Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Wednesday,
“Restore” is a wonderful word which I’m sure stirs up great emotions such as “Hope”, “Renew”, “Fresh Start”. Have you ever experienced a ‘restore’ in your life journey? Maybe a broken relationship restored; or maybe you were restored to a position you had held and loved; or maybe something which had been taken from you was brought back to you. Or maybe it’s been a major restoration project in your home or church or city which has brought new life and excitement?
Yesterday, I left you in one of the darkest times in the entire “Grand Narrative” story of God and specifically the nation of Israel. “Ichabod” had been pronounced by a dying woman. It was much more than a hopeless name she gave to her newborn child; it was a statement of despair and lostness for the nation Israel, God’s people. Do you remember what caused this season of dark hopelessness?
The sacred Ark of the Covenant had been taken out of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle and carried to the battlefield front lines! There, on a day of great defeat of Israel, the Ark had been captured by the Philistines and taken into what we know today as the Gaza Strip. The Ark was placed in the temple of their pagan, manmade god Dagon. Nothing could be more defiling to the sacred Ark or more of a rejection of the God of Israel and God’s holiness!
In response God had removed His hand of protection from the army of Israel and they had suffered 30,000 fatalities and I’m sure many more thousand injured in that battle. (1 Samuel 4:10) Also, priests Hophni and Phinehas had died in the battle and their father Eli, the High Priest of Israel, died when he heard all this news, as recorded in 1 Samuel 4. The Ark was moved by the Philistines to three Philistine cities, Ashdod, Gath & Ekron and in all three cities people suddenly got sick and died. Great fear gripped the Philistines.
Finally, they decided the Ark must be returned to the Israelites even though it was a great war treasure, the judgment of God upon them was simply too great a price to pay. So, 1 Samuel 6 gives us a wonderful RESTORE story as the Ark was released by the Philistines and cows never before harnessed together, with no person driving them, pulled a Philistine cart, with the Ark of the Covenant upon it, all the way back to Israel and the town of Beth Shemesh. (1 Samuel 6:1-14) I’ve stood in that place, looking out over that field and imagining the sunlight glistening off that golden ark as bellowing cows pulled it into the field to the great rejoicing of the Israelites harvesting their crops.
Sometimes in our euphoria we make really dumb decisions. Has that ever happened to you? In the raucous celebration as the people jumped and danced around the Ark, some foolishly lifted the lid of the Ark to look inside, and they were stunned by God’s immediate response of judgement. 70 people were struck down and died that day! (1 Samuel 6:19) Very strict guidelines had been given by God to Moses about approaching or touching that sacred Ark. (Numbers 4:15) It represented the Holy Presence of God! Terrified, the people cried out: “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?” (1 Samuel 6:20)
Pause and reflect. The Ark had been in Philistine territory for seven months! (1 Samuel 6:1) That’s a long time for a nation to feel they are living in the dark quagmire of hopeless “Ichabod”! I presume everyone in Shiloh had been looking to young Samuel for spiritual answers and guidance. We have no record of how he responded. I presume he had presided over funerals for Eli, Hophni and Phinehas and had led the nation in mourning for 30,000 soldiers lost in battle!
I presume Samuel and others were attempting to provide some spiritual leadership to the people by continuing the normal priestly functions at the Tabernacle, including the sacrifices on the Altar of Burnt Offering and the daily prayers inside the “Tent of Meeting” at the Altar of Incense. But it wasn’t at all the same… and everyone knew it! There was NO Ark of the Covenant behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. The Ark was in the hands of terrorists… the Philistines of all places! Very likely the people presumed God’s Presence was NOT in the Tabernacle, and all their religious activity was aimed at a God who was upset with His people and had withdrawn from them. What do you feel as you put yourself there in Shiloh? Hopelessness; Fear; Abandonment by God? Have you ever had those feelings, ever been in that place of despair before?
In desperation the people sent the Ark to a nearby town Kiriath Jearim, and a courageous man named Abinadab agreed to take it into his house for safekeeping. He assigned his son Eleazar the responsibility to ‘guard the Ark’ and it remained there for 20 years! (1 Samuel 6:21-7:2) We know Beth Shemesh was one of the key cities where Levites lived, as assigned by Joshua, (Joshua 21:16) and therefore I presume Abinidab was head of a Levite family thus selected by the people to be entrusted with the Ark, until a better plan could be made. Can you even imagine what it would be like to have the golden, sacred Ark of the Covenant of the God of Israel in your spare bedroom, for 20 years? Is there anything you’d take out of your house or stop doing in your house if God’s Ark of the Covenant was in your home? If so, what does that mean?
Remember the word I began with today…Restore? The next line in Samuel’s record of these events says: “Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD. So, Samuel said to all the Israelites: ‘If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods among you, and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 7:2,3) Does that sound familiar? Sure sounds like the challenge Joshua repeated to the Israelites of his generation so many times! It’s a call to action, and the next verse tells us they did it! They put away their idols, turned their hearts to God, and served HIM only! A spiritual revival was beginning, so Samuel called the people together at Mizpah and they had a great worship service confessing and repenting of their sin, fasting and committing themselves to the God of Israel! (1 Samuel 7:5,6) I imagine thousands of people had gathered and there was a great spiritual movement happening!
Some people mock God’s people when they worship. We’ve seen that recently in the shadow of the Charlie Kirk murder and spiritual rallies happening on campuses across America. The Philistines have always been notorious for that, and again when Hamas viciously attacked Israel on October 7, it was on a Jewish religious festival day! In Samuel’s day, as the Philistines attacked, God responded. It’s a remarkable story that I urge you to read as God’s thunder threw the Philistine warriors into a panic and they slaughtered each other! A marker was raised up there that day to remember God’s mighty work in restoring hope in Israel as the people worshipped! (1 Samuel 7:7-12)
Once again peace reigned in Israel after that momentous day, and not just for a week or two. Listen to these words: “Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. From year to year, he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in those places. But he always went home to Ramah, where his home was… and there he built an altar to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 7:13-17) Oh that’s really special to me. Ramah was where he was born and I wonder how long his mother, father and siblings were alive during those years as Samuel restored the spiritual focus of God’s people, Israel! Can you imagine how wonderful that must have been, especially for dear old Hannah, the woman who trusted God with her son!
Oh my, let’s pause to praise and reflect on all we’ve seen God do today in 1 Samuel 6&7. More notes are in the Grand Narrative link below and here’s a wonderful worship song that will lift our hearts to God today, as theirs were in their spiritual restoration!
Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 6 & 7.
Choose below to read or listen.
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1 Samuel 7
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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