As we continue with our study of the Ark of the Covenant, we come to a tragic event in its history, namely, the capture of the Ark by the Philistines.
On the positive side, we are introduced to one of the greatest characters in Israel's history, Samuel. We find that he had been dedicated to the Lord by his mother Hannah. He was staying with the High Priest Eli at the Shiloh where the Ark was housed.
This chapter gives us a precious incident where the Lord Himself spoke to you Samuel who initially thought it was Eli. Samuel's eventual response was, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening." A great lesson for us as how we are to react when the Lord is speaking to us.
In this context, we are told that Israel went out to battle against the Philistines and were soundly defeated. Sadly, back in the camp, some of the leaders came up with the terrible idea of bringing the Ark with them into the next battle. They assumed that this would guarantee victory.
The Philistines were needlessly fearful when the Ark arrived in Israel's camp. While the Ark symbolically represented the Lord Himself, the Lord was not living inside of it.
Hence Israel was defeated and the Ark came into the hands of the pagan Philistines. Add to this, the two worthless sons of Eli, Phineas and Hophni, died in the battle.
When word reach Eli that the battle was lost, that his sons had died, and the Ark was taken he fell over backwards and died. It was hearing about losing the Ark that cause his death.
The wife of Phineas was giving brith at the tine to a son. She was also overwhelmed by the loss of the Ark to the point where she died in childbirth. Before she died, she named the child "Ichabod," the glory has departed from Israel.
Indeed, it had. The people trusted in the Ark as a "good luck charm" rather than in the Lord Himself.
As we will see in our next episode, while the Ark was now in the hands of the Philistines, it would not be something that was magical or even helpful to them. Indeed, the opposite would be the case.