Saul Defeats the Ammonites

1 Samuel 10:27-11:15 NLT
²⁷ …
[Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, of all the Israelites east of the Jordan, there wasn’t a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh-gilead.]
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
^11:1 About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.
² “All right,” Nahash said, “but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”
³ “Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh. “If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”
⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears. ⁵ Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.
⁶ Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. ⁷ He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” And the Lord made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one. ⁸ When Saul mobilized them at Bezek, he found that there were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.
⁹ So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!
¹⁰ The men of Jabesh then told their enemies, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do to us whatever you wish.” ¹¹ But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.
¹² Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, “Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!”
¹³ But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the Lord has rescued Israel!”
¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.” ¹⁵ So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the Lord they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy.

Examine the Scriptures

Saul Defeats the Ammonites
1 Samuel 10:27-11:15 NLT
²⁷ … [Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, of all the Israelites east of the Jordan, there wasn’t a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh-gilead.]

This paragraph, which is not included in the Masoretic Text, is found in Dead Sea Scroll 4QSam^a.

The Masoretic Text refers to the authoritative Hebrew manuscript of the Old Testament.

Whether it is part of the original text is uncertain.

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

^11:1  About a month later, 

In chapter 10 Samuel anoints Saul as king and Saul is acclaimed king by the people. 

King Nahash of Ammon

The Ammonites were a nomadic race descended from Lot’s youngest daughter.

At this point in history, the Ammonites were a constant threat from the east to Israel, while the Philistines were a treat to Israel from the west.

(King Nahash) led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead.

 (The location of Jabesh-gilead) were located east of the Jordan River.

The Ammonites were nomads living east of Gad, Ruben, and Manasseh.

You may want to refer to a map. 

But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.

² “All right,” Nahash said, “but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”

Mutilation of captured soldiers was a common practice in the ancient Near East at this point in time.

These disfigured soldiers would have lost all depth perception and would be rendered useless in battle.

The people of Jabesh had to choose between mutilation if they surrendered or death if they refused to surrender. 

³ “Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh. “If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul

Probably a two day’s journey.

Saul’s hometown, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin. (Remember its history of violence and perversion.) 

and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears. 

Why would the people of Gibeah care about the people of Jabesh?

It was highly likely that there were close family ties between Jabesh-gilead and the tribe of Benjamin, which would have prompted the inhabitants of Jabesh to seek help from the tribe of Benjamin.

Read Judges 19-21.

Judges 21:12-14 NLT
¹² Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
¹³ The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. ¹⁴ Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. 

The people of Gibeah would be closely related to the people of Jabesh. 

⁵ Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen,

Saul was working as a farmer, not yet fulfilling his role as king of Israel. 

 and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.

⁶ Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. 

The Spirit of God had come on Saul previously. See 1 Samuel 10:10

1 Samuel 10:10 NLT
¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy.

Saul cared about the people from Jabesh. 

⁷ He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” And the Lord made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one. 

Anyone not participating would be rejecting Saul as king and Samuel as prophet. 

⁸ When Saul mobilized them at Bezek,

West of the Jordan River, in striking distance of Jabesh-gilead.

Refer to a map.

he found that there were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.

The book was written after 931 B.C. when the kingdom had been divided. (?)

⁹ So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!

¹⁰ The men of Jabesh then told their enemies, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do to us whatever you wish.” 

A setup for a surprise attack? 

¹¹ But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments.

Good thinking on Saul’s part. 

He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.

¹² Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, “Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!”

 Saul’s military victory made him look good to the people. 

¹³ But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the Lord has rescued Israel!”

This was a time for celebration, not revenge.

Saul recognized that the Lord has rescued Israel 

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.” 

Israel was now going to be ruled by a king.

But

Samuel most likely saw this as the appropriate time for the people to renew their allegiance to the Lord and to restore the covenant relationship between God and His people. 

¹⁵ So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the Lord they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy.

Refer to a map.

The peace offerings were a form of celebration.

A recognition of God’s role in this event.

Saul is recognized as God’s chosen king and formally assumes the privileges and responsibilities of this office.

Saul’s kingship was confirmed through a military victory, the very reason the people wanted a king.

1 Samuel 8:20 NLT
²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” 

 

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Introduction

Isaiah 55:8 NLT
⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

 Samuel 10 NLT
Samuel Anoints Saul as King

10 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession. ² When you leave me today, you will see two men beside Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys have been found and that your father has stopped worrying about them and is now worried about you. He is asking, ‘Have you seen my son?’
³ “When you get to the oak of Tabor, you will see three men coming toward you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be bringing three young goats, another will have three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept.
⁵ “When you arrive at Gibeah of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is located, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. ⁷ After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you. ⁸ Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.”

Samuel’s Signs Are Fulfilled
⁹ As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day. ¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy. ¹¹ When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?”
¹² And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?”  So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?”
¹³ When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the place of worship. ¹⁴ “Where have you been?” Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant.
“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.”
¹⁵ “Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked.
¹⁶ “He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom.

Saul Is Acclaimed King
¹⁷ Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸ And he said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you. ¹⁹ But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’ Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans.”
²⁰ So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. ²¹ Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared! ²² So they asked the Lord, “Where is he?”
And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.” ²³ So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
²⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
²⁵ Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were. He wrote them down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home again.
²⁶ When Saul returned to his home at Gibeah, a group of men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷ But there were some scoundrels who complained, “How can this man save us?” And they scorned him and refused to bring him gifts. But Saul ignored them.

Examine the Scriptures

 

1 Samuel 10 NLT

Samuel Anoints Saul as King 

^10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. 

Samuel anoints Saul in a private ceremony.

Signifying a setting aside for God’s choice for God’s service.

He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his  (The Lord’s) special possession.

Note: The people of Israel belong to God, not to Saul.

Deuteronomy 4:20 NLT
²⁰ Remember that the Lord rescued you (Israel) from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.

The King of Israel is to act as a manager, not an owner.

• God appointed Saul to be ruler over Israel.

• Israel was God’s special possession.

² When you leave me today,

• Saul was told that he would experience three signs.

The first sign:

you will see two men beside Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin.

Saul is told what will happen and where this will take place.

The precise location is unknown to us.

They will tell you that the donkeys have been found and that your father has stopped worrying about them and is now worried about you. He is asking, ‘Have you seen my son?’

The second sign:

³ “When you get to the oak of Tabor, you will see three men coming toward you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be bringing three young goats, another will have three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine. 

Most likely the items they were bring were intended for the sacrificial meal.

⁴ They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept.

Giving a portion of this food to Saul symbolizes a recognition of Saul’s divine appointment as king.

Again, Saul is told what will happen and where this will take place.

The third sign:

⁵ “When you arrive at Gibeah of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is located,
you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying. 

Again, Saul is told what will happen and where this will take place.

Praising God.

Declaring the Word of the Lord.

⁶ At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. 

Saul will be changed into a different person.

God can change lives.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

See verse 9

Saul was being equipped to carry out a new role.

• For each of the three signs, Saul was told what would happen and where this event would take place.

• These three signs were to convince Saul that he in fact had been chosen to be Israel’s king.

Again, God’s sovereignty is clearly seen throughout this story.

FYI (some interesting details about Gibeah)

Gibeah:

Gibeah “of God” (this city belongs to God even if it is occupied by the Philistines.)

Also called: Gibeah, Gibeah of Benjamin, Gibeah of Saul.

Gibeah is located in the land given to the tribe of Benjamin.

Gibeah was Saul’s birthplace and continued to be his residence until he became king.

Gibeah had a history of being a perverted and lawless city according to Judges 19-21.

A man, his concubine, and his servant decided to spend the night in Gibeah.

Judges 19:22 NLT
²² While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, “Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him.” 

Unbelievable perversion and violence takers place.

The story ends with:
Judges 20:48 NLT
⁴⁸ And the Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns—the people, the livestock, and everything they found. They also burned down all the towns they came to.

Later in the narrative Saul’s sons and grandsons were executed by the Gibeonites.

2 Samuel 21:6 NLT
⁶ So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.”

Gibeah was occupied by the Philistines. 

⁷ After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you. 

This is directed to Saul but is also a message for each of us.

Take the appropriate action.  God’s presence in your life will enable you to do the right thing.

Isaiah 41:10 NLT
¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Philippians 4:13 NLT
¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 

⁸ Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. 

You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.”

Samuel’s Signs Are Fulfilled
⁹ As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day. 

As prophesied in verse 6:

⁶ At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. 

God changes hearts.

1 Samuel 16:13 NLT
¹³ So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

All of Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day. 

• God gave Saul a new heart 

¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. 

Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy. 

A big change was taking place in Saul. 

¹¹ When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?”

The people were surprised to see Saul acting like a prophet.

¹² And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?”  So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?”

Just a reminder:

Jeremiah 32:17 NLT
¹⁷ “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!

• Nothing is too hard for God!

¹³ When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the place of worship. ¹⁴ “Where have you been?” Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant.
“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.”
¹⁵ “Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked.
¹⁶ “He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom.

Saul Is Publicly Acclaimed King

¹⁷ Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah. 

Previously at Mizpah

Judges 21:1 NLT
^21:1 The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” 

¹⁸ And he said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you. ¹⁹ But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’

Israel was rejecting God’s ability to protect and save them. 

Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans.” 

²⁰ So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 

²¹ Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them.

In spite of this process of casting lots, we know that Saul was chosen by God.  God simply used the process of casting lots to fulfill his will.

(Not all translations say “by lot”.)

But when they looked for him, he had disappeared! ²² So they asked the Lord, “Where is he?”
And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.” ²³ So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
²⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”

• Samuel tells the people that the Lord has chosen Saul to be their king. 

And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Here the people are accepting Saul as their king.

However, in the eyes of God Saul was disqualified.  Remember the passages from our previous lesson:

Genesis 49:10 NLT
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,
the one whom all nations will honor. 

A long line of kings from Judah would retain the scepter. 

1 Chronicles 5:2 NLT
² The descendants of Judah became the most powerful tribe and provided a ruler for the nation,

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were.

• Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were.

The people had a wrong understanding of what the king’s role and function should be.

Israel’s king would not be like the kings of the other nations.

He wrote them down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord.

Presumably in the Tabernacle.

Deuteronomy 17:16-20 NLT
Guidelines for a King
¹⁵ … be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner.
¹⁶ “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ ¹⁷ The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.
¹⁸ “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel. 

Then Samuel sent the people home again.

²⁶ When Saul returned to his home at Gibeah, a group of men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 

God changes hearts.

²⁷ But there were some scoundrels who complained, “How can this man save us?”

They wrongly believed that their national security would come from a human being.

 And they scorned him and refused to bring him gifts.

These men were scoundrels because they scorned God’s chosen king.

But Saul ignored them. 

• Many of the people accepted Saul as their king, some did not.

 

Introduction:

Don’t miss the subtleties in this passage. *

Once again, notice God’s sovereignty.

1 Samuel 9 NLT
Saul Meets Samuel
^9:1 There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.
³ One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, “Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere.
⁵ Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!”
⁶ But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.”
⁷ “But we don’t have anything to offer him,” Saul replied. “Even our food is gone, and we don’t have a thing to give him.”
⁸ “Well,” the servant said, “I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to the man of God and see what happens!” ⁹ (In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, “Let’s go and ask the seer,” for prophets used to be called seers.)
¹⁰ “All right,” Saul agreed, “let’s try it!” So they started into the town where the man of God lived.
¹¹ As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, “Is the seer here today?”
¹² “Yes,” they replied. “Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up at the place of worship. ¹³ Hurry and catch him before he goes up there to eat. The guests won’t begin eating until he arrives to bless the food.”
¹⁴ So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the place of worship.
¹⁵ Now the Lord had told Samuel the previous day, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry.”
¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.”
¹⁸ Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, “Can you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”
¹⁹ “I am the seer!” Samuel replied. “Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way. ²⁰ And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.”
²¹ Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”
²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests. ²³ Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor. ²⁴ So the cook brought in the meat and placed it before Saul. “Go ahead and eat it,” Samuel said. “I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
²⁵ When they came down from the place of worship and returned to town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there. ²⁶ At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called to Saul, “Get up! It’s time you were on your way.” So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together. ²⁷ When they reached the edge of town, Samuel told Saul to send his servant on ahead. After the servant was gone, Samuel said, “Stay here, for I have received a special message for you from God.”

Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 9 NLT

Saul Meets Samuel

^9:1 There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin.

• Kish, Saul’s father, was a wealthy influential man from the Tribe of Benjamin.*

The first subtlety.

Genesis 49:10 NLT
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,
the one whom all nations will honor. 

• A long line of kings from Judah would retain the scepter. 

1 Chronicles 5:2 NLT
² The descendants of Judah became the most powerful tribe and provided a ruler for the nation,

Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin.

The promised Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. 

He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land. 

The second subtlety.

• Saul’s qualifications listed here in the scriptures: (all external appearance)*

Handsome
Tall

Compared to David’s qualifications.

1 Samuel 16:18 NLT
¹⁸ One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”

A talented harp player.
A brave warrior.
A man of war.
He has good judgment.
Also, He a fine-looking young man.
The Lord is with him. 

³ One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, “Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere.

• Saul was sent on a mission to find some lost donkeys belonging to his father.

Lost donkeys meant lost wealth.  Saul was chosen to oversee the task of finding these lost donkeys.

Lost donkeys straying from home.  Perhaps symbolizing the Israelites straying from God.*

Saul looking for his dad’s lost donkeys.

David, a shepherd, caring for his fathers’ sheep.

⁵ Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!” 

⁶ But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true.

In the O.T. a messenger of God was referred to as “a man of God”.  This phrase is use over 70 times in the O.T.  This title would be used for a prophet of God.

To be a true prophet means “everything he says comes true”. 

• When they were Unable to find the donkeys, Saul’s servant suggested that they get some help from a prophet of God.

Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.”

This suggestion came from Saul’s servant, not from Saul. *

Saul’s servant appears to be more perceptive than Saul. 

⁷ “But we don’t have anything to offer him,” Saul replied. “Even our food is gone, and we don’t have a thing to give him.” 

It was a common practice to give a gift to a prophet for his service.

Saul must have been under the impression that the prophet (Samuel) would not help them if they didn’t give him something.

Saul may have been thinking that advice from a prophet of God could be purchased. 

⁸ “Well,” the servant said, “I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to the man of God and see what happens!” ⁹ (In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, “Let’s go and ask the seer,” for prophets used to be called seers.)

• Saul’s servant was seeking guidance from God. *

¹⁰ “All right,” Saul agreed, “let’s try it!” So they started into the town where the man of God lived. 

¹¹ As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, “Is the seer here today?”

¹² “Yes,” they replied. “Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up at the place of worship. ¹³ Hurry and catch him before he goes up there to eat. The guests won’t begin eating until he arrives to bless the food.”

The role of the prophet (bless the sacrificial meal). *

¹⁴ So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the place of worship.

The worship of the Lord at “high places” was acceptable at this point in time. 

¹⁵ Now the Lord had told Samuel the previous day, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry.”

God’s sovereignty.

• God instructed Samuel to anoint Saul to be the leader of His people, Israel.

God is going to give the people what they are asking for. *

Remember: Be careful what you ask for.

¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.” 

• The Lord revealed to Samuel that Saul was the divine choice for king of Israel.

¹⁸ Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, “Can you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹ “I am the seer!” Samuel replied.

God’s sovereignty.

“Go up to the place of worship ahead of me.

For “a public sacrifice up at the place of worship” (verse 12). 

We will eat there together, and in the morning I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way.  

• Saul met Samuel and Samuel invited Saul to eat with him at the place of worship. 

²⁰ And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.” 

Not particularly a good thing. 

1 Samuel 8:19-20 NLT
¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. ²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” 

• The hope of Israel was that someone would rescue them from the Philistines. *

He will rescue them from the Philistines. (Verse 15)

²¹ Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”

At this point in the story Saul is being humble. 

²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests. ²³ Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor. 

This took place at the place of worship where public sacrifices were offered.  (verses 12, 19, 25)

This piece of meat was frequently intended to be used as an offering and would have been eaten by the priest. (Samuel?) *

This indicates a distinct honor and the sacredness of Saul’s kingship.

Exodus 29:27 NLT
²⁷ “Set aside the portions of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons. This includes the breast and the thigh that were lifted up before the Lord as a special offering.

Numbers 18:8 NLT
⁸ The Lord gave these further instructions to Aaron: “I myself have put you in charge of all the holy offerings that are brought to me by the people of Israel. I have given all these consecrated offerings to you and your sons as your permanent share.

²⁴ So the cook brought in the meat and placed it before Saul. “Go ahead and eat it,” Samuel said. “I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 

• Saul was given the finest cut of meat that had been set aside for the guest of honor.

 ²⁵ When they came down from the place of worship and returned to town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there. 

Saul spent the night at Samuel’s house.

²⁶ At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called to Saul, “Get up! It’s time you were on your way.” So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together. ²⁷ When they reached the edge of town, 

Samuel told Saul to send his servant on ahead. After the servant was gone, Samuel said, “Stay here, for I have received a special message for you from God.”

Special revelation from God, given to Samuel and intended for Saul.

At this point in time, revelations from God were rare.

• Samuel received a special message from God for Saul. (Next lesson)

 

 

Introduction:

Israel Requests a King.

Israel’s transition to a monarchy.

From Judgeship to Kingship.

1 Samuel 8:1-22 NLT
Israel Requests a King
^8:1 As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. ⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom
¹⁰ So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. ¹² Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. ¹³ The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. ¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. ¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”
¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. ²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”
²¹ So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, ²² and the Lord replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 8:1-22 NLT

Israel Requests a King 

^8:1 As Samuel grew old,

• In this passage Samuel is growing old.

When Samuel was 65-70 years old. (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
60 years of age (Mac Arthur)
65 years old (NIV study Bible)

he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba.

Samuel’s two oldest sons functioned as judges in Beersheba.

Beersheba is 57 miles south of Ramah.

 ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

• Samuel’s sons were a lot like Eli’s sons.

They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Scripture addresses these issues.

Exodus 23:8 NLT
⁸ “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth. 

Deuteronomy 16:19 NLT
¹⁹ You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.

Proverbs 17:23 NLT
²³ The wicked take secret bribes
to pervert the course of justice.

• Scripture strictly forbids Samuel’s sons’ actions. 

⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you.

• The elders of Israel used Samuel’s age and the corruption of Samuel’s sons as reasons to ask for a king to rule the nation.

Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

Even though the elders of Israel used Samuel’s age and the corruption of Samuel’s sons as reasons to ask for a king to rule the nation, the primary reason for their request was a desire to be like the surrounding nations. (verse 20)

• The primary reason for their request was a desire to be like the surrounding nations. (verse 20)

They wanted to be like everyone else.

The nations surrounding Israel had kings.

Kings, as national leaders, were more capable of uniting a whole nation. Judges tended to be local leaders.

Having a king is not evil in itself.  The people’s reasons for wanting a king were wrong.

Israel was rejecting God as their king. They wanted to exchange their unique position as the people of God to be like all the nations.

Scripture anticipates kings ruling the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 NLT
Guidelines for a King
¹⁴ “You are about to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, ‘We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.’ ¹⁵ If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner.
¹⁶ “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ ¹⁷ The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.
¹⁸ “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

• David served the Lord well as king.

Acts 13:22 NLT
²² But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

1 Chronicles 18:14 NLT
¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.

⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 

CEB    It seemed very bad to Samuel
CEV    Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say
ERV    Samuel thought this was a bad idea,
EHV    But in Samuel’s eyes, their request to receive a king to judge them looked evil,
TLB     Samuel was terribly upset
MEV   But the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel,
NOG   But Samuel considered it wrong

Most likely, Samuel felt that the people were rejecting him.

Verse seven: … “they are rejecting me, not you.” 

• Samuel was displeased with the people’s request.

• The rejection of Judgeship was a rejection of God’s rule and sovereignty.

⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied,

Be careful what you ask for.

See Numbers 11 

¹³ They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 

¹⁸ “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. ²⁰ You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” 

³¹ Now the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quail flying about three feet above the ground. ³² So the people went out and caught quail all that day and throughout the night and all the next day, too. No one gathered less than fifty bushels! They spread the quail all around the camp to dry. ³³ But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 

The Psalmist talks about this in:
Psalm 106:14-15 NLT
¹⁴ In the wilderness their (the Israelites) desires ran wild,
testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.
¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for,
    but he sent a plague along with it.

• Be careful what you ask for. You might get what you ask for along with some negative consequences. 

(⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied,) repeated
“for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 

Rejecting God for a human king is clearly a form of idolatry.

An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God.

This was not God’s timing for giving Israel a king. 

⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 

⁹ Do as they ask,

• Be careful what you ask for. You might get what you ask for along with some negative consequences.

but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom

¹⁰ So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king.  

• Samuel explained the disadvantages of kingship.

The disadvantages of kingship. 

¹¹ “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. 

¹² Some will be generals and captains in his army, 

The king will draft your sons for military service.

some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. 

The king will take your sons from you to work for him.

¹³ The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. 

The king will take your daughters from you to serve him.

¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. 

The king will take your possessions and give them to his officials. 

¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. 

A tenth of the harvest was already required to support God’s Temple and servants.

Deuteronomy 12:4-6 NLT
⁴ “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. ⁵ Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. ⁶ There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.

The king would demand an additional tenth of the people’s harvest. 

¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. ¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks,

The king will take your possessions for his own use.

and you will be his slaves. 

The Israelites would be subject to any of the king’s wishes. 

¹⁸ When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

• Samuel warned the people that they would live to regret their decision for a king and would later cry out for freedom from his rule.

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 

• In spite of Samuel’s warning, the people demanded a king.

²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us.

This motive is definitely contrary to the Lord’s will.

• Israel’s motive for wanting a king was definitely counter to the Lord’s will. 

Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

Up to this point the Lord had fought the battles for Israel and had given them victory over their enemies.

Just previous to this time.

1 Samuel 7:10 NLT
¹⁰ Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them.

Joshua 10:6-14 NLT
⁶ The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. “Don’t abandon your servants now!” they pleaded. “Come at once! Save us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us.”
⁷ So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon. ⁸ “Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”
⁹ Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword. 

¹⁴ There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!

Judges 6-8 NLT The story of Gideon
Judges 6:14
¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

Judges 7:7 NLT
⁷ The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”

¹⁴ His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”

²² When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. 

²¹ So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, ²² and the Lord replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.”

• Israel was replacing God with a human being.

Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.

 

 

 

 

 

Samuel Leads Israel to Victory

1 Samuel 7:3-17 NLT
³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.
⁵ Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)
⁷ When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. ⁸ “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. ⁹ So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.
¹⁰ Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. ¹¹ The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
¹² Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”
¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines. ¹⁴ The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.
¹⁵ Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life. ¹⁶ Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places. ¹⁷ Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.

Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 7:3-17 NLT
Samuel Leads Israel to Victory

Samuel’s first recorded public ministry.

³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel,

In the previous lesson the Philistines return the ark to Israel.

After the Ark was at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years Samuel addressed the Israelites.

• The Israelites had been worshipping idols during this 20 year period.

“If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth.

Ashtoreth was the Canaanite God of fertility associated with Baal.

Some commentators believe Ashtoreth and Asherah are the same god.

The worship of Canaanite Gods was an ongoing problem throughout Israel’s history.

Deuteronomy 12:3 NLT (Instructions to the Israelites moving into the Promised Land)
³ Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

1 Kings 16:33 NLT
³³ Then he (King Ahab) set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. 

Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” 

• Repent and obey.

Good reminders:

Deuteronomy 5:7-9 NLT
⁷ “You must not have any other god but me.
⁸ “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. ⁹ You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

Joshua 24:14 NLT
¹⁴ “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 

Joshua 22:5 NLT
⁵ But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” 

• Don’t expect God’s blessing without getting get rid of what is contrary to his will. 

⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord. 

Two dominant gods of the Canaanites.

Two of God’s Old Testament rivals.

Psalm 95:3 NLT
³ For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods. (small g)

Baal – 126 times in the NLT

Ashtoreth – 9 times in the NLT

The book of Judges records this cycle occurring seven times.

Apostasy, turning away from God
Oppression, punishment, slavery
Repentance, sorrow
Deliverance, restoration 

⁵ Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah,

Most likely located in the northern section of the land given to the tribe of Benjamin.

A place of assembly for Israel. 

and I will pray to the Lord for you.”  

• Samuel served as an intercessor, praying on Israel’s behalf to God. 

⁶ So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord.

A sign of repentance.

This type of ceremony is not mentioned elsewhere on the OT.

Not the same, but similar.

2 Samuel 23:16 NLT
¹⁶ So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord. 

They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord.

Fasting and prayer.

True repentance had taken place.

(It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)

Here Samuel is introduced as the Judge of Israel.

Samuel served as the last judge before the first king.

• Samuel is introduced as the Judge of Israel. 

⁷ When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah,

they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. 

⁸ “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel.  

• The Israelites are beginning to realize that “their help comes from the Lord”. 

Psalm 121
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
¹ I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
² My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
³ He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
⁵ The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
⁶ The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
⁷ The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
⁸ The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

⁹ So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT fits here:

2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 

¹⁰ Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day,

Hannah’s prayer
1 Samuel 2:10 NLT
¹⁰     Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
he increases the strength of his anointed one.” 

and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 

Actually, God defeated the Philistines when He threw their army into a state of confusion.

God did a similar thing with the Egyptian army.

Exodus 14:24 NLT
²⁴ But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion.

¹¹ The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.

Beth-car.  The location is unknown. 

¹² Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. 

The location of this stone memorial is unknown. (NLT study Bible) 

He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”

• Samuel gave God the credit He deserved for defeating the Philistines.

A symbol of remembrance.

A memorial of the help received from God.

Psalm 103:2 NLT (Used in the previous lesson.)
² Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me. 

¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines.  

The Philistines are not out of the picture.

The victory here is described as a decisive turning point, although the Philistines do reappear later.

1 Samuel 10:5 NLT
⁵ “When you arrive at Gibeah of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is located, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying.

1 Samuel 13:3 NLT
³ Soon after this, Jonathan attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba. The news spread quickly among the Philistines. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Hebrews, hear this! Rise up in revolt!”

• The Lord gave Israel victory over the Philistines, discontinuing their threat during Samuel’s judgeship.

¹⁴ The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath (two Philistine cities) that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken.

• The Philistines no longer dominated Israelite territories.

The Philistines resided in the coastal plains.

And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.

The Amorites resided in the hills west of Israel between the Jordan Valley and the coastal plain.

• There was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days. 

¹⁵ Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life. 

Some speculation as to Samuels age when he died.

1070-1012 BC 58 years old (Wikipedia)
1080-1017 BC 63 years old (Unger’s)
1130-1020 BC 110 years old (answers.com)

• Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life.

¹⁶ Each year (annual trip) he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places. ¹⁷ Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too.

And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah. 

Samuel was a man of prayer. 

The story will resume when Samuel is old and Israel is asking for a king.

 

 

 

 

The Philistines Return the Ark

1 Samuel 6:13-7:2 NLT
¹³ The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed! ¹⁴ The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering. ¹⁵ Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord that day by the people of Beth-shemesh. ¹⁶ The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.
¹⁷ The five gold tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the Lord were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers. The large rock at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.
The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim
¹⁹ But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done. ²⁰ “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?”
²¹ So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!”
7 So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the Lord. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it. ² The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 6:13-7:2 NLT
The Philistines Return the Ark (Part 2) 

¹³ The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley,

Wheat harvest is normally from mid-April until mid-June.

This was a big event.  These harvests were accomplished with the whole city participating.

• Beth-shemesh was a Levite city.

Joshua 21:13-16 NLT
¹³ The following towns with their pasturelands were given to the descendants of Aaron the priest: Hebron (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Libnah, ¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵ Holon, Debir, and 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh— nine towns from these two tribes. 

and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed!  

The Israelites were overjoyed to see the Ark after seven months of captivity by the Philistines, and the Philistines were glad to see the Ark gone from their country.

• The Israelites were overjoyed to see the Ark coming back to Israel. 

¹⁴ The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock.

In the Old Testament, people often used stone markers as reminders of their encounters with God. These stones served to remind his people of the great works God accomplished in their midst. They were physical markers of great spiritual revelations from God.

Genesis 28:18 NLT
¹⁸ The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.

Joshua 4:2-3 NLT
² “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’” 

More about this later in this lesson. 

So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering. 

The cart was used for firewood and the cows were sacrificed to the Lord as a burnt offering. 

¹⁵ Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock.

Men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord.

Numbers 4:15 NLT
¹⁵ The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry. 

The Kohathites were the Levites who were responsible for assembling, disassembling, and carrying the furniture of the Tabernacle.  

The stone mentioned was used as a pedestal for both the items of gold and the ark.

Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord that day by the people of Beth-shemesh.  

¹⁶ The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.

Their duty completed; the five Philistine rulers returned home. 

¹⁷ The five gold tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the Lord were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers.

• All of the Philistines, both the fortified cities and the unwalled villages, participated in the guilt offerings.

1 Samuel 6:3 NLT (Instructions from the Philistine priests and diviners)
³ “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.” 

This offering was both an acknowledgement of guilt and compensation of their trespass of dishonoring the God of Israel. 

The large rock at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.

• The rock in the field of Joshua stands as a monument to this event, a stone of remembrance, a reminder of God’s hand at work.

• It is important to remember the wonders God has performed.

Psalm 103:2 NLT
² Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Psalm 105:5 NLT
⁵ Remember the wonders he has performed,
his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

1 Samuel 12:24 NLT
²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.

• Tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders.

Psalm 78:4 NLT
⁴ We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.

The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim

¹⁹ But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord.

Seventy men from Beth-shemesh desecrated the Ark by opening it up and looking into it.  Perhaps to see if the stone tablets of the Law were still inside.

Numbers 4:20 NLT
²⁰ The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.” 

Those who were killed lacked reverence for God’s holiness.

Later in 2 Samuel we read:

2 Samuel 6:6-7 NLT
⁶ But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. ⁷ Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.

The Israelites suffered when they did not conform to God’s strict requirements. 

And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done.  

²⁰ “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out.

• God’s people are not immune from His wrath when His holiness is violated.

• Reverence for God is a key ingredient for righteous living.

God is a Holy God

Isaiah 6:1-4 NLT
Isaiah’s Cleansing and Call
^6:1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. ² Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³ They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
⁴ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

Revelation 4 NLT
Worship in Heaven
⁸…
 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
^…
11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.” 

“Where can we send the Ark from here?”

The Israelites echoed the distress of the Philistine pagans.

Why was the ark not returned to the Tabernacle at Shiloh?

Some scholars suggest that Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines after Israel was defeated at Aphek.

Jeremiah 26:9 NLT
⁹ “What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord’s name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?” And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple.

²¹ So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!”

Kiriath-jearim was about 10 miles northeast of Beth-shemesh.

^7:1 So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the Lord.

The men of  Kiriath-jearim were probably Levites.

Numbers 1:50-51 NLT
⁵⁰ Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. ⁵¹ Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death.

They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it. 

It is likely that Eleazar was a descendent of Aaron.

Numbers 1:53 NLT
⁵³ But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to protect the community of Israel from the Lord’s anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle.”

² The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all.

Actually, the ark remained in the custody of the house of Abinadab for about 100 years.

In 2 Samuel 6 David goes to Abinadab’s house to get the ark to return it to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 61-3 NLT
Moving the Ark to Jerusalem
^6:1Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all. ² He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. ³ They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. 

The ark was at Kiriath-jearim for 20 years before Samuel undertook his first recorded public ministry.

During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.

Once again, the Israelites equated the presence of the ark with God’s presence.

For twenty years Israel neglected God.

After twenty years Israel returned to the Lord.

The Philistines Return the Ark

1 Samuel 6:1-12 NLT
The Philistines Return the Ark
^6:1 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. ² Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”
³ “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”
⁴ “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. ⁵ Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.
⁷ “Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen. ⁸ Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. ⁹ If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”
¹⁰ So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen. ¹¹ Then the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. ¹² And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 6:1-12 NLT
The Philistines Return the Ark

^6:1 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 

Refer to a map showing the travels of the Ark of the Lord.

² Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners (soothsayers, fortunetellers, magicians, omen readers, those who practice evil magic)

• Don’t assume that the Philistines were ignorant, weak, and “godless”.

Don’t assume that your enemy is ignorant, weak, and “godless”.

The Philistines were a powerful sea people who settled in the coastal strip in SW Palestine.

The Philistines were intensely religious.

The Philistines had a powerful military, due in part to their control of the iron industry.

The Philistines were politically well organized.

The Philistines had a strong economy.

• The Philistines did some things right. They called in the experts. They “called in their priests and diviners”.

Proverbs 15:22 NLT
²² Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
    many advisers bring success.

Proverbs 11:14 NLT
¹⁴ Without wise leadership, a nation falls;
    there is safety in having many advisers.

• The Philistines did many things wrong.

The Philistines practiced divination.

Divination defined:

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Divination is “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.”

Divination is a pagan counterpart of prophecy.

Genuine prophecy is by the Spirit of God.
Inspirational divination is by demonic power.

God spoke strongly against the use of divination.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NLT
¹⁰ For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, ¹¹ or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. ¹² Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. ¹³ But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”

The Philistines were known for their practice of sorcery.

Isaiah 2:6 NLT
⁶ For the Lord has rejected his people,
the descendants of Jacob,
because they have filled their land with practices from the East
and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do.
They have made alliances with pagans.

• Divination is a pagan counterpart of prophecy. Inspirational divination is by demonic power.

 (Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners -phrase repeated from above) 

and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord?

The Philistines believed that they had offended the Israelite God.

The Philistines were beginning to see a need to “respect” the ark of the Lord. 

Tell us how to return it to its own country.” 

After seeing their god Dagon being humiliated and after suffering the painful and deadly consequences of God’s plagues, the Philistines decided to return the Ark of the Lord to Israel. 

The Philistine leaders sensed that there was a right way and a wrong way to handle the ark.

The Philistines were very “religious” and wanted to do things correctly.

They asked their “advisors” how to do this.

The question arises.  Did God expect the Philistines to treat the Ark with the same respect that he demanded of the Israelites?  We really don’t know.

One soured answered the question this way.
It is likely that the Philistines out of respect, fear, or pragmatism carried the ark the “proper” way. 

• The question arises: Did God expect the Philistines to treat the Ark with the same respect that he demanded of the Israelites?  We really don’t know. 

³ “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop.

A Philistine guilt offering would have been a payment to a deity in an attempt to avert his wrath.

• This offering was both an acknowledgement of guilt and compensation of their trespass of dishonoring the God of Israel.

This was a part of the Philistine’s religious tradition.

Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”

⁴ “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.

And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. 

The five gold tumors represented the tumors inflicted on the people.

The five gold rats represented the carriers of the plague.

Five, representing the five Philistines cities.

The images of tumors and rats was a symbolic admission of their guilt along with the hope that the evil that had fallen upon them would be removed. 

⁵ Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel.

Here the Philistine priests and diviners were instructing the Philistine leaders to show honor to the God of Israel.

Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 

• The Philistine priests and diviners instructed the Philistine leaders to show honor to the God of Israel.

⁶ Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.

The Philistine priests and diviners knew about the events of the exodus.

Exodus 10:1-2 NLT
¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. ² I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the Lord.”

The Philistine army had defeated the Israelite army, but they now realized that their real enemy was most likely the God of the Israelites.

• The Philistine priests and diviners warned the Philistine leaders not to be stubborn and rebellious like Pharaoh and the Egyptians had been. 

⁷ “Now build a new cart,

It would have been a sign of honor and respect to use a new cart.

The Philistines may have thought it would be disrespectful to use a cart to transport the Ark of the Lord that had been used for some other purpose.

The Philistines most like did not know:

Numbers 7:9 NLT
⁹ But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.

and find two cows that have just given birth to calves.

The Philistines wanted to know without a doubt that this was the work of the God of Israel, and not something that “came simply by chance.”  (see verse 9)

The maternal nature of these cows would normally cause them to stay close to their calves.

Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart.

Untrained cows would not know how to work together as a team to pull a cart.

Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen. ⁸ Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. ⁹ If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh,

The Israelite city closest to the Philistine city of Ekron.

we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”

• The Philistines wanted to know if it was the Lord who caused the plague or if it came simply by chance.

¹⁰ So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen. 

¹¹ Then the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. 

¹² And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went.

“Without veering off in other directions.”

“Lowing as they went.”

Moaning from the instinctive unwillingness to leave their calves behind.

Cows moo to seek their herd mates, calf or mother; say they are hungry; call for a partner when they are wishing to mate; raise alarm to warn their herd mates of potential danger.

• “Without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh,” was a clear sign of God’s hand at work.

The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.

 

 

 

 

The Ark in Philistia

1 Samuel 5:1-12 NLT
^5:1 After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. ² They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. ³ But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. ⁴ But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. ⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
⁶ Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors. ⁷ When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” ⁸ So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. ⁹ But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
¹⁰ So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” ¹¹ The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. ¹² Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 5:1-12 NLT
The Ark in Philistia
^5:1 After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 

Ashdod was one of the five principle cities of the Philistines.

Refer to map

² They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon

Dagon was the main god of the Philistines, who set up temples in his honor in Ashdod, Gaza, Beth Shan, and elsewhere.

Dagon was known as a fish god, a storm god, or grain god.  (No one seems to know for sure.)

Dagon had an upper body of a man and a lower body of a fish.

Dagon was noted to be the father of Baal.

• After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it into the temple of Dagon, in the town of Ashdod.

We read about one of these temples of Dagon in the story of Samson.

Judges 16:23-30 NLT
Samson’s Final Victory
²³ The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”
²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!”
²⁵ Half drunk by now, the people demanded, “Bring out Samson so he can amuse us!” So he was brought from the prison to amuse them, and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof.
²⁶ Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, “Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them.
²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, ³⁰ he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. 

and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 

Symbolizing Dagon’s power and Yahweh’s inferiority.

This was a visual representation, for the Philistines, that the god of the Philistines was victorious over the God of the Hebrews.

At this time in history, heathen nations believed that gods (small g) could be taken into exile.

• The Philistines placed the Ark of God beside an idol of Dagon. This was a visual representation, for the Philistines, that the god of the Philistines was victorious over the God of the Hebrews. 

³ But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord!

• God overturned the supposed supremacy of Dagon by causing Dagon to fall with his face down before the ark (Lord).

This could be symbolic of Dagon lying prostrate before the Lord. 

Philippians 2:10 NLT
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

So they took Dagon and put him in his place again.  

The Philistines missed the point of what had just happened. 

⁴ But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact.

Lying prostrate before the Lord was not enough.  Now
Dagon was lying face down, broken, dead, on the ground before the Lord.

Cutting off an enemy’s head and hands was recorded in other places in the Old Testament.  This was a way of saying the enemy was truly dead and no longer a threat.

1 Samuel 17:50-51 NLT
⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. ⁵¹ Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.

2 Samuel 4:12 NLT
¹² So David ordered his young men to kill them (the men who killed Ishbosheth, the son of Saul), and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

God’s divine judgment was on the false idol (and the Philistines).

• The Philistines put Dagon in his place a second time. But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. 

⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.

They most likely believed that the threshold was cursed since Dagon’s head and hands were found lying in the doorway. 

⁶ Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors. 

• Dagon’s hands had been broken off symbolizing his helplessness against the power of Yahweh. In contrast, the Lord’s hands were powerful as they struck the people of Ashdod with a plague.

A plague, possibly spread by rats. (Bubonic plague?)

1 Samuel 6:4-5 NLT
⁴ “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. ⁵ Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land.

The imagery of God’s hand is found throughout scripture.

Exodus 15:6 NLT
⁶ “Your right hand, O Lord,
    is glorious in power.
Your right hand, O Lord,
    smashes the enemy.

Isaiah 41:10 NLT
¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 

⁷ When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 

• The people of Ashdod believed their real opponent was the God of Israel. They believed that they would be destroyed along with their god, Dagon.

1 Samuel 4:8 NLT
⁸ Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 

 ⁸ So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”

The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath.  

Another of the five principle cities of the Philistines.

• Evidently the rulers of the Philistines did not share the opinion of the people of Ashdod that there was a direct connection between what had happened in Ashdod and the presence of the Ark. Moving the Ark to Gath put this matter to a test. 

⁹ But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.

• God used a great panic to incapacitate and overwhelm Israel’s enemies.

Other incidents:

1 Samuel 14:15 NLT
¹⁵ Suddenly, panic broke out in the Philistine army, both in the camp and in the field, including even the outposts and raiding parties. And just then an earthquake struck, and everyone was terrified.

Deuteronomy 7:23 NLT
Moving into the Promised Land
²³ But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed.

¹⁰ So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron,

Another of the five principle cities of the Philistines. 

but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” ¹¹ The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.”

For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. ¹² Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.

• After three successive towns had been struck by a plague upon the arrival of the Ark, the Philistines believed the power of the God of Israel was the cause of their distress.

The Philistines assumed that sending the Ark back to its own land would be the same as sending God back to Israel.

 

 

The Death of Eli

1 Samuel 4:12-22 NLT
¹² A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. ¹³ Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
¹⁴ “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, ¹⁵ who was ninety-eight years old and blind. ¹⁶ He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
¹⁷ “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”
¹⁸ When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.
¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. ²⁰ She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.
²¹ She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. ²² Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”

Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 4:12-22 NLT

The Death of Eli

¹² A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 

A universal sign of mourning a national calamity.

When Ai defeated the Israelites
Joshua 7:6 NLT
>⁶ Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening. 

Job’s friends
Job 2:12 NLT
¹² When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.

This survivor, coming from the battlefield had some very discouraging news for the nation of Israel.

• The news of 4,000 Israelite soldiers killed in one battle and 30,000 Israelite soldiers killed in a second battle came as a devastating blow to the nation of Israel. (1 Samuel 4:2 and 1 Samuel 4:10) 

¹³ Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God.

Brief history of the ark.

Exodus 25:10-16

Instructions from God to Moses, while Moses was on Mount Sinai.

Plans for the Ark of the Covenant (along with plans for the tabernacle, etc.)
¹⁰ “Have the people make an Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. ¹¹ Overlay it inside and outside with pure gold, and run a molding of gold all around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. ¹³ Make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ Insert the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it. ¹⁵ These carrying poles must stay inside the rings; never remove them. ¹⁶ When the Ark is finished, place inside it the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, which I will give to you.

Scripture from the previous lesson.

1 Samuel 4:3 NLT
³ After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.”

• The people were acting on their own when they carried the Ark of the Covenant into battle.

Eli was clearly concerned for the safety of the Ark of God.

But

Here again this appears to be a case of religion over a relationship with God.

• It appears (in my opinion) that Eli was more concerned about the Ark of the Covenant than he was about doing what God desired of him. (See 1 Samuel 2:35)

1 Samuel 2:35 NLT
³⁵ “Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 

• It’s important to remember that God looks first for a heart that is truly seeking to follow Him. Our attitudes and motivations are more important to God than our religious practices. 

When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town. 

This was a devastating loss for the Israelites.

• Many times we read stories in the Old Testament where the losers of a battle become slaves of the winners of that battle.

Previously in this chapter:
⁹ Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!” 

From the story of David and Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:8-9 NLT
⁸ Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! ⁹ If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!

The Israelites could become slaves to the Philistines, having to pay tribute, customs, and tolls. (Ezra 4:13) 

¹⁴ “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, ¹⁵ who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 

• Eli is 98 years old and is both physically and spiritually blind.

1 Samuel 3:2 NLT
² One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 

1 Samuel 3:13 NLT
¹³ I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them.

¹⁶ He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded. 

¹⁷ “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. 

And the Ark of God has been captured.”

The ark represented the presence of God in Israel.  With the ark in the hands of the enemy, one might think God and His glory were no longer in Israel.

See verse 21 & 22 

¹⁸ When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.

• When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight.

Symbolizing Eli’s family fall from the priesthood.

1 Samuel 2:31 NLT
³¹ The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age.

Samuel will replace Eli as Israel’s Judge

God sent judges to lead Israel.

Samuel: priest, prophet, and judge.  Each title had a different role. 

¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. ²⁰ She died in childbirth, 

but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them. 

²¹ She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”),

“Where is the glory?” or “No glory” (MacArthur)
“There is no glory?” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)

 for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead.  

²² Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”

• The capture of the Ark suggested (the mindset of Israel) that not only was the Ark gone, but God Himself and all of His glory were gone.

This is a heathen perception.

Heathen nations believed that gods (small g) could be taken into exile.

Isaiah 46:1-2 NLT
Babylon’s False Gods
46 Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon,
bow as they are lowered to the ground.
They are being hauled away on ox carts.
The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
² Both the idols and their owners are bowed down.
The gods cannot protect the people,
and the people cannot protect the gods.
They go off into captivity together.

(We know this is not true for God.)

• Our omnipresent God cannot be taken away from us, although we may “feel” that He is not present at times.

Psalm 139:7-12 NLT
⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

Proverbs 15:3 NLT
³ The Lord is watching everywhere,
keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

Psalm 145:18 NLT
¹⁸ The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth. 

Luke 11:9-10 NLT
⁹ “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Samuel had an important role to fill.

 

 

 

 

The Philistines Capture the Ark

1 Samuel 4:1-11 NLT
4 ¹ And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. ² The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. ³ After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.”
⁴ So they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. ⁵ When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!
⁶ “What’s going on?” the Philistines asked. “What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?” When they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, ⁷ they panicked. “The gods have come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! ⁸ Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. ⁹ Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”
¹⁰ So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. ¹¹ The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 4:1-11 NLT
4 ¹ And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel. 

^3:20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 

• The reliability of Samuel’s message made it evident that God was speaking through him. 

^3:21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

The Lord continued to give messages to Samuel.

• God reopened the lines of communication with Israel through Samuel.

3:1 Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. 

Samuel’s role as a prophet was under way and would last for a lifetime.

A new era had begun. 

• Samuel was God’s spokesman for all of Israel. 

The Philistines Capture the Ark

^{Verse 1 continued} At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines.

At this time in history, wars with other nations were common.

1 Chronicles 20:1 NLT
David Captures Rabbah
^20:1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, Joab led the Israelite army in successful attacks against the land of the Ammonites. In the process he laid siege to the city of Rabbah, attacking and destroying it. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 11:1 NLT
David and Bathsheba
^11:1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 

See verse 9
⁹ Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours!

Kings fought wars to expand their control (territory) and collect taxes from the defeated foes.

Ezra 4:12-13 NLT
¹² “The king should know that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation and will soon finish its walls. ¹³ And the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, it will be much to your disadvantage, for the Jews will then refuse to pay their tribute, customs, and tolls to you.

• At this time in history, wars with other nations were common.

The Philistines were Israel’s principal enemy at this period of time.

 The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. 

By camping at Aphek, well inland and north of the Philistine territory, the Philistines may have been trying to seize more Israelite territory.

Refer to a map

The exact location of Ebenezer is unknown.

² The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men.  

• The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. 

³ After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?”

• The Elders realized that their defeat was not the result of the Philistines’ skills, but rather it came about because God allowed it.

The Israelites were often defeated in battle because of the sin of an individual or because of the sin of the entire nation.

Joshua 7 tells the story of a man named Achan.  Because of his sin Ai defeated the Israelites.

Compare this battle to the battle in 1 Chronicles 14:13-16.

1 Chronicles 14:13-16 NLT
¹³ But after a while the Philistines returned and raided the valley again. ¹⁴ And once again David asked God what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” God replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees. ¹⁵ When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, go out and attack! That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ So David did what God commanded, and they struck down the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

In this case, there is no indication that the Israelites had asked God if they should engage the Philistines in battle.

This demonstrated Israel’s need for Samuel’s spiritual leadership. 

Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it (some translations say “he”) will save us from our enemies.” 

“it (the ark) will save us from our enemies.”

Carrying the Ark with them into battle was not necessarily a bad thing to do.

At this point in time the Israelites were taking matters into their own hands.  They had not consulted God.

They were using the ark as a symbol of God’s presence.

or

It was religion vs. a relationship with God.

• The Israelites believed that carrying the Ark into battle would save them from their enemies.

⁴ So they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. 

The Ark at Shiloh:

1 Samuel 1:24 NLT
²⁴ When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. 

1 Samuel 3:3 NLT
³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.

The Ark was a representation of God’s presence.  A symbol of God’s presence. 

Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. 

 Review:

1 Samuel 2:12 NLT
¹² Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord. 

¹²Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. ESV

1 Samuel 2:22-25 NLT
²² Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ²³ Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? ²⁴ You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the Lord’s people are not good. ²⁵ If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death.

1 Samuel 3:11-14 NLT
¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. ¹² I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. ¹⁴ So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.” 

⁵ When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!

Religion vs. relationship

⁶ “What’s going on?” the Philistines asked. “What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?” When they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, ⁷ they panicked. “The gods have come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! ⁸ Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel?

The Philistines were afraid of the “gods” (small g) of Israel represented by the Ark.

They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 

The Philistines knew the story of a powerful god rescuing the Israelites from the Egyptians.

“when Israel was in the wilderness” is not exactly accurate.

• The presence of the Ark frightened the Philistines. 

⁹ Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”

The losers become slaves.

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 

More than 7 times the number of soldiers died in this battle compared to the previous battle.

The Ark did not bring the Israelites victory.

Performing a religious act did not save the Israelites.

• The Philistines killed 30,000 Israelite soldiers and won the battle. 

¹¹ The Ark of God was captured, 

• The Ark of God was captured. 

and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

• Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

1 Samuel 2:34 NLT
³⁴ And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!

• God’s Word was fulfilled.