#4 - Head By God

3 Shocking News

The Bible’s message is fundamentally good news, but there’s no hiding the fact that this passage, from start to finish, is full of shocking bad news. This is one very dark day in the history of God’s people, as the earlier prophecy of judgment given to Eli is now fulfilled (2:27–34). 

Defeat

The first shock is national (vv. 1–11):

1 Samuel 4:1–11 NKJV

1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2 Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. 3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. 6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!” 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Israel experiences a shocking defeat at the hands of the Philistines. In desperate straits, they had turned to the power of the ark of God to save them, but God will not be used as a lucky charm.

Eli’s sons wanted God’s help but not God’s holiness… They wanted God for the crisis experience of life but not in their ministry.

They receive precious little help from the ark as God gives them over to judgment for their sins.

The Philistines overwhelm them (v. 10) and they’re utterly humiliated as the ark, the throne of God, is itself captured (v. 11). The Philistines are mentioned in Scriptures as early as the days of Abraham, and in the book of Samuel they’re mentioned over 150 times.

The ark of the covenant is mentioned at least 55 X in these 3 chapter,

It represents Jehovah God, the central person in all of Israel’s history.

None of these events happened by accident; they were all part of God’s plan to chasten (bring down) His people, judge sinners, and eventually establish His anointed king.

Over 4,000 men died that day and the elders were perplexed over the defeat.

V3 - “wasn’t Israel God’s chosen nation, and didn’t He give them the land as their possession?

If the elders had recalled the terms of God’s covenant, they would have realized that this shameful defeat was cause by Israel’s disobedience to God’s law.

The Lord had clearly told them how to fight their wars, but instead of searching their hearts and confessing their sins, the people decided to imitate Moses and Joshua and take the ark of the covenant into the battle with them.

But this approach was merely “using Gos “ to accomplish their own purposes. Unlike Moses and Joshua, they didn’t seek the will of the Lord, they weren’t walking by faith, and they certainly weren’t seeking to glorify God.

Look who they send to carry the ark… Hophni and Phinehas! How could God bless two sinful men whom He had already consigned to judgement?

When Hophni and Phinehas appeared in the camp carrying the ark of God, the soldiers and elders shouted enthusiastically, but their carnal self-confidence was just the prelude to another defeat.

The ark may have beed with them in the camp. but the Lord was against them.

The ark was taken. (V11a) NEVER in the history of Israel had the ark of God ever fallen into enemy hands. The ark was the throne of God, but now God’s throne was in enemy territory. It wasn’t a sin to take the ark into battle IF the people were truly devoted to the Lord and wanted to honor Him. God put the ark into pagan hands, BUT Eli’s two sons had lived like pagans while ministering before the ark , so what was the difference?

Death

The second shock is personal (vv. 12–18):

1 Samuel 4:12–18 NKJV

12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. 16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, “What happened, my son?” 17 So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Eli receives a terrible emotional blow as he hears of the death of his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, in battle (vv. 16–17). The tragedy continues as Eli, upon also hearing of the loss of the ark, literally falls over with shock and breaks his neck. The corrupt spiritual leaders of Israel are finally wiped out in judgment. 

This fulfilled the Word of God spoken to Eli by the anonymous prophet (2:27-36) and to Samuel when he was called by the Lord (3:11-18)

Departure

The last shock has to do with the spiritual legacy of this terrible day (vv. 19–22).

1 Samuel 4:19–22 NKJV

19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; 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 herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then 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.”

The wife of Phinehas sadly dies in child birth. Though her son survives, he becomes the spiritual epitaph for this day: as Phinehas’s wife is dying, she names him ‘Ichabod’, meaning ‘no glory’. In other words, God’s powerful glory and presence, symbolised by the ark of God, has now left his people. The judgment is complete. 

The wife of Phinehas had more spiritual insight than her father-in-law, her husband, and her brother-in-law. The two brothers used the ark as a good luck charm, Eli was concerned with the safety of the ark, BUT she was burdened for the Glory of God.

That’s why she names her son “Ichabod “ the glory is gone”

REFLECTION

The bad news in this story is a warning for us.

God isn’t fooled by spirituality, church activity or the use of religious rituals.

Without true faith and repentance in our lives, we’re walking on thin ice.

False religion, whatever its position and influence, is under judgment. Let’s not follow others into that judgment.

QUESTIONS

1. What kind of ‘arks’ might we trust in today to get us out of difficult situations? Where will that lead us?