account of the battle is short. Israel was defeated; and in panic every man fled to his tent. Thirty thousand of Israel's footmen were slain, along with Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli. The Philistines captured the Ark of the Lord. The Children of Israel had had courage and a certain confidence, but they also had sin. They had put their faith in the Ark instead of in the Lord Himself. A person may be courageous and sincere in his belief; but his confidence and faith must be directed into the right channel, in the true and living God.

A man from the Israelite army, an eyewitness, ran ahead to Shiloh to carry the message of defeat. Along the wayside was Eli, awaiting news of the battle. His heart trembled with fear for the safety of the Ark of the Lord. He had not had the courage to refuse the people and keep the Ark at Shiloh, yet in his heart he knew that they had sinned.

Eli seemingly showed no emotion when he received the news of defeat and the death of his two sons, as if he had expected God's prophecy against them to be fulfilled at this time. But when Eli heard that the Ark had been captured, he fell backward off the seat by the gate, and his neck was broken. At the age of 98 years, and after judging Israel 40 years, Eli thus died without speaking another word.

The Loss of the Ark

Great judgement came upon Eli's sons as God had pronounced: "In one day they shall die both of them" (I Samuel 2:34). Hophni and Phinehas had left the place of their duty and had put themselves out of God's protection. They were out of place on the battlefield. They realised their folly and failure too late; but we can learn a lesson from their experience.

The ears of the Children of Israel did tingle ([1SM:3:11]), as God had said, when they heard the news of the battle. The defeat was a calamity. Israel's forfeiture of the Ark brought no honour to God. It brought loss to Israel and dishonour to Shiloh, for never again was that place to have the Ark of the Lord.

The Ark and an Idol

In the meantime, the Philistines were pleased and proud of their victory. They did no harm to the Ark but carried it to a place of safety in an idol temple, the house of Dagon in Ashdod, one of their cities. God is not worshiped at all if He is not worshiped alone. The Ark triumphed over Dagon in his own temple. God will not be worshiped with another god, but above all gods. The idol fell upon its face in the position of a conquered enemy, before the Ark of the Lord. The priests of Dagon made haste to set the idol in its place. Next morning, Dagon had not only tumbled to the ground, but was broken. Its head and hands were cut off so that only a stump was left of Dagon. One would think that the Philistines would recognise that Dagon was exposed as merely an idol, that the idol had no power, that it was unworthy to be prayed to or to receive honour; but the Philistines were not convinced that the Lord God of Israel was the only true God. Their hearts were hardened in their idolatry.

The Ark in the Midst of the Enemy

For seven months the Philistines were plagued because of the Ark of the Lord, yet they did not want to return it. From one city to another the Ark was moved, and everywhere there was "deadly destruction." Those who did not die were smitten with a disease.

After the Philistines learned that they had no peace or safety with the Ark in their possession, they met to decide what to do with it. They were forced by pain and fear to return the Ark. They built a new cart, which was drawn by two cows, and the Ark was returned to the Children of Israel. The Philistines received no ransom or money for it. They were glad to be rid of the Ark, and gave jewels as an offering, that the hand of the Lord would be lifted from them.

Disrespect

The Children of Israel apparently had made no attempt to rescue or ransom the Ark, or even to inquire about it. They did welcome its return; and the Ark was placed on a great stone in the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite. There the Ark was left uncovered and exposed to inspection. Though contrary to the requirements of the Law, the Israelites used the cart for wood, and the cows for burnt offerings. This was not a proper sacrifice, nor offered by the priests at the Tabernacle. The men of Beth-shemesh were glad to see the Ark -" but they had no right to look into it. Not even the priests had a right to look into the Ark of the Covenant. For that reason, the hand of God smote them and many were slain. Their disrespect and irreverence to the Ark were offences against God. The Children of Israel found that a person must be careful how he treats the holy things of God, the sacred things that belong in the house of the Lord, and the sacred offices, and that one must not take liberties either by words or by actions, for it is in the hand of God to promote. "God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalm 75:6, 7).

The men of Beth-shemesh recognised the power and holiness of God. They cried out, "Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?" Read Psalm 1 and Psalm 15 for the answer.

Questions

1. Why was the Ark taken to battle?

2. What did the Children of Israel fail to do before going into battle?

3. How did the battle end?

4. What happened to Eli and his sons?

5. What became of the Ark of the Lord?

6. What happened to the idol?

7. Why did the Philistines return the Ark?

8. Why did God smite the men of Beth-shemesh?