← Back to sermon library

first samuel chapter four thus 
far in our studies in samuel we have seen the early life of 
samuel his birth and then in chapter three his call specifically 
to the prophetic ministry uh... probably is a very young man 
around the age of twelve or thirteen during this time or this period 
when he was called to the ministry so i want to read beginning in 
chapter four at verse one And the word of Samuel came to all 
Israel. Now Israel went out to battle 
against the Philistines and encamped beside Ebenezer. And the Philistines 
encamped in Aphek. Then the Philistines put themselves 
in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, 
Israel was defeated by the Philistines who killed about 4,000 men of 
the army in the field. And when the people had come 
into 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 from Shiloh to us, that when 
it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. 
So the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from there 
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who dwells between 
the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni 
and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. 
And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, 
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Now when 
the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, what 
does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews 
mean? Then they understood that the 
Ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines 
were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. And they 
said, woe to us, for such a thing has never happened before. Woe 
to us. Who will deliver us from the 
hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck 
the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong 
and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do 
not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. conduct 
yourselves like men and fight." So the Philistines fought and 
Israel was defeated and every man fled to his tent. There was 
a very great slaughter and there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers. Also the Ark of God was captured 
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. Then a man 
of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day and came to 
Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. Now when 
he came, there was Eli sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, 
for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man 
came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. When 
Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, what does the sound 
of this tumult mean? And the man came quickly and 
told Eli. Eli was 98 years old, and his 
eyes were so dim that he could not see. Then the man said to 
Eli, I am he who came from the battle, and I fled today from 
the battle line. And he said, what happened, my 
son? So the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before 
the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among 
the people. Also, your two sons, Hophni and 
Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured. Then 
it happened, when he made mention of the Ark of God, that Eli fell 
off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck 
was broken, and he died. For the man was old and heavy, 
and he had judged Israel forty years. Now his daughter-in-law, 
Phineas' wife, was with child, due to be delivered. And when 
she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured, and that 
her father-in-law and her husband were dead, She bowed herself 
and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about 
the time of her death, the women who stood by her said to her, 
do not fear, for you have borne a son. But she did not answer, 
nor did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, 
saying, the glory has departed from Israel. because the Ark 
of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law 
and her husband. And she said, the glory has departed 
from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured. Amen. Well, 
chapters 4, 5, and 6 deal primarily with the Ark of the Lord, the 
Ark of the Covenant. Specifically in chapter 4, we 
see that the Ark is captured. Chapter 5, the Ark is in Philistine 
territory. and then in chapter 6, the ark 
is returned back to Israel. So this is the central feature 
in 4-6. Interestingly enough, Samuel 
is not mentioned at all. Chapter 4, verse 1, verse 1a. Notice, "...and the word of Samuel 
came to all Israel." That could go with what has preceded, or 
it could go with chapter 4. And if we take it with chapter 
4, the idea may be that now there's a prophet of God Now there is 
a mouthpiece of God in Israel, but they don't make use of him. 
After they are defeated by the Philistines, instead of checking 
with Samuel, instead of seeking out the word of the Lord, they 
rather trot out the covenant, or the Ark of the Covenant, as 
the means by which they will secure victory. So Samuel is 
not mentioned. in the entirety of 4, 5, and 
6. He features again in chapter 
7 at verse 3. This could be the author's way 
of disposing with Eli and his family. I don't mean that in 
a grotesque way, but getting rid of Eli and his family so 
that the focus can resume upon Samuel. This is what Samarra 
says. He says, this is as if the author 
or narrator aims to remove Eli and his family before concentrating 
on Samuel. All these things resulted in 
the capture of the Ark of the Lord, the symbol and guarantee 
of the divine presence. Such a disaster had never happened 
in the history of the covenant people of Israel. Certainly this 
was one of the darkest times for them. This also gives the 
background for Samuel's success. So the capture of the ark was 
very significant in terms of a blow. to Israel, both militarily 
to be sure, but specifically religiously. The glory of God 
had indeed departed from Israel. This is a significant time in 
their history. It sets the stage for the coming 
of Samuel in a more official manner, as well politically. 
We learn from this particular section, specifically in verse 
18, that Eli judged Israel. He probably functioned as like 
one of those minor judges. The priests also had a place 
in judging appellate court case, or appellate court case laws, 
excuse me, in Israel. But then in chapter 7 at verse 
6, it speaks of Samuel as well judging Israel. So there's a 
bit of overflow in terms of office. in terms of function. Eli was 
a priest who had some judging capabilities. Samuel is a prophet 
who has some judging capabilities. But the point of this particular 
narrative is to see first the defeat of Israel indicated in 
verses 1 to 11, secondly the death of Eli in verses 12 to 
18, and then finally the departure of Yahweh in verses 19 to 22. So let's pick up first of all 
with the defeat of Israel. The situation is described for 
us in the first three verses. Again, the word of Samuel came 
to all Israel. Matthew Henry indicated that 
perhaps because he was a young man, that's why they didn't seek 
him out. He was 12 or 13 as he'd been called to the prophetic 
ministry. And all Israel knows that he is a prophet. Nevertheless, 
his youth may have kept them from seeking him out. As we go 
on in the narrative, the elders make a decision under Eli to 
go ahead and get the ark from Shiloh and take it into battle. 
So Samuel is not consulted at all. And I think that one of 
the things we ought to appreciate here is that we ought to seek 
the word of the living God. When anything happens, when any 
difficulties come upon us, reflection upon, and study of God's Word 
is the best course of action. Specifically, the Philistines 
pose a threat. Remember, under Samson, previously, 
they had been subjugated to some degree. Well, here they're a 
threat again, and in verse 1b, it says, Israel went out to battle 
against the Philistines and encamped beside Ebenezer. and the Philistines 
encamped in Aphex. So they've come to the place 
where they're going to engage in battle. The battle is very 
briefly described in verse 2. The Philistines put themselves 
in battle array against Israel, and when they joined battle, 
Israel was defeated by the Philistines who killed about 4,000 men of 
the army. in the field so this was very bad this is a very difficult 
thing in the history of the covenant people and then we see the particular 
solution that they appealed to verse 3 says when the people 
had come into the camp The elders of Israel said, why has the Lord 
defeated us today before the Philistines? They seemed genuinely 
surprised that they had lost the battle. I don't believe they 
were expecting this. I don't believe that they thought 
they were going to lose to the Philistines. Perhaps some of 
the momentum of the Samson regime was in their blood and they thought 
certainly we can take these Philistines out between Ebenezer and Aphad. They are genuinely surprised 
and they offer a theologically correct interpretation of the 
event. Notice what they say. Why? Has 
the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? That's a good 
sign. At least they're thinking theologically. Now, unfortunately, 
the solution that they propose betrays this, but this is accurate. The children of Israel are under 
a sovereign God, and when they are defeated in battle, they 
rightly ascribe this to God. They rightly attach victory to 
Yahweh. They rightly attach defeat to 
Yahweh. Proverbs 21.31, a passage that 
I hope you're familiar with. The horse is prepared for the 
day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord. They understood 
that. They asked the right questions. 
They're wondering about this particular situation. But note 
the plan that they propose. It says, let us bring the Ark 
of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes 
among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. Now, 
it's ambiguous. When it says, it may save us 
from the hand of our enemies, it could be he may save us from 
the hand of our enemies. But the entirety of the context 
suggests that what we have in the New King James is accurate, 
that it may save us from the hand of our enemies. In other 
words, the idea that just because the covenant or the Ark of the 
Covenant is there, we'll have victory. Just because we trot 
out this particular piece of holy furniture, we will have 
victory. So the elders fail to reflect 
properly on the situation. They ask the right question, 
why has it happened that we have been defeated by the Lord? But 
they don't accurately reflect upon this. The answer in a situation 
like this was repentance and faith, not magic and manipulation. The answer was to seek God, to 
reform their ways, to repent under the Lord, and then to do 
what he called them to do through his prophet Samuel. The law is 
very specific in terms of disobedience. Had they reflected upon that 
law, they would have understood why it was the case that they 
had failed on the battlefield. Leviticus 26.17, one of the curses 
for breaking the covenant. I will set my face against you, 
and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate 
you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues 
you. Might have been a good thing 
to think about. Might have been a good thing to rehearse. Might 
have been a good thing to recall so that they could humble themselves 
under the mighty hand of God and in due time be lifted up. 
Deuteronomy 28 says essentially the same thing. Again, remember 
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are so foundational for the 
entirety of the Old Testament. When the prophets come to prosecute 
the people of Israel, it is for violating the covenant that God 
stipulated with the nation of Israel. The curses are spelled 
out in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28, such that when you review 
Israel's history subsequent to these particular days when the 
law was given, it's almost as if you are seeing 26 and 28 fleshed 
out in Israel's history. When you go into the land and 
you break the covenant of God, these bad things are going to 
happen to you. Deuteronomy 28, 25, the Lord 
will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall 
go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. 
and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth." 
So they do not reflect properly on the situation. They do not 
seek the word of the Lord. Again, there's encouragement 
or at least exhortation for us here. Very often when bad things 
happen, we begin to chart a course without thinking through it. 
without pondering, without praying, without studying, without searching 
the scriptures? What does that text in Proverbs 
3 tell us? We are to trust in the Lord with 
all our heart. We're not to lean on our own 
understanding. In all our ways, we're to acknowledge 
Him, and He shall direct our paths. Now, this isn't mysticism. This isn't subjectivism. This 
isn't tuning out and letting go. This is rather searching 
the scriptures and asking the questions in the proper sense. They ask, why has the Lord defeated 
us today before the Philistines? And immediately they answer, 
go fetch the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh and trot it out to 
the battlefield, for certainly then we'll have victory. Well, 
as we see as we move through this narrative, that was the 
wrong answer. That was absolutely incorrect 
and they should not have engaged in this particular situation. 
So we ought to seek the word of the Lord to determine the 
reason for the defeat. That's what they should have 
done. As well, they should have sought the word of the Lord to 
determine the appropriate response to the judgment that he had imposed 
upon them. Again, I think 1A in many ways 
stands as sort of a warning to Israel. You now have a prophet 
operative in the land of Israel. Remember prior to the call of 
Samuel, just before the Lord starts to make his call upon 
him, it tells us there was no widespread revelation in the 
land. So at the end of chapter 3, going 
into chapter 4, what are we to conclude with the call of Samuel 
to the prophetic ministry? There is now widespread revelation 
in the land. You're not going to seek that. 
You're not going to ask. You're not going to find out. 
You're not going to pursue a course of action stipulated by God Most 
High. You're going to reflect, or react 
rather, in your own flesh and concoct this particular plan 
that smacks of manipulation rather than obedient faith, you're not 
going to prosper in this way. And as brothers and sisters in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the pathway to God's blessing is not through 
manipulation. The pathway to God's blessing 
is not through magic. The pathway to God's blessing, 
and that really isn't what we ought to be seeking. The pathway 
to God is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and humility before Him. It's not necessarily the blessings 
we are fetching, it is the God with whom we have to do that 
we seek communion. When we seek first the Kingdom 
of God and His righteousness, then these things will be added 
to us. In that passage in Matthew 6, 
Jesus tells his disciples, don't fret about food, don't fret about 
clothing, don't fret about tomorrow, but rather seek first the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness. He doesn't say try to manipulate 
your environment such that you have food, that you have clothes, 
and that you have a carefree tomorrow. No, he says, seek God 
first. This is always the answer for 
the people of God in every circumstance, in every situation, whether it's 
good times or bad times, our recourse is to the word of the 
Lord. So the word of Samuel came to 
all Israel, but instead of seeking that word out, they go ahead 
and concoct this particular plan. They attempt to manipulate the 
Lord. And at least from the surface 
level, it seems to have an appearance of piety, because after all, 
in battles previous, the Ark of the Covenant was with the 
people of God. It symbolized His presence with 
them. Numbers 10, also in Joshua 3, 
when they crossed the River Jordan, Joshua 6, when they went to battle 
at Jericho, the Ark of the Covenant featured significantly there. 
So at least from a surface level place, they thought, well, you 
know, we've lost to the Philistines. Let's go get the Ark of the Covenant 
from Shiloh. Let's bring it with us so that 
we'll win the battle. Again, the whole idea behind 
this is not, what does God want? How do we honor the Lord? How 
do we bring glory to the Lord? But we want victory. And so we're 
going to use God to try and secure victory. It is a faulty approach 
to the things of God most high. We are not in a position to manipulate 
the Lord. We are not in the position to 
be able to do it, and as people who have the Holy Spirit, it 
ought not to cross our minds. It is a true blight on the professing 
church today that there's so much technique involved to try 
and tie God's hand behind his back so that he'll pour out blessings 
to us. In many places, God is treated 
more like he is Baal than as he is in reality Yahweh of Israel. We are trying to coach blessings 
from him. We are trying to make him perform. We are trying to get what we 
want all under the guise of piety. Well, I did pray and I did fast 
and I did do this all in an attempt not to glorify God, not to honor 
God or cast ourselves fully upon his mercy, but because we want 
stuff. We've treated God, and I don't 
mean maybe all of us here specifically, probably though, but in a certain 
sense we have treated God like a genie in the bottle. We want 
three wishes. We want health, we want happiness, 
we want prosperity. Or we want a better job, or we 
want a better car, or we want a better this, or we... That's 
wrong, brethren. God is not in heaven and he does 
not have his existence in himself to make you and I happy. His 
goals are much broader, namely his glory, his honor, his exaltation, 
his magnificence displayed. So the ark is trotted out to 
battle as a means to get God to bless. Notice in 3B, let us 
bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us 
that when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand 
of our enemies. The use of the ark as a tool 
of magic. This is like a holy horseshoe. 
I think about that. Does everybody know that horseshoes 
supposedly have good luck? If you display a horseshoe on 
your wall, they say you've got to turn it with the tines up 
so that the luck doesn't run out. If you put it with the tines 
down, the luck runs out of the horseshoe. I mean, that's pretty 
zany, isn't it? I know when I was a kid, the 
rabbit's foot was a lucky charm. People had rabbit's feet. Why 
we think to have a rabbit's foot in our pocket, I really don't 
know. But it was somehow lucky. Or the four-leaf clover. Those 
are lucky. If you find a four-leaf clover, 
That's a good thing. You're in a good position for 
that day. People cast salt over their shoulders 
so that they don't have bad luck. All these things trying to manipulate 
the forces of nature so that things will go our way. Look 
what Israel is doing. They trot out the Ark of the 
Covenant that it may save us from the hand of our enemies. 
repentance and faith and humility before God was the path ultimately 
to defeating the Philistines, not bringing out this piece of 
furniture, not bringing out this which does symbolize the presence 
of God, but it does not confine the presence of God. He is not 
physically or spatially located in that box. Just bringing him 
out there doesn't mean that the God of heaven and earth is actually 
there. And as we trace through the narrative, 
God would rather enable the Philistines to capture the Ark of the Covenant 
than ever let Israel think that there is the possibility that 
they could manipulate him or that he is on the level of a 
holy horseshoe. God would rather see the Ark 
of the Covenant in enemy territory, which as we'll see as we move, 
the glory may have departed from Israel, but the glory never departs 
from Yahweh. What happens when that Ark goes 
to the Philistines? They have nothing but problems 
with it. God the Lord is sovereign and 
supreme. That is what the passage is highlighting 
for us. The presence of the ark did not 
secure victory, but the presence of the Lord would secure victory. They wanted to use God to get 
what they wanted. They didn't seek God to do as 
he commanded. Davis makes this observation. When we operate this way, when 
we take the piece of furniture out so that it may save us from 
the hand of our enemies. When we operate this way, our 
concern is not to seek God, but to control him. Not to submit 
to God, but to use him. So we prefer religious magic 
to spiritual holiness. We are interested in success, 
not repentance. Man, if that doesn't indict a 
lot of people who name the name of Christ, and again, probably 
all of us to some degree or other, we want God for what God gives. We don't want God for God. You 
see, there's a functional difference in that particular approach. 
We want God for God, not for what he gives us. Seek first 
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then these things will be 
added to you. John Gill makes this observation, 
that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand 
of our enemies. He says, foolishly placing their 
confidence in an external symbol and not in the Lord himself, 
ascribing salvation to that which only belongs to him, whether 
of a temporal or spiritual kind. And such folly and vanity are 
men guilty of when they seek to make use of and trust in anything 
short of Christ for salvation, as in carnal descent, in the 
rituals of the law, in the ordinances of the gospel, in any religious 
exercises, private or public, or in any works of righteousness 
done by them. In Christ alone is salvation 
from spiritual enemies, and indeed from the Lord only is salvation 
and deliverance from temporal enemies. You see, even us, with 
reference to baptism and the Lord's Supper. They are means 
of grace given by God for the good of His people. But it's 
not the external right that is everything. It is not the function 
of that particular task that is somehow blessed to us. It is God the Lord who operates 
through the conduit of those particular means. We find God 
in those places. Those places are not God. You see, the same was true with 
the Ark of the Covenant. We can find God and His presence 
among the Ark. But it's not as if the Ark is 
God. It's not as if that's all there 
is to God. That is not the sole place where 
God reigns and rules. And this is fundamentally flawed 
as well. They use the Ark in an idolatrous 
manner. It's actually sad to see the 
way Israel responds. in verse 3, and compare it to 
the pagan Philistines in verse 8. Notice what the Philistines 
say in verse 8. Woe to us, who will deliver us 
from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who 
struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 
Now, they are wrong theologically. There wasn't gods. that freed 
Israel from Egypt. There was one solitary, sole, 
unique, independent God. I am that I am. But the pagans 
reasoned this way, that when the Ark of the Covenant comes 
into the camp, that's their gods. Isn't that what Israel's doing? 
Isn't that essentially what Israel is saying? Go down to Shiloh, 
get the Ark and bring it to us that it may save us. They are 
identifying the Ark of the Covenant with God Himself. And that is 
the fundamental flaw in pagan religion. And it does speak of 
idolatry. Matthew Henry says, note, it 
is common for those that have estranged themselves from the 
vitals of religion. I love that statement, the vitals 
of religion. What are the vitals of religion? 
Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and repentance toward God. Those 
are the vitals of our religion. He says it is common for those 
that have estranged themselves from the vitals of religion to 
discover a great fondness for the rituals and external observances 
of it. You see, this happens. People 
think they're okay because they were baptized as an infant. People 
think they're okay because their fathers taught Sunday school. 
People think they're okay because they participate in the Lord's 
Supper. No, you're not okay because you 
participate in the Lord's Supper. You're okay because Jesus Christ 
has shed his blood. Jesus Christ has redeemed you, 
Jesus Christ has saved you, and Jesus Christ has blessed you 
with the privilege of feasting to remember that great redemptive 
work. He says, for those that even 
deny the power of godliness not only to have but to have in admiration 
the form of it. He says, the temple of the Lord 
is cried up and the ark of the Lord stickled for with a great 
deal of seeming zeal by multitudes that have no regard at all for 
the Lord of the Temple and the God of the Ark, as if a fiery 
concern for the name of Christianity would atone for a profane contempt 
of the thing. And yet, indeed, they did but 
make an idol of the Ark and looked upon it to be as much an image 
of the God of Israel as those idols which the heathen worship 
were of their gods." You see, they have fallen into pagan thought. And that is wrong. Manipulation, 
magic, paganism, idolatry, all these things under the guise 
of piety. Now may I suggest that when we 
engage in the same sorts of things, paganism, manipulation, magic, 
we often do it under the guise of paganism. We call them 40-day 
prayer vigils. Now it's not wrong to pray for 
40 days, not wrong to pray for 1,000 days. I don't mean your 
daily prayers, but those seasons where churches gather and have 
these 40-day prayer vigils. If we just want to humble ourselves 
under the mighty hand of God and cast ourselves in dependence 
upon Him, That's great, but typically there's an end game with these 
vigils. We want a new building, so we're 
going to meet together and pray. Well, that's magic. That's manipulation. That's put the quarter in the 
machine and pull the handle down and out spits the new building. 
If that is our goal, if we are trying to get from God, and we 
use fastings, or we use readings, or we use whatevers, we have 
fallen prey to this very thing. Magic, manipulation, and paganism, 
all under the garb of spirituality. Davis makes this particular comment. He says, contemporary believers 
must beware of thinking they are immune from this rabbit-foot 
faith. What is behind a church's 24-hour 
prayer vigil? Is it a desire to be in earnest 
with God, to plead with Him in some matter? Or is there some 
thinking that if we simply organize and orchestrate such coverage, 
God will be forced to grant whatever we are praying about? Perhaps 
individual Christians have observed that things go better with prayer. But what then is the drive behind 
their daily devotional exercises? Is it a delight in meeting with 
God or with things going better? You see, it's very subtle, brethren. You're probably thinking, what's 
wrong with a 24-hour prayer vigil? Is it so that things will go 
better? Because that's what they're doing out here between Aphek 
and Ebenezer. They bring the Ark of the Covenant 
out so that things will go better. It seems good, it's pious, it's 
holy. We have the Ark of the Covenant 
there. Davis says, But what then is the drive behind, I'm sorry, 
he says, whenever the church stops confessing, thou art worthy, 
and begins chanting, thou art useful, well then you know that 
the ark of God has been captured again. pragmatism, this idea 
that if we just do the formula, then God will bless us. Again, please pray, please read 
your Bibles, please take the Lord's Supper, please be baptized 
if you haven't been baptized, but don't put your faith in those 
things. Your faith is in the Lord God 
most high. Your faith is in the Lord Christ. 
Your faith is in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself 
for us. And we do not force God's hand. We need to come to that place 
where we say with the hymn writer, whatever my God ordains is right. And this prayer, times of prayer, 
are a place for us to evidence that sort of dependence upon 
him. So that's what Israel does in terms of their solution. Notice 
the judgment in verses 4 to 11. We're still under the defeat 
of Israel. Verses 4 to 11, the ark is delivered. Look at what 
we find. Verse 4, so the people sent to 
Shiloh that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant 
of the Lord of hosts. If you remember back to our studies 
in the book of Deuteronomy, you say, wait a minute, I'm having 
trough time with 1 Samuel 3 from last week. Remember back in Deuteronomy 
chapter 12, there was this emphasis upon a central sanctuary. God didn't want people hankering 
after him wherever they felt led. He wanted the people to 
come to the house of God. So in other words, the Ark of 
the Covenant was certainly a mobile piece of holy furniture during 
the wanderings in the wilderness. But now that they've hunkered 
down, now that Shiloh has become the place where they worship, 
The idea is not that we take the Ark of the Covenant from 
there. The idea is that we leave the Ark of the Covenant there. 
There seems to be an evidence of this in verse 13. Eli himself is concerned about 
the Ark, isn't he? Look at what he says, verse 13. His heart trembled for the Ark 
of God. One wonders if Eli thought You 
know, maybe this isn't the best response. Maybe we should just 
leave the Ark of the Covenant alone. Maybe it's supposed to 
stay in the House of Shabbat. I don't know if he said all this. 
I don't know if he thought all this. Certainly, as the priest, 
judge in Israel, the elders made this plan. He had to have signed 
off on it. Eli is not without blame, but 
Eli is concerned for the Ark of the Covenant. Things like 
this hadn't been done before. We're trotting a new ground here. We're forging a new path. The 
Philistines have beaten us. There's 4,000 dead Israelites. 
The response has not been humility. It's not been repentance. It's 
not been seeking the law. It's not been seeking Samuel 
the prophet. It's been take the Ark of the Covenant out to the 
field of battle. There at least appears that Eli had some consternation 
of soul in him when this messenger returns. Is the Ark okay? This is what's driving him. But 
then notice back in verse 4. So the people sent to Shiloh 
that they might bring from there the Ark of the Covenant of the 
Lord of Hosts that dwells between the cherubim and the two sons 
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the 
Covenant of God. Now, they're supposed to be because 
they're priests, right? They're supposed to accompany 
the Ark. But what do we know about Hophni and Phinehas? This 
is not a good thing. These are wretches. They do not 
know the Lord. There's not a lot in this particular 
mental image to bring home confidence to the faithful Israelite. We're 
going to take the Ark of the Covenant from the house of God 
at Shiloh. We're going to entrust it to 
two men who do not know the Lord, to two men who prostitute the 
sacrificial system in Israel, who threaten and faithful Israelites 
when they come to worship and lay with women outside of the 
tabernacle. Hophni and Phinehas are probably 
not the best guys for this particular job. Maybe we should rethink 
this plan. It's almost as if the author 
is setting us up to say, this is not good. Stop. Repent. Humble yourselves. Seek 
out Samuel. Fetch the word of the Lord. Don't 
fetch the Ark of the Covenant. Fetch the God of the Covenant 
through his prophet Samuel. Now notice the response of the 
Philistines in verses 5 to 9. The Philistines, as I've already 
mentioned, reasoned the way that the Israelites did. Verse 5, 
when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, 
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. They're 
fired up. They think this is the answer. 
You see, that, again, is something symptomatic of the manipulator. 
We think that what we're doing is pious, godly, and good, and 
therefore the Lord's gonna bless us. I don't know if you've ever 
met charismatics, brethren, have you met people that have this 
view, that if I go through these motions, God has to bless me. 
There was a book written several years ago on this very theme 
because Jabez in one verse prayed to the Lord to enlarge his territory. It launched a book that was a 
bestseller in North America. It wasn't as blatant health, 
wealth, and prosperity as Benny Hint. It wasn't as blatant as 
Joel Osteen, but that was the underlying message. Pray the 
prayer to get the blessing. Pray the prayer to get the enlarged 
territory. Pray the prayer so that the God 
of heaven and earth will function as a genie and help your business 
to grow. I don't know if you've met those 
people, brethren, but I have, and it's an offense when we think 
that God is some sort of servant boy to us to do what we want. That's not the way this system 
is supposed to work. So the people of Israel are fired 
up. I mean, you see them going to 
these revival meetings. You go and, yeah, the Lord, we're 
going to have a revival. You don't schedule revival. What 
is revival? It is a supernatural act of God 
Most High. It is when the Spirit comes in 
power. Not because we say on Friday 
evening we're gonna set up a tent and at 7 p.m. we're gonna have 
a revival. That is Arminianism to the core. It is Pelagian to the core. It 
gives no respect whatsoever to Jesus' teaching in John chapter 
3. The Spirit is like the wind. You cannot control the Spirit 
any more than you can control the wind. Brethren, these are 
manipulative techniques that the people of God are imposing 
upon the God of the people so that they can get what they want. 
That's wrong. It's not righteous stuff. Notice 
verse six, now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, 
they said, what does the sound of this great shout in the camp 
of the Hebrews mean? Then they understood that the 
ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines 
were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. That's 
good, they should be afraid, if indeed God has come into the 
camp. You see, Israelite is poised for victory. The Philistines 
are poised for defeat. They're afraid. They're worrisome. They don't think it's going to 
go well this time. The tables, at least as far as 
everybody involved is concerned, have turned. It's going to be 
victory for Yahweh on this particular day. Notice, verse 8, woe to 
us who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods. These 
are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. That's not accurate. It wasn't 
in the wilderness. It was in Egypt specifically. But again, 
they're pagan Philistines. We don't expect them to get their 
theology right. We do expect Israelite covenantal 
members to get their theology right. When Israelites are acting 
like Philistines, things aren't good in Israel. Notice what they 
do. Verse nine, be strong, be strong 
and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do 
not become servants of the Hebrews as they have been to you. Conduct 
yourselves like men and fight. You see, this is their last-ditch 
attempt. As far as they're concerned, the God who destroyed the Egyptians 
are now coming after them, and they're saying, We gotta stand 
up. We gotta just muster up all our 
courage. We gotta withstand that. The Israelites are fired up. 
They have their tool. They think they're going to get 
victory. They've shouted so loud that it's shaken the ground and 
stirred up these Philistines. We expect victory at this point, 
don't we? We expect God to deliver, don't we? We expect blessings 
to flow from on high, don't we? Look at what happens. Verse 10, 
so the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated. It's the 
point, Israel, don't try and manipulate God. I would rather 
my ark end up in pagan Philistine hands than to let you think for 
a moment that I'm some genie. Now, this is a good lesson for 
the long run. Probably didn't feel so good 
at this particular time, but you know as well as I do that 
theological lessons that become practical don't always find their 
way in our minds and hearts in the most comfortable ways. We 
are a thick-headed, thick-hearted people and very often we need 
to learn things the hard way. Notice every man fled to his 
tent He didn't flee back to military headquarters. He left military 
service. The defeat was so thorough going. The Philistines were so formidable, 
there was a very great slaughter. These men, as I said, did not 
run back to their camp. They did not run back to their 
military place. They went AWOL. They bailed on 
military service. They went back to their mothers. 
They went back to their wives. They went back to their children. 
They went back to their tents. They threw their guns down. If 
we were using a modern analogy, they took their flat vests off. 
They threw their helmets away. They jumped out of their Bradley 
tanks, and they ran like little girls. And they went back into 
their tents. They probably put the covers 
over their heads and slapped a thumb in their mouth, because 
they were decimated on the field of battle. Not only does the 
Philistines, or do the Philistines win, but the defeat is very thorough, 
because God is teaching theology in the midst of all of this. 
There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers. Also, the Ark 
of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, 
died. So the Ark was captured. Matthew 
Henry again says, now they are made to reflect with the utmost 
regret upon their own rashness and presumption in bringing the 
Ark into the camp and so exposing it, and wish a thousand times 
they had left it where God had fixed it. You can hear it now. Man, we should have left the 
art there. The shouldas and the wouldas and the couldas are enough 
to bury us, aren't they? I woulda, shoulda, coulda. Those 
words are typically never positive. You never say I should have with 
a good spin. It's always negative. I should 
have done this, and I did it. I should have stopped hitting 
my head with a hammer, but I didn't. I should have left the ark where 
it was, but I didn't. I should have thought twice before 
entering into that relationship. I should have thought twice before 
doing such and such. He says, now they are convinced 
that God will not be prescribed to by vain and foolish men, and 
that though he has bound us to his ark, he has not bound himself 
to it, but will rather deliver it into the hands of his sworn 
enemies than suffer it to be profaned by his false friends. and countenance their superstition." 
That's gold. That describes it to a T. He 
would rather deliver the ark into the hands of his sworn enemies 
than suffer it to be profaned by his false friends, Israel, 
and countenance their superstition. You see, what else we have in 
verse 11 is the faithfulness of God's Word. We see the faithfulness 
of God's Word, the fidelity, the fulfillment of that Word. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and 
Phinehas, died. Remember back in chapter 2. that 
man of God, I'm sorry, in chapter 2 at verse 34, that man of God 
who'd come to the house of Eli, verse 34, now this shall be a 
sign to you that will come upon your two sons on Hophni and Phinehas 
in one day, they shall die, both of them. And then in 3, 12 to 
14, God reveals himself to Samuel. Samuel is told in that day, chapter 
3, verse 12, I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning 
his house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will 
judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows because 
his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. 
And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity 
of Eli's house shall not be atoned for. by sacrifice or offering 
forever. You see, even in the midst of 
God's judgment, we see God's mercy. You say, well, what kind 
of a mercy is that? It's mercy that Hophni and Phinehas, 
false shepherds, are taken away from Israel. That is a blessing 
when bad men die. That is a blessing when God purges 
his church of men who lie, or men who steal sacrifices, or 
men who lay with women that are not their wives. Davis says, 
indeed, though in fulfilling his word, he acts in judgment, 
he nevertheless acts in grace, for in his judgment he is removing 
false shepherds who cause his people to go astray. So that's 
the defeat of Israel. Notice the death of Eli in verses 
12 to 18. Verse 12, then a man of Benjamin 
ran from the battle line the same day. Some of the Jewish 
interpreters thought this was Saul. He was a Benjamite. There's 
no need to believe that. There's not any compelling evidence 
to suggest that that is the case. But a man of Benjamin ran from 
the battle line the same day, came to Shiloh with his clothes 
torn and dirt on his head. Now when he came, there was Eli 
sitting on a seat by the wayside watching. Again, for his heart 
trembled for the ark of God. You know, there's these hints 
along the way that Eli wasn't a bad man. He made some bad decisions. He did some bad things. But he 
was concerned about the ark of the Lord. I mean, he had some 
semblance of this. Back in chapter 3, after Samuel 
pronounces the word of judgment against Eli, what does Eli say? 
It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to 
him. He doesn't say, well, that's not fair. I didn't do it. No, 
he owns his sin, he understands that he has sinned, he understands 
that the judgment of God is sure and just. Here he's concerned 
for the ark of God. And when the man came into the 
city and told it, all the city cried out. The man comes into 
the city and he tells them what happened. We lost 30,000 soldiers. 
We lost the Ark of God. Hophni and Phinehas are dead. When Eli heard the noise of the 
outcry, he said, what is the sound of this tumult mean? And 
the man came quickly and told Eli. Eli was 98 years old. His eyes were so dim that he 
could not see. Eli hears this uproar in the cities. What's 
going on? What's happening? Tell me about the ark. Tell me 
what's happened in the battle. And the man said to Eli, I am 
he who came from the battle, and I fled today from the battle 
line. He said, what happened, my son? So the messenger answered 
and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has 
been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, 
Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. The Ark of God has been captured. 
One wonders if he knew what would be that which most seriously 
disturbed Eli. He puts it at the end, right? 
He says, there has been a great slaughter. Hophni and Phineas 
are dead. The Ark of God has been captured. 
Perhaps the messenger, wanting not to upset Eli, would think, 
Hophni and Phineas, my sons, are dead. That's not what pushes 
Eli literally over the edge. What pushes Eli literally over 
the edge is the Ark of the Covenant is now in Philistine hands. Verse 
18, then it happened when he made mention of the ark of God 
that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his 
neck was broken and he died for the man was old and heavy. And 
he had judged Israel 40 years. It wasn't the news of the great 
slaughter, the 30,000 foot soldiers dead. It wasn't the news of his 
own sons, Hophni and Phinehas. It was the news that the ark 
of the covenant of God most high was now in Philistine hands. 
Those filthy pagans were touching the Ark of the Covenant of God. 
That sent him over the edge. He had judged Israel 40 years. Notice, finally, the departure 
of Yahweh. This is a very sad scene. This is very sad. His daughter-in-law, 
Phineas' wife, was with child, due to be delivered. And when 
she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that 
her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself 
and gave birth. for her labor pains came upon 
her." She's grieving. The Ark is gone. Again, notice 
conspicuously the particular order. She heard the news that 
the Ark of God was captured. One wonders if she, in fact, 
was a faithful Israelite. You see, faithful Israelites, 
faithful believers, are concerned more when God is not with them 
than when blessings not with them. Faithful Israelites are 
more concerned about the absence of God than the absence of victory 
or the absence of stuff or the absence of benefit. True Christians 
want God more than what God gives them. And this is indicative 
of that. Verse 20, about the time of her 
death, I'm sorry, for her labor pains came upon her. About the 
time of her death, the women who stood by her said to her, 
do not fear, for you have born a son. But she did not answer, 
nor did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod, 
saying, the glory has departed from Israel." Literally, the 
glory has gone into exile. That's what's happened here. 
The glory has gone into exile because the Ark of God had been 
captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, 
the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured. Sad scene. I mean, this poor 
lady, she probably goes into premature labor She gives birth 
to little Ichabod, and then she dies. Her last statement, Davis 
says, she probably taught more theology in her death than Phineas 
had done in his whole life. This was significant expression 
of her faith in the living God. Well, brethren, I hope that we 
see in this particular passage first the importance of the Word 
of God. Chapter 4, verse 1a stands as 
something of a warning or something of a statement concerning all 
that follows. The Word of Samuel came to all 
Israel, but all Israel didn't come to Samuel. They didn't seek 
him out. They didn't ask what we should 
do. They didn't ask for an interpretation of the events that had befallen 
them between Ebenezer and Aphek. They did not ask. They simply 
decided with rashness to go ahead to fetch the art from Shiloh 
and to trot it out to the field of battle. As well, I hope that 
we have seen in Chapter 4, probably it won't kill it from us completely, 
but we ought not to seek to manipulate God. We ought not to seek to 
get things from God. Again, we are to pray for our 
daily bread. We are to pray for our forgiveness. 
We are to pray for His protection. Lead us not into temptation. 
I'm not suggesting we don't present petitions. I'm not suggesting 
we don't bring brethren to the throne of grace and say, Lord 
God, please heal this particular person. Those are all legitimate 
things, but there is a mindset that some adopt that think that 
the formula or think that the approach or think that the means 
or think that the manner is somehow the path to victory. I mean you 
see Christian books like this, books are written how to have 
a better this. How to have a happier this? Christianity 
cannot be reduced to an algebraic formula. Brethren, there are 
times and seasons when the best of God's people are seeking faithfully 
to honor Him and they suffer. Look at the Apostle Paul, was 
there ever a more tireless servant of God most high? I mean this 
brother literally canvassed thousands and thousands and thousands and 
thousands of miles preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and 
him crucified. Certainly, formulaically, he 
was doing everything right. We know he's a man of prayer 
because he tells us he prays. We know he's a man who knows 
his Bible because he quotes it all the time. We know he's a 
man who serves the Lord because he's always out doing it. Certainly, 
that pathway, that formula, will ensure great blessing and great 
happiness and great joy and great prosperity for the brother. No, 
it didn't. He ended up in prison, a prisoner 
of the Lord. He always understood that. He 
wasn't a prisoner of Caesar. He was a prisoner of the Lord. 
He knew what it was to have a messenger from Satan buffet him in the 
flesh. He knew what it was to carry 
a thorn in his side. He knew what it was to be beaten 
with the Roman rod. He knew what it was to be beaten 
with the Jewish whip. He knew what it was to suffer 
deprivation. So you see, there's no formula 
or pathway to perfection in terms of blessing. There's no formulaic 
approach in Christianity that we get the blessings we always 
want and deserve. And then you see some pretty 
miserable Christians not always doing what they should be doing, 
not always being faithful. And God seems to bless them. 
So do we do adopt that? Well, I'm not going to read my 
Bible. I'm not going to pray. I'm going to miss church because they're getting 
blessed. We would never argue that way. So why do we argue 
the other way? I'm going to do X, Y, and Z so 
that God will bless me. J. Gressam Machen made this observation, 
and we'll end here. He says, we value God solely 
for the things he can do. We make of him a mere means to 
an ulterior end. And God refuses to be treated 
so. Such a religion always fails 
in the hour of need. If we have regarded religion 
merely as a means of getting things, even lofty and unselfish 
things, then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, 
our faith will fail. When loved ones are taken away, 
when disappointment comes and failure, when noble ambitions 
are set at naught, then we turn away from God. We have tried 
religion. We say we have tried prayer, 
and it has failed. He says, of course it has failed. 
God is not content to be an instrument in our hand or a servant at our 
beck and call. He is not content to minister 
to the worldly needs of those who care not a bit for him. That is what 1st Samuel 4 teaches 
us. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for this, Your Word. We thank You for these prophets. 
We thank You for the Old Testament and the great riches that it 
gives to us in terms of theology. We thank You, God, for who You 
are. We confess our sin that we don't always live in light 
of that as we ought. Help us to be humble under Your 
mighty hand. Help us to be faithful in terms 
of Scripture reading, in terms of obedience to You. God, help 
us never to look at these things as a means to get what we want. 
Help us, Father, to do the things that you call us to do in a manner 
that you call us to do them. And even now, Lord God, go with 
us, grant us grace and peace through the remainder of this 
week. Again, we pray for our persecuted brethren, Our prayers 
for that little boy that was pushed into the fire by those 
wicked men, God. We just pray for his healing. 
We pray that you would bless this little fellow. We pray for 
his family. We pray, God, that you would 
be merciful to them. And bring such wicked men to 
judgment, even as you did with Hophni and Phinehas. We know 
that this is the execution of your righteousness, of your justice, 
of your judgment, and a sign that truly God is the king. of 
kings and the Lord of lords. And we pray these things through 
Christ Jesus. Amen.