Tag Archives: 1 Samuel 4-7

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2024 Bible Study — If a People Have Corrupt Leaders, It Is Because the People Are Corrupt

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 4-7.

We generally think of Eli’s death being the result of God’s judgement because of the corruption of his sons.  However, we do not normally pay attention to the fact that he was 98 years old when he died.  I think that fact supports my claim from yesterday’s post that Eli had a faith in God worth noting.  Now let’s look at what I saw in today’s passage worth thinking about.  We often focus on the misbehavior of Eli’s sons as leading to the Israelite mistake of thinking that they could force God to support them in battle against the Philistines by bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the battle.  After the Ark was returned to Israel, with all that went along with that, the passage tells us that all of the people of Israel turned back to God.  It was only after they turned back to God that Samuel became the leader of Israel.  So, the people of Israel did not turn back to God because Samuel, a righteous man, was their leader.  Rather,  Samuel became Israel’s leader because the people turned back to God.  There is one more thing worth noting.  When the Philistines attacked the Israelites at the beginning of today’s passage, the Israelites tried to force God to help them by taking the Ark with them into battle.  At the end of today’s passage when the Philistines attacked the Israelites, the Israelites did not ask Samuel to lead them into battle and bring God with him.  Rather, they asked Samuel to cry out to God on their behalf asking Him to rescue them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2023 Bible Study — God Does Not Serve Us, But He Will Protect Us If We Serve Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 4-7.

I had written an entire paragraph about the timeline of events here before I realized it would not take me anywhere interesting.  So, I deleted that and started over.  I am going to contrast the way the Israelites under the “leadership” of Eli’s sons appealed to God for aid in battle to the way the did so under Samuel’s leadership.  First, I want to point out that Eli’s sons did not actually lead the Israelites.  Instead, they  accompanied the ark of the covenant when the Israelites came and took it to battle.  Second, when the war went badly for the Israelites, they did not seek God’s guidance to learn what they had done wrong, as they had under Joshua when they suffered defeat at Ai.  No, they brought God, so they thought, to the frontlines,  believing that would force Him to give them victory.  Or to put it another way, they considered God to be just another item in their array of battle:

General looking at the battle map, “We will put that infantry unit there, this other infantry over there, and put our archers..there. Finally, put the ark of the covenant, with God inside it, in our center just behind our elite units.”

On the other hand, when Samuel led the Israelites he had them put aside all of their idols and destroy their objects for worshiping other gods.  Then he called them to assemble to worship God.  Yes, Samuel was also calling them to assemble for war, but he did not marshal them into position with a plan to take the battle to the Philistines.  Samuel called them together before God, and waited for God to act.  Under Samuel, the Israelites did not impose their will on their neighbors, but none of their neighbors were able to impose their will upon the Israelites.

Of course, part of Samuel’s success resulted from what happened after the Israelites brought the ark of covenant to war, and thought that thus they had brought God to their war.  The Philistines thought the same thing had happened, that a god had been brought to the battle, and they were frightened.  But, when they were victorious, the Philistines thought that it meant that their gods were more powerful than the Israelites’ god.  God decisively, and in “language” they thoroughly understood, showed them that He had chosen to allow them to seize the ark of the covenant.  When the Philistines won the battle, they thought that their god, Dagon, had defeated the god of the Israelites, despite being distant from Dagon’s temple and in the presence of the Israelites’ god’s presence in the ark.  But when they put the ark of the covenant inside the center of Dagon’s presence and power, Dagon “bowed” down to the god of Israel, because the god of Israel was not “god” with a lower case “g”, rather Israel’s God was the Creator of all that is and all that will be.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2022 Bible Study — We Serve God, God Does Not Serve Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 4-7.

This passage contains a lot about the power of God and the honor He demands.  The Israelites attempted to use the ark of the covenant to manipulate God.  Their reasoning appears to have been that if they brought the ark to the battlefield, God would be forced to bring them victory.    God does not work that way.  We cannot tell God what to do.  In a way, the Israelites were attempting to use the ark as their god.  Then after the Philistines captured the ark they thought their gods were more powerful than God.  The symbolism was quite clear.  They set the ark of the covenant beside their god, Dagon, as if it was tribute to him.  The following morning they found their image of Dagon prostrate before the ark of the Lord.  After they set the image back up, they found it prostrate the following morning with its hands and head broken off…almost as if they had been cut off for not honoring God.  In addition, a plague broke out among the Philistines.  All of this led the Philistines to conclude that they must return the ark, but they realized that they had no way of determining where to return it.  They also wanted to be sure that the plague was not just a coincidence.  So, they placed the ark on a cart and yoked two cows which had recently given birth to it.  The normal expectation would be for the cows to head for where their calves were.  These cows instead headed for Israelite territory.  The Israelites rejoiced at the return of the ark.  Some of them could not resist their curiosity and looked inside the ark, despite not being properly consecrated to approach the ark.  Those who treated the ark of the Lord like a carnival attraction died.  All of these events led the people of Israel to return to worshiping the Lord. When they did so, Samuel told them that it was not enough to start worshiping God again.  They needed to give up their various idols as well and worship only God.  Samuel had they gather to rededicate themselves to God.  When the Philistines attacked this gathering, the Israelites continued to worship and only responded to the threat after God had acted on their behalf.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2021 Bible Study Trust The Lord, But Not While Worshiping Other Things

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 4-7.

Today’s passage begins with the Israelites suffering a defeat at the hands of the Philistines.  Instead of seeking an answer from God as to why He did not give them victory, they chose to force His hand by bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefield.  As a result they suffered a devastating defeat and the Ark was captured by the Philistines.  The Philistines interpreted their victory, and capture of the Ark, as evidence that their gods were more powerful than the God of Israel.  God promptly disabused them of this notion. So, the Philistines sent the Ark back to the Israelites in a way which demonstrated God’s power.  Even with the return of the Ark, some of the Israelites failed to properly respect God.  Finally, the people turned once more to worshiping God, and Samuel was prepared to tell them what to do.  At Samuel’s instruction they did away with their various idols, gathered to confess their sins and worship God.  The Philistines mustered their armies to attack the assembled Israelites.  Rather than rely on their own strength, the Israelites begged Samuel to cry out to God for them.  God caused the Philistines to panic and flee before the Israelites.

Initially, when things went bad for Israel, they looked to God for help, but they did not first turn from their sin.  It was only when they repented and sought to serve God that He rescued them.  Let us learn from this and act accordingly.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2020 Bible Study — God Does Not Come To Our Call, We Must Come To His Call

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

This passage shows us that it is not sufficient to call on God in our times of trouble.  We must also stop calling on other gods and serve only the Lord.  At the beginning of this passage the Israelites called on God and thought that by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the battle God would have to give them victory.  However, it does not work that way.  We cannot force God to act according to our desires, we must act according to His will.  The Philistines learned a lesson we need to learn as well: just because we are successful does not mean we are doing the right thing.  The Philistines thought that capturing the Ark of the Covenant meant that their god(s) were more powerful than God.  God quickly disabused them of this notion.  After the return of the Ark to Israel, Samuel called on them to give up their idols and worship only the Lord.  The Israelites followed Samuel’s direction and he led them to victory over the Philistines.  We should note that while Samuel united the Israelites to follow God and to fight against the Philistines, he does not appear to have been their military leader.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2019 Bible Study — How Do We Get God To Help Us?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

Today’s passage begins with the Israelites losing a battle to the Philistines.  Their initial response to the loss was the correct one.  They asked why God had allowed the Philistines to defeat them.  However, rather than actually ask God what they should do, they decided to force His hand.  Eli’s sons joined in the people’s attempt to force God to give them victory by accompanying the Ark of the Covenant to battle.  I would note that in Exodus and in Joshua none of the accounts have the Ark, or even that which represented God before the Ark was made, lead the Israelites into battle.  

The account of Samuel leading Israel to victory which is at the end of today’s passage gives us a counterpoint to the story of how the Ark was lost.  Even after the return of the Ark, the people of Israel suffered oppression.  Finally, they were ready to listen.  Samuel told them that if they wanted God to rescue them they needed to turn away from their idols and worship only God.  Samuel had the people gather, fast, and pray.  When the Philistine army arrived to battle them, they did not ask Samuel to lead them into battle as God’s representative.   No, they asked Samuel to plead with God that He would save them from the Philistines.

The contrast is clear.  When the Israelites went into battle expecting that God would give them victory because they “deserved it”, despite the fact that they were breaking His commands, He allowed them to be defeated.  When the Israelites fasted and confessed their sins, God acted to defeat their enemies.  I am quite confident that the writer intended this contrast to be made because he tells us that the first defeat occurred at “Ebenezer”, then, after the victory, Samuel sets up a rock at the point of victory and names it “Ebenezer”.  The location given for both Ebenezers is the same place.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2018 Bible Study — God Does Not Serve Us, We Serve God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

    The capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines tells us a lot about the way we tend to think of God. The Israelites lost a battle to the Philistines and wondered why God had allowed it to happen. Then instead of going to God with prayer and supplication, they tried to force His hand by bringing the Ark to battle with them the next time. We often do the same sort of thing, and it almost always ends badly, just as it did here.

    However, we also learn something from what happened once the Philistines had the Ark. The Philistines concluded that since they had captured the Ark their gods were more powerful than the Israelites’ God. They set the Ark up as a sort of offering to Dagon in the presence of their image of Dagon. The way in which the idol fell over as if worshiping God was not lost on the Philistines, especially not when plague broke out shortly afterwards. So, the Philistines consulted their diviners who told them to send the Ark back with a gift. I am always fascinated by the way the Philistines sent the Ark back. They put it on a cart and hitched the cart to cows which had just given birth, putting the calves in a pen separated from their mothers. Despite the natural tendency of cows to try to get to their calves, these cows took the cart to an Israelite town. Despite all of this, when the Israelites got the Ark back seventy of them allowed their curiosity to get the better of them and looked inside the Ark. Those 70 men died.

    After all of this, the people of Israel mourned because they believed that God had abandoned them. They finally sort of got it. God does not work on our terms. It was at this point that Samuel told them what to do, instructions we should follow today. If we want God’s help, we need to want to turn to Him. In order to turn to God we must put aside all other gods, everything which might take our focus off of doing God’s will. The Israelites followed Samuel’s instructions, got rid of all of their idols and other objects of worship, and gathered together to worship God as instructed by Samuel. Then came the bad news, the Philistines had mustered their army and were coming to attack them. Samuel did not turn his attention from God, not even as the Philistines attacked. It was when the Israelites focused on worshiping God and did not let their troubles distract them from doing so, not even the imminent attack of their enemies, that God defeated their enemies for them. The same holds true for us. This is the same message as when Peter tried to walk on water to Jesus. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he could walk on water. As soon as he began to look around at the potential problems he began to sink beneath the waves.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2017 Bible Study — The Lord Is God and There Is No Other

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

    The Israelites were battling the Philistines and they attempted to use the Ark of the Covenant as a totem to force God to give them victory. Instead, they suffered a crushing defeat. This is a lesson for us. God is not some totem we can call upon to bring us victory, or success, in pursuing our own agenda. However, there is more to this story as well.
    The Philistines thought that their victory was an indication that their gods were more powerful than God. In particular, they placed God in a subservient position to Dagon, the lord of their pantheon. The Philistines would very definitely gotten the message of the imagery of the statue of Dagon falling prostrate before the Ark of the Covenant, especially after it happened a second time with the head of the statue breaking off. These combined with the outbreak of plague in Ashdod, and then in Gath when they moved the Ark there, made the Philistines realize that God could not just be integrated into their pantheon. While our attempts to use God for our purposes will fail, and lead others to question the power of God, God will subsequently display His power in a manner which shows that our failure was because our actions did not have God’s support, not because God was unable to grant us success.

    When the Ark of the Covenant was returned to the Israelites by the Philistines, the reason and manner of that return inspired a revival in faith among the Israelites. Samuel then told them that if they wanted to return to the Lord they needed to do so “whole hog”. There could be no hedging their bets by continuing to worship other gods, or even by just holding on to the idols and paraphernalia of such worship. If they wanted to return to the Lord, they needed to commit themselves to serve Him alone. That is what God wants from us, that we worship and serve Him above all other things. In today’s world, it is less a matter of worshiping other things we view as gods and more a matter of accepting competing ideologies.

Daily Bible Study

March 30, 2016 Bible Study — If We Obey God’s Commands, He Will Fight Our Battles

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 4-7.

    The army of Israel was defeated in battle with the Philistines. After the battle, the leaders asked why God allowed them to be defeated. However, rather than wait for God to send them an answer, they decided to force God to give them victory. They brought to Ark of the Covenant to take it into battle with them. This did not work out as planned. Not only did they lose the battle, but the Ark of the Covenant was captured. This is what happens when we try to force God’s hand. When things go against us, we need to ask God what we did wrong. Then we need to wait for His answer and change our actions based on what He tells us.

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    I was originally planning to discuss the meaning of what happened while the Ark was in the possession of the Philistines, but decided to instead talk about the contrast between what happened when the Ark was captured and when Samuel began leading the people. Samuel told the people that if they truly wanted God to rescue them from the Philistines they would need to turn to Him with all of their hearts. The same is true for us. If we desire God to work on our behalf we need to turn out hearts to Him and obey only His commands. We need to get rid of those things which divide our loyalty, to which we give a greater priority than we give obeying God’s commands.