The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord to all Israel. Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 

 

The Philistines were seafarers of Greek/Aegean origin. They worshiped Dagon, the fish god. Samson was never able to exterminate all of the Philistines. 

 

Samuel became a prophet to all twelve tribes of Israel. Israel was called to war against the Philistines. Israel camped at Ebenezer. The Philistines camped at Aphek. Satan wanted the Philistines to exterminate Israel so that the Messiah would never be born into the human race.

 

4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight Israel. As the battle spread out, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

 

The Philistines won the first battle, killing 4000 Israelite soldiers.

 

4:3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.

 

The Israelite commanders were superstitious. Instead of turning to God, they turned to the ark of the covenant. They thought that bringing the ark of the covenant into their camp would give them supernatural protection from their enemies. 

 

4:4 So the army sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 

 

The two apostate priests accompanied the ark of the covenant. 

 

4:5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook.

 

When the ark of the covenant arrived in the camp, the people of Israel showed their superstition by shouting loudly.

 

4:6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp. 

 

The shouting of the Israelites was heard in the Philistine camp.

 

4:7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said, “Too bad for us! We’ve never seen anything like this! 

 

The Philistines were just as superstitious as the Israelites.

 

4:8 Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert! 

 

It was Jehovah using ten different plagues, not polytheistic Jewish gods, which struck down Egypt. It is interesting to note that 400 years after the Exodus, the Philistines were still aware of this historical incident.

 

4:9 Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!”

 

The Philistine soldiers were encouraged to stay strong and act like men. Otherwise, the Hebrews would reverse roles and make the Philistines their slaves.

 

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 

 

The Philistines slaughtered the Israelites, killing 30,000 foot soldiers. Israel’s mistake was placing their faith in the ark of the covenant rather than in God.

 

4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

 

Not only were the Israelites defeated, but the Philistines took the ark of the covenant as plunder. Also, the two corrupt priests of the house of Eli were killed in the battle.

 

Eli Dies

4:12 On that day a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. 

 

A Benjaminite messenger brought news of the battle to Shiloh. His appearance signaled to the Shiloh leaders that it was not a good message.

 

4:13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out.

 

Expecting a victory message, Eli and the whole city awaited news of the battle.

 

4:14 When Eli heard the outcry, he said, “What is this commotion?” The man quickly came and told Eli. 

 

Eli heard the negative reaction of the people.

 

4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead; he was unable to see.

 

Eli was losing his eye sight, just as the unnamed prophet had previously predicted.

 

4:16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli asked, “How did things go, my son?” 

 

Eli asked the messenger for a battle report.

 

4:17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”

 

The messenger gave terrible news to Eli. First, Israel had lost the battle. Second, Eli’s two sons were dead, which fulfilled the prophecy of Samuel. Third, the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines.

 

4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

 

Just as the unnamed prophet predicted, the Levitical family line of Eli would suffer blindness and short lives. Eli was the High Priest of Israel, but he was also listed as a Judge. Samuel would now become Israel’s last Judge before the Jewish monarchy began.

 

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 

 

The wife of Phineas died from childbirth on the same day that her husband died.

 

4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention.

 

The wife of Phineas produced a son before her death.

 

4:21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 

 

The wife of Phineas was also superstitious. With her dying words, she named her son Ichabod, meaning that the Shechinah Glory had left Israel.

 

4:22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”

 

In her pagan way of thinking, the wife of Phineas assumed that the Shechinah Glory was trapped inside of the ark of the covenant and made a prisoner of the Philistine god Dagon. 

 

God is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere at once. God was still with Israel, but He was not a prisoner inside of the ark of the covenant. This chapter shows the superstitious heathen attitude of Israel.