(Through the Bible) 1 Samuel 1-10 — Chuck Smith

Samuel Introduces the Period of the Kings

This book presents the personal history of Samuel, who was the last of the Judges, and it ushers in the beginning of the period of the kings in the children of Israel, or among the children of Israel.

There's a certain man of Ramathame Zophim on the Mount Ephraim. His name was Elkanah. He had two wives. One was Hannah, the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children. Hannah had no children. This man went out of the city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh, which at that time was the religious center of the nation.

And the two sons of Eli, who was the high priest at that time, Hophi and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there. When the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah and her children portions, but unto Hannah he gave a goodly or an extra portion.

Because he loved Hannah very much, but God had shut up her womb and that she was barren. So the scene is set. A man living in polygamy. Two wives. One he loved more than the other. One had many children, but the one he really loved could not have children.

And so her adversary, that is Hannah's adversary, or the other wife. So there was friction in the house between the two wives as they vied for the attention and the love of the one man. As I said this morning, any man's a fool who thinks that he can satisfy all of the needs of two women.

And you're bound to have problems. And so they did. The inner strife within the house as Peninnah provoked Hannah, made her fret because that she was barren, really pressed the issue, really taunted her over her inability to have children.

So, Elkanah was heading for Shiloh, vacation time, feast time. Time of celebration. It's to be a time of merriment and rejoicing as you go up to the house of God to worship. It's interesting to me that God wants the rejoicing, the worship of Him to be a rejoicing, happy experience.

They called them the feast and they were just feast. People would go up and just have a great feast. It was a holiday. A time in which they worshiped God and gathered before Him. A time of rejoicing and happiness.

And so Elkanah was heading up for this time and taking his wife Hannah with him. She was weeping all the time and wouldn't eat. And so Elkanah said to her, Why do you weep? Why aren't you eating? Why is your heart so grieved?

Aren't I not better to you than ten sons? Can't you be happy with me? And so, Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and they had drunk. And Eli the priest sat upon the seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.

Now, she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed unto the Lord and she wept sore. And during this period, she vowed a vow unto the Lord. She said, Lord, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your handmaid and remember me and not forget me, but if You will give unto me a man child, give me a boy, I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life and there shall no raiser come upon his head.

Father, Lord, if You'll just give me a son, I'll give him back to You. But I want a son. I'll give him back to You all the days of his life. Now, there are many times when we pray and we wonder why our prayers are not answered immediately.

There are some times in which God delays the answer to our prayers. Here's the case. Now, Hannah no doubt had been praying about a son for a long time. Cursed with barrenness. She had no doubt brought it before the Lord many times in prayer.

Oh, God, give me a son. Lord, I want a son. God, why haven't You given me a son? And yet, there seemingly was no answer to her prayer. God delayed the answer. Now, with Hannah, there was a reason why God delayed the answer and with us.

If God delays the answer of our prayers, there's a reason for His delay. And oftentimes with Hannah, the reason being that God is seeking to bring us around to His purposes. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are completely towards Him.

And so, God was waiting, bringing Hannah around to where her heart was completely towards God and the things of God. God and that which God wanted. God was needing a man to lead Israel during these desperate days of transition.

He needed a man that He could speak to and that would speak to the people for Him. For during this period of their history, they had not really heard from God. It says the Word of the Lord was precious.

It means it was scarce. God wasn't speaking to men. There were no men whose ears were really open to God. And so, Hannah finally, out of the desperation of her soul, said, Lord, if You will just give to me a son, I will give him back to You all the days of his life.

This is what God was desiring. This is what God was looking for. And so when God brought her around to this place of that commitment to God, Lord, if You just give me a son, I'll give him back to You.

Then the Lord answered her prayer. And when God now gives, He many times delays giving in order that He might give more or in order that what is given is used for His purposes. Now, I feel that many times when we are praying, the Bible says we don't always know how to pray as we ought.

And this is very true. We oftentimes pray for things that in our initial prayer, we're thinking about ourselves. James says you have and receive, not because you ask amiss, that you might consume it upon your own lust.

And much of our prayer is that of personal kind of request to God as we almost look at God as a Santa Claus, kind of a, you know, I want this, I want that, I want this. And we're thinking not really of God, but we are thinking of ourselves.

What I want, rather than what does God want. Now, the Bible says if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if He hears us, then we have received the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Much of what we ask is not really according to God's will. It's according to my own desires. I'm thinking of myself, how I can use it for me. And Hannah, no doubt, was for a long time just thinking, Lord, I want a son so that other wife will shut her mouth.

Tired of this business of being chided all the time. And Lord, I want a son that I can nurse. I want a son that I can take care of. And she was thinking of herself. But now, through the processes of God's working in her life, and she was a godly woman.

It is expressed as we get into the next chapter and we read of her rejoicing when God answered her prayer. We see that in the praise of Hannah, there are earmarks of a depth of spirituality. But now she's brought in harmony with the purposes of God.

God, just give me a son and I will give him back to You all the days of his life. Now it came to pass that she was continuing to pray before the Lord that Eli, the priest sitting there, the post was watching her.

And he saw the grimaces on her face. And he saw her mouth moving. And he listened and he couldn't hear any words. And so he just concluded that she was drunk. And he said unto her, Hey, woman, why are you so drunk?

Put away your wine. And she answered, No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Denied the accusations of the priest and just said, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.

I've poured out my soul to the Lord. Don't count your handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken unto the Lord. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that you have asked of Him.

And she said, Let your handmaid find grace in thy sight so the woman went her way, did eat, her countenance was no more sad. She believed the word of the Lord. Change of attitude. She didn't go around looking sad anymore.

She didn't go around not eating. Her husband probably wondered the change in the whole attitude. But it was faith. Believing the word of God through the priest. Believing that God was now going to give her a son, it would be actually contrary to fact for her to go on with sadness and grieving, not eating.

God has promised. He's going to answer. Herein is, of course, one of the marks of faith. Acting as though you have it before you actually have it. Inattitude. If God has promised to give it to me, why should I go around just moping and sad and sorrowful?

Why should I go around worried and concerned if God has promised to give it to me? If I really believe the promises of God, I'm going to start rejoicing. I'm going to start actually just my attitude and my actions are going to be in harmony with what I actually believe.

And so because she believed the promise of God, her countenance was changed. She started eating. And so they rose up in the morning early and after worship they headed back to their house at Ramah, which is just north of Jerusalem, the modern city of Ramallah.

And Hannah became pregnant. The Lord remembered her. Therefore, it came to pass, when the time was come, after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, which means asked of God.

Because she said, I asked Him of the Lord. So Samuel means asked of God. And the man Elkanah and all of his house went up to offer to the Lord yearly the sacrifice and to make his vow. But Hannah did not go up.

For she said to her husband, I will not go up until I have weaned the child and then I will take him to the house of God that he may abide there. So Elkanah, her husband said unto her, do what seems good.

Wait until you've weaned him. Only the Lord establish His word. So the woman abode and nursed her son actually until she had weaned him. And after Samuel had been weaned, she took him up with her with three bullocks and a bushel of flour, a bottle of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh.

And the child was young. And they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as Thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that was there. I am the woman, if you'll remember, that was lying there and you thought I was drunk.

And I told you I was asking God for a son. And this is the son for whom I prayed. Here he is. Here's the proof. Here's my little boy. There have been many occasions here at Calvary Chapel where young couples have come up and have expressed their desire to have a child.

Maybe they've been married four, five, six years. Some of them married 10, 12 years. And they come up and they express their desire for a child. We've been married this long and we've never been able to have a child.

And oh, we're thinking about adopting, but we'd love to have a child. And we have laid hands on them and prayed for them. And a year or two later, they come up and say, this is the baby that we prayed for.

This is the child. And we have these same kind of experiences. A lot of little miracle babies around here where God has answered the prayer and has blessed the home with children. And she was excited.

She said, oh my Lord, I'm the woman. I'm the woman that was here. And it was for this child that I prayed. And the Lord has given me my petition that I've asked of Him. Therefore, I am giving him back to the Lord as long as he lives.

He shall be the Lord's. And he worshiped the Lord there. Now, this is where we get the dedication of babies on Sunday morning. It is more or less following this same pattern of Hannah. We have asked God to bless, to give us children, recognizing that these children are gifts from God.

We bring them back to God and say, God, You have given us this child, but we want to give this child to You for Your purposes, that the child might serve You all the days of their life. That Your purposes and Your will might be accomplished within the child.

And so, the dedication of our babies unto the Lord. Now, I do not know of any scriptural basis for baptizing babies. I do not know of a single scriptural proof for the baptism of babies. I really believe that baptism is more an act of a conscious adult.

Infant Dedication and Believer's Baptism

There are two scriptures, really, that deal with baptism. The one is, repent and be baptized. Now, I've yet to meet one of these little babies that has repented. In Mark's Gospel, it says, He that believeth and is baptized.

And they really don't have yet enough intelligence to believe. Now, it doesn't mean that the child would be lost if it died. I believe that a child within a Christian home is saved if it dies before an age of accountability.

And I believe that 1 Corinthians 7 teaches this. That the believing wife or husband, either of them being a believer, the child is covered by the believing parent. Else would your children be unclean, but now Paul said they are holy.

So, the faith of a believing parent covers for that child. You say, but what about an unbelieving parent? That I don't know. The Bible is silent. I must be silent. You say, but wouldn't it be fair? Well, God will do what's ever fair.

But the Bible doesn't say specifically. I can't say specifically. I believe that God will be fair. I'm sure that He'll be fair. I know He'll be fair. And I rest my case there in the righteousness and the fairness of God.

God will be absolutely fair in all of His judgments. There's not one person going to get a bad deal before the judgment bar of God. There's not one person going to be able to walk away and say, that isn't fair.

God will deal justly with every case and every extenuation in each case. The justice of God is something that I am absolutely convinced of. The absolute righteousness of the judgments of God, the justice of man, is something I have little belief in.

I cry with the crowd, there ain't no justice. But that's only speaking from a human standpoint. But from the divine standpoint, the absolute righteousness of the judgment of God is something that I have no question about whatsoever.

And thus, I'm not really worried about those people that have never heard of Jesus Christ or the babies who die or whatever. I know that God is going to be absolutely righteous and fair in His judgments.

So, I just rest it there. But babies, scripturally, can be dedicated or presented to God. Now, in the New Testament, when Jesus was born, they came and offered the sacrifices for the firstborn child and they presented Him unto the Lord.

And the priest lifted Him up in His hands and blessed Him and said, Now, Lord, let Thy servant die in peace, for You've allowed me to see Your salvation. But again, the idea of, Here's my child, Lord.

I present Him to You that You might use this life for whatever purposes, that Your influences might come upon this child and lead and guide him as he grows and as he develops. And, Lord, I give him back to You all the days of his life.

And I think it's a marvelous gesture on the part of a parent. We dedicated all of our children to the Lord. Actually, between us, dedicated them to the Lord before they were ever born. Now, it is true that when they get old enough, they've got to make their own commitments and their own decisions.

The fact that we dedicated them to the Lord doesn't follow that they are going to consent to that dedication when they get old enough to do what they want. But hopefully, by that time, we have given enough spiritual input and all that when they are older, they will not depart from that faith that they have gained while growing up under our tutorage.

So it is more than just dedicating. There is a responsibility as parents to train up the child or to catechize the child in the ways of the Lord. To teach them. To instruct them in the ways of the Lord.

So that as they grow older, these will be things that have been planted in their hearts and minds. Deeply. Become a part of their very thinking processes. Now, the prayer of Hannah does express a depth of spirituality.

Hannah's Prayer and the Motives Behind Religious Actions

And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Evidently, Mary was familiar with this prayer of Hannah, because actually the rejoicing of Mary when she came to her cousin Elizabeth when she was expecting Jesus is much the same pattern as this of Hannah.

Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice, for He hath regarded the lowest state of His handmaid. And she goes on, and you might want to compare the second chapter of Luke there, the rejoicing of Mary, called the Magnificat, with this praising of Hannah.

Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside Thee.

Neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceedingly proudly. Exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.".

Heavy statement. By God, actions are weighed. It isn't enough to do the right thing. You can do the right thing with the wrong attitude and it counts for nothing because God weighs your actions. That is, what motivates your actions.

Jesus said, Take heed to yourself, that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of men, for I say unto you, ye have your reward. We are told that one day the secrets of the hearts are going to be judged or weighed.

God knows why you have done a certain thing. Now, there are people who pray, but they only pray in order to be seen of men. And thus, their prayers really don't count as far as God is concerned. They have their reward.

There are some people who give with such an ostentatious way so that their name will be on a placard or something. Well, I won't say it. So that they might have their name, you know, up here, that's my pew that I bought or my chair or whatever, you know.

And they give in order to advertise their name. Now, when you get to heaven and you come before the Lord and the Lord goes through the books, you say, wait a minute, Lord, you're forgetting something.

My name was on that stained glass window. We paid a lot of money for that stained glass window, Lord. I don't see it on your records here. And He'll say, nope, it isn't on the records here. Why not, Lord?

Man, that cost me a pretty penny. He'll say, you had your reward. Everybody that walked past that window saw your name and they said, oh, isn't that marvelous. He gave a stained glass window to the church.

Now, some people give in order to be seen of men. Your motive is wrong. God weighs the actions. Why did I do it is really more important than what I do. Your attitude is far more important than your actions.

So, acknowledging that by Him are all of our actions weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken. They that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and they that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath born seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

Now, I do detect in Hannah's prayer here a little bit of gloating over that woman that troubled her for so long. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh the poor and He maketh the rich.

He bringeth low and He lifteth up. He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts the beggar out from the dunghill and sets them among princes to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and He has set the world upon them.

Now, it is foolish to take this picturesque speech of Hannah and to say that the Bible teaches the ancient theory that the earth was set upon pillars because she uses this figure of speech and speaks of the pillars of the earth and the world set upon them.

It's only picturesque figures of speech and it is not a kind of a divine revelation at all. He will keep the feet of His saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength shall no man prevail.

Here again is I think a very important Scripture. He will keep the feet of His saints. In the Psalms, a lot is said about keeping the feet of the saints. The 71st Psalm, My feet almost slipped. I almost had it.

The walking in slippery places. Keeping the feet of His saints. It's keeping me from falling actually. For by strength shall no man prevail. What a valuable truth. For by strength, that is by a man's own strength, you will never prevail.

I am strongest when I am aware of my weakness. I am at my weakest point when I think I am strong. When I think I've got this wired, Lord, I don't need any help from You. I am able to make it just by myself.

You don't need to hold my hand, Lord. Just let me do it on my own. There's no problems here. That's when I am at my most vulnerable position. When I am standing there and saying, Lord, I know I can't make it.

Lord, help me. I know that I am not going to be able to make it through this. Lord, I need Your help. That's when I am at my strongest position. For by strength shall no man prevail. By your own strength, you'll never know real victory.

It is only as we learn to rely and trust in the strength of the Lord that we are really strong. Now, we go into a little bit of history of Eli's sons, and they were real rats. Eli was the high priest, and his sons were greedy.

They were priests representing God, but they were bad representatives. Now, it was a custom in those days when you would offer your sacrifice to the Lord, you would be... Actually, they were feasts. You would sacrifice the lamb.

They would cut it up. They'd burn the fat. It's a burnt offering. The smoke would ascend up into God. And then they would oftentimes then boil the meat, and then you would eat it. You'd sit down and more or less eat it with God.

But as the meat was being boiled, the priests would come along, and they had little hooks, little forks with three hooks, and they'd reach in and pull out, and whatever they got out was theirs. That became the priest's pay almost.

It was sort of the salary for the priests to just put their forks in and pull out from the food that was cooking and whatever came out they had. But Eli's sons would come to them while they were just cutting up, butchering the meat, and they'd say, we don't want boiled meat.

We want to roast ours. We want to take ours now. And the people would say, well, be sure and take the fat and offer it to the Lord. They'd say, hey, don't give us a bad time. You don't want to give it to us now?

We'll take it by force. So they were bullying the people. The effect of it was that men began to abhor the offering of the Lord. Down in verse 17. So the sin of the young men were great because it caused people to begin to resent their offerings to the Lord.

What a horrible sin that actually is. Where you turn people off from God because of your attitude. Because of greed and your own greed. You cause people to blaspheme. I really don't know who got me started on these evangelists' list.

But these evangelists sell their list to each other. And so you get on one and pretty soon you get on all. Because they'll sell their list to each other. They'll do anything for a buck. And so it seems that I'm getting more and more letters.

Dear brother, a mutual friend told me about you. And I felt led of the Lord to write and to share with you my needs. Now I'm enclosing a page of the Bible because the Word of God is so powerful. If you'll just write your request in this page and wrap it up and send it back to me.

Enclose your offering in the page also. And I'll take your request before the Lord and I'll pray for you because the Lord tells me there's something wrong. You've got a problem in your life. There's something that's not quite right.

You know, what is it brother? Share with me. The other day a telegram came. Urgent. Please send $10 immediately. I'll explain everything later. I have built a cross. Send me the names of four people that you want nailed to that cross.

And enclose an offering of $15 to $20. Can you believe it? It's unreal. Now these men, their sin is really terrible. It's awful. Because they cause people to blaspheme God. They are deceivers. They prey upon people who have become more or less senile.

Living on pensions. And they are nothing but rip-off artists. And their sin is as the sin of the sons of Eli who caused people to abhor the sacrifice and the worship of God. Now, Samuel began to do little errands around the temple.

And his mother made him a little linen robe like the priest. And though he was just a little tyke, yet he began to wear the robes of a priest and began to do the errands around there. And I imagine it was just a cute little guy to see.

There in his linen robe and going around and doing some of the little duties around there. I imagine it was really quite a sight. And every year, his mother would make a little coat for him and when she would come up each year to sacrifice, she would bring him a new coat.

A little bit bigger naturally than the year before. And visit with him there. So Eli, the priest, blessed Elkanah, his father, that is Samuel's father, with his wife and said, the Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord.

And they went to their own home and God blessed Hannah and she conceived and had three other sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Now, Eli was an old man and he heard the things that his sons did.

How that actually they were lying with the women right there at the gate of the temple. They were just perverse. Though they were supposedly representing God as a priest, yet they were immoral, they were crooked, they were real rats.

And so their dad said, why do you do such things? I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. My son, it's not a good report that I hear you make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him.

But if a man sins against the Lord, who is going to pray for him? Notwithstanding, they did not hearken under the voice of their father because the Lord would slay them. In other words, they had gone so far, the Lord was wanting to wipe them out and therefore, they just didn't listen to their dad.

But the child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Now there came a man of God to Eli and prophesied to him how that God had promised to place the high priesthood into the house of Aaron forever.

However, because of Eli and his sons, who would not honor the Lord, God said, for them that honor Me, I will honor, and them that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm and the arm of your father's house and there shall not be an old man in your house.

And you will see an enemy in My habitation and all the wealth which God shall give Israel. There shall not be an old man in your house forever. And then the prophecy of verse 35, I will raise Me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind.

Samuel Hears the Voice of God

And I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before Mine anointed forever. So the prophecy there of the new priesthood, Jesus Christ the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now in chapter 3, the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.

And the word of the Lord was precious or scarce in those days. There was no open vision. God just wasn't speaking to man. And it came to pass when Eli had lied down at bed at night. Samuel went into his bedroom.

And Samuel heard a voice calling him. And he said, Here am I. And he ran into Eli and he said, Did you call me? And Eli said, No, I didn't call you. Go back to bed. Samuel got back to bed again and he heard the voice, Samuel, Samuel.

And he went running in and he said, Here I am. What do you want? He said, I didn't call you. Go back to bed, kid. Samuel went back to bed again. And again, he heard the voice saying, Samuel, Samuel. He went running in and he said, Sure, you called me.

What do you want? And the old man began to get the picture at this point and he figured, Hey, maybe God is speaking to this boy. And so he said, Go back to bed and if you hear your name being called again, say, Speak, my Lord, for Your servant heareth.

So Samuel went back to bed and he heard the voice, Samuel, Samuel. And he said, Speak, my Lord, for Thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, I'm going to do a work in Israel that when the people see it or hear of it, their ears are going to tingle.

In that day I'm going to perform against Eli all of the things which I have spoken concerning his house. And what I begin, I'm going to finish. 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 restrained them not.

Here is something to me that is very interesting, something that we had better take note of. It was his refusal to discipline his sons that brought the judgment of God upon his house. His refusal to discipline them in their actions.

Fathers, you have a responsibility in the disciplining of your children. Don't shirk that responsibility. Eli did not discipline his sons. He allowed them to go on with these actions and thus God promised that He was going to judge the house.

And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifices nor offerings forever. They can't offer any sacrifice to cleanse them. Samuel lay until the morning and he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.

But he was afraid to tell Eli the vision. And Eli called Samuel and he said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, here am I. And he said, what is the thing that the Lord said unto you? I pray that you will not hide it from me, for God do so to thee and more also if you hide anything from all of the things which God said.

Boy, that isn't fair. You know, to lay something like that on you. Tell me. God do the same to you and more also if you don't tell me everything that God said. So Samuel told him everything. Did not hide anything from him.

And he said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Now, this is quite an attitude for the old man. A submission unto the judgment of God. It is the Lord. Let him do what he sees right. A commitment of himself to that judgment, that promised judgment of God.

So Samuel grew. The Lord was with him. And all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was established to be the prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh and the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

The Ark of the Covenant and the Holiness of God

Now in chapter 4, we find the Philistines had come against the Israelites. And they met them in battle and defeated them. 4 ,000 of the men of Israel were slain. So the Philistines were getting ready to attack again and the people said, let us bring the Ark of the Covenant into the camp in order that the Philistines cannot defeat us.

Now, they were beginning to look at the Ark of the Covenant as sort of an amulet, a good luck piece in a kind of a thing, well, if the Ark of the Covenant is here, it will bring us good luck over the Philistines.

Making it almost a fetish kind of a thing. Bringing it into the camp. It was wrong, but they did it anyhow. And when the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the Ark of the Covenant, all of the men in the camp began to shout and a big cheer went up and a lot of shouting.

And the Philistines said, what's going on over there? And so when they found out that they had brought the Ark of the Covenant, the Philistines said, oh, that's not fair. It's never happened in battle that people have brought their gods into battle with them.

And these are the gods that wiped out the Egyptians and the Amorites and all. What chance do we have? And the Philistines, it had a reverse effect actually. They said, men, fight with everything you've got or else you're going to be their slaves even as they have been our slaves.

And it so inspired the Philistines that they attacked and they defeated the men of Israel and they took the Ark of the Covenant back to their own city. They captured the Ark of the Covenant and took it back to their Philistine cities.