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1 Samuel 4:1b-7:1 Key Verse: 6:20a THE LORD IS THE HOLY GOD “and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?” Last week, we studied how God called boy Samuel during the time of despair. Samuel obeyed God's word absolutely, giving the message of judgement on his foster father directly. He must have been in fear when he tried to obey God's word. But he trusted in God with pure heart. He told Eli everything hiding nothing from him. He wasn't tainted with worldly influence. He was so young and pure that God tried to raise him up as a leader of Israel. Today's passage deals with Israel's dark history just before Samuel appeared as the last judge of Israel. You can find easily acute difference between the time of Eli and Samuel. Today's passage is a story about Israel that was defeated by Philistines and lost the ark of God. The problem at that time was that there were no real spiritual leaders for Israel. Therefore, we can learn that one leader is very important. Let's learn from today's passage how important one spiritual leader is. May God help us know God really wants us to be influential spiritual leaders for this corrupt generation. First, “THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED” (4:1b-22) During the time of the Judges, God used the Philistines as a tool of judgement for Israel. Israel repeatedly did evil in the eyes of God. So God sold his people into the hands of the Philistines. The Philistines had developed iron-ware culture earlier than other nations and their army was well trained. During the time of Eli, Israel was subject to the Philistines and was oppressed by them. Then they revolted against the Philistines and went out to fight against them. The Israeli soldiers camped at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistine army deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines with Israel's death toll to about four thousand. It was a shame to God's people. The soldiers discussed why they were defeated greatly. Their not praying for it misled to a wrong superstition. They said, "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.” The elders remembered the old days when Israel conquered the city of Jericho by following the ark of God. They also remembered when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River led by the ark of God. They thought the ark of God was a charm which would bring good luck or victory to them. The reason they were defeated was the very thing--they didn't bring the ark of God. The ark of God had degenerated into a superstitious charm! Anyway, the Israeli soldiers were cheered up, seeing the ark of God. They were full of fight spirit. They shouted in one voice. "Wow! Wow! Israel! Israel!" They believed that this time they could beat their enemy. When all Israel made a loud shout the Philistines didn’t know what was going on in the Hebrew camp. Then they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp and they were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. ”We’re in trouble! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.” Though it wasn’t accurate they knew what God had done to the Egyptians. They knew how God had struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues and destroyed their army. The Philistines were shaken with fear. But the generals encouraged them saying, “Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be slaves of the Hebrews. Be men, and fight! Do you want to be slaves to Israel?” The Philistines hated to be slaves of the Israelites. So, they were determined to fight more courageously with their lives. Do you know who won? Of course, the Philistines did. The Israelites ran away. That day the slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. Why were the Israelites defeated so miserably? First, it was because of the Israelites' and Eli's sin. Eli was the high priest. He is in the position of influential Israel's spiritual leader. He should have served his people according to God's will. He should have been busy teaching God's word diligently. He should have treated his sons' critical sins strictly. But he was lazy, so he became fat. He had difficulty even balancing when he stood up from his chair. He looked like a clown, so kids made fun of him in the street. He was so generous to his sons, who committed adultery by sleeping with the women serving at the tent of the Lord and stole the Lord's offering and sacrifice. His bad influence reached the Israelites, who dishonored God with their evil deeds. The people of Israel forgot God who rescued them from the slavery of Egypt and worshiped other gods, Baal and Asherah. They didn't commit themselves to God and serve him. Though they were God’s chosen people, they became worse than unbelievers. God couldn't be with his corrupt people. So God used the Philistines as a tool of punishment. Second, the Israelites took advantage of God. The ark of covenant was a symbol of God’s dwelling among his people. It was the center of Israel’s life. Later it changed into the temple in its role. God spoke to his people through the ark of covenant. When the priests carrying the ark of covenant went ahead, the Israelites crossed the Jordan and destroy the wall of Jericho. They had absolute and living faith in God. But now they changed. They forgot God’s mighty works. They quickly forgot how God had saved them and returned to their old sinful life. Then when they met a crisis, instead of repenting of their sins, they used God for their deliverance. They took advantage of the ark of the covenant of the Lord for their victory. They used God for their own benefits. This is why the Israelites were defeated miserably. It is easy for us to use God for our benefits instead of serving Him absolutely. Many people seek God when they are in fear and need. They begin to study Bible or attend Sunday worship service. By God’s grace, they have peace and courage in their mind. Now they have to commit themselves to God. They must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. But after they solve their problems, they live based on their plans or sinful ambitious desire. They seek God whenever they need Him. We call this faith “Shamanism faith.” People go to ask shamans for good luck by giving money. There is no exception for those who have Christian faith. Nowadays exam-takers are busy preparing for Korean Scholastic Aptitude Test. Parents earnestly pray for their sons and daughters to do well on the exam. Churches and temples are booming with praying believers. On the D-day, some of them stick Yut, Korean sticky sweets, on the wall for good luck. God is not pleased with those who have “shamanism faith.” God doesn’t want us to use Him for our benefits. We must not use our God as “lucky bag.” If we do so, the “lucky bag” will turn into “Pandora’s box,” which opens all bad things. Verse 11 and 12 is about the story of God’s judgement upon Eli’s family. While the war was happening, Eli was sitting on his chair, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When a messenger entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. The news of the Israel army’s defeat and the possibility of the Philistine’s invasion shook the people with great shock and fear. Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this noise?" The messenger told Eli, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." The man brought bad news upon bad news. When Eli heard the shocking news he fell backward from his chair and dropped dead on the ground. Eli died at the news of the capture of the ark and the death of his two sons. But the tragedy of his family didn’t end there. His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas also died after delivering a baby. Before she died, she named her baby Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel. ‘Ichabod’ means ‘no glory’. The name of her new born baby represents the situation of Israel at that time. The glory of God departed from Israel. Here we see the tragedies of the house of Eli and the departure of God’s glory from Israel. How did that happen? It was because Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas treated the Lord’s offering with contempt and slept with women serving in the house of God. Eli rebuked his sons for that. It seems that Eli did what he could. But God said that he honored his sons more than God. He failed to restrain his sons. God said that there would be no old man in his family line and his two sons would be killed in the same day. God’s prophecies came true. 1 Samuel 15:29 says, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.” God is not a man who changes his mind and word. Once he speaks, his words are fulfilled. God is not to be treated lightly. God honors those who honor him and those who despise him will be disdained. Eli’s two sons had no fear of God and despised God with their evil deeds. As a result they were hated by everyone and killed the same day. But when Samuel honored God by faithfully ministering he was favored by God and people. God honored him and he was respected by all his people. Through the national defeat and the tragedies of Eli’s house God humbled his people so that they could repent of their sins and turn to God. God was preparing the next generation prophet Samuel to be a leader for his people Israel. Like Samuel we should honor God and serve him with respect and reverence in our offering and worship and life. Second, THE LORD REVEALED HIS HOLINESS (5:1-7:1) After the Philistines won the battle, they captured the ark of God and took it to Ashdod, one of the Philistine cities. Then they carried it to Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. The Philistines had many idols; Dagon was their national god. It was the god of agriculture and grain. Why did they put the ark of God right beside Dagon? In ancient times if a nation won a war against another nation, the victors believed that their god was superior to the gods of the losers. The Philistines wanted to show that Dagon was superior to the God of Israel. In this way they mocked God treating him as a spoil of war. But God revealed that he is the only true and living God. Early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! The Philistines thought it was an accident. They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning, there was Dagon again, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! This time his head and hands had been broken off and were lying on threshold. Only his body remained. The Philistines didn’t step on the threshold as an expression of respect for Dagon. Here we see the foolishness of those who worship idols. The fallen Dagon couldn’t walk back to his place. He was picked up and carried by people to its place. Still they worshiped their idol. The prophet Isaiah says about the foolishness of those who worship idols. “People cut down woods. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats until his stomach is full. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I feel warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god." No one stops to think, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted Samgyupsal and I ate. Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?" Those who worship idols lack common sense. Though God didn’t do anything for the people who tried to use him, he didn’t tolerate any idol to stand with him. Through this God showed that He is the only true God and there is none other than him. After punishing Dagon, God brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. A tumor is an abnormal growth of body tissue. It can be cancer. Many people developed cancer! Some had stomach cancer; others had liver cancer. Some had brain cancer; others had skin cancer. They were like victims of atomic bomb. They began to realize that God was punishing them. So they called the first emergency meeting and asked the rulers what they should do with the ark of the god of Israel. The ruler’s answer was to move the ark of God to a different place. So they moved it to Gath. But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city too, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city with tumors, too. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron were very much afraid of the ark of God. Beside tumors, a pest spread around through rats. Death filled the city and their outcry went up to heaven. So they had the second emergency meeting and decided to send the ark back to Israel. The rulers advised them to send the ark away with a guilt offering. It suggests that they acknowledged their sins and offenses against God. The Philistines offer five gold tumors and five gold rats and pay honor to Israel's god. The problem of the Philistines was that they mocked God treating him as inferior to their idols. They came to know the history of Israel in Egypt through priests and diviners. They came to know what God had done to the Pharaoh and Egyptians when they refused to send the Israelites out of their country. Then they told the Philistines some specific ways of returning the ark of God. Look at 6:7 - 9. While sending the ark away, the Philistines wanted to confirm whether it really was the hand of God or a chance. Look at verse 12. “The cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left.” The two cows didn’t go off the road to eat grass . Or they didn’t make a U turn to come back to their calves. It was very unusual for nursing cows to leave their young and head for a town some 12 miles away without any human guidance. Now the people of Beth Shemesh saw the ark, they rejoiced. The Levites took down the ark and offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. But some people looked into the ark out of curiosity and God struck down seventy of them to death. They mourned because of God’s heavy blow. The people came to fear God in their hearts and sent the ark to Kiriath-Jearim. Through this passage we learn that God revealed himself as the only true and living God. He revealed his glory and holiness among the Philistines and the Israelites. Our God is a holy and fearful God. Therefore we should honor God and worship him and serve him in reverence and awe in our life. May God help us to honor and worship and serve him with great respect. |
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