1 Samuel 4:1-11
"The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died." 1 Samuel 4:11
The subject of our story is not a person but a piece of furniture--the ark of the covenant. It resided in the holy place of the tabernacle and contained three articles--the tablets with the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. This was the specific place where God had chosen to meet with His people. It was the holiest piece of furniture in the tabernacle.
The Israelites and the Philistines had been fighting each other since the time of Abraham. The Philistines had claimed five cities along the Mediterranean Coast and wanted to expand their territory. The battle in our story was probably Israel's attempt to defend their land.
When the two nations met to fight, the Philistines won the battle, killing about four thousand Israelites. This defeat came as a big surprise to the Israelites because God usually fought their battles and gave them victory.
The Israelites remembered the prominent place the ark held in their history. When they carried the ark into the Jordan River, the water backed up and allowed them to go across. They carried the ark around the city of Jericho, and Jericho's walls came tumbling down. They decided to bring the ark from the tabernacle in Shiloh to the battlefield to see if it would help them defeat the Philistines. Nothing is mentioned about asking God if they should do this. They were treating the ark somewhat like a good luck charm. The ark was a symbol of the presence and power of God, but the people were treating it as though the ark itself was a god. The Israelites discovered that having the religious symbol of God and having God were two entirely different things. The Israelites had outward forms of worship, but their hearts were far from God.
The priests, Eli's wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas, carried the ark to the battlefront. A great cry of excitement arose from the Israelite soldiers. Howard Vos wrote, "The army of the people of God was going into battle with no particular instruction of God and with greater trust in a religious piece of furniture than in the God whose presence it symbolized.
The Israelites were defeated. The Philistines captured the ark. Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and Eli died when he heard the news. The wife of Phinehas went into labor and died in childbirth.
God is never pleased when people try to substitute forms of worship for sincere hearts or obedience to God's will.
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