Memory Verse (Proverbs 3:5 - 6)

1. Memory Verse (Proverbs 3:5 - 6) "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."-Proverbs 3:5-6

2. Israel suffers under poor leadership as the Philistines defeat Israel at Ebenezer. Some 4,000 troops are lost. Raiders of the Ark (1 Samuel 4 – 7) The Israelites immediately recognized that God had caused their defeat, but they did not know why. Israel’s elders decide to take the ark of the covenant into battle as the nation had done before when crossing the Jordan (Joshua 3:14-17) and attacking Jericho (Joshua 6:6). They believed that if the ark was with them in battle, it would save them from their enemies.

3. To the Israelites, the ark symbolizes God’s presence. Unfortunately, they had made a god of the symbol and had forgotten the Lord. Raiders of the Ark (1 Samuel 4 – 7) Thinking the ark had power, the Israelites took it into battle and expected magical results. They were sadly mistaken. Upon seeing the ark, the Israelite soldiers shout aloud, thinking they have the victory. The Philistines are filled with fear because they also associate previous Hebrews victories with God’s ark. The Philistines resolve to fight valiantly and they kill 30,000 Israelites in battle and capture the ark, killing Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, in the process.

4. Although later returned to Israel, the ark never again rests at Shiloh. • Psalm 78:56-61 explains why Israel lost possession of the ark: Why Did This Happen? (1 Samuel 4 – 7) “ [they] … rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes … They angered him … [and] aroused his jealousy with their idols … [God] rejected Israel completely. He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh … He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.”

5. A Benjamite, when he saw the ark captured, ran from the battle toward Shiloh & told the news to Eli. Prophecy Fulfilled (1 Samuel 4) The mention of the ark was too much for Eli. He fell backward from his chair and broke his neck. God’s earlier prophecy to Samuel had been fulfilled. The tragic news brings on the birth pangs of Phineas’ wife, and she loses the will to live. Before dying, she names her newborn son, Ichabod, meaning “No-glory,” because with the ark gone, the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel.

7. The Philistines thought that by capturing the ark they had made the God of Israel subservient to their gods. Battle of the Gods (1 Samuel 5:2-8) They placed the ark in the temple of Dagon in Ashdod. When they awoke the next morning, they found their god Dagon fallen on the floor before the ark. They put Dagon back in his place, but the next morning they found him fallen again before the ark, this time with his head and hands broken off. God used the capture of the ark to demonstrate his supremacy in the land of the Philistines.

8. A type of bubonic plague (tumors) then sweeps across Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron where the ark is moved next. Battle of the Gods (1 Samuel 5:8 - 12) After holding the ark for seven months, the Philistines eventually decided to hitch two cows to a cart on which they placed the ark, and let the cows take it wherever they would. The cows went straight to the Israelite territory of Beth Shemesh, proving beyond doubt to the Philistines that God had inflicted the diseases upon them.

9. The ark is sent back to Beth Shemesh with the Philistine’s version of a guilt offering—five gold tumors and five gold rats—the total number representing all the Philistine rulers. Battle of the Gods (1 Samuel 6: 13 - 20) Many of the men of Beth Shemesh showed disrespect for the ark of God, even looking inside it. God struck these men down. The lesson is clear: because of their disobedience and disrespect, God has departed from His people.

10. The ark is then moved to KiriathJearim in the hill country of Judah, which becomes a new place of worship. where it will stay for forty or fifty years before • King David moves it (2 Samuel 6:3). Battle of the Gods (1 Samuel 6:21 – 7:2) Although the ark was ignored for twenty years, now “all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord.” Under Samuel’s leadership, the Israelites "put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only”. This was a high point during the period of the judges.

11. Because Shiloh lies in ruins, Israel needs to find another center of instruction and worship; Samuel chooses Mizpah. Samuel Intercedes For The People of Israel (1 Samuel 7) Samuel summons Israel’s leaders to gather there to reconfirm their commitment to God. Samuel stands before God, offering prayer on Israel’s behalf. As he prays, the people fast and confess their sins. They pour out water before the Lord as a symbol of repentance and divine cleansing. When the Philistines heard about this, they decided to attack them but God threw the Philistines into disarray. They were routed by and subdued by the Israelites.

12. Homework (Due on Tuesday) Blog on 1 Samuel 7 – Ebenezer. Learn the memory verse (Proverbs 3:5-6) 3. Read 1 Samuel 8 – 11. 4. Use your prayer journal.