1 Samuel 4
Do you ever get those days where you wonder if it was worth getting up?
Israel and the Philistines never seem to have got on all that well and in this chapter Israel and the Philistines have gone to war again, this time the Philistines get the upper hand and gain victory inflicting about 4000 Israelite casualties.
The army commanders request that the Ark of the Covenant be bought forward to the Israelite camp and boost morale in the army.
The Philistines hear the uproar in the Israelite camp and when they ascertain that the Israelites have bought their god to the battle are quite worried, they have not had to face this before.
The Philistines, in spite of their misgivings, put on a brave front and, guess what, beat the Israelites who lost all discipline and the whole army ran for cover. The Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant - the gold overlaid chest that represented the most holy item in Israel - the place that God spoke from to Moses and Joshua.
Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who we have seen were not model priests, are both killed in the battle
When a messenger from the battle arrived at Shiloh where the Ark had come from, Eli had been sitting by the road as he was uneasy about the Ark of the Covenant being at risk and heard the news that his sons were dead, the Ark of the Covenant had been captured he fell off his chair and broke his neck
The tragedy does not end there - Phinehas it appears was about to become a father, but hearing the news of his death his wife goes into premature labour.
AS she gave birth to her son, she too died and they called the young boy Ichabod which means "No glory".
In one day the Glory of God had left Israel in the form of the Ark of the Covenant. The high priest had died along with both his sons and his daughter in law.
If you have ever seen the movie Indiana Jones - Raiders of the lost ark they show a picture of Israel carrying the Ark of the covenant into battle and fire and lightening coming out and destroying their enemies.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an excellent film, but biblically it is extremely inaccurate, as we have seen.
Do you ever get those days where you wonder if it was worth getting up?
Israel and the Philistines never seem to have got on all that well and in this chapter Israel and the Philistines have gone to war again, this time the Philistines get the upper hand and gain victory inflicting about 4000 Israelite casualties.
The army commanders request that the Ark of the Covenant be bought forward to the Israelite camp and boost morale in the army.
The Philistines hear the uproar in the Israelite camp and when they ascertain that the Israelites have bought their god to the battle are quite worried, they have not had to face this before.
The Philistines, in spite of their misgivings, put on a brave front and, guess what, beat the Israelites who lost all discipline and the whole army ran for cover. The Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant - the gold overlaid chest that represented the most holy item in Israel - the place that God spoke from to Moses and Joshua.
Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who we have seen were not model priests, are both killed in the battle
When a messenger from the battle arrived at Shiloh where the Ark had come from, Eli had been sitting by the road as he was uneasy about the Ark of the Covenant being at risk and heard the news that his sons were dead, the Ark of the Covenant had been captured he fell off his chair and broke his neck
The tragedy does not end there - Phinehas it appears was about to become a father, but hearing the news of his death his wife goes into premature labour.
AS she gave birth to her son, she too died and they called the young boy Ichabod which means "No glory".
In one day the Glory of God had left Israel in the form of the Ark of the Covenant. The high priest had died along with both his sons and his daughter in law.
If you have ever seen the movie Indiana Jones - Raiders of the lost ark they show a picture of Israel carrying the Ark of the covenant into battle and fire and lightening coming out and destroying their enemies.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an excellent film, but biblically it is extremely inaccurate, as we have seen.
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