1 Samuel 4:11-22 “And the ark of God was taken;
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to
Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a
seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And
when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14 And when Eli heard the noise of the
crying, he said, What meaneth the noise
of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
15 Now Eli was ninety and eight
years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. 16 And the man said unto Eli, I
am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he Eli said,
What is there done, my son? 17 And the messenger answered and said,
Israel is fled before the Philistines,
and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons
also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. 18 And it came to pass, when he made
mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side
of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy.
And he had judged Israel forty years.
19 And his daughter in law,
Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the
tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her
husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon
her. 20 And about the time of her
death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither
did she regard it. 21 And she named
the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark
of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.
In 1
Samuel 4, the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines. The
corrupt state of the priesthood is the reason for this national failure and
disgrace. There is a close connection between holy living and national
prosperity.
To
understand the importance of the Ark we need to understand…
1.
WHAT IT REPRESNTED!
It represented
salvation.
·
The Ark of Noah – Genesis 6-9.
·
The Ark of Moses – Exodus 2:5 “And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself
at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she
saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.”
·
The Ark of the Covenant – Exodus
25cf.
It represented
God’s presence. Exodus 25:21-22 “And thou shalt put the mercy
seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I
shall give thee. 22 And there I will
meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all
things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”
It represented
the throne of God. Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
It
represented God’s provision and protection. The ark contained, The Rod of
Aaron, The Ten commandments, Manna.
It
represented the humanity and deity of Christ. It was made of wood, overlaid with
gold. Isaiah 53:2 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and
as a root out of a dry ground:” Hebrews
9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us:”
To
understand the importance of the Ark we need to understand…
2.
WHY IT WAS BROUGHT INTO BATTLE! After the Philistines successfully
routed Israel in the initial conflict, “…the elders of Israel said, Wherefore
hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of
the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us,
it may save us out of the hand of our enemies” (4:3).
When
is the best time to seek the favor and help of God? Before we face a trouble or after we have done our best to succeed
without Him?
Notice
where the elders placed the blame of their defeat! “Wherefore hath the Lord smitten
us…”
·
The fear of the
Philistines (4:6-7).
“When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the
noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that
the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid,…”
Human nature: Like most men, the Philistines feared man more than God. They did not
fear “the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas…” because they did not possess
the power of God.
·
Israel’s faulty faith
in the Ark (v 3). “Let us
fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it
cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”
John 1:11-13 “He Jesus
came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood family heritage, nor of the will
of the flesh good
works, religious ritual, nor of the will of man human desire, but of God.
Israel’s faith in God had been replaced with a superstitious reverence
for the Ark. Instead
of saying, “Let us fetch the Ark,” they should have said, “Let us confess our
sins and return to the Lord.” He would no doubt have saved them.
3.
WHEN IT WAS CAPTURED! “The Ark of God was taken” (11, 17, 19, 21-22). The object of their confidence
was taken from them.
What
can we learn from this?
·
Ungodly men cannot
preserve or produce the power and presence of God. The unsaved sons of Eli had taken
the Ark before the Philistines took it (4:4).
·
We should not be
surprised that God is mocked when unbelieving men take control of things that
are Holy?
·
Most of what the
world mocks about Christianity we mocked first!
- The world mocks the Bible because we mock the Bible.
- The world mocks the Church because we mock the
Church.
- The world mocks Christ return because we mock Christ
return.
- The world mocks Holy living because we mock Holy
living.
- The world mocks Preaching because we mock Preaching.
- The world mocks Godly music because we mock Godly
music.
- The world mocks Prayer because we mock Prayer.
·
The Lord is not
obligated to protect where He is not honored. Deut 11:25-28 “There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your
God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye
shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you. 26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing , if ye obey the
commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the
commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I
command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”
· Sin always results in defeat. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).
