Trusting In A Symbol For Warfare

Trusting In A Symbol

Before the youth Samuel had become a prophet and the final judge in Shiloh, Israel had begun trusting in a symbol for warfare rather than the actual presence of God. Since Yehovah had intervened for them in many previous battles, and especially in delivering them out of Egypt, they assumed that he would be with them as the Philistines put themselves in array in an effort to encroach upon their territory. Israel was trusting in a symbol for warfare which became not only the nexus of their defeat but also ushered in the transition from theocracy to monarchy.

Israel Assumes A Victory

Israel is confronted with the armies of the Philistines and went out to battle against them from their position beside Ebenezer. From their response following the battle in chapter 4 of first Samuel, we can surmise they held the assumption that victory was theirs for the taking. However, Philistines brandishing them from the field proved that assumption incorrect, handing them a loss of about four thousand footmen. Retreating to camp, the elders began to cry and complain that it was the Lord’s doing in their defeat, he not being present during the battle. Consequently, they sent back to Shiloh for Eli the priest’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant, assuming that it would assure them of victory.

Misplaced confidence in a symbol

Arrival of the Ark of the Covenant aroused a renewed and excited but misplaced confidence that the presence of Yehovah now with Israel would provide the victory. The Israelites raised such a great shout of confidence in the symbol of the Lord’s presence as the Ark entered the camp that it brought fear in the hearts of the Philistines. They remembered and recognized that this was the great God who had smitten the Egyptians and brought Israel from under the oppression of her enemies. Nevertheless, the Philistines strengthened and stirred themselves up for warfare, every man steadied and prepared for the fight.

Israel Falls Again At Ebenezer

At Ebenezer, during the second battle, the Philistines fought ferociously against Israel and soundly thrashed them, causing them to flee and lose thirty thousand footmen in the process. Eli’s wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed as prophecy had foretold; and the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines. A messenger escaped to run back to Shiloh with the bad news, informing the people of the ill events which had befallen the army of Israel and the Ark. Hearing the devasting events caused Eli, again according to prophecy, to fall backward from his seat by the road and break his neck. His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, died in childbirth while bringing forth a son whose name indicated that the Lord, His glory, had departed from Israel.

It may save us from the hand of our enemies:

They regarded the ark as the ultimate “good luck charm” and believed they could not lose with it there. They looked to the ark to save them, not to the LORD.

i. “Instead of attempting to get right with God, these Israelites set about devising superstitious means of securing the victory over their foes. In this respect most of us have imitated them. We think of a thousand inventions; but we neglect the one thing needful…. They forget the main matter, which is to enthrone God in the life, and to seek to do His will by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “There are plenty of Christians, like these elders, who, when they find themselves beaten by the world and the devil, puzzle their brains to invent all sorts of reasons for God’s smiting, except the true one, – their own departure from Him.” (Maclaren)