Year 1, Week 29, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 29, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Samuel 4-5.

Today’s reading describes layers of sorrow and tragedy, but utmost was the capture of the Ark: “And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured” (1 Samuel 4:22). 1 Samuel 4 describes a massive defeat for Israel at the hands of the Philistines. The defeat is extensive. Hophni and Phinehas were killed during the battle. With the Philistines in possession of the Ark, 1 Samuel 5 describes the affliction that the LORD put upon the Philistines over having possession of the Ark. While the glory of the LORD departs from Israel, it will mightily display itself before the Philistines.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is what God revealed about Himself and the Ark of the Covenant: “When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage” (Psalm 78:59-62). The presence of the LORD manifests itself in the Ark. As Israel looked to and trusted in the LORD, He would go before them. To represent the LORD going before His people, the priests would carry the Ark in front: “So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp. And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you” (Numbers 10:33-35). The Psalmist captured this reality: “God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!” (Psalm 68:1).

But the Israelites would learn that the Ark was not a magic box that they could manipulate, for the LORD is not a God who can be manipulated. That this kind of superstition, and not genuine relationship of trust in the LORD, was what drove Israel at this particular moment as they went up against the Philistines: “And when the people came to 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 here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies” (1 Samuel 4:3). Israel would be chastened: “So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died” (1 Samuel 4:10-11). Hophni and Phinehas were judged. The news of the great defeat of Israel had great effect: Eli fell over and soon died as the news came to him; the wife of Phinehas, as the news reached her, died immediately after child birth, but not before naming her son, “Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” (1 Samuel 4:21).

Israel assumed that just because they marched the Ark out in front of them, they could force God’s hand to give them a victory. They presume upon God’s power. Ironically, the Philistines would learn of God’s power. Having captured the Ark, “they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon” (1 Samuel 5:1b-2). In the how of Dagon, a false god of the Philistines, the LORD would display His power and glory: “And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD” (1 Samuel 5:3). The LORD required Dagon to bow and worship Him: “All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!” (Psalm 97:7). The Philistines would pick up their god and stand him up, only for the LORD to cut him down.

The presence of the LORD in the Ark of the Covenant was an awful threat to the Philistines: “The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory” (1 Samuel 5:6). The LORD had inflicted the Egyptians in this way: “The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed” (Deuteronomy 28:27). The Philistine realized that the Ark must be sent away: “And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god” (1 Samuel 5:7). The Philistine experienced first hand the power of the LORD and they were filled with terror: “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven” (1 Samuel 5:11-12). The power that the LORD showed, and thus the glory that the LORD displayed before the Philistines was reminiscent of the LORD power and glory before Egypt: “And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 14:4).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe