To Study:1
Samuel chapters 4, 5, and 6.
To Read in class:1 Samuel 5:1-8; 6:1-9.
Memory Texts:
Younger:Revelation 15:4 “Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy
name?
For Thou only art holy.”
Older:1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the
house of God:
and if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God?”
OBJECTIVES: To teach
that:
1. Human ideas are often contrary to God’s specific instructions.
2. No one obtains the desired blessing of God by using amulets or having
religious symbols
3. Prophesies are fulfilled according to the explicit word of God.
4. God used a series of physical judgments to show His rejection of
idolatry.
5. In the return of the ark, God used the animal kingdom to give evidence of
His power.
VISUAL AIDS: A field between Ebenezer and Aphek and figures of a battle
and the ark of the covenant of the Lord coming into the battlefield,
carried by some priests.
DEVELOPMENT:
Note: The first scene describes events recorded in 1 Samuel 4.
- Without consulting Samuel the Israelites went out to fight against the
Philistines and four thousand men died. (1 Samuel 4:2.)
- Before the next battle, the leaders of the people analyzed the situation
and decided to bring the Ark from Shiloh (1 Samuel 4:3.) They did not
consult Samuel about this.
- In their condition of being far from God, they believe that the Lord’s
help is related to the symbol of His presence and will assure their victory.
- In accordance with the pagan ideas of those days, people frequently took
their idols to battle.
Lsn. The Israelites had to learn that power comes from A PERSON, and not
from an OBJECT.
- The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were leaders of the group that
brings the ark. It is an act of rebellion against God, for they did not take
into account that this is a sacred piece of furniture.
- They acted contrary to the will of God because they based their idea on
human thinking,.
Cns. Human ideas and practices often are contrary to the will of God.
Remember that having an object that represents divine power is no guarantee
of success.
Apl. Crucifixes, amulets, and special stones that people hang on their
bodies are not the means of ensuring God’s blessing.
Lsn. It is obedience to the Word of God that allows Him to work on our
behalf. (1 Samuel 2:30.)
Cns. The promise of Deuteronomy 20:1-4 is valid only when wars are carried
out by the will of God.
- When the ark reached the camp of Israel, the people shouted for joy
because they thought they now had a guarantee of victory.
- The Philistines heard the shouting and interpreted the event as “God is
come into their camp.” (1 Samuel 4:7.)
- The Philistines remember the dramatic exodus of the Israelites from Egypt
many years before and are afraid that what had happened to Pharaoh could
happen to them.
- They made the mistake of thinking that Israel has several gods and not One
only (1 Samuel 4:8).
Cns. It is interesting that the Philistines knew what had happened in Egypt
years earlier and of the judgment that fell on Pharaoh (1 Samuel 6:6).
- The Philistines encourage themselves to be very courageous.
- The Israelites act on a mistaken idea and as a result, suffer a disastrous
defeat.
1. Thirty thousand men were killed.
2. The two sons of Eli died.
3. The ark fell into enemy hands.
Cns. God permits failure in our lives to show us that we are acting contrary
to His will.
SCENE No. 2. VISUAL AIDS: In Shiloh, the city where the tabernacle was
located, and in it the ark. Figures of a group of people listening to a
messenger. Eli, old and very stout, sits at the entrance.
DEVELOPMENT:
- A messenger with torn clothing and earth on his head as a sign of mourning
arrives from the battlefield and tells the people of Shiloh that the battle
has been lost and the ark captured.
- "When the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out."
And with good reason. (1 Samuel 4:13.)
- Eli is 98 years of age and is blind. He hears a great noise and asks the
reason.
- The messenger recounts everything to Eli, including the news of the death
of his two sons. (1 Samuel 4:17.)
- The prophesy about the death of Hophni and Phinehas was fulfilled (1
Samuel 2:34 and 3:11-14).
- No doubt the other prophesy of 1 Samuel. 3:11 was also fulfilled, "both
the ears of every one that hears it will tingle."
Apl. Emphasize that even as these prophesies were fulfilled in the death of
the two sons of Eli, likewise God will carry out what He has predicted about
the future of the Church, the world, and the unsaved.
Cmt. People of the world in general are very sure of themselves and do not
take God into account. They ignore many of His warnings about the future.
This explains why so much importance must be given to the prophetic part of
the Bible.
- The news about the ark falling into enemy hands affected Eli the most. (1
Samuel 4:18.)
- People fled, knowing that a defeat in war meant looting by the enemy.
- The wife of Phinehas was about to give birth and “her pains came upon her”
when she heard about the death of her husband and her father-in-law and the
loss of the ark.
- When the child was born, she called him ICHABOD, meaning “there is no
glory”.
Cmt. The Israelite who understood that the ark was a symbol of the glory and
holiness of God, knew they had suffered a very great loss, as well as a loss
of honour for the people of God.
Cmt. Each time that someone spoke Ichabod’s name, it was a reminder of the
tragedy that befell the Israelites.
Cns. The tragedy was a shameful loss of honour for the people of God.
Besides that it was the physical loss of the ark into the hands of the
Philistines.
SCENE No. 3. VISUAL AIDS: Temple of Dagon with a figure of the idol and the
ark.
DEVELOPMENT:
- The Philistines that captured the ark placed it in the temple of their
god, Dagon. This was in the city of Ashdod.
- The temple of Dagon was a sacred place to the Philistines. To God, it was
a blasphemous act.
- God does not tolerate that which symbolizes His presence to share its
place with anyone, much less with an idol.
Apl. God defends His honour when it is not respected.
- In the morning the priests of Dagon observed with surprise and displeasure
that their “god” had fallen before the ark of the covenant.
- The next morning, Dagon was again on the ground, this time with his head
and his hands cut off.
- If they thought the first fall was an accident, the second time they had
to realize that the fall was due to the presence of the ark.
- The judgment of the severed head and hands of Dagon demonstrated that he
had no power before the ark of the Lord, since he lost precisely those parts
of his “body” that are related to thinking and acting.
- The judgment of God ought to have shown the Philistines the powerlessness
of their idol.
Apl. Satan’s kingdom will fall before the kingdom of Christ; error will not
stand before the truth.
Cmt. With all the things that were happening, the Philistines became well
instructed concerning the living God.
Sug. It should be made clear that we cannot attribute every disaster that
happens in life to the judgment of God. However, there are certain
experiences that teach the fear of God and they leave a permanent impression
on the mind.
- At the same time of the judgment on Dagon, God sent a plague of rats and
tumours.
Cmt. The tumours were a kind of boil. They sometimes became infected and
often bled. In some cases they were malignant, even bringing death.
SCENE No. 4. VISUAL AIDS: A road among hills and figures of the five lords
of the Philistines, observing while the ark is carried on a cart pulled by
two cows toward the land of the Israelites. On a patch a picture of the two
calves which were enclosed at home.
DEVELOPMENT:
- While the ark was in Ashdod, the Philistines felt the Lord’s hand
increasingly heavily on them.
- They wanted no more problems and instead of recognizing the Lord as the
true God, they decided that "the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide
with us."
- They decided to send it to Gath (1 Samuel 5:7-8).
- In Gath, people of all ages suffered the judgment of God. (1 Samuel 5:9.)
- Next the ark was sent from Gath to Ekron, but this caused great distress
to the people of Ekron.
Cmt. It seemed that the Philistines had not learned the lesson that God
wished to teach them through suffering - that the God of the Israelites is
the One True God.
- For seven months the ark stayed in the land of the Philistines. These were
months of affliction under the firm hand of God (1 Samuel 6:1).
Apl. The sinner that refuses to leave his sin also prolongs his own
suffering.
- The Philistines decided to return the ark. They thought that the Lord
would be appeased and that they would expiate (compensate or make amends)
their sin. For this reason they sent golden jewels, plus idolatrous
replicas of the plague they had suffered.
Cns. They wished to buy peace with God - an attempt that will always fail.
- The priests and diviners of the Philistines knew only pagan superstitions
and this influenced their recommendations.
- The Philistines were superstitious and interpreted the route taken by the
animals as showing whether it really was the God of Israel that sent the
plague.
- They chose two cows that were still feeding their young and harnessed them
to the cart on which they put the ark. They enclosed their calves in the
stable so that they could not get to them. (1 Samuel 6:12.)
- The frequent lowing of the cows showed the desire of these animals to be
with their young but since they continued on their way, it provides proof of
the supernatural influence of God working present in the matter.
- According to the route chosen by the cows, the Philistines think they can
determine the reason for what had happened. (1 Samuel 6:5)
Cns. The law of God required that the ark be carried on the shoulders of the
Kohathites. (Numbers 4:4, 15). The Philistines were not responsible to
practice this law.
- The Philistines are interested in getting rid of the ark due to the
problems it caused them.
- The two animals took the right road without guidance and remained on it
without turning until they reached the nearest city, Beth-shemesh, which
belonged to the Levites.
- The workers in the field rejoiced to see the ark return and used the wood
of the cart to sacrifice the two animals in thanksgiving to God.
Cmt. It is important that the teacher mention that in the world mistaken
ideas are used to interpret certain phenomena or events. Interpretations
range from the use of tarot cards to mentioning sinister powers at work and
the need to appease them.
Lsn. The believer uses the Bible to understand life and the things that
occur.
Cns. God made His power evident through the cattle even though Philistines
did not have the spoken testimony of a prophet of Jehovah.
- After seeing what happened, the five lords of the Philistines returned to
Ekron (I Samuel 6:16), convinced, but not repentant.
Lsn. When we do not adjust our lives to the will of God, many suffer. In
this case, the Israelites were made ashamed and the Philistines suffered
physical sicknesses.
- In spite of everything suffered by the people, there was yet another
judgment to bear, when 50.070 inhabitants of Beth-shemesh diedf when they
dared to look inside the ark. This was a larger number than had died on the
battlefield (1 Samuel 6:19).
- The tabernacle with the ark was later found in Gibeon (See 1 Chronicles
16:39; 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3,13).
Additional note. Archeologists have discovered that Shiloh was destroyed
around 1050 B.C., probably by the Philistines and likely at the time of this
event. The tabernacle was removed also (Jeremiah 7:12-15, 26:6-7). |
