1 SAMUEL 4
Introduction – for the next three chapters we leave the story of Samuel and follow the adventures of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments and a few other things (see Exodus 25 for more detail on the Ark). The important aspect of the Ark is that it was the symbol of God’s presence with his people. In Joshua Chapters 3 and 4 we saw the Ark being taken to the River Jordan, the river drying up and the people crossing into the Promised Land. The image is of God himself leading his people and enabling them to reach the Promised Land, something they could not do themselves.
Read 1 Samuel 4:1-11
When we left the Book of Judges, the last of the Judges, Samson, had some success against the Philistines but had not overcome them completely. Now the conflict resumes and we see that the Philistines are triumphant once again. The Israelites ask the question, ‘Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us?’ A good question, but their response was not quite so good. Their solution was to get the Ark of the Covenant and to take that into battle. With the Ark on the battlefield, how could they possibly lose? God wouldn’t let himself be defeated in battle, would he? This was not good thinking for two reasons. Firstly, it was trying pressure God into doing what they wanted, saying ‘he’s got to give us victory now!’ Secondly it was a misunderstanding of what the Ark was. The Ark was a symbol of God’s presence with his people, not his actual presence. It was almost like treating the Ark as a lucky charm – rabbit’s foot theology! We need to give God his rightful place. He is God: creator, provider, redeemer. As soon as we stop saying, ‘you are worthy’ and start saying, ‘you are useful’, then we lose our relationship with God. The result was that Israel lost the battle and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines.
Read 1 Samuel 4:12-22
In the aftermath of the defeat of Israel we read that the prophecy of the Man of God in Chapter 2 and the word of judgement on Eli’s family given to Samuel in Chapter 3, come true. Eli and his two sons all die. And though Eli must have been shocked and upset at the death of his sons it seems that it is the news of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant that causes him to fall off his chair and break his neck. The loss of the Ark was a disaster for Israel. Did it mean that God had left them, that God had abandoned them? Eli’s daughter in law reflected this thinking when she named her son Ichabod, meaning, ‘the glory has departed’.