1 Samuel 4 1 Ark and 2 Sons

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 4:And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 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. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”

When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has[a] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.​

a. 1 Samuel 4:7 Or “Gods have (see Septuagint)

Wow.... so in the last chapters we learned that Hophni and Phinehas were the two sons of Eli. Eli was the priest in charge at Shiloh. He was the priest who accused Hannah of being drunk and dismissing her prayers to God. God answered Hannah's prayer and gave her Samuel. She then raised Samuel until he was weaned [about 3 years] and then took him to Eli at the Temple. Samuel was to serve the Lord. Meanwhile, Hophni and Phinehas were serving themselves [not the Lord] and they were stealing the sacrifices for themselves. God told Samuel to tell Eli that both his sons were going to die on the same day. Now look.... in Verse 11 both sons are dead that on top of that the Ark is gone!

The Philistines are discussed at the blueletterbible.org site.

Israel could compete on more equal terms with Moab and Ammon, but the Philistines had much influence from far away Greece. Greek military equipment (such as helmets, shields, coats of mail, swords and spears) made the Philistines formidable opponents. The Philistines were the first people in Canaan to process iron, and they made the most of it.

The Philistines were an immigrant people from the military aristocracy of the island of Crete (Amos 9:7). Small numbers of Philistines were in the land at the time of Abraham, but they only came in force soon after Israel came to Canaan from Egypt. They were organized into five city-states.​

The easy English site says that the Philistines were living in what we now call Palestine.

The Philistines were Israel’s main enemy at this time. They lived in 5 towns near the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines trained their army well. They wanted to defeat the nations who lived round them. They were more skilled than these nations, especially in the way that they used iron. The Philistines had many gods but their main god was Dagon. The country that we now call Palestine gets its name from the Philistines.

So God allowed the Philistines to steal the Ark when they killed Eli's two sons on the same day.

I'm actually thrilled that Eli's two sons met their doom. I'm sorry the Ark was stolen when it happened, but I'm glad those two wicked priests are no longer stealing from the offering plate.

:coffee:
 
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