Day 87 of the podcast, reading 1 Samuel 4-8 NET, read along at:
https://netbible.org/bible/1+Samuel+4-8/
This is day 87 of our journey.
Today we read about the tragedy that occurs when man dishonors and understimates God. First the Israelites, led by Eli's wicked sons, try to use the ark of the Lord as a good luck charm to guarantee victory in battle over the Philistines. During the conquest of the Holy Land, the Israelites walked in obedience and the Ark was carried to glorify God in front of their enemies (essentially giving God the glory for all their successes). Hophni and Phinehas carried the Ark into battle to try to use the power of God to glorify themselves and to accomplish their own desires. God allows them to be defeated, showing that his presence and power are NOT subject to the whims of his people. The ark is captured and taken into Philistine territory. After their victory, the Philistines believed that the God in Israel was weak and unable to protect his people so they placed the ark in a pagan temple at the feet of their god Dagon. But the image of Dagon cannot stand in the presence of the One true God and his statue collapses and crumbles. At the same time, the Philistine people are oppressed with a plague that moves from city to city as each of the Philistine kings tries to pass the Ark of the Lord off onto their neighbors. Eventually, the Philistines send the ark back to Israel with a guilt offering to appease God and remove the punishment. But, when Israel receives the ark, many people do not show it the honor it deserves and they pay with their lives.
In the last chapter of our reading, we see the people of Israel reject God as king and request that Samuel appoint them a king like the surrounding nations.
Join me in 1 Samuel 4-8 to understand the power of God and the glory due him.
Key verses:
1 Samuel 4:22
She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”
1 Samuel 5:11
So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us and our people!” The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.
1 Samuel 6:20
The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
1 Samuel 7:8
The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep crying out to the Lord our God so that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines!”
1 Samuel 8:5
They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead us, just like all the other nations have.”
All Scriptures are from the NET.
