Good Tuesday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
As you and I watch the almost unimaginable events taking place in Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and much of the middle east, do you find yourself wondering how and when this military mayhem will ever end?
Did you know that what we are seeing on our screens these days is a modern-day version of almost exactly the same thing which happened, in the same place, by ancestors of the same people… 3000 years ago? And guess who found themselves right in the middle of it then? Yes, the people we’ve been watching closely the past few days here in our “Walking with Jesus” journey… High Priest Eli, his two priestly but wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas, and young Samuel.
Come with me again my friends, back to Shiloh, Israel about 1100bc. You’ll remember Shiloh was the spiritual center of Israel at that time. Why? Because the Tabernacle place of worship is there in Shiloh, including the sacred Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place of that “Tent of Meeting”. The 1 Samuel 4 record describes it this way: “Now the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 4:1) From the time Joshua had led the Israelites across the Jordan river, into this land of God’s Promise in about 1400bc, one specific group of people, who already lived in that land, was particularly ferocious and frequently attacked the peoples living near them, especially the Israelites, as the Israelites settled in the land today, we know as Israel.
Those people were known as the ferocious Philistines. Their weapons and fighting tactics frightened every people group in the middle east. The Philistine territory was exactly where the Gaza Strip is today, but it was much larger than the modern day Gaza Strip and it included five major, fortified Philistine cities: Gaza City, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath.
You may recall, my friends, that we’ve seen over the past few days of our study that the spiritual and moral condition of Israel was at a very low point around 1100bc. The spiritual leader, High Priest Eli and his two priestly sons, had been failing the people of Israel miserably! God’s pattern with Israel has frequently been that when His people drift spiritually and morally, God will use either natural disasters like drought or an invasion of locusts or other crop damaging insects; or sometimes God will use invading enemy armies, to draw His people back to God.
The pattern I’ve learned is this, my friends:
When God’s people are drifting spiritually and morally away from God, then God will first WITHDRAW His hand of Blessing. God cannot bless sin.
If the people do not respond and repent, God will next remove His hand of PROTECTION. Do you and I understand how much we live daily lives counting on God’s protection of us from the wickedness all around us?
If still His people do not respond, repent and return to God then God will impose His hand of DISCIPLINE and finally if God’s people still remain hard hearted and refuse to repent and turn back to God, then God will bring upon them His JUDGMENT.
That pattern has been repeated over and over in the history of Israel through the Biblical and historical record of the centuries.
The reason it is very important for us to understand this pattern is that the attack of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4 is directly linked to the spiritual and moral failure described in 1 Samuel 2 & 3. The record gives us these battlefield details: “The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4000 Israelites on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, ‘Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:2,3)
Please notice it was the elders of Israel who recommended this strategy. Not the military leaders and not the spiritual leaders. The elders would have been the most respected men in Israel, representing all the 12 tribes of Israel. These men were viewed by Israel as those who would meet together to discern God’s leading for resolving national problems or leading the Israelites in accomplishing God’s overall purposes for Israel. But their recommendation was totally contrary to God’s plan and instructions for handling the sacred Ark of the Covenant.
That Ark was to always remain in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle and only the High Priest could approach it and meet with God. The Ark contained the two Tablets of stone upon which the finger of God had inscribed the “10 Commandments” on Mount Sinai. It was Moses who had brought those tablets down from the mountain and by God’s instructions had placed them, the tablets of the Covenant, into the Ark as a permanent memorial to the Covenant relationship God had with Israel. (Exodus 25:16)
Only once had God ever given instructions for the Ark to be used in any type of battle situation, and that was when Joshua was instructed to lead a parade of priests, carrying the Ark, followed by unarmed warriors, as they walked around the walls of Jericho. (Joshua 6)
This recommendation by the Elders of Israel is proof to us of how far Israel had drifted away from God. The record says: “So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two priestly sons Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the Covenant of God.” (1 Samuel 4:4)
Do you see the problem my friends? This description suggests ordinary soldiers came from the battlefield to Shiloh demanding of Hophni and Phinehas that they remove the Ark from the Most Holy Place and allow it to go out to the battlefront. Logic would tell me that since Eli was the High Priest, the only man permitted to enter the Most Holy Place and approach the Ark, either Eli approved this action and perhaps participated; or he was away from Shiloh at the time and unaware of this terrible plot; or perhaps Eli objected by his sons overruled him and took matters into their own hands.
No matter how it happened, the Ark was defiled by being manhandled and removed from its sacred place. By God’s instructions the Ark was only to be moved by select priests and always in a specific manner. We see no evidence that protocol was followed. And in the end, it appears Hophni and Phinehas accompanied the Ark to the battlefield.
Now friends, we need to pause right here and ponder this amazing turn of events. Can you see the truthfulness of the pattern I described when God responds to His people drifting spiritually and morally? What are the implications for your city, your nation and mine? And here’s a worship song to help us in our reflection, and I’ll meet you here tomorrow as we see what God did next.
Today’s Scripture is 1 Samuel 4:1-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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