See the Big Picture. Dig In. Live It Out: A 5-Day Reading Plan in 1 SamuelSýnishorn

The Big Picture

Ancient peoples, both Israelite and pagan, regarded their religious objects as much more than symbols. Pagans believed that their gods, in some manner, dwelt inside the idols that represented them. The Egyptians, for example, kept the idols of their gods hidden away within their temples, far from the eyes of the common people. On certain holidays, however, the priests would take them out of the temples and load them onto boats with wheels, analogous to our parade floats, and carry the images of the gods on a sacred procession down the main avenue of the city. This would be a time of ecstatic celebration and worship, as the people believed that their gods were literally among them in these images. 

The Israelites did not have any idols representing Yahweh, but they did superstitiously invest the ark with the same level of prestige as pagans invested in their idols. Thus, they believed that when the ark came among them, Yahweh himself was especially present and would fight for them. They thought this would make them almost invulnerable in battle (we see the same superstition reflected in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark). The Philistines, as pagans, naturally believed the same thing about idols and sacred objects. When the Philistines defeated the Israelites and captured the ark, it signified one of two things to both the victors and the vanquished: either the gods of the Philistines were stronger than Yahweh, or Yahweh had abandoned his people. They might believe both things simultaneously. 

First Samuel 4 corrects the superstition that going into battle with the ark on your side guaranteed victory, and the next chapter will make it clear that Yahweh was stronger than the gods of the Philistines. Also, God did not abandon his people, but he did punish them. Specifically, the entire episode came about because of the godlessness of the priests of Shiloh and in order to fulfill the prophecy of Samuel.

Digging In

The Philistines were part of a group known as the “Sea Peoples” who spread out across the Mediterranean world around 1200 BC. The group that settled near Israel, on the southern coast of Palestine, appears to have been related to the Greeks (although the Greeks as we know them did not enter history until centuries later). Their language, from what little we know of it, is similar to Greek; it was altogether different from the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites and the Canaanites. It is possible that the Philistines were part of a larger group of Sea Peoples who tried but failed to invade Egypt in about 1180 BC. Repulsed by Pharaoh Ramses III, the people the Bible knows as Philistines established the five cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza, and they immediately made inroads against the Israelites. Samson, one of the last of the judges before Samuel, was the first Israelite leader to do battle against the Philistines. 

The first battle mentioned in this text took place near Aphek (1 Sam. 4:1), which was in the plain of Sharon (on the Mediterranean coast) about twenty miles north of Ekron, the Philistines’ northernmost city. This implies that they were pushing further into Israelite territory and that the Israelite army went out to check their advance. Defeated in their first encounter, the Israelites thought that they could ensure victory by carrying the ark of the covenant into battle. Apart from the superstition implied here, this violated the laws of the Israelite sanctuary, which indicated that the ark was to be kept in the innermost and most holy portion of the Tent of Meeting (Exod. 26:33). Hophni and Phineas, as the priests of the sanctuary, accompanied the ark (their father Eli was too feeble to go out with it). 

Both the Israelites and the Philistines were excited by the arrival of the ark—the former with false confidence and the latter with deep fear. The Philistines knew the stories of how Yahweh had overcome the Egyptians. Ironically, however, that worked to the disadvantage of the Israelites, since the Philistines resolved to fight all the harder (1 Sam. 4:8–9). The outcome was a total rout of Israel. It appears that their battle lines were utterly broken and that the Philistines made it to the rear areas of the Israelite deployment, where high-ranking non-combatants, such as Hophni and Phineas, could be found. They were slain along with much of the Israelite army. When 4:10 says that each Israelite fled “to his tent,” it probably does not refer to their camp, which would have been overrun by the enemy. Rather, it means that they ran to their homes (as in 1 Kings 12:16 and 2 Kings 14:12, the word tent refers to their homes, even though the people at this time live in houses). In other words, the surviving Israelites scattered to the winds and made their way home. 

The Benjamite who brought the news of Israel’s defeat was probably fleeing home. Shiloh, where the Tent of Meeting and Eli were in the Ephraimite hill country, was just north of Benjamin’s tribal territory, and the man seemingly passed through it on his way south from the battlefield. He entered Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head, a sure sign that disaster had struck, and he was expressing his grief (1 Sam. 4:11–12). Eli, no doubt anxious about his sons and the fate of the ark, was awaiting information on the battle. The Benjamite honestly reported the events, not hiding the fact that he fled the battle. As such, Eli had no reason to doubt the validity of the report that Israel had lost, his sons were dead, and the ark was captured. Strikingly, it was the latter news that laid Eli low. For all his faults, Eli genuinely cared about the holiness of the sanctuary, and to him, even the fact that his sons had been struck down by Philistines paled in comparison to the news that the ark was in the hands of the enemy. Unable to bear it, he fell backward, broke his neck, and died (4:16–18).

The account of how the news sent the wife of Phineas into labor and despair illustrates how the people viewed this event as an unmitigated catastrophe. Her indifference to the birth of a son, normally a reason for hope and joy, and her naming of him “Ichabod” (meaning “Where is glory?” or perhaps, “No glory”), show that as far as she was concerned, there would be nothing good in this boy’s future. Like Eli, she was especially dismayed by the loss of the ark and could not see how Israel could recover (14:19–22).

Living It Out

Sin and failure among leaders have severe repercussions for those whom they lead. The judgments Samuel pronounced were directed against Eli and his sons, and yet the fulfillment of those judgments brought about the deaths of many Israelites. To be sure, those Israelites were not entirely innocent; we have seen that they were no less superstitious than the pagan Philistines they fought. But this, too, represents a failure of the priests, who were Israel’s teachers. The corruption spread from the top down, and so did the punishment. Leaders in our culture, both in the church and the state, bear special judgment for their sins, but the penalties they face are not for them alone. The populace at large, and in the churches, reflect the ideas and actions of their leaders and will share in any judgment that may follow. Those of us who are in leadership positions need to be especially careful since we bear the greater judgment (James 3:1).

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We adapted this plan from another resource. Learn more at 40daysseries.net