Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines 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."
So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant 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. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?"
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.
Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!" So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
1 Samuel 4:2-11
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we enter the fourth chapter of 1st Samuel, we see where the relative peacefulness in Israel comes to an end. For the Israelites enter into battle for the first time with an adversary that will oppose them over and over again. That opponent was the Philistines.
Their first encounter did not go well for Israel. Scripture tells us that they were “defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield”. Such was the magnitude of loss that the Israelite soldiers were thrown into a state of confusion. When those who had survived the Philistine onslaught returned to camp and reported on the outcome, “the elders of Israel asked, ‘Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines?’ “ Of note, we don’t see any inquiry of God before Israel entered into battle…no seeking of His favor before conflict. Now after the fact, the elders wondered why God wasn’t with their soldiers.
So instead of asking God about the matter and seeking His guidance as to what to do, Israel makes yet another fatal error. For they decide that the reason they were routed so badly was because the “ark of the Lord's covenant” was not with the men as they confronted the Philistines. So the elders ordered the ark to be brought from Shiloh and it was brought there accompanied by Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas…the two whose fate was already sealed in doom by the Lord for their wickedness. You can almost anticipate disaster about to happen again.
Unfortunately, the Israelites didn’t sense any danger. In fact when the ark arrived, the people “raised such a great shout that the ground shook” and their clamor got the attention of the Philistines who “learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the (Israelite) camp”. We read where this brought on a great deal of anxiety for the Philistines and they became afraid. Why? Because they were very aware of the consequences that came about when the Lord fought on the side of Israel. They knew all about Israel’s God…the God who had “struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert”. Would they be next? They would have if God had willed that they would fall to the Israelites but it wasn’t their time and Israel would have known this had they just asked.
Well, the Philistine fear didn’t last long. Their soldiers pulled together and exhorted one another to “Be strong”…to “Be men, and fight!" And fight they did, once again defeating the Israelites with this time being worse than the first. Indeed, “the slaughter was very great” with “Israel (losing) thirty thousand foot soldiers” as well as Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, as God had promised. To add further insult to injury, Israel lost their beloved ark of God as well as the Philistines captured it and took it away to their camp.
So what went wrong for Israel? They assumed that God was everywhere that the ark was. Or in other words, they felt they had control of God’s presence by placing the ark where they wanted it…in this case in the midst of a battle they fought without seeking God’s guidance first. The Israelite assumption ended up being a very fatal one…a lesson learned with great loss attached to it.
We should learn two distinct lessons from the fault of the Israelites in this passage.
First, we should never move forward into any venture without turning to God first and seeking His will and guidance. As we get set to handle life’s situations and circumstances, we should ask God how he wants us to handle things…and then be obedient to the instructions He provides.
Israel’s problem was that they dove into battle not even knowing if it was God’s will for them to do so. And in turn, many Israelites died needlessly. In other words, bad things will happen to us in life when we decide we don’t need to seek God’s direction before we do things.
Secondly, we should never assume that God is confined to any one object or place. In other words, God isn’t under our control so that we can place Him in the position we want Him to be. God is where God wants to be and wants us to go where he wants us to go.
Israel had it backwards. They figured they had God in the ark and so wherever they decided to put the ark then this was akin to putting God in place for their use. Unfortunately, they discovered the hard way that God will be where God wants to be in accordance with His will and had Israel communicated with God before the battle, they would have learned that their intentions were not His.
Friends, God dictates all things, not us. He is in control but He will allow us to try to be in control just to show us how much we can make a mess of our lives when we’re in charge. I know I can relate to this and maybe you can as well.
And so to keep from learning the hard way, we need only ever seek Him…every second of every minute of every hour of every day…and trust and know He will always lead us where he wants us to be.
What an awesome assurance this is for us…to know that God cares for us so much that He will always shape each of us personally to be the kind of servant He wants us to be by leading us to the places and events He wants us to play a part in and telling us what we should do in the midst of every circumstance. It’s just another reason why we love and praise Him so much. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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