1 Samuel 4

1 Samuel 4

William MacDonald says "God would defend His honor in the midst of the Philistines (chap. 5), but He would not defend the Israelites when He was in their midst because they had ceased to honor Him." (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) Kay Arthur - Do you want to get a sense of how many men that was? Do you want to get a sense of the devastation of that defeat before these uncircumcised Philistines? Stop and think about 9/11 in the year 2001. What happened in that day in the United States of America? Over 3000 people were killed, as the United States of America, the Twin Towers and the Pentagon became a battlefield before the enemy. And we were defeated at that time. We were defeated. We were the ones that lost that unexpected battle....I wonder if America really took a breath and stopped and asked God, God, You’re the sovereign ruler of all the universe, You’re the one that is the Lord of hosts, that abides above the cherubim, God why 9/11? What are You trying to teach us from this event? Or do we think that God had nothing to do with 9/11, that God was as surprised and as shocked as we were when the terrorists hit those Twin Towers and those thousands of people were killed and when the terrorists hit the Pentagon and those people were killed? We need to stop and see and understand that the things that were written beforehand as Romans 15:4 says were written for our instruction. They were written for our encouragement upon whom the end of the ages has come....What is happening? Well, I think that possibly we could write over our country Ichabod (1Sa 4:21+), the glory has departed from America THOUGHT - Did the event of 9/11 in America prompt the question "Why has the LORD allowed this defeat in America" the nation whose motto is "In God We Trust?" If not it should have. As I write it is now 2023 and America has wandered far from her Christian moorings. Dear fellow believer, we need to intercede diligently and incessantly for the God of Heaven to send a Word centered, Spirit empowered, Christ exalting, God glorifying revival to the "land of the free and the home of the brave", a land that sadly seems to have forgotten some of the lyrics of full version of Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner (lyrics you likely have never heard sung!)... Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! (Let it be so Lord God, Jehovah Ezer, show Yourself to be our Ebenezer. Amen) 1 Samuel 4:3 When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies." Why: De 29:24 Ps 74:1,11 Isa 50:1 58:3 Let us: 1Sa 14:18 Nu 31:6 Jos 6:4,5 2Sa 15:25 Isa 1:11-15 Jer 7:4,8-15 Mt 3:9,10 the ark: Nu 10:33 De 31:26 Jos 4:7 1Ch 17:1 Jer 3:16 Heb 9:4 Deliver us: Jer 7:8-11 Am 5:21,22 Mt 23:25-28 Ro 2:28,29 1Co 10:1-5 2Ti 3:5 1Pe 3:21 Jude 1:5 Related Passages: Deuteronomy 28:1-2; 7; 25+ “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2“All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God.... 7 “The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.....:25 “The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Psalm 78:58-61 For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images (cf 1Sa 7:3-4+). 59 When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel; 60 So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, 61 And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary. Leviticus 26:17+ ‘I will set My face against you (WHY? Lev 26:14-16) so that you will be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you. Deuteronomy 29:24+ “All the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ Psalm 74:1; 11 A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?..... 11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, destroy them! Judges 10:6-7+ (WHY WAS ISRAEL DEFEATED BY THE PHILISTINES? COMPARE THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES) Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 7 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. Numbers 14:42+ “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. Deuteronomy 1:42+ “And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.”’ Joshua 4:7+ (WHY THEY MIGHT THINK THE ARK ITSELF HAD POWER) then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” Jeremiah 7:8-11 “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9“Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, 10then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’–that you may do all these abominations? 11“Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the LORD. Amos 5:21; 22 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. ISRAEL SEEKS A "RABBIT'S FOOT" A rabbit's foot (Wikipedia) In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, such as having been killed in a particular place, using a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g., by a cross-eyed man). As an aside the "rabbit's foot" was not very "lucky" for the rabbit! When the people came into the camp (machaneh) - See map above for Red Line indicating first transfer from Shiloh to camp at Ebenezer. The camp was where the army gathered (an encampment), so the context is war not peace. The army is called the people because battles were not fought in those days by men specially trained, but by all the inhabitants of the country of the proper age.