This post is part of my 1 Samuel series.

Eli and his sons had received judgment from God expressed through an unnamed prophet (1 Samuel 2:17-36) and later again through young Samuel (1 Samuel 3). Eli accepts his fate (1 Samuel 3:18) but never seems to make any attempts to repent, confess, and turn from his way, nor does he remove his sons from service. God had promised to destroy Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:2,4) but changed His mind after everyone repented and in humility cried out to Him (Jonah 3:5-10). Personally, I believe God would have shown mercy to Eli if Eli had shown any remorse or any desire to be saved. If anything, God’s patience and mercy only cause Hophni and Phinehas to become bolder in their transgression.

The terrible example from Eli’s sons caused the people to stumble and made it difficult for them to worship God. Eli failed to do anything significant about it. As a result, the nation of Israel drifted farther and farther from God. As they drifted from God they become more like the pagan nations that surrounded them. The surrounding nations in turn, since they had no example of faithfulness to God continued in their lives of sin and oppression. God’s people who were supposed to be a light in the world were failing their mission and preventing others from coming to a knowledge of God. When God told Abraham that in him all the families of the world would be blessed I believe it meant ultimately that Jesus would be born but also that they would be a witness in the world and reveal to the world truths about the real God.

God would not allow sin and evil to continue to run rampant. God was going to judge the people and He would begin with His children, this would also include Eli and his sons since they should have known better.

Let’s turn to the text and see what we can learn from this story.

1 Samuel 4:1

Here we find Israel going out to battle against the Philistines. There is no mention of the Philistines attacking or oppressing Israel. There is also no mention of the Israelites consulting God before deciding to go to battle against the Philistines. They went to battle and were defeated and lost 4,000 men in the process. The elders wisely recognize that God is the reason why they lost the battle against the Philistines, but they fail to fully understand their situation and what they should do next. When Israel was defeated at Ai under the leadership of Joshua, Joshua “tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.” (Joshua 7:6 NKJV) Joshua humbled himself and turned to God with questions that God answered. “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them…” (Joshua 7:11a NKJV) By now the elders should know that if God is not blessing them with victories it is because of their sins. But instead of humbling themselves and repenting, they try to force the hand of God by physically taking the ark with them, as if they could manipulate God.

Their God has been with them since before the ark existed. Though the ark served a purpose in worship and in teaching them about God, it was not God. God was not limited by the ark, nor was He bound to it. How sad when God’s people treat Him like pagans treat their false gods. How often do we behave similarly?

How often do we want to right words to pray so that God will do what we want as if we were uttering an incantation?

How often do we want to know what to do in order to make God do what we want as if we could purchase blessings through gifts, sacrifice, or penance?

When will we learn that God is God and we submit to Him? We die to ourselves and live for Him (Galatians 2:20).

Being a follower of God is not about having God bless whatever you do, it is not about you harnessing the power of God to use it according to your will. It is about surrendering to God and living for Him seeking to do His will in everything. (Romans 12:1-2)

Israel had the right God, but they were going about it the wrong way. They were treating the true God like the pagans treated their gods. Instead of influencing their neighbors, they were influenced by their neighbors. When we fail to learn from God about what He is like, we will learn from the world what the gods are like. When we fail to learn from the word of God what God is like, secular philosophers will tell us their views about gods.

If we are not careful we might find ourselves much like Israel in 1 Samuel 4, “following” the right God, but failing to go about it according to His will. In other words, deeply misunderstanding the God we worship.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. 6 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. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. 8 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.
- 1 Samuel 4:5-8 NKJV

I just find it fascinating how both the Israelites and the Philistines are on the same page theologically. Both people seem to believe that the ark was God, or that God lived in the ark. Both of them were wrong. The Philistines worshipped false gods who could never compare to the true God, but the Israelites who worship the true God also failed to understand their God and treated Him like the people around them treated their pagan gods. They served the true God, who worked wonders and miracles but failed to enjoy the blessings. They worshiped the most powerful being in the universe, the true God, the Creator, the God who was more than capable to give them victory in every single battle, but they didn’t know Him.

What a tragedy for God’s children to not know Him. What a tragedy for God’s children to insist on Him doing their will while missing the blessings of doing His will. How sad to worship God and never stop to ask Him about His plans for our lives. How sad, when we, just like the Israelites, drag God, as if He was a good luck charm, into our mess and manage not only fo make things worse, but also in the process misrepresent who God is to those around us.

Israel was defeated, and this time they lost 30,000 men, among them the sons of Eli. Not only that, for the first time in Israel’s history the ark was in the possession of their enemies. This was a national tragedy.

Things had been going downhill spiritually for a long time, and now it was judgment. God would reveal to all who He is, but we will discuss this in more detail on my next post.

Eli hears the news and falls off of his chair and broke his neck. Phinehas’ wife who was pregnant gave birth once she heard what had happened and she was dying she named her son Ichabod saying “The glory has departed from Israel.” (1 Samuel 4:18,19-22)

I would venture to say that the glory of God had departed from Israel when they failed to properly understand and worship their God. The way I imagine it in my mind is having the world’s greatest computer and using it to do only simple addition problems. It would be having a powerful rifle and swinging it like you would a baseball bat. Perhaps having a very fast sports car and having people push you around in it while it’s on neutral.

I hope I am making sense. I hope you are getting the picture. I wonder if this is what Paul meant when he described people “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:5) I hope to never find myself in that group. I hope to never treat the real God like a false god, trying to manipulate him to do my bidding.

How can I prevent this?

The best way I can see is to read God’s word and see what He says about Himself and let that challenge all my other views about God. To read the stories and learn what God is like. To study the life of Jesus and His teachings as well as his example. To read the writings of Paul and of the apostles and see how the Bible in its entirety is telling us a story of a God who is desperately trying to save us, but will not be manipulated by us. The Bible tells us the story of a creator God, who is coming soon, who has plans for us that are infinitely better than our plans, a God who invites us into a loving relationship. A God who will set us free from the bondage of sin and give us eternal life, and all we need to do is surrender, believe and trust Him, invite Him in and allow Him to make us more like Him.

God can and will save us, but He is God, He is our Lord and our Savior, and though He is kind and loving and gracious He is God and we are mere creatures. But every time we humble ourselves and come to Him we experience His supernatural power at work and there is nothing in this universe that compares to going through life full of the Holy Spirit, because it makes you unstoppable, for the honor and glory of God.