Introduction

A.     The Ark Is Taken Away, Eli & His Sons Die (v.11-22)

1.       The Ark of God is Captured In Battle (v.11)

a)        Israel Had Made An Idol Of The Ark.  The very “thing” they thought would win the battle (4:3) was taken away!  Israel had made an idol of the ark. 

1)        What is idolatry?  Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form (Exodus 20:3-5)

Paul describes the origin & worldwide practice of idolatry in (Rom. 1:21–25): men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28).  The forms of idolatry are:

(a)      Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc (Isaiah 44:9-11,14-17).

(b)      Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars (Deut.4:15-19).

(c)      Worship of dead men (Ps.106:28), or of heroes (Acts 14:15).

When Christians worship anyone or anything besides God, that is idolatry. Worshiping the virgin Mary, saints, icons, or angels is idolatry. No matter how sincerely they are meant to honor to God, such practices are false worship and are strictly forbidden in Scripture.

(d)      Angel worship (Col.2:18; Rev.19:10)

(e)      Worshipping demons (Mt 4:9-10; Re 9:20).

(f)       Supreme loyalty in our heart to anything other than God is idolatry. Every person is tempted with ambitions, desires, possessions, recognition, and a host of other such things that easily can become idols. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” Jesus said (Matt. 6:21). The greatest heart treasure, or heart idol, is self.

(g)      Desires or Lust (Phil.3:18-19) The person whose mind, desires, longings, and appetites are set on fleshly things is an idolater.

(h)      Covetousness is idolatry. Those who covet or are greedy worship at the shrine of materialism, one of the most popular and powerful idols of our day but Paul says, “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolator, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph. 5:5; cf.Col. 3:5).

(i)        Idolatry is listed among the vilest sins of the flesh (Gal. 5:19–21), and the Lord makes it clear that no idolater will inherit His kingdom (Rev. 21:8; 22:15).

2)        Rachel Stealing Her Father’s Teraphim (Gen. 31:19). 

3)        We Can Make Good Things Idols. There was nothing wrong with the ark itself. God commanded them to make it. It was important to Israel. He told them to put the tablets of the law, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, in the ark.  Yet, even a good thing like the ark can be made an idol, and God won’t tolerate our idols (Bronze Serpent 2Kings18:4). 

4)        God Was Still On The Throne.  The God of the ark was still on the throne in heaven, and guiding these circumstances for His glory. Israel thought they could ignore the God of the ark and find deliverance in the ark of God.  But God showed He was greater than the ark.

5)        Keep yourselves from (1John 5:21) flee from (1cor.10:14) testify against it (acts 14:15; 19:26)

Idolatry includes much more than bowing down or burning incense to a physical image. Idolatry is having any false god—any object, idea, philosophy habit, occupation, sport, or whatever that has one’s primary concern and loyalty or that to any degree decreases one’s trust in and loyalty to the Lord.

There is no other God but the God of the Bible, and He is a jealous God who will not tolerate the worship of another. In Isaiah 48:11, God says: “My glory will I not give to another.” Exodus 34:14 says, “You shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

Everyone Worships—Even An Atheist, He Worships Himself. When men reject God they worship false gods. That, of course, is what God forbids in the first commandment.  Anything that takes our first loyalty and allegiance is an idol.  The sin of idolatry, like every other sin, is of the heart. As God told Ezekiel about the elders of Israel, “These men have set up their idols in their hearts, and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity” (Ezek. 14:3).

6)        God Often Breaks Of Our Idolatry By Taking The Idol Away (v.11).  The removal of the symbol is sometimes necessary for the recovery of the truth.  This is accomplished by:

(a)      It Corrected Israel’s Error & Caused Deep Humiliation.  God taught them that His presence was not the same as the Ark itself.  They were not to trust in the ark of God but in the God of the Ark.

(b)      It Led To And Serious Inquiry And Prayer After The Lord (1 Samuel 7:1-6).   

1.         Godly sorrow produces repentance (2Cor.7:10-11)

2.       Hophni and Phinehas died (v.11b)

a)        God’s Word Will Come To Pass (2 Samuel 2:21-34)

1)        Why did they die in the flower of their age (2:12-17): They were taking the best pieces of meat for themselves and giving the leftovers to God. 

2)        Our culture today says, “you can have it all right now!”

(a)      High School Reunion—if you take the best for yourselves now, in the flower of your age you will pay the price (Galatians 6:7-8).

1.         The Sowing & Reaping of The Flesh. The person who sows to the flesh walks after the flesh (Rom.8:4-5).

2.         The Sowing and Reaping of the Spirit.  While “the wages of sin is death,” “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Though the harvest is everlasting life to all sowers to the Spirit, it will not be the same to all; for “every one is to receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad.”

3)        Well-Doing is the duty, the dignity, the destiny of believers (Gal.6:9-10).

(a)      We ought to have a consideration to the importance of our present conduct.

(b)      The hypocrite is a fool who imagines that he can sow to the flesh and yet reap “life everlasting.”

(c)      “We are, as God’s workmanship, created unto good works.”(Ephesians 2:10.)

(d)      It is “good and profitable to men” that believers should be careful to maintain good works. These works are to be “maintained for necessary uses” (Titus 3:8,14).

(e)      We are to follow the example of Christ, “who went about every day doing good” (Acts 10:38), and who so pointedly declared that it was lawful to do well on the sabbath day (Matthew 12:12).

3.       The Despair of Eli (4:12-18)

a)        Eli’s anxiety (4:12-16):

       Eli sits near the gate of Shiloh, fearfully awaiting news of the battle and the ark.

1)        His clothes torn and dirt on his head (v.12): These were some of the traditional signs of mourning. The messenger brought bad news, and he let his appearance reflect how bad the news was.  ii. According to an unfounded Jewish tradition, this unnamed messenger from the tribe of Benjamin was a young Saul.

b)        Eli’s Accident (4:17-18): Hearing of Israel’s defeat, the death of his sons, and the capture of the Ark, Eli falls from his seat, breaks his neck, and dies!

1)        What grieved Eli (v.18)?  It wasn’t the news of Israel’s loss in battle, or the slaughter of the army, or even the news of the death of his own sons, which killed him. It was the news that the Ark of the Covenant of God had been lost. 

(a)      Lets say there was only one Bible in the United States & it gets stolen, could you imagine never having access to a Bible!

(b)      Remember to pray for those behind the “Iron Curtain” (The military, political, and ideological barrier established between the Soviet bloc and western Europe after World War II.  A barrier that prevents free exchange of ideas and information.  These people do not have a Bible.

(c)      3& a half years salary for one Bible!  How much do you treasure your Bible?

2)        The ark of God had been captured (v.18)

(a)      Parallels to the Ark & Jesus (a type).

1.         1 Samuel 4:11,18 They Captured The Ark

Matthews Gospel (26:47-55) they “laid their hands on Jesus and took Him.”

2.         God Could Have Prevented The Ark From Being Captured But He Allowed It.

               God could have prevented Jesus from being taken (Matthew 26:50) but He allowed it.

3.         There Was A Purpose In The Ark Being Taken Away.

God broke their idolatry by taking their idol away took away their Idol in order that they would trust in the Lord

God taught them that His presence was not the same as the Ark itself.  They were not to trust in the ark of God but in the God of the Ark.

It Led To And Serious Inquiry And Prayer After The Lord (1 Samuel 7:1-6) producing a Godly sorrow which leads to repentance (2Cor.7:10-11)

4.         There Was A Purpose In Jesus Being Taken Away (John 16:5-9)

The Ark was where the presence of God dwelt, & in Jesus  the fullness of God dwelt and Jesus dwelt among us.

But now since Jesus was taken, crucified & resurrected for our justification, now not only does He live but He lives in the hearts and lives of all who love Him (Gal.2:20; John 14:23).

4.       The Despair of his daughter-in-law (4:19-22)

a)        The Tragic News (4:19-20): When Phinehas’s pregnant wife hears that her husband and father-in-law are dead and the Ark has been captured, she goes into labor and dies in childbirth. 

b)        The Tragic Name (4:21-22): Just before her death, Phinehas’s  wife names her infant son Ichabod, meaning “Where is the glory?”