THE ARK TAKEN

"When the Covenant Box [the ark] arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. The Philistines heard the shouting and said, 'Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it [the noise] mean?"SRme 1.804

"When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box [ark] had arrived in the Hebrew camp, they were afraid and said, 'A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like [as] this has everSRme 1.805

happened to us before! Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!'SRme 1.806

"The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter; [killing] thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. God's Covenant Box [ark] was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed" (1 Sam. 4:5-11).SRme 1.807

The Philistines thought that the ark was the Israelite's god. They knew little about the God who created the heavens and the earth and gave His law on Sinai. They did not understand that the Israelites' success or failure depended on the Israelites' obedience or disobedience to God's law.SRme 1.808

During the battle a great number of Israelites were killed. Eli sat by the roadside waiting with a trembling heart to receive news from the army. He was afraid that the ark of God might be taken and that it [the ark] would be dishonored by the Philistine army.SRme 1.809

A messenger from the Israelite army ran to Shiloh. The messenger told Eli that his two sons had been killed. Eli accepted this loss with calmness. He had reason to expect his sons would die. But when the messenger added, "The ark of God is taken," Eli was overcome with grief. He fell backward off his seat and died.SRme 1.810

Eli shared in the judgment God sent upon his sons. Eli was guilty in a great measure for his sons' wickedness. He sinned by neglecting to stop their wickedness. The Philistines' taking the ark of God was the worst thing that could happen to Israel.SRme 1.811

The wife of Eli's son Phinehas was about to give birth to a baby. She died in childbirth, but she named her newborn child Ichabod, saying, "The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken."SRme 1.812