1 Samuel 4:1-22: The Ark Is Captured

1 Samuel 4:1-22: The Ark Is Captured

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Samuel, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Samuel 4:1-22, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

1 …Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God…. 16 …And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, what a privilege it is to open and study your word. We understand that these words come from your very mouth. They’re God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. So, help us, by your Holy Spirit, to be thoroughly equipped for each of those things and ultimately to come to a deeper knowledge, a deeper love, and a deeper relationship with you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.One interesting thing I’ve observed is that, in many instances, even people who typically aren’t very religious will still pray for God’s help or blessing when they find themselves in the midst of a particularly difficult or consequential situation. They may not think very much at all about God in their day-to-day lives or show much regard for God in the way they typically live. But in moments of crisis or difficulty, what do they so often do? They pray, of course, and ask for God’s help in whatever situation they’re facing. They might ask him to heal them of their disease or protect them from a natural disaster or help them overcome an addiction that’s wreaking havoc on their lives. 

It’s also not at all uncommon for people—and, again, even people who aren’t typically very religious—to pray for God’s blessing in various endeavors. Students will often pray for God to help them do well on an important test, people who are going in for a job interview will often pray for the interview to go well and to get the job, someone who’s starting a business or simply venturing out on a particular business-related endeavor will often pray for the success of that endeavor, and of course let’s not forget about those who have romantic feelings for someone praying that God would allow that relationship to happen. I’m sure there have been many men who have desperately wanted to start dating a certain woman who’d typically be way out of their league but who have thought to themselves, “You know, maybe if I just pray, I might have a shot here.” After all, I guess, miracles do sometimes happen. 

Also, in addition to prayer, people will often use various other methods as well to try to get God to do what they want. They might vow to do something for God if God will do a particular thing for them. Or they might donate money to a religious cause or deliberately help other people in some way or avoid a certain sin for a period of time. Or they might perform a certain religious ritual, repeat a religious mantra, go on a religious pilgrimage, do something with a religious artifact, or even, in some cultures, offer a sacrifice to their chosen deity. These are all ways in which people will try to get God or some other deity to do what they want and to bless them in some way. 

When you think about it, pretty much everyone wants God’s blessing in their life—and will do whatever they think has a good chance of working in order to obtain that blessing. In fact, I’d even say that the majority of religious practices worldwide are, in essence, people’s attempts to harness divine power for their own ends. You might compare it to the way a dam harnesses the power of a large river in order generate electricity. People almost universally believe that there’s tremendous power in God or various other deities and will often seek to harness that power for their own ends and in order to accomplish whatever it is they desire. 

And maybe you’re here this morning and, to be perfectly honest, are likewise highly interested in obtaining God’s blessing in a certain area of your life and are wondering how you can get it. That’s the million-dollar question, right? How can we obtain God’s blessing in our lives? 

Well, as we’ll see in our main passage today here in 1 Samuel 4, it’s not necessarily wrong to seek God’s blessing in our endeavors. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about seeking God’s blessing. And the Israelites in this passage go about seeking God’s blessing in exactly the wrong way and end up experiencing disastrous consequences. That’s actually the main idea of this passage. The Israelites seek God’s blessing in exactly the wrong way and end up experiencing disastrous consequences.

You know, when it comes to figuring out what we should do and how we should live, there’s a lot of value in observing negative examples—or instances in which people went about things in the wrong way and suffered the consequences—and then avoiding that kind of behavior. Most of us probably already do this instinctively in a wide variety of circumstances. For example, if you’re driving down the highway without paying that much attention to the speed limit and you see someone pulled over on the side of the road with a police car with flashing blue lights right behind them, what do you instinctively do? You probably slow down, right? —so that you can avoid getting a ticket yourself. You learn by observing that negative example. Similarly, I believe that’s the main way in which this passage of 1 Samuel 4 is valuable for us. 

So, let’s walk through this passage together and see what happened when the Israelites attempted to seek God’s blessing but did so in the wrong way. Look first at verse 1: “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.” Now, this is the first time the Philistines are mentioned in 1 Samuel. As we’ll see in the subsequent chapters of the book, the Philistines will prove to be very frequent adversaries of the Israelites. By way of background, the Philistines were known for being a seafaring people who had utilized the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas very extensively for economic and military purposes. And they had now arrived on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, southwest of Israel, and were very aggressively seeking to expand their territory. 

We then read in verses 2-4, 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 

So, the Israelites are defeated in a particular battle against the Philistines and want to know why God allowed them to be defeated and how they can avoid being defeated in the future. Quite understandably, the Israelites wanted to be victorious. They wanted God’s blessing in their next battle against the Philistines. Yet they go about pursuing God’s blessing in exactly the wrong way. They send for the ark of God with the expectation that simply having the ark in their midst as they go out to battle will induce God to grant them the victory they desire. 

Now, we don’t know exactly what the ark looked like, but here’s one way it’s been depicted—based on the written description of the ark in Exodus 25:10-22. The ark contained the original tablets God gave to Moses with the Ten Commandments on them as well as a few other items from Israel’s wilderness wanderings. It was also unspeakably holy because it was where God’s glorious presence was manifested among the Israelites. Even though God is present everywhere in the universe, his presence was manifested in a unique way upon the ark. So, surely, the Israelites thought, with the ark in their midst, victory over the Philistines was guaranteed. 

Yet notice what the Israelites don’t do after their initial defeat. Even though they ask in verse 3, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?”, they don’t give any serious consideration to the role their own sins may have played in their defeat. And we have to wonder why that wasn’t the first thought that came to their minds—since the Bible’s quite clear that the key reason for pretty much all of Israel’s defeats in the past basically boiled down to their sin. So, the first question they asked after this defeat should have been, “What sins have we committed as a nation?” 

And indeed, we learn from Psalm 78:58 that the reason for this particular defeat in 1 Samuel 4 was Israel’s idolatry. Speaking of this specific instance in Israel’s history, the psalmist writes, “For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.”

Yet, instead of considering the way their own sins had contributed their defeat, the Israelites came up with what they thought was the brilliant idea of bringing the ark of God onto the battlefield with them. And notice how the ark is described in verse 4 of our main passage. It’s described as “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim.” Notice how the biblical author goes out of his way to describe God in exceedingly lofty terms, calling him “the Lord of hosts”—also translated as “the Lord Almighty” or “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”—and then reminds us that he's “enthroned on the cherubim.” This lofty description of God serves to emphasize how utterly inappropriate it was for the Israelites to attempt to use the ark of this incomprehensibly holy God as, basically, a good luck charm in battle. 

And as I mentioned at the beginning, most people today still unfortunately have that same basic instinct. They try to channel God’s power for their own ends. They approach God as if he were little more than a cosmic vending machine. They come to him not for who he is but rather for what they think they can get out of him if they punch in the right code. Yet, as we can see even from this description of the ark in verse 4, God doesn’t operate like that. The God of the Bible is a holy God. He’s “the Lord of hosts,” who sits “enthroned”—and not merely enthroned above the cherubim of the ark but enthroned over the entire universe.  

So, you might want to take a moment and think about what mentality you have. Are you primarily interested in using God for your own ends or in worshiping God? Is your main concern to get earthly blessings from God or to give glory to God? 

Yet, as we look at the events of this passage, we see that the Israelites fetch the ark from Shiloh with the intention of using it as a good luck charm seemingly without a second thought. And at first, they’re quite confident it’s going to work. Verse 5 tells us that “As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.” We then see in the subsequent verses that even the Philistines think it’s going to work. When the Philistines hear that the ark of God has been brought to the Israelite camp, they’re basically scared out of their minds. Verses 7-8 tell us that the Philistines cry out, 7 …“Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

So, it looks to everyone like Israel’s about to win a huge victory. Yet, as we see in verses 10-11, the opposite actually happens: 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 

So, the result of what the Israelites thought was such a brilliant plan is absolute, unmitigated disaster. The Israelites are defeated in a massive slaughter, the ark of God is captured by Philistines, and Hophni and Phinehas—the wicked sons of the priest Eli—are killed. This judgment on Hophni and Phinehas had, of course, been predicted by God back in 1 Samuel 2:34. 

And as we reflect on this disastrous outcome for the Israelites, I think one big takeaway that we should glean from all of this is related to the danger of spiritual presumption. Just as the Israelites were presumptuous about God blessing them in battle, it’s all too easy for us to be presumptuous about God blessing us in various ways. So, here are five ways we may at times be tempted to do that. 

At the very top of the list would have to be people being presumptuous about their eternal destiny and expecting God to let them into heaven simply because they’ve tried to be a good person or perhaps because they’ve engaged in this or that religious ritual. Yet the Bible clearly says in Isaiah 64:6 that even our “righteous deeds”—the very best things we’re capable of doing—are nothing but filthy rags in God’s sight. As a result, the only way we can be fit for heaven isn’t through anything we can do but rather through Jesus and what he’s done on our behalf. 

Jesus lived a life of sinless perfection in our place and then died on the cross to make atonement for our sin. Even though we deserved to suffer God’s punishment forever in hell, Jesus suffered the full force of that punishment as our substitute on the cross. He was then raised from the dead three days later with the result that everyone who puts their faith in him for rescue will indeed be forgiven of their sin and receive the free gift of eternal life in heaven. Yet if we presumptuously trust in our own abilities or our own accomplishments or our own anything in order to make ourselves right with God and gain entrance into heaven, we’re going to be sorely disappointed. 

Similarly, we’ll also face disastrous consequences if we presumptuously think that God will simply overlook our sin. That’s the second way we might be tempted to be presumptuous. After all, there are many times when people engage in sin without suffering any immediate consequences. And many of them take that as a sign of God’s approval—or, at least, as a sign that God must not care enough about their sin to punish them in any significant way. Yet that’s another example of spiritual presumption that will one day have disastrous consequences—quite possibly in this life and certainly in eternity. 

In addition, it’s also possible to be spiritually presumptuous in ways that may not necessarily affect our eternal destiny but that can nevertheless have significant consequences—or, at least, lead to significant disappointment—in our lives. For example, like the Israelites, it’s not uncommon for people today to expect blessing from God without being obedient to God. That’s a third way to be presumptuous. People with this mentality operate with the presumption that they can claim God’s promises while disregarding his commands. 

Or, perhaps just as often, number four, people might presumptuously claim certain things as promises that aren’t actually promises. A prime example of this is the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” or “Name-It-and-Claim-It” theology, in which people will claim earthly health and wealth and prosperity as promises from God that are supposedly guaranteed to all who name them and claim them in faith, when, in reality, God never made any absolute promise that we’d enjoy any of these things in this life. 

And even those of us who may not be quite as direct or overt about claiming these earthly blessings as absolute promises can nevertheless still presumptuously expect God to bless our earthly endeavors and ambitions. That’s number five. At times, we may even do things that we think will obligate God to bless us in various ways. The business owner might assume that, if he exhibits integrity in his business dealings, God’s obligated to bless his business. The parent might assume that, if they send their child to a Christian school, that will guarantee their child grows up to honor the Lord. The churchgoer might assume that if they’re actively involved in church, that will always translate into specific tangible blessings in their marriage or career or financial situation. 

I appreciate the way one commentator named John Woodhouse said it: “If the ark of the covenant of the Lord could not guarantee Israel’s safety, then no other religious act will do it. My church attendance, my Bible reading, my prayers, my giving, my meditation—or whatever religious activities I practice—cannot manipulate God’s power to bring me success, prosperity, or happiness. God’s power is not like that. It is not at our disposal.” So, all of these things are examples of seeking or expecting God’s blessing in a presumptuous way—just as the Israelites were doing in bringing the ark of God onto the battlefield. 

Then, moving forward, the rest of the chapter helps us understand just how disastrous this situation was for the Israelites. We learn that, in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s defeat, a man ran from the battlefield to the priest Eli in Shiloh and informed him of the bad news. You know, back then, they didn’t have social media or a 24-hour news cycle, so this guy actually had to run a distance of about 22 miles in order to report to Eli what had happened. 

Verses 16-18 then tell us, 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 

The thing I find to be most notable about this account is that Eli seems to be much more concerned about the ark of God being captured than he does about his own sons being killed. The thing that makes him fall backward and break his neck isn’t the news that Hophni and Phinehas are dead but instead the news that the ark has been captured. 

The catastrophe of the ark being captured is then highlighted even more in verses 19-22, which says, 19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” 

So, again, Phinehas’s wife seems to be more concerned about the ark being captured than she is about anything else—even the news that her husband is now dead. And I believe her words that are recorded in these verses really help us understand why the capture of the ark was so devastating. She says, “The glory has departed from Israel.” That statement is actually recorded twice in these verses, indicating that it’s something we’re supposed to pay particular attention to. “The glory has departed from Israel.” 

God’s glorious presence was one of the key things that made Israel distinct from every other nation in the world. I think we can accurately say it was the greatest blessing and the greatest privilege that God had bestowed upon his people. Yet, with the capture of the ark, that glory was now gone. The Hebrew word translated here as “departed” can be translated more literally as “exiled.” God’s glory was now exiled from the land of Israel. 

So, when you think about it, the responses recorded in this passage—first of Eli and then of Phinehas’s wife—aren’t an overreaction at all. The greatest disaster that could have come upon the Israelites had come upon them. God’s glorious presence had departed from their nation. 

And even though there are certainly differences between God’s presence among the Israelites in the Old Testament and his presence among—and even within—his people in the New Testament, I believe there still some important ways in which this account of the departure of God’s glory is significant for churches today. 

To put it bluntly, I believe there are some churches from which, in a manner of speaking, the glory of God seems to have departed. They’ve simply lost God’s blessing. In the terminology of Revelation 2:5, God has removed their lampstand. They might have a nice endowment that enables them to continue paying their bills and keep the lights on in their building, but in reality, they’re just dead. I’ve heard them referred to before as “zombie churches” that continue to exist even though they died long ago. 

And I don’t really have time to really get into this, but I think that, if you were to do an autopsy on those churches, you’d discover that many of them died because didn’t hold fast to the gospel. In an effort to win the approval of an increasingly godless culture, they jettisoned some of the key elements of the gospel that they feared would be a hindrance to people. Yet it turns out that many of the things they were so quick to dispose of ended up being quite essential both to the gospel and to God’s blessing on their churches. 

In addition, I also believe an autopsy of these dead churches would reveal that there are several other factors as well that commonly contribute to the glory of God departing from a church. These include prayerlessness, leaders who are worldly and unqualified, tolerance for unrepentant sin among church members, and a gradual drift into an internally-focused “country club” mentality. And all I can say is, may God, in his grace, keep our church from these all-too-common pitfalls. Because understand that if we lose God’s blessing on our church, we’ve lost everything. It doesn’t matter how nice of a building we have or how much money we’ve got in the bank. If we lose God’s blessing, we’ve lost everything. 

In addition, I believe this departure of God’s glory from Israel here in 1 Samuel 4 is also significant not just for our church as a whole but for us as individuals. Although those of us who are Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and will never lose the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we can lose a sense of closeness with God and communion with God in our lives. The close fellowship with God that is the source of all true joy can be lost if we persist in sin—because you can’t have God and sin at the same. It’s either one or the other. So, whenever we persist in sin, our fellowship with God will be broken. To use biblical terminology, God will hide his face from us. 

Yet the good news is that we can return to God at any time. 1 John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And the reason God’s able to forgive our sins and restore us to fellowship with himself is because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Jesus bore the penalty for our sins so we wouldn’t have to. It’s therefore because of Jesus and him alone that we can be restored to close fellowship with God whenever we stray away from him. 

In fact, it’s in and through Jesus himself that the glory of God has come to us in the greatest way imaginable. You know, as we think about this idea of the glory of God departing from Israel in 1 Samuel 4, it is indeed a sobering thought. Yet how wonderful it is to remember that, in striking contrast to the glory of God departing from Israel, the glory has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. 

John 1:14 tells us, speaking of Jesus, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” God’s glory has come to us and been manifested to us in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Not only that, it’s through Jesus that we’ll one day behold the fullness of God’s glory with our own eyes. As Jesus prays to the Father in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” One day, dear friends, we who are Christians will see his glory. 

And that’s the greatest blessing we could ever desire. At the beginning, I said that many people are very eager to know how they can obtain God’s blessing. Just about everyone desires God’s blessing, and they want to know how to obtain it. Well, as you can probably tell by now, 1 Samuel 4 doesn’t give us any particular formula for obtaining God’s blessing. 

However, what this passage does is, hopefully, change the way we think about the nature of God’s blessing in the first place. This chapter reminds us that the greatest blessing God offers us isn’t any earthly blessing but rather the blessing of himself and his glorious presence for all eternity. Just as the greatest disaster that could have come upon the Israelites—and that did come upon them—was the glory of God departing from them, the greatest blessing that could come upon us is beholding the glory of God with our own eyes and enjoying the wonders of his glory for all eternity. And that is the marvelous hope we who are Christians have.