Raiders and the Lost Ark - 1 Samuel 4:1-11

"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." 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men and fight." So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled every man to his home. And there was a great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. Not at first appearance, a very cheerful word this morning as we read about the losing of the ark as we have been moving through

1 Samuel. I'm going to pray, and then we'll just dive into this section and see what we can learn from this account. Father in heaven, help us this morning as we consider our relationship with you. So we see this passage that is full of tragedy, and not just in the physical sense in the loss of this army, but in the spiritual sense. Help us to see that this distance that is seen in this text from you is a call to repentance. It's a call to evaluate our walk with you. As we read this morning, may you lead us to the rock that is higher than we are. May you be our rock of help in the wilderness of discouragement and struggle. So be with us this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So perhaps you've seen the phrase, right? I've heard the phrase, right? I love it when a plan comes together.

The reality that I have experienced in my life is that that is an ultimate, like, it's a dream. It just never happens, right? No plan ever survives engagement with the enemy, or for me, the task that I am trying to accomplish. You begin with such great ideas and great plans and great optimism, and then before long you're in the midst of discouragement and nothing seems to be going right. I was talking to a friend last night, and we were talking a little bit about Murphy's Law, and he just looked at me and goes, "I think Murphy was an optimist," right? Sometimes, right, that's what happens. It just feels like everything that we plan goes wrong, and the only place where plans really ever come together is on TV or in a movie where we see it work.

And in this text this morning, as we look at the Philistines who are coming to raid Israel, and we see the loss of the ark, what we're going to see is how it all goes wrong. So let me give you just a quick overview of our text this morning in just a few points, and then I want us to sort of walk through it a little bit and unpack the spiritual side of it. And so our text this morning in verse 1 begins with a growing threat. The Philistines are a tribe or a group or a nation of people who live in the coastal regions southwest of Israel. And they've been in this area for a couple of hundred years. They are primarily a seafaring people, but in the book of Judges you begin to see the nation grow stronger.

And it's at the end of Judges chapter 3 you begin to see them oppress Israel. And they become one of Israel's constant and persistent enemies over the next period of years. And so they've gone from just a group that has sort of emigrated to the coast to a group that is now having havoc throughout the people of the land. And in verse 2, we see that the threat has come. Israel has advanced out to meet the threat, but as they go to battle, 4,000 of the Israelite soldiers die. And we don't have a lot of modern context for this in terms of that many people dying in a single battle in a matter of hours on a single day, right? And if you're an Israelite army, this is a massive, massive blow to your morale and to your hope and to your future as a nation.

And there is loss and there is brokenness and nothing has worked as they have sought to defend their homeland. And so in verse 3, they come up with a plan, but it is probably one of the worst plans, as we'll see this morning, that happens. I'll read you the verse. We're going to unpack this a little bit later, but I just want you to hear. When the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, these are the leaders, supposedly both spiritual, in terms of spiritual, but also in terms of physical leadership. The elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?" Now, I think that first part is probably an accurate assessment of what has happened. It is not that the Philistines have triumphed, but that God, in His judgment, has defeated His people.

And they have this question, "Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?" And so they have this question, but they don't ask God. Instead, they say, they come up with their own plan, "Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and that it may save us from the power of our enemies." Now, I want you to notice here, they have this question, and they have this question specifically for God, but they don't ask Him. And as we look at this text, we think if only there was someone, anyone that they might be familiar with in the land of Israel that they could ask and get an answer from God. If only someone that they knew could answer their question, they could give them spiritual direction, who knew God's word, and who in chapter 3 says none of His words are wasted,

or none of them fall to the ground, that from every part of Israel they know this problem. If only there was someone like that, that they could ask. But they look around and go, "I guess it's a mystery. There's no one that we could ask about what God would have us to do." And what's remarkable about this battle is if you look in the book of Joshua. In Joshua chapter 7, there is a battle in a little town called Ai, where Israel is defeated. And at the end of the battle, they have the same kind of question that Israel has here in 1 Samuel chapter 4. But the difference is, instead of speaking about God, instead of ignoring the fact that God has spoke to His people, like they do in 1 Samuel 4, before Joshua speaks directly to God. And we're going to get to the ark and their plan in a minute,

but what you find is the rest of this text is filled with complete failure. Verses 5 through 11, the plan that they have is not good. The Philistines, as a result, capture the ark of God in 30,000. We've gone from 4,000, but the next battle will be 30,000 dead soldiers in the ark in Philistine hands. And the question is, how does this happen? Why does this happen? Do they need a better plan? Do they need better leaders? Do they need better tactics? What's the issue at the heart of everything in these 11 verses? Because one of the problems we have when we come to texts like this, as we look at this, this happened 3,000 years ago. I have never put my tent on the plains with a group of other people and faced off against an army of Philistines.

And this text for us can seem distant in terms of time, in terms of the location, in terms of the cultural differences. And we look at this, and for many of us, it's easy to see texts like this as simply an intellectual exercise to understand the historical facts. But at the heart of the problem, and at the heart of the crumbling of the plan of God's people in this moment, we find the same struggle in our heart. The struggle for the heart of Israel in this text is that over time they have grown distant from God. They've grown complacent in their relationship. They've let other things stand between them and God. They've focused their heart in a different direction, and the result in their life is brokenness. And for us, it's so easy to find ourselves in that same place, maybe not facing the Philistines,

but in a place where our heart has become distracted and distant and has begun to chase after other things to make our own plans. Maybe we talk a lot about God. That's what happens in this text. They talk a lot about God, but they don't talk to Him or know Him. And it's easy for them, for us, to look at these Israelites and to kind of beat them up and say, "I'd never be like that." But the reality is that the danger they are facing is one that we face as well. And the question that it comes down to for us is, "Who are we listening to?" Or even this, "Are we listening?" And we see it in these first three verses. You see, what we listen to has an impact on our life. Right? If we listen to music, right? It has the opportunity. We learn it. We get stuck in our head.

We are sitting around humming it and singing it. And just a simple example. What we find is that it goes deeper than that. The things that we direct our attention to, the things that we listen to and that we focus on, begin to have an impact on our life. It's going to impact how we make decisions and how we make our plans. And we live in a world where there are so many voices that shout for our attention. And so one of the questions that we have to ask ourselves, that Israel had to ask itself, is are we listening specifically in relation to what God has said to us? And one of the ways that we determine if we're listening, because probably most of us have been asked that question, in one sense or another, are you listening to me?

How do we determine, in this context, if we're listening? One of the ways we determine if we're listening to God is when we encounter situations filled with uncertainty or with difficulty, how do we respond? And one of the things we learn is there is a difference between reacting and responding. Probably most of us know that, right? Reacting is kind of instinctual. It just sort of happens. So if I'm eating a piece of pizza and have it in my hand and I drop it on the floor and Kaiser is right there, right? He doesn't have to think about it. He just reacts and he eats the pizza, right? That's a reaction. Now, a response is different. A response is where I drop that piece of pizza on the floor and I look around to see if anybody noticed,

look to see if it's face up or face down because that makes a difference, right? I look to see if I can put it on Rachel's plate or if she's going to notice that. And then I decide whether I'm going to eat it, right? That's the difference between a reaction and response. For the dog, he's just like, "I'm going for it." And I'm going, "Well, did it land face up next to the dog food bowl or is it pretty clean over here and I can go ahead and eat it?" Right? That's a response. And when it comes to those moments where it feels like life is in crisis, because that's what's happening in these first 11 verses of 1 Samuel 4 is that there is a crisis for God's people. Do we react or do we respond?

Right? How are we doing? In many situations in life, I think we simply react. We follow and we listen to our own desires or we listen to our own fears. And that's what happens here. God's people are listening in these first 11 verses, but they're listening and they're reacting based on their desires. And on their fears, right? Here comes the enemy. What are we going to do? We've got to rush and defend and we've got to prepare and we've got to do all of these things. They don't respond. They listen simply to the chaos of their heart, that there's fear and there's danger, and they rush out to try to do something about it. Reacting rather than responding generally happens when you and I stop focusing on God. When we begin to look to ourselves instead of looking to Him.

And here's the remarkable thing. It's not that God hasn't spoken. It's that in these chapters God has spoken, but they're not listening. God hasn't left Israel in the dark. Listen to what verses precede this. Samuel grew and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground. That as Samuel is speaking, it's never a wasted word. It's something that grows into something wonderful. All of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. That he speaks for God. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. God has spoken through Samuel. The problem is nobody is listening. The ark of the covenant that takes such a central place in these verses and the chapters that follow testifies to God's presence, to his provision, to his promises contained within the ark of the covenant.

Is the law of God on tablets of stone. A jar of manna that shows his provision in the wilderness. The staff of Aaron that had bloomed and budded showing God's choosing of the priestly family. And this ark of the covenant that is such a central part isn't talking about itself, but it points to God and his presence and his promises and his provision and everything in Israel's history that God has given them to this moment. It says, "Stop and speak to God. Ask to God. Listen to God." He's been there in their darkest hours, but they don't look to God. They look to their fears, and they look to their own plans. Proverbs 3 says this, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

The issue in this text is not that God hasn't spoken, it's that they're not listening. So let me ask you this, when it all goes wrong in your life, what is your first instinct? Is it to try to fix it? Try to figure it out? Try to come up with a plan? Or is it to listen to what God has said? To run to God? To trust in God? And here's the interesting thing, I know what the right answer here is. There's a difference between knowing this right answer and me living it out, right? This is a reminder that I need. More often than not, it's so easy for us to listen to our fears and uncertainties rather than listening to God. And it leads us down a road that ends badly. The second way we see in this text,

a way to diagnose the focus of our heart is in this. What are we planning? Or maybe another way to say it is, "How are we planning?" The plan that Israel has is a monumentally stupid plan. You may say, "Well, why is it a bad plan?" Right? There's an argument to be made that as they bring the ark to the people, the ark has gone in front of God's people. The ark goes in front of them as they cross into the promised land. It goes in front of them as they march around Jericho. It goes in front of them in the wilderness leading the people of God. So why wouldn't you bring the ark here? In fact, some may even point to Moses. In Numbers chapter 10, as you have this chapter about the marching orders

and the trumpet signals in Israel, and here's what it records about Moses. When the ark set out, Moses said this, "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before." And then when the ark rested, he said, "Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel." So there's some historical precedent for the ark going in front of God's people, but listen to the contrast. Hear Moses' words, "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered. Return, O Lord, O Lord, to the people of Israel." Now listen to the attitude you find in 1 Samuel chapter 4. When the elders, people came into 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."

So on the surface, it sounds like a good plan. Listen to what happens next in their statement. "That it," not God, "but it may come among us and save us from the power of their enemies." They look at the ark of the covenant not as God's presence among them, but rather as some sort of magical artifact that is going to somehow magically save them. Moses, as he sees the ark move, says, "God, you are great, and you go before us." And as the ark stops, he says, "God, you are good. Protect us." And Israel in 1 Samuel 4 says, "Well, let's bring it in here and just kind of see what happens." And the problem with the plan of Israel is they've got it backwards. Instead of letting God direct their plan, they seek to direct God.

And the problem with their plan is not just that it's dumb. It's that they've got it all backwards, right? Planning is not coming up with a listed document, laying it before God and God saying, "God, here you go. Fix it." The problem isn't even planning. The problem is that in all of our plans that God comes before the plan, right? They've done it the opposite. They have the plan, and then they tell God, "Here, I'm going to bring it. You rubber stamp it and make it happen." Rather than in humility consulting God's wisdom and his strength and putting their hope in him. You have action here without a relationship. Instead of asking God, "What would your plan be for me? How would you guide me?" As James says, "Those who lack wisdom ask God who gives freely."

Instead of doing that, we simply make our plan and hope God will bless it. And this is one of the problems in this text. Let me contrast what happens here in 1 Samuel 4 with what happens in 2 Chronicles 20. So we can see how it's wrong here. Let's see how it's done right. In 2 Chronicles 20, there's a king named Jehoshaphat, and he is facing an imminent invasion. And it's not just one group, but there's several groups. You've got the Moabites and the Ammonites. And as time goes on, more people grow, and people are traveling from farther away to attack Israel, and you end up with the Edomites and others. And I want you to see the reaction of King Jehoshaphat as this army that's not just one group of people, but that is growing and coming against God's people.

Look at what he does. "Then Jehoshaphat was afraid." So what does he do when he's afraid? He set his face to seek the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. He's afraid and he's fearful, and so he sets his face to look at and to see God. Later on as he gathers the people, and I've shared his prayer before, it's one of my favorite. As he says, "We're calling on God to judge because this enemy, we are powerless before them." And this is the part that I think is so humbling for me. He says, "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you." And God answers, and a prophet comes, and he says, "God will save you. Don't be afraid. God will be with you." And Jehoshaphat does something so weird as they march to battle. He says this, "And when he had taken counsel with his people,

he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord." So the choir of Israel, who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire. And they went before the army. And so here is these multiple armies, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, all of the ites. And they're marching towards God's people, and God's people are overwhelmed. And the temptation for Jehoshaphat would be to strengthen the walls, to bring supplies for a siege, to ambush, to attack, to send out the defenseless to hide. But he doesn't do that. He runs to God. And he says, "I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you." And God says, "I'll take care of this." And so as he marches his army out, he sends the choir out first. I don't know a lot of choirs, but I don't think they're really known for their fighting ability.

He sends the choir out, and they just go out in front of the army singing this, "Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever." And God comes, and God fights for his people. In the midst of their singing, God saves them. And I see this contrasted so strongly with 1 Samuel chapter 4, who in the face of fear and uncertainty, they run to their plans and their ideas, whereas Jehoshaphat runs to God and to his plan. See, there's a deeper problem. They're just listening into the plans. The issue at the heart of this, the symptoms, those are symptoms that point to the disease. The deeper problem is that these people, in these first 11 verses, with the exception of Samuel, have no relationship with God. Look at how they view God in this text. They talk about God. For these people, the Ark of the Covenant is simply a good luck charm.

Right? Something that they hope will give them some luck. My rabbit's foot, my lucky penny, my lucky socks. They don't care about the presence of the Lord. They're simply trying to improve their chances in battle with luck. And so you find, they don't know God. They don't speak to God. They talk about Him. It's as if God is their mascot or their lucky charm. And those who are carrying the Ark, Hophni and Phinehas, 1 Samuel chapter 2 says that they're worthless men. They've taken advantage of God's people. They've stolen and abused God's people. They've chased after their own desires. And here they come, bearing the Ark, going, "God's on our side," and they don't even know Him. And here's the thing about that. It doesn't happen all at once, in their lives or in ours.

A little by little, a compromise here or a compromise there, nobody plans to end up in this place that these people find themselves in 1 Samuel 4. We don't plan to end up there, but compromise by compromise, giving in a little here and there, choosing our own desires. Over God's word, we end up in this place where it is disaster. So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated, and they fled every man to his home, and there was a great slaughter, for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell, and the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. In addition to this, Shiloh will be destroyed as well. In the book of Samuel, first and second, it's never mentioned as a place of worship again. When the ark returns, it does not go to Shiloh, because there's no place to put it. It goes to some guy's living room, and in his house, he's consecrated to watch over and care for it.

Samuel will go back to his hometown, no longer living in Shiloh, and in chapter 7, you sort of find him as a circuit-riding prophet. Psalm says this, Psalm 78, "He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind," Jeremiah 26. "I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth." What we find is it's not just the ark that disappears, but Shiloh itself faces the judgment of God. And the question for us this morning, who are we listening to? How are we planning? Because those two things are symptoms or indicators of our relationship with God. And it can be discouraging for us to look at our life and to see the brokenness. I want you to understand we've been in this text this morning, and it's a discouraging text.

Understand that brokenness is not the end of the story. 1 Samuel 4:1 says this, "The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went up to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at a place called Ebenezer. And the Philistines encamped at Aphek." We've moved ahead several chapters to 1 Samuel chapter 7. Revival comes to the people of God. They pray, and they're repenting, and they're fasting, and they're offering sacrifices to God. And as they do so in 1 Samuel 7, as Samuel leads them in this nationwide revival, the Philistines come again. And they come to kill God's people as they are gathered in repentance and worship, and God defends his people. God gives this victory, and then Samuel, what he does is he picks up a rock to use as a monument to God.

And he calls it an Ebenezer, which simply means stone of help. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer. For he said, "Till now the Lord has helped." And here Samuel raises his Ebenezer, the stone that says, "God is the one who helps." Where this text begins at a little town called Ebenezer, it says, "God helps." He's your stone of help. And God's people don't listen, and they don't hear, and they run after their own desires and in their own plans, not knowing God, and face a massive, heartbreaking defeat, both physically and spiritually. In chapter 7, another battle comes. And in this battle, God fights for them, and He raises up a stone of help to remind them. I want you to understand this morning that in the brokenness that is in our lives, there is a stone of help.

In the midst of the chaos and the storms, there is a rock that is health. As we read this morning, lead us to the rock that is higher than we are. In all of this brokenness, there is hope, and there is health, and there is a rock that is stronger than all of their hurt and loss and heartbreak. And that rock is found ultimately for us in Christ. Let's go ahead and pray. Father, lead us to the rock. Attach us to the rock. May we build upon the rock. It's so easy to become distracted and disoriented and to run after our own things and in our own way. Be for us our rock of help. You would call us, strengthen us, and help us. You would equip us with your spirit. Thank you that in the midst of our brokenness and our sin, there is a promise of hope and restoration and repentance. Lead us to Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen.