Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 01 – January 1998

 

The Philistines Capture the Ark

 

Sermon by Rev. G. Vanderkolk on 1Samuel 4

Scripture Readings: 1Samuel 4; Acts 8:9-25

Suggested Hymns: BoW 47; 139; 425; 526

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction

The question that we will be looking at today is this, "Whose side is God on?"  A number of years ago the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait – a conflict that most of us are familiar with – and in their battle with the Allied forces led by America, the claim was that this was a holy war.  They made the claim that God was on their side.

Interesting enough, the then President of the United States, George Bush, making his address to the nation, would finish his words with the statement, "God bless America."  The obvious implication of such a statement is that God is on their side, the American side!

Throughout history, people and religious groups have been claiming that God was on their side, and because God is on their side, “how can they fail?"

Eight hundred years ago, Christian preachers were going throughout Europe claiming that God wanted them to liberate the Holy Land, which had been taken over by the Muslims.  The Pope of that time said that whoever fought and died during the campaign would not have to wait around in purgatory but go straight to paradise.  One of the saddest aspects of the crusades was the children's crusade.  There was a mass migration of children from Europe to make the journey to the Holy Land.  The belief was that the children would deliver the Holy Land to the Christians because of their holy innocence.  Most of these children died or were taken into slavery!

1.  An attempt at manipulation

The Israelites of our text thought that they could drag God into their own battles!  This sad story begins with the first words of our text.

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines.  The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.  The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.  When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked (4:1-3), "Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines?  Let us bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies".

It is an interesting question that the soldiers asked, but it seems that they never spent any time thinking the question through.  When the Israelites first arrived in the Promised Land under Joshua, the army had been defeated at Ai.  The Israelites couldn't understand that defeat and they pleaded with God for an answer.

The answer that was eventually given was that one of their number had stolen God's property.  The first city to fall in the Promised Land was Jericho, and all the treasures of the city were to go to God – yet Achan had removed some of the treasure and hidden them under his own tent.  His sins brought down God's anger upon the rest of Israel!  The result was that they lost the next battle.  Their soul-searching led to the reason why God was not with them.

This time, however, Israel never spent any time thinking through their defeat.  If they had thought about it they would have realised that two of their leaders were a stench in the nostrils of God.  Two of their men, priests in the house of God, Hophni and Phinehas, had abused the sacrifice, they had slept with the women outside the tent of meeting and they were under judgment from God.  How could they win the battle if two of their leaders were under judgment?  God had already told them that if they didn't obey his commands then they would be defeated by their enemies (Lev.26:17).

Instead, their brain-storming idea was to take the ark of the Lord with them into battle.  The Ark of the Covenant was the sacred gold-covered portable box which usually sat in the tabernacle, behind the curtain, in the holiest of places.  On top of the ark were two cherubim whose presentation pointed out that God was enthroned in the heavens.  Inside the box were copies of the Ten Commandments and in between the two cherubim was the mercy seat, where once a year the High Priest would sprinkle blood to symbolise the forgiveness of sins that Israel received.  The ark pointed to Yahweh, the ruling, speaking, forgiving God.

The ark of the covenant had been taken into battle before.  Carried by the priests, it went first across the river Jordan, and the flow of water stopped.  The Ark of the Covenant was then carried around the city of Jericho before the walls of the city collapsed.

So, when the Israelites prepared for battle against the Philistines, they wanted God with them and the thought was that God would save them from defeat by the Philistines.  Their assumption was that they would win the battle because God needed to defend his honour.  Since God couldn't allow himself to be captured by the Philistines He must save them all!  To have God's ark was to have God himself.

Congregation, this is what superstition is!  Superstition is the belief that we can bend the arm of the deity into doing our will.  It is a belief that we can make God's power our very own!  It is the belief that we can create our own good luck.  As one commentator says, "This is rabbit-foot theology."

So the Israelites collected the ark of God from Shiloh and took it with them into battle.  If positive thinking would have won the battle they would have won.  The Philistines were awed when they heard the noise and shouts coming from the camp of the Israelites.  Our text tells us that they were afraid.  We read that these thoughts were going through the minds of the Philistines:

“A god has come into the camp.  We're in trouble!  Nothing like this has happened before.  Woe to us!  Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods?  They are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.  Be strong, Philistines!  Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you.  Be men, and fight!"

We know what happened.  Despite the positive thinking of the Israelites and the alarm of the Philistines, the Philistines won the battle.  Thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel were killed.  The ark of God was captured.  The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

2.  God defends his honour

If anyone thinks that they can bend God to their will, this text ought to make them think again.  These people were interested in success rather than repentance.  I think that this sums up this particular passage.  Their interest was success rather than repentance!

This passage has a lot to tell the contemporary church.  In America and parts of Australia you have your 'wealth and health theologies.'  What these are basically saying is this: When Jesus is on your side you can expect to be wealthier, happier and healthier.  In other words life is better with God!  The sales pitch is: believe in the Lord Jesus and life will better.  In other words, it is better for you to have God on your side.  Life is better with God!

Charles Colson in his book, "Loving God," quotes a pastor who said, "Get 'em first, let them see what Christianity is, and then they'll see their need to repent"  Colson goes on to say, "tragically, this attitude pervades the church not only because we're afraid the truth will scare newcomers, but because it might also drive a number of the nodding regulars right out of their comfortable pew" (p 95).

Christianity is not a way to avoid problems.  Christianity is not like some lucky charm that will benefit the one who wears the symbol of it on his sleeve or around his neck.  Prayer is important for the growth of a church, but if we do spend hours in prayer, that doesn't mean that God has some obligation to us for the amount of time we put in.  We can't force God's intervention to suit our own agendas.  Dale Ralph Davies said, “Whenever the church stops confessing 'Thou art worthy' and begins chanting, 'Thou art useful' – well, then you know the ark has been captured again" (p 53).

3.  The result!

If this story was told today by the media it would look like God lost the battle.  The Ark of the Covenant captured by the wicked Philistines!  Philistine gods: two victories! – Israel’s God: none!  Yet, we should see that God was indeed defending his honour Yahweh had sent two messages to Eli and both of these were prophecies of judgment against Eli and his sons for their wickedness.  The prophets had prophesied the deaths of Hophni and Phinehas, and this is what happened.  God would no longer be mocked by the wicked sons of Ell!

When the news was carried back to Shiloh, Eli heard the news and fell off his chair, broke his neck and died.  When the wife of Phinehas heard the news, she gave birth and then died.  The child was named Ichabod, which means, "no glory," or "where is the glory?"  The child was given this name because the ark had departed from Israel.

The truth however is that the glory had already departed from Israel.  John's Revelation warns that God will remove his lamp from the churches – unless they repent.  The message is as poignant today as it was so many years ago.  A church may still be full, but the glory has departed because Christ is no longer taught.  Once we replace 'Thou art worthy' with 'Thou art useful,' we are moving in that direction.  Once we replace repentance with success we have lost the glory of serving a holy God.

All that was prophesied had come to pass!  We should see God's grace in this story.  God was wiping away the wicked sons of Eli so that he could start with a new slate.  Room was being made for Samuel, the prophet of God, to take over – a righteous shepherd of Israel, a man who would lead the Israelites back to God.  A man who would prepare the people to receive a new leader, a new king.  That King would be David – his heir would be Christ.

If God had not intervened then the Israelites would have become like the nations around them.  They had already started worshipping other gods.  The promise to Abraham would have been lost, "...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  Praise God that he defended his own honour!

A thousand years after that, John the Baptist was going around preaching, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand."  Again the glory had departed Israel.  The priests serving at the temple were so corrupt that John, although in the line of priests, could not serve at the temple.  When Jesus entered the temple, he called it a den of robbers.  The corrupt priesthood eventually had Jesus crucified, but then, from this darkest hour, the Son of God rose from the dead.  The glory returned to Israel.

This text should comfort and challenge us in a number of ways.  We should be comforted that our priest, our king, is a righteous leader.  He is not a corrupt priest who robs God of his due, but a righteous priest who gave up his own life as a sacrifice.  He did not rob God of the sacrifice due him but he gave himself up as the all-sufficient sacrifice.  Christ is now sitting at the right hand of God and is able to help us in our time of need.  The gates of death will never overcome the church of God on earth.  The people of God can be assured that their God is with them and will never forsake them.

On the other hand we need to be aware that we are worshipping the true God and His Son.  We need to be aware that God is not there to serve us, but we are called to serve God.  We need to be aware that we must not be superstitious, forcing the deity to do our will, but rather that we recognise our calling as Christians, "to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Sometimes our prayers give us an insight into this question.  How much time do we spend asking God to do our will and how often are we praying, "Your will be done on earth, in our lives, as it is done in heaven"?

Conclusion

We can praise God that we serve Jesus, the perfect Son of God.  In following him we say "no" to ourselves and "yes" to God.  In following Christ we seek to serve, rather than to be served.  In following Christ we humble ourselves and realise that the words of the song are true: "We are here to praise you..." rather than thinking "God is here for my pleasure."

Whose side are you on?  Your own, or God's?

Amen.