2.In the battle 4,000 israelites were killed, thatʼs roughly the population of Clonakilty or Kinsale. a.this is a terrible and devastating loss. 3.

Transcription

1 Philistine Israelite Battle and defeat 1-11 (pg. 196) 1.Farewell to Samuel and Hello to Philistines. a.this is the last that we hear about Samuel until chapter 7. i. We were introduced to his mother in chapter one, before he was even born. She prayed desperately to God that she would have a child, and that if He granted her request then she would dedicate him to the Lordʼs service all the days of his life, and after his birth and weaning thatʼs exactly what she did. ii.samuel served God in the tabernacle in Shiloh, and last chapter we saw God speak to Samuel and speak through Samuel for the first of many times. The nation needed to hear Godʼs voice, and God was raising up up Samuel to be His spokesman b. Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of God. 3:19-20 i. He is rising in prominence, he is known to be a prophet and spokesman of God at this point. 1.It is interesting and striking that he is not consulted with at all during these chapters. In fact in the next couple chapters weʼre not going to see the Israelites pray, consult with the prophets, read the scriptures or do ANYTHING RIGHT! c.the Philistines are introduced for the first time in 1 Samuel, but theyʼve been mentioned before in Joshua and other books. i. Their origins are ancient and scholars believe they are either from Crete or Egypt settled in Palestine around this time, in the Gaza/Akron area, ii.this isnʼt the first time that the israelites and the Philistines are fighting each other and itʼs certainly not the last - this conflict dominates the israelite history for nearly two hundred years of skirmishes and battles. 1.Weʼll speak more about them in chapter 5, since the whole chapter takes place deep within philistine territory.

2 2.In the battle 4,000 israelites were killed, thatʼs roughly the population of Clonakilty or Kinsale. a.this is a terrible and devastating loss. 3.At the end of the day when the troops went back to camp for the night they had a meeting, the elders of Israel asked a profound theological question, Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? but instead of waiting for an answer (speak Lord, your servant is listening), instead of searching the scriptures: Leviticus 26:14,17 if you will not listen to Me...I will set My face against you and you shall be struck down before your enemies Deuteronomy 28:15,25 If you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God the LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. This would have been an opportunity to realise how far they had come from God and how they had violated the covenant of Moses and were incurring the curses promised upon disobedient Israel. This could have been an eye opening opportunity for them to repent and to return to God. But they didnʼt. They asked a profound theological question, and then offered a quick, thoughtless solution. Weʼll bring the Ark into battle. It will save us! (listen Lord, your servants are speaking) a.the Ark of the Covenant was mentioned for the first time last chapter, a brief explanation is in order here though. b.in Exodus God gives directions as to how He is to be worshipped, a lot of has to do with the tabernacle and the various elements of it. Of chief importance was the Ark of the Covenant/Ark of God/Ark of the Testimony. To put it simply, It is a wooden box, overlayed with gold. But it is very significant because of what it symbolises.

3 i. Itʼs a symbol of Godʼs rulership, in v4 and elsewhere its associated with the throne of God ii.itʼs a symbol of Godʼs revelation, inside the box was the two tablets of stone that contained the ten commandments etched into them. iii.itʼs a symbol of reconciliation, the top of the box contained a lid known as the mercy seat which would be where the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the day of atonement. c.on occasion it would be used in military battles (Joshua 6 comes to mind when they marched around Jericho 7 times) but only at the explicit command of God. i. This day God did not tell them to bring it, they presumed that if they just brought the Ark to battle, then God would be compelled to grant them another Jericho-like victory. ii.attempting to manipulate God. Treating Him like a lucky rabbits foot that gives good luck, or a horseshoe that you rub as you pass by. 1.A friend of mine was saying that when she was younger her mum used to hide a statue of Mary and tell Jesus that she wouldnʼt give it back until He answered her prayer request. 4.The Ark is brought from Shiloh to the battle lines. Hophni and Phinehas, the two scoundrel priests accompany it. 5.When it arrives the army cheers for it like a warrior has entered the camp. a.thereʼs a lot of hope placed in the presence of the Ark. The elders spoke about it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies in v3 [that can be translated it or he but the majority of english translations side with it because of the overwhelming context.] i. Later weʼll see that Eliʼs heart trembled for the Ark and Phinehasʼ wife refers to it as the glory of God b.the people of God throughout time and space, i. Israel of old or the church of the present, ii.true believers and religious followers alike

4 iii.all have a tendency toward this sort of thing; namely; looking to the outward trappings of the faith and putting our trust in them instead of God Himself. iv.god has given us wonderful acts and symbols by which we are reminded of Him and through which we draw near to Him - but they are not Him! v.oftentimes we take good things and elevate them into God things vi.this happened to the rod that Moses elevated the serpent onto in Numbers 21, later generations started revering it and King Hezekiah saw that it was necessary to break it, because it was robbing focus and worship from God Himself. 2 Kings 18 vii.we see later prophetic indictments against the nation of Israel because they cared more about the temple itself than the God of the Temple. viii.weʼve seen the church fall into this error as well, looking to the virgin Mary, a wonderful godly woman (surpassing even Hannah herself) used by God to bring a greater prophet into the world, Jesus Christ the Word of God Incarnate, and she becomes an object of veneration, worship, and the recipient of prayer. ix.weʼve seen even the sacrament/ordinance of baptism become elevated as an actual saving act. No my friends, trusting Christ is the only saving act that we have, baptism is a celebration of that. x.and amongst ourselves sometimes I wonder, with our particular tendencies are - to elevate a good thing, sermons, worship, human leaders into God-like things that we place our trust in instead of God Himself. 6.The cheer was so loud that the Philistine army heard it and was afraid. a.armies would often use techniques to make a loud noise and frighten their enemies. b.hugh OʼNeil, one of the high kings of Ireland in the 1500s fought against the British and his troops, before they attacked the soldiers produced their bodhrans and tried to strike fear into

5 the british troops with the noise. Unfortunately, it didnʼt work though. 7.The Philistines were scared, not just because of the noise, but because they were aware of the God of the israelites. 8.They knew about the mighty acts of the Exodus 300 years ago a.rahab heard about what God did in the Exodus, and so did the Philistines, when something spectacular and miraculous takes place, word tends to spread far and wide. 9.The Philistines give one another a pep talk, Man up, fight for your lives and your freedom! 10.In a surprise twist, the Philistines are victorious. This is a surprise to us, the readers, the Israelite army, and perhaps also the Philistines as well! a.30,000 died in a day. This is roughly the amount of people that were killed in the first Gulf War. And this is not from scud missiles, this is from hand to hand combat. A brutal, bloody day. 11.The ark of God is captured and Hophni and Phinehas are killed. a.godʼs promised judgment against these wicked priests has happend. They are killed. b.and the Ark of the Covenant becomes The Lost Ark, because the Israelites had it taken from them. Report of the news and two further deaths 12.A man from the tribe of benjamin (Saul perhaps?) runs from Aphek to Shiloh to give the news. l. This a 22 mile run. Last Monday thousands of runners came to Cork city for the marathon, they ran a 26.2,mile loop through the city, being cheered by spectators and handed water bottles along the route. What a different scene from this solitary figure, with ripped clothes and signs of grief and mourning all upon him. 13.Eli is waiting to hear the news, heʼs nervous. 14.The town hears the news first and they cry out. Eli hears the noise and wonders what it signifies, although in his heart of hearts, he already knows. l. Similar structure to the first half of the chapter, the ark enters, the israelites cheer and the Philistines overhear and are

6 worried. Now, the messenger enters, the israelites mourn, the high priest overhears it and is worried. 15.Eliʼs age is revealed (98) and we see that his eyesight has gotten even worse. Last chapter (3:2) told us that his eyesight had begun to grow dim, now he is completely blind. 16.The messenger needs to introduce himself to Eli since he is blind l. The pace of verses is almost agonizingly slow. The tension is building up to this moment. 17.In order of significance he reveals to Eli how badly they fared. 18.The news is too much for Eli, like a succession of blows he hears more and more bad news and he is knocked off of his chair, cracks his neck and dies. l. He is described as heavy chapter two describes how his sons would take more than their apportioned share of the meal portions of the sacrifices, perhaps Eli was also eating more than his fair share...or maybe he just had a slow metabolism. 19.The poor wife of Phinehas hears the news as well, and she begins to go into premature labour. 20.News that she had had a son were no comfort to her. She is inconsolable. 21.The name of her son is deeply insightful, it gives a glimpse into current events, but also how she interpreted them. The absence of the ark, the death of the high priest etc all were evidence to her of the lack of glory in Israel. 22.The glory has departed, God has been exiled from the land. l. She is wrong though, God isnʼt gone from their lives because the ark has been captured, the ark was captured because God is gone from their lives. m. Also wrong about Godʼs glory being gone. He had a plan, he was working all things together for good. This makes us think of a different dark time in Israel, when the light of the World, Jesus Christ was captured, He was arrested in Gethsemane and handed over to the Gentiles. In the midst of a dark and hopeless time, when everything seemed to be lost God is working however. Itʼs all going according to His plan.

7 The ark of God does its work behind enemy lines in the next chapter. And Christ Jesus does His work while in the grave. He was offering His sacrifice before the Father and accomplishing our redemption.