1 Samuel 4 (The Death of Eli / The Ark is Captured)

The Death of Eli and the Capture of the Ark

This morning, we're going to continue our study of the book of 1 Samuel. Today, we're looking at 1 Samuel, chapter 4, which records the death of Eli and his sons. The Ark of the Covenant is going to be captured by the Philistines, and when he finds out about this, Eli the priest is so distraught that he falls backwards and he breaks his neck.

All of this fulfills the prophecy back in chapter 2, as well as the word of the Lord, which came to the boy Samuel, which we talked about last time in chapter 3. So, the Lord has judged the house of Eli.

That's what's happening in 1 Samuel 4. Eli was not only the priest, he was the judge of Israel, and because his sons were vile and he did not restrain them, because Eli refused to deal with the situation, God had to deal with it.

And you know, it's not enough just to read the Bible. You need to read the Bible and believe the Bible. You need to know the word of God and believe the word of God, and here's the part that a lot of people fail in.

You actually need to do the word of God. You need to apply the word of God. So, Eli and his sons are dealt with, and now Samuel is going to grow up to judge the nation of Israel. Samuel is also a priest.

He is the last judge of Israel, and now he is being established as a prophet. Look at verse 1 of chapter 4. It says, and the word of Samuel came to all Israel. You see there that the word of Samuel is really synonymous now with the word of the Lord, because Samuel is the Lord's prophet.

It says, now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel, and when they joined the battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4 ,000 men of the army in the field.

And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies.

And notice, this was their idea, not God's. Verse 4, so the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?

Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. Then they said, Woe to us, for such a thing has never happened before.

Woe to us, who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. And of course, they're totally misguided and wrong about that, because it's the God who did, not gods plural, but they're pagans, so they believe in many gods.

So clearly word about what God did to the Egyptians has spread. Verse 9, they said, Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews as they have been to you.

Conduct yourselves like men and fight. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. So there was a great slaughter, and there fell of Israel 30 ,000 foot soldiers.

Also the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. Okay, so let's talk about the Philistines for a moment. Everybody, I think, knows the story of David and Goliath. That will come later.

So Goliath was the most well-known Philistine in the Bible. But who were the Philistines? Well, they were clearly the enemies of Israel. They lived on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. They had migrated there centuries earlier.

They were a threat from the time of the judges well into the monarchy during the reign of King Saul, and David helped put them under Israel's feet. But they had five main cities, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza.

So the Philistines were a force to be reckoned with. They were not that great force that totally conquered Israel, like the Assyrians who conquered later the northern kingdom, or Babylon which conquered the southern kingdom and led them away into captivity.

So the Philistines were not a threat at that level of Babylon, maybe, but they were a great threat. So 1 Samuel chapter 4, this is about 1070 BC. The nation had been corrupted due to Eli's sons and his failure to restrain them.

You know, nations, they rise or fall on leadership, right? That's a scary thought right now. But as a result, many of the Hebrews began to despise the offering of the Lord. So everything was corrupt. The tabernacle, the priesthood, everything's corrupt.

It trickles down. People began to despise the ministry because of the corruption. Because of all of this, and because of something else, which we'll talk about in a moment, God is not with them in battle.

God is not with Israel right now. So they lost. Now when I say God was not with them, we have to be careful. The Philistines were idolaters. So to them, and to the pagan, to the heathen, to have God with you meant you had the idol with you.

You had the graven image with you. You know, the idolaters considered the statues as something like a good luck charm. So as long as we have this graven image of Dagon or Baal, then Baal is with us, or Dagon is with us.

So if the object, if the graven image, if the idol is with us, God is with us. That's the way they looked at it. Israel, however, didn't have graven images. They were strictly forbidden according to the second commandment.

Israel did, however, have the Ark of the Covenant. And the Ark was a symbol, okay? The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of God's presence. Verse 4 says that the Lord of hosts, the God of armies, he dwelt between the cherubim.

So isn't God present there above the Ark? Well, if you go back to the days, this is where it gets a little complicated when you talk about the presence of God and God dwelling above the Ark. It's true.

Back in the days of Moses, the presence of God would appear above the Ark between the cherubim. And Moses would speak to God, as it were, face to face. So what had happened is that the Israelites, they begin, you know, once they start straying away from God, they start thinking like pagans.

And they start to think that the Ark itself, the Ark itself almost becomes an idol. Or certainly the Ark is now seen as like a good luck charm. As long as we control the Ark, we control God. As long as the Ark is with us, God is with us.

And that simply was not the case. God was not with them in the sense that he was going to support them and bless them and fight for them. That depended on their obedience. And of course, the Lord is God of heaven and earth.

He may have used the Ark in the past. The Ark may generally be symbolic of his presence. But God is sovereign. He controls all things. People don't get to control him, is the point. Israel could not manipulate the Lord in such a way.

Hey, let's just go get the Ark and then we're guaranteed victory. No. And this chapter demonstrates that. So if you go back and study the books of Moses, God's presence among the people was dependent on whether or not they were walking by faith and obeying him.

So they're treating the Ark like a good luck charm, much like the idolaters would treat their graven image. You know, it'd be like today. We have a form of this where if a person wears a cross around their neck, and that's fine to do that.

But if you think that that cross is going to protect you, if you think that cross by itself is going to bring you good luck, you're completely misguided. There's nothing wrong with the cross. There's nothing wrong with the Ark.

But when you start to put your trust in objects or think you can manipulate God, if I just do this or do that, then God will have to do this. It's not the way it works. That is superstition. So the bottom line, based on the covenant that God made through Moses, his blessing was dependent on whether or not they were obeying him.

And the people were simply not obeying the Lord at this point. Israel had the Ark, and verse 4 says that the two sons of Eli, Hothni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the covenant of God. So these were the priestly representatives of Israel, two of the most wicked men around, and they're the ones in control of the Ark.

That's a problem. So number one, God is not going to let this go. And number two, this would serve as an object lesson going forward of what not to do. Later, there will be a man who touches the Ark unlawfully, and he is struck down dead.

So God cares very much about how they treat him and the symbol of his presence, remember, a symbol, the Ark of the covenant. So Israel, what do they do? They take the Ark of the covenant out of the tabernacle.

God did not want them to do that. There are very specific regulations and rules of how you were to move the Ark and when. But they decide to do it on their own. They, hey, go fetch the Ark, bring it out.

As long as it's here in the camp, we can't lose. Well, how does that turn out? Verses 10 and 11 says that Israel was defeated in a great slaughter. So the Ark was, not only that, the Ark was captured.

And the two sons of Eli, Hothni and Phinehas, are now dead, which fulfills the word the prophet spoke to Eli in 1 Samuel 2, 34, when he says, Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hothni and Phinehas, in one day they shall die, both of them.

God will not be mocked. It also fulfills the word of God spoken through Samuel back in chapter 3, where God told him, Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

In that day, I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them.

So certainly, when the judge and the priest of Israel, when him and his sons die, and the Ark is captured, everyone's ears are tingling. So Israel is utterly defeated and now they are utterly discouraged because they lost the Ark of God.

And again, we could say it's because they were not walking by faith, they're disobeying the Lord's commandments, corruption everywhere. And it's not just the people of the nation, which is always true to a varying degree.

But when the leadership of a nation is corrupt, when it's from the top down, it's that much more serious. God deals with people through representatives. That's just the way it is in the Bible. But worst of all, the worst sin of all here is how they profaned the Ark of the Testimony.

The Lord was, again, very particular about how the Ark should be treated, how it should be moved, and when. So God has a zero-tolerance policy. Why? Ultimately, because the ministry of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, it is symbolic of the ministry of Christ.

The blood on the mercy seat represents the blood of the Lamb, the blood of the sinless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So just as God had a zero-tolerance policy concerning the Ark, God today has a zero-tolerance policy towards those who would corrupt the gospel.

So when the wicked sons of Eli say, go fetch the Ark, let's use it to fire the people up for a pep rally, it's kind of what's going on, God kills them. Verse 12, then a man, after that happens, a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

So that's a symbol of mourning. Now when he came, there was Eli sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.

And when Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, what does the sound of this tumult mean? And the man came quickly and told Eli. And Eli was 98 years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.

Then the man said to Eli, I am he who came from the battle, and I fled today from the battle line. So he said, what happened, my son? So the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people.

Also, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. And the Ark of God has been captured. Verse 18, then it happened when he made mention of the Ark of God that Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died.

For the man was old and heavy, and he had judged Israel for 40 years. And that's reminiscent of the book of Judges when a judge died, they say, and so and so reigned for 40 years. And this is obviously a very poor ending.

Very sad. But did you notice, verse 13, it says Eli's heart trembled, not for his two sons. I think he came to terms with what was going to happen to his sons. Now, his heart trembled for the Ark of God.

He was already told his sons were going to die in one day. He came to terms with that, I believe. He was rebuked by the Lord for honoring his sons above God. So, from what I can tell, Eli may have repented over that, because it says he didn't fall over because of the mention of his sons.

He fell over when he heard the Ark was captured. You know, Eli the priest may not have finished well, but in his death, I think we see where his heart was. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit. But I really believe that Eli, deep down, he loved God.

He was just too weak. He was a poor leader. God judged his sons, and he ended poorly. But these decisions had a great impact upon the whole nation. And again, everything rises or falls on leadership. Verse 19, now his daughter-in-law, Phineas's wife, was with child due to be delivered.

And when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about the time of her death, the women who stood by her said to her, Do not fear, for you have born a son.

But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory has departed from Israel. So the name Ichabod means the glory has departed, because the Ark of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

So her family is wiped out. The Ark is captured. She gives birth, and she just cannot be happy. You can imagine how devastating this would be. And this is not a comparison, because there isn't a comparison.

But can you imagine if our country suffered a great defeat, and they blew up the Statue of Liberty or something? I mean, I don't know. Again, I'm not comparing the Ark with that, but some sort of symbol, if it was destroyed, can you imagine the great mourning that people would have?

I don't know, maybe, I think people would care about that. But I just try to put myself in their shoes, and how hard and difficult this must have been. And of course, they don't know that they might end up the slaves of the Philistines.

They don't know how things are going to go. So this is a devastating loss for the children of Israel. Where did it start? Everything starts the same. Starts small, just a little thing. Turn a blind eye, let it go, it gets worse.

Turn a blind eye, gets worse and worse, and then it spirals out of control. Because Israel's leaders forsook the ways of the Lord, this was the pronouncement, Ichabod, the glory has departed. The glory has departed from Israel.

Now, we can go forward, and once there's a revival, and the nation turns back to God, the glory comes back. During the days of David, those are the glory days. But then under the reign of Solomon, that gets tarnished.

And then after Solomon, the nation is divided. So it all depends on, are the people trusting in God? Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the Bible says. So how does all of this apply today? We've read the chapter.

We've read it. I believe it. Now let's apply it. What's the application? I believe the same principle is true for any nation where its leaders once professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you realize that the majority of the countries on earth, at least at a certain point in history, and some still, it's an empty profession, but it's there, you realize that the majority of the nations on earth, at least at a certain point, professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And certainly in the Western world, I mean, you have countries named after El Salvador, the savior, you know, Trinidad, Trinity. We have cities in our country, Corpus Christi, the body of Christ, Los Angeles, the city of angels.

I mean, the United States and all over the Western world and beyond, certainly in the Middle East and in Africa, all of these countries once professed faith in Jesus. And now what? Now what? It certainly seems that the glory has departed.

So the same principles that applied back then, the same principles, I believe, apply today. Proverbs 14, verse 34, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. So here, Israel, Eli, his sons, Israel had corrupt leaders.

Do we have corrupt leaders? Are their sons, are their son, are their sons vile? To where it's obvious in the eyes of all of the people, yes. Is anything being done about it? No. Are they being coddled and protected?

Yes. Eli and his sons, you know, you can see the parallel. It's not that hard. See, when corruption is evident at the top, does that have a trickle-down effect in the nation? Yes, it does. And by taking out the ark, the sons of Eli attempted to make it seem like God supported them and their agenda.

Did God support them? Absolutely not. And he made that clear. Do our leaders use the name of God to try to make it seem like God supports their agenda? Yes, they do. Does God support their agenda? No, he doesn't.

Is he going to make that obvious? Yes, he is. I don't know how, but he's going to do it. Again, God will not be mocked. Back in Israel, it was the role of the prophet to tell everybody this. This is what it means to speak prophetically.

And the almost universal response is people hated the prophets. Now, once the prophets were long dead, you know, the people loved them. Jesus talked about this. But while the prophets were alive, speaking the truth, the people didn't listen.

They despised the prophets. Now, I don't believe that we have prophets today in the same way. But are there people speaking this type of prophetic truth? Yes. Are they loved by the people? No, no, they're not.

Jesus said, beware when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. So if you have a preacher today and just everybody loves him or her, not a good sign. So we have corrupt leaders.

Their sons are vile. There's a trickle-down effect. People try to use God and Jesus and the Christian church to make it seem like God supports their agenda, and God absolutely does not. Far from it. And to make matters worse, in Israel, the religious leaders were part of the problem.

Are there religious leaders today who are out there openly profaning the name of God and Christianity? Absolutely. Now, are there some religious leaders who may, you know, deep down, they're good men, you know, good, you know, relatively speaking.

They do love God is what I'm saying. But they're just failing to actually do anything about it. Yeah, we're entering the month of June in the year 2023. And all one has to do is drive through town. If you're listening online, I listen, well, I live in New England.

And all you have to do is just drive around and look at all the churches supporting Pride Month with the flags and the banners they have up. And the clergy is standing, what, in open defiance of the Lord.

And everybody knows it. So the details may be different, but the same thing that happened back then is happening today. The name of the Lord is being profaned. But the good news is that it won't go on forever.

God will not be mocked. So are we going to be like a Samuel? God forbid we'd be like the sons of Eli. But are we going to be like a Samuel and be faithful or be a compromiser like Eli? What has God done to Eli?

He has just brought judgment to his house. The Lord is raising up a new faithful priest in Samuel. And of course, Samuel is a type of Christ. Jesus held all three offices, prophet, priest, and king. And Samuel comes very, very close to that.

He is a prophet. He is a priest. Technically, he's not the king. He's the judge. But that's, you know, a step below. So Samuel is clearly a type of Christ. We want to identify with Samuel. Amen. So God will step in.

He stepped in here. God is going to step in again. The Lord is either going to raise up, in our time, a new generation of faithful men and women. Or things will continue to get worse and worse. And I guess this depends on your eschatology.

But there could be more time left than we think. We don't know. God could raise up a faithful generation or he could set things right at the second coming of Christ. But until then, either way, God's people, we must learn from these stories.

Concerning the Word of God, we must read it. We must believe it. And really, most importantly, we must do it. Be a doer of the Word. Make application. Don't be a hearer only. Otherwise, James says, you are deceiving yourself.

So concerning the Word of God, read it, believe it, do it. The glory may have departed from the nation, but for the true believers, God's presence in the Holy Spirit shall never depart. We have God, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost dwelling within us.

Maybe the glory has departed from our nation. Some might say it was never there. But the glory is what? The glory is still here in the third person, the Holy Ghost. And he will neither leave us nor forsake us.

So whatever happens in the culture, what's ever going to happen tomorrow and next month, the Spirit may be grieved. But we've read the end of the book. God wins. And if we are in Christ, we win. I'll close with 1 Samuel 4, 22, where Eli's daughter-in-law said, the glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.