Victory Is Assured
|
The elders met and decided on a new strategy.
The ark of the covenant had always brought victory.
Perhaps what was needed was something to revive the troops.
Remembering past triumphs might bolster Israel with fresh optimism and courage. Therefore, they sent to Shiloh for the ark, thinking, “It may save us out of the hand of our enemies” (1 Samuel 4:3). “They did not consider that it was the law of God which alone gave to the ark its sacredness, and that its presence would bring them prosperity only as they obeyed that law.” “The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, eagerly acceded to the proposal to bear the ark into the camp. Without the consent of the high priest, they ventured presumptuously into the holy of holies, and took from thence the ark of God. Filled with pride, and elated with the expectation of speedy victory, they bore it to the camp. And the people beholding, as they thought, the token of Jehovah’s presence, ‘shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.’” The Philistines heard the shout and knew exactly what it meant. God had come into the camp of the Israelites. Israel appeared unbeatable. But David tells us in Psalm 78:60, 61, 64, “[God] forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh . . . and delivered his strength into captivity; and his glory into the enemy’s hand. . . . Their priests fell by the sword.” It was all too true.
Thirty thousand men died that day. Hophni and Phinehas were among those slain protecting the ark. It was complete chaos as men deserted and fled for home, seeking safety individually. “The most terrifying calamity that could occur had befallen Israel.
The ark of God had been captured, and was in the possession of the enemy.
The glory had indeed departed from Israel when the symbol of the abiding presence and power of Jehovah was removed from the midst of them. . . . It had brought no victory.
It had not proved a defense on this occasion, and there was mourning throughout Israel.” Historically, when a nation rejects God’s law, certain doom follows.
