THE LORD IS THE HOLY GOD
1 Samuel 4:1b-7:1
Key Verse: 6:20a
“and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?”
This passage tells us a story of Israel who was defeated by the Philistines and lost the ark of God. The glory of God seemed to depart from Israel. But in the midst of defeat and despair, God revealed his glory among the Philistines. He revealed his glory and holiness so that people might honor and worship him.
“THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED” (4:1b-22)
After Joshua’s death, Israel was ruled by Judges. During the time of the Judges, Israel repeatedly did evil in the eyes of God. They forgot God who brought them out of Egypt and worshipped idols. Therefore God was very angry and left several enemy nations including the Philistines to see if they would obey the Lord’s commands. The Philistines had developed ironware culture earlier than other nations and their army was well trained. While Eli was judge, 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, who killed about four thousand of them 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.” 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.
The ark of God was a square shaped box coated with gold inside and out. It contained the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed, along with Aaron’s rod and manna. In chapter 4 the ark is described as ‘the ark of the Lord’s covenant’ four times. In the books of Samuel the word ‘covenant’ appears 58 times. What is the definition of covenant in the Bible? A covenant is an agreement between God and his people. After leaving Egypt the people of Israel came to a mountain called Sinai. There Moses read the Book of the Covenant and the people promised to obey. Moses then took blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.” This is how God made a covenant with his people. Moses wrote the words of the covenant which are the Ten Commandments on the stone Tablets and put them in the ark. This is why the ark was called ‘the ark of the Lord’s covenant.’ God promised his people that he would meet them over the ark. The ark was the symbol of God’s presence and granted Israel victories over their enemies. Because of these past victories they brought the ark to the battlefield. And the priests, Hophni and Phinehas were there in charge of the ark of God.
When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. When the ark of God came to the camp their morale to fight was rejuvenated. They believed that this time they could beat their enemy, the Philistines. 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 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”. The Philistines hated to be slaves of the Israelites. So, they were determined to fight with their lives.
So the Philistines fought and who won? The Israelites were defeated and every soldier fled. That day the slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. Why were the Israelites defeated so miserably? The Philistines overcame fear and fought with all their strength. Meanwhile the Israelites were superstitious thinking that the ark would give them an easy victory. And the result was Israel’s miserable defeat. The Israel soldiers were annihilated by the Philistines. Not only were 30000 soldiers slaughtered but also the ark of God was captured and Eli’s two sons were killed.
Why was the Israel army defeated though the ark of God was with them? It was because the Israelites broke the covenant of the Lord. In Leviticus chapter 26 God already declared that they would be defeated by their enemies if they didn’t obey God. Eli’s two sons were wicked and had no regard or concern for God even though they were priests. They scorned the Lord’s offering and sacrifice and committed adultery by sleeping with the women serving at the tent of the Lord. They mocked and dishonored God with their evil deeds. The people of Israel were not much different from them. They 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. Prophet Isaiah described them saying, “They honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from God.” 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. There are still many who don’t honor and love God but use God in times of trouble and then kick him again. God is not happy with this kind of people. This is why the Israelites were defeated miserably.
That same day an Israelite man ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh where the ark of God had come from. When he arrived Eli was sitting on his chair, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man 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 man 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 not to do such wicked things. Eli warned them that if they sinned against others God could forgive but if they sinned against God there would be no one to intercede for them. But Eli’s two sons didn’t listen. It seems that Eli did what he could. But God rebuked Eli saying that he honored his sons more than God and he failed to restrain his sons. God pronounced 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.
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. This idol was represented in the combination of both man and fish. So, it was called ‘a fish god’. 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 through the idol and the Philistines.
When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! The Philistines didn’t know what had happened and thought it was an accident. They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, 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 out of their respect for Dagon. Here we see the foolishness of those who worship idols. When Dagon fell on the ground he couldn’t walk back to his place. He was picked up and carried by people to its place. Still they worshiped their idol and showed their respect. 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 meat 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 the Lord’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. A tumor is an abnormal growth of body tissue. It can be cancerous and non-cancerous. There are many types of tumors depending on the location and some tumors cause severe pain and death. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening 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, which was about 12 miles southeast of Ashdod. 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 an outbreak of tumors. 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 and death filled the city and their outcry went up to heaven. So they had the second emergency countermeasure meeting and decided to send the ark back to Israel.
Then they asked how they should send it back to its place The rulers advised them to send the ark away with a guilt offering. Their guilt offering suggests that they acknowledged their sins and offenses against God asking God’s forgiveness.
The Philistines asked what kind of guilt offering they should send. The rulers replied that they should offer five gold tumors and five gold rats and pay honor to Israel's god. The priests and diviners were wise and gave them the right directions. The problem of the Philistines was that they mocked God treating him as inferior to their idols. The priests kept on saying, “Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?” These priests and diviners knew the history of Israel in Egypt. They knew what God had done to the Pharaoh and Egyptians when they refused to send the Israelites out of their country. When Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let them go God struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues. The priests advised the people not to make the same mistake and their words persuaded them.
Then they told the Philistines some specific ways of returning the ark of God. Let’s read chapter 6:7 through 9. “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance." While sending the ark away the Philistines wanted to have an experiment to confirm whether it really was the hand of God or a chance.
So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and the small box containing the guilt offering. What was the outcome of their experiment? Let’s read 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 distance between Ekron and Beth Shemesh, the first Israeli town at the borderline was 12 miles, the distance from here to Laurel. The two cows didn’t go off the road to eat grass or make a U turn to come back to their calves. Without any human forcing or guiding the two cows went straight up to the destination. It would be very unusual for nursing cows to leave their young and head for a town some 12 miles away without any human guidance. Missionary Paul Chang who used to be a farmer explained how cows would behave under normal circumstances. He said that the basic nature of humans and animals is similar. What he means is that mother cows wouldn't abandon their young. He said that if mother cows are forced to separate from their young both cows and calves cry. He actually saw them crying with tears. He also said how they would know where to turn without human guidance. Yet against all odds and their animal instinct, the two cows went straight up to Beth Shemesh. The Philistines regarded this behavior as miraculous and indicative that it was the hand of God that had punished them.
Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and 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 the heavy blow God had dealt them. They said, "Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” 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. What then should be our attitude towards God? Hebrews 12:28 through 29 say, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." Our God is a consuming fire. 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. Let’s pray.