Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:1 - 4:11
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Ark of the Covenant in Camp
v. 1. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel, it was heard throughout the nation and served for the guidance of Israel, the people accepted it without question as the Word of Jehovah. Now, Israel went out against the Philistines, who at that time were their oppressors, to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer, a place between Mizpeh and Shen which was afterwards given this name, 1Sa_7:12; and the Philistines pitched in Aphek, also some distance west or northwest of Jerusalem.
v. 2. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel; and when they joined battle, the charge being made from both sides at the same time, Israel was smitten before the Philistines, they were worsted in the encounter; and they slew of the army, while the Israelites were trying to hold their line of battle, in the field, out on the plain where the battle was fought, about four thousand men. They did not, however, put the Israelites to rout that day.
v. 3. And when the people were come into the camp, in an orderly retreat, withdrawing their forces before the superior strength of the enemy, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? They felt that this was the only explanation of. their failure, for they had apparently undertaken the campaign at the suggestion of Samuel. Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh into us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. Instead of turning to the Lord in true sorrow and repentance over their sins, the people placed their trust, in a superstitious manner, in the material vessel, as in a fetish. Their faith was obscured by this heathenish feature. It was in vain for them to trust in God, when they were not purged from their sins.
v. 4. So the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims, the very name intimating their hope that God would join their forces by this mere outward act on their part; for God had revealed Himself to Moses from the cover of the ark, from between the cherubim, Exo_25:22. And the two sons of Eli, Hophin and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God, men whose acts in desecrating the Sanctuary of the Lord were notorious.
v. 5. And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, borne an the shoulders of the reprobate priests, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again, resounding and reverberating from the shouting of the army.
v. 6. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, the confident cry of victory, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood, found out, that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.
v. 7. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. Like all heathen, they had a superstitious fear of the supernatural, also of the deities of their enemies. Moreover, the Philistines feared the power of the God of the Israelites all the more, since the fame of His powerful deeds in former times had come to their ears. And they said, in consternation and fear, Woe unto us! For there hath not been such a thing heretofore. This expedient had never been adopted by Israel before this.
v. 8. Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. As heathen they speak of the true God in the plural, and in their excitement they express a confused view. by combining the recollection of the plagues in Egypt and the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea into one statement. But the very fear, consternation, and despair of the Philistines encouraged them to make a last supreme effort to break the power of Israel.
v. 9. Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you; quit yourselves like men and fight! A decisive victory on the part of Israel would have turned the tables and made the Philistines tributary, and the fear of such a contingency was another factor in strengthening their arms.
v. 10. And the Philistines fought, in a bitter attack; and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent, back to his home. And there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen, a total of thirty thousand (for Israel had no cavalry).
v. 11. And the ark of God was taken, as a welcome prize; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the guardians of the ark, were slain. Thus the Lord gave His people evidence that He had indeed withdrawn His merciful presence from them, in spite of the fact that they had the ark in their camp. This is a serious warning to all who boast of their orthodoxy in a mere fleshly manner. relying upon this fact to give them a standing before God, just as many have the name of Christ in their mouths, but are far from accepting Him as their personal Savior. God wants true repentance, faith, fear of His Word. A dead orthodoxy without true piety of the heart avails nothing.