1
Samuel 4:1-11
It
was an era of violence and frequent battles for ancient Israel, as it had been
for generations, all through the time of the Judges. The Philistines especially
fought Israel over and over. They were close neighbours, but neighbours who had
a bitter, unresolvable feud with each other that led to battle after battle, much
death and loss on both sides. First one
side would defeat the other and extract tribute from them, and then the tables
would turn and the other side would be the conquerors. Back and forth went the destructive,
pointless violence and hatred.
Now,
in God’s mercy, the time had come for a fresh start. A godly woman named Hannah was childless and
prayed fervently to the Lord that she might have a son, whom she promised to
dedicate to God’s service at Shiloh, where God’s sacred Ark of the Covenant was
kept and all the people came to worship God.
God answered Hannah’s prayer with a son, whom she named Samuel and who
grew up in God’s house at Shiloh. As a
young boy, Samuel learned to hear God’s voice, and he grew up to be God’s
faithful prophet. Today’s story begins, “all
Israel from
Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.” [1
Sam. 3:20]
Sadly,
however, this didn’t stop the people from continuing with the same kinds of
grievous errors they had been making for generations, as today’s Bible story
illustrates. The first of these errors is that the people of Israel decided on
their own to go to battle against the Philistines. After verse 1, Samuel is not mentioned again
in today’s story. Had the people sought
to learn if this battle was God’s intention, they surely would have consulted their
trustworthy prophet. Instead, they made
the decision on their own, and started the battle. They were the ones in charge.
When
the Israelites were soundly defeated by the Philistines, the elders made their
second grievous error: they blamed God
for their defeat, saying “Why
has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?” [4:3, ESV] What
audacity! When they thought they would
win, they were the ones completely in charge, they made the decision, and God
had nothing to do with it. But when
things went badly awry, it was now all God’s fault! The Israelites thought themselves in charge, in
power. The Lord’s job was to serve
them. God would automatically do
whatever they wanted. God was obliged to
them. They were the ones in authority
and God, they thought, was supposed to be their obedient servant. Do we ever, like them, act as though we are
completely in control of our situation and our decisions? Then, when things go wrong, do we like them
get angry with God, or at least complain that God has failed us when, in fact,
we have ignored and disobeyed him?
After
this first defeat, the Israelites tragically still failed to recognize that God
is Sovereign. They still intended to
battle the Philistines, and they wanted to force God to intervene and give them
the victory. Centuries earlier (Exodus
25:10-22), God had instructed Moses to make a gold-covered chest with two
golden cherubim on its top, called the Ark of the Covenant, which was a symbol
of God’s presence with his people, and from which God would speak with
Moses. The people now seemed to think
that the Ark was where God actually lived: v. 4 of today’s story says “the Lord
of hosts … is enthroned on the cherubim,” meaning the cherubim of gold on top
of the Ark. Since God had failed them on
the first day of battle, the people now decided to carry the Ark (and God with
it) into battle with them. Surely that
would force God to intervene and save them from the Philistines. So they did exactly that, with excitement and
shouting, but it didn’t work. The Philistines,
at first fearful of this great God in the Ark, soon rallied their courage and
defeated Israel, whose losses were far greater than in the previous battle. Worst of all, the Philistines captured the
Ark of God and took it triumphantly back to their homeland. Thus Israel now felt totally abandoned,
defeated, and forsaken by God. Was this
their final doom, forsaken by God and taken as slaves by the Philistines?
Sometimes
we too may feel a bit like that. We know
better than to think God can be carried around in a box, but don’t we sometimes
try to coerce or bribe God into doing what we want? We get ourselves into trouble and then plead
with God to rescue us, promising that we’ll now obey him, even offering gifts
if only God will deliver us. It’s no
wonder if God ignores us after we have long ignored God. When real tragedies do come and destroy our
world as we know it, what do we do? Do
we feel that God has completely abandoned us?
Does our faith in God fail completely?
Has God forsaken us forever, abandoning us to the control of all the
evil forces around us?
Our
Bible story for today ends at exactly this point, with the ancient Israelites
defeated, hopeless, and feeling like God had totally deserted them. But the Bible account doesn’t end in
hopelessness (as the Bible never does).
The Bible account goes right on, soon expressing hope and deliverance,
both for the ancient Israelites and for us.
In 1
Sam. 5, we learn that, in whatever town the Philistines sent the Ark to, the
people would have panic attacks and trouble that made them want it gone right
away. In chapter 6, after seven months
of this, the Philistines had had enough and sent the Ark back to Israel,
together with a guilt offering essentially apologizing for having taken the Ark
in the first place. Then, in chapter 7,
we learn that the people of Israel are finally listening to God’s trustworthy
prophet Samuel. Samuel calls the people
to get rid of all the false gods they held onto, the Baals and Ashtorah, and
serve the Lord alone. Samuel calls the
people together for a time of confession and repentance, of fasting and
sacrifice to the Lord. But trouble comes
up: the Philistines see the large gathering
and prepare to attack. Samuel cried out
to the Lord, and the Lord heard him, threw the Philistines into confusion, and
Israel drove them back out of all their conquered lands. God gave peace to Israel all the days of
Samuel (7:13-15).
Nor does
the Lord leave us in tragedy and despair, even when it is our own arrogance and
disobedience that has caused our trouble.
God wants us too to turn to him, confessing and forsaking our sins. God, who always loves us, will then accept
and forgive us, and give us Peace, as he did for ancient Israel in Samuel’s
time.
In good
times and bad, may we continue to trust God, growing in faith and obedience to our
Lord.
– Robert Kruse
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