Israel has been plagued by their enemies, the Philistines and they have suffered at the hand of Eli’s sons, the “worthless scoundrels” in 1 Samuel 2:12. But it wasn’t just these two, the nation as a whole had fallen away. Israel suffers a huge defeat and the Philistines capture the ark of the covenant. But the hand of the Lord is against the Philistines wherever the ark goes so they return the ark to Israel with a guilt offering recognizing in 1 Samuel 6:5 “you must give glory to the God of Israel”. It takes twenty more years, but Samuel leads the nation of Israel in repentance as he says in 1 Samuel 7:3 “If with all your heart you are turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” and he did deliver them.
Let Us Bring the Ark of the Covenant
1 Samuel 4:1-11
Israel had been confronted by the Philistines before and “They had kept the Israelites in some degree of subjection ever since the death of Samson and were determined, by further crushing, to prevent the possibility … (of Israel) to reassert their national independence. At all events, the Philistines were the aggressors”1. It seems here that Israel set themselves at Ebenezer in 1 Samuel 4:1 and then in
1 Samuel 4:2 “The Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolonged until Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield”.
This was a huge defeat, yet it seems the Philistines did not follow after, but the army of Israel retreated. They, in 1 Samuel 4:3 “came back to the camp” and agreed that they should “bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us”.
But there was no inquiry of the Lord about what they should do, whether to go against the Philistines or not. They just brought the ark in 1 Samuel 4:4 “And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God”.
There was a history of the power of the Lord to save and deliver Israel, but that was always preceded by a prophetic word confirming the Lords will. Here, the Hebrews were not looking the Lord, but to the ark to save them, so when the ark arrived in 1 Samuel 4:5 “all Israel let out a loud shout”. And in 1 Samuel 4:7 “the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come to the camp”. But in 1 Samuel 4:10 “the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated … the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell” and in
1 Samuel 4:11 Furthermore, the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Glory Has Departed From Israel
1 Samuel 4:12-22
The Hand of Yahweh Was Heavy
Return it With a Guilt Offering
1 Samuel 6:1-11
Though Israel had been defeated and the ark of God had been taken, every city where the Philistines had taken the ark there was as in 1 Samuel 5:11 “a deadly confusion was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there”. So after in 1 Samuel 6:1 “seven months” the Philistines wanted to return the ark to Israel in
1 Samuel 6:2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.”
These pagan priests knew that the ark belonged to Israel and they, in 1 Samuel 6:4 “the rulers of the Philistines” must return it with a “guilt offering”. And it is still true today that when we commit an offense against someone, we should offer restitution. However, while the diviners say in 1 Samuel 6:5 “You must make (gold) images of your tumors and images of your mice that are ravaging the land”, it is their next comment that is what was required in 1 Samuel 6:5 “you must give glory to the God of Israel”.
So, they do prepare the ark for return, but not to the Hebrews, they are returning it to the Lord and they treat it with great respect as they in 1 Samuel 6:7-8 “prepare one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them … And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering”.
They Made Sacrifices to Yahweh
Commit Your Hearts to Yahweh and Serve Him
1 Samuel 7:1-11
The ark is back in Israel, yet the Hebrews must now learn to honor the ark as the presence of the Lord among them. When it was returned, they did the right thing in 1 Samuel 6:15 “Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and … Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made sacrifices to Yahweh on that day”.
But then there were some that looked into the ark and in 1 Samuel 6:19 “He struck seventy men among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned”. And in
1 Samuel 7:2 “From the day the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, days multiplied and became twenty years while all the house of Israel mourned after Yahweh”.
We don’t hear anything about Samuel for these twenty years, but now he speaks out in
1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If with all your heart you are turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
And the people respond, and “the Israelites repented in v. 2. Compare Deut 30:8–10; Josh 22:5; Josh 24:23 … (after) The period of the judges (which) was characterized by spiritual defection and idolatry (e.g., Judg 2:12–13; 3:7; 8:33–34; 10:6–13)2.
This time of repentance and cleansing from idols is followed by a day of national prayer and fasting and Samuel says in 1 Samuel 7: 6 “We have sinned against Yahweh!”. But their enemies, the Philistines try to take advantage of this moment and in 1 Samuel 7:7 “the Philistines went up against Israel” so in 1 Samuel 7:9-10 “Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him … and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel”.
Study Verses
- 1 Samuel 4:1-11 Let Us Bring the Ark of the Covenant
- 1 Samuel 6:1-11 Return it With a Guilt Offering
- 1 Samuel 7:1-11 Commit Your Hearts to Yahweh and Serve Him
Today’s Reading
- 1 Samuel 4:1-22
- 1 Samuel 5:1-12
- 1 Samuel 6:1-21
- 1 Samuel 7:1-11
References
- 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 177). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 7:3). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.