Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?
Sermon: Why has the Lord defeated us today before the
Philistines?
THE BACKGROUND
The first Book of Samuel is also called by
some Biblical scholars ‘the first Book of the Kings’. This is the Book which
gives us the account of election of two important Israelites kings anointed by
Samuel: Soul and David. But today our focus will be on the Israelites battle
against the philistines, 1 Samuel 4:1-11.
This account is showing us how Israelites were
in a horrible situation. They went out to fight against the Philistines, but they
were defeated. In the first battle the Philistines killed 4000 Israelites. And
after the Israelites had come into the camp the elders had a meeting. During
this evaluation meeting, the elders asked “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?”
As elders they had to look for solution and they decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant.
They added a fascinating statement, (v.3) “that when it comes among us it may
save us from the hand of our enemies.”
They went and brought the Ark of the Covenant and when it arrived in the
camp they shouted to the level that the earth shook.
The philistines were
afraid and I was surprised to see how much information they had about the Ark
of the Covenant: for them “A god [God] has come into the camp! “For such thing
has never happened before” (v.7). For
the philistines it was the first time to see Israelites bringing the Ark of the
Covenant to the battlefield. It is so amazing, the Israelites are seeing God on
the side of their enemies, and by bringing the Ark of the Covenant they thought
that God will come back on their side. But the Philistines also are now seeing
God among Israelites. Then we may ask ourselves, God was on which side? The
second battle clearly shows that God was not on the side of Israelites. They
were defeated again and 30000 Israelites soldiers were killed, the Ark of the
Covenant was captured and the two sons of Eli were also killed.
Ichabod
One man of Benjamin tribe ran from the battle line and took a
sad massage to the city. When the man came into the city and told it the sad
news the entire city cried out. The news reached Eli and he was not able to
take it, he fell down and died. Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and near time of
delivery. When she heard the news, she
went into labor and gave birth. She was overcome by her labor; in dying she
named the child Ichabod “The glory has departed from Israel!” 1 Samuel 4:19-22. Why did God allow all
this to happen to his chosen people? This leads us to answer the question that
the elders asked, why has the Lord
defeated us today before the Philistines? The question of
the elders indicates that they were aware that the Lord fought on the side of
their enemies. They knew that the Philistines were not the one defeating them
but God. Why did God choose to fight on the side of Israelites enemies? Here are some reasons
why the Lord defeated the Israelites:
1. The period in
which Israelites were
(1
Samuel 3:1) it was a time that the word of God was rare, uncommon, in decline and
in those days there was no widespread revelation. People had no time for the Word of God; they
were far from God, doing what please them instead of doing or following the
will of God.
2.
The
Trusting in the “magical power” of the Ark
Ray
Fowler indicates that: “The nation at this time was in a spiritual depression
and they were looking at the Ark of the Covenant much like an idol for it was a
reminder of the covenant that God had made with their fathers. Whenever people
turn to idols it tells us two things: They have lost their consciousness of the
presence of God in their midst. They are trying to regain that consciousness by
holding on to something that once was a manifestation of God's presence.”[1]
They had information about the manifestation of God and His power through the
Ark of the Covenant: The Ark Had Gone
Into Battle Before & there were miracles Connected With it.
3.
The presence of the sons of Eli
(1 Samuel 2:12)
“The sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.” The two sons of Eli
whom God had promised to kill were the when carrying the Ark of the Covenant. The
Israelites knew their sins (1 Samuel
2:22-25). The prophecy about the house of Eli was clear, God will do
something in Israel, not only on the house of Eli but in Israel (1 Samuel 3: 11-13). The sins of Eli’s sons
caused not only their death but the one of 30000 Israelites soldiers, Eli and
his daughter in Law. The Sons of Eli
were like Achan among the Israelites (Joshua 7:1) they brought the anger of the
Lord over Israelites.
The
philistines after defeating the Israelites and capturing the Ark of the
Covenant, they went back home celebrating. The philistines were not aware about
the fact that God was the one fighting for them. I always like to mention that the Philistines
were good in respecting the protocol. For them the Ark of the Covenant was the
God of Israel, and because they had their own god (Dagon) they took the Ark of
the Covenant into the house of Dagon. As the Philistines were celebrating, they
wanted Dagon to celebrate before the Ark of the Covenant. The Philistines were
surprised in the morning when they saw Dagon laying down before the Ark of
covenant. They took Dagon and set it in
its place. But the next day Dagon was totally destroyed. We are not told what
happened between the two spiritual forces, but for me I always say that Dagon
realized the presence of God Almighty and firstly fell down before Him. But
because the ignorance of Dagon’s priests they did not realized it. By putting Dagon
at its place again they brought the anger of the Lord on Dagon and on
themselves. The Lord who can take care
of himself was now at war against the philistines. The philistines were able to
realize that the hand of the Lord is heavy on them and their idol Dagon. God used a plague in fighting Philistines. They
brought the Ark of Covenant rejoicing but now they were crying asking how to
send it back (1 Samuel 6:1-7). I
like the part where Philistines priests and diviners were giving the
instruction concerning how to send back the Ark of Covenant. I like their
attitude because they realized that they have sinned against God. They had
information about the Egyptians and Pharaoh who harden their hearts and brought
the anger of the Lord over them. Their priests and diviners were well informed
concerning the power of God and what he had done in past. They did what Israelites were not able to do.
They went to the level of offering the guilt offering, which shows that they
recognized their sins, and they were asking for forgiveness.
What does this Israelites story has to do
with us today?
Are we also fighting? Who are we fighting
against? Is the name Ichabod written on our Church, family, marriage, work
place, or nation? Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to examine our selves
and know the time that we are in.
We are in the times where People are living in
the past, talking of the past glories. People are worshiping the things that
were once used by God and hope that these things can restore the power they
once experienced. Instead of reading the Bible they believe in magic power of
the Bible, they sleep with it, build house on it, burry people with it, and
carry it in their cars and bugs as protection. We are in the time where the
sons of Eli are the most popular priests, Bishops, pastors, Apostles, scholars
etc. When people saw them they shout, clap and praise them knowing that they
are corrupt. The devil is using our enemies who are giving us jobs in order to
stop us carrying out Jesus Christ Mission (Mathew
28: 19-20). The sad thing we are in the time where majority of people are
Christians on their lips ( in theory) but pagan in practice, because they are
not living according to the word of God (2 Timothy 3:1-10). We are in the time
of many false prophets, who are making people to believe in good luck charm
than in God. And what happen when
people stop believing in God? Ichabod, which means, the glory has departed. What
can we do to avoid Ichabod in our families, relationships, at work place,
Churches and in our Nations? Here are some basic things that we must do
regularly as Christian:
(a) Putting God first in your/my life.
No matter what happens to us or around us, we choose to obey God, follow God,
and have a daily and intimate relationship with God.
(b) Seeking the Lord In your/my life. Those who seek the Lord are in quest
of the Lord. They talk to Him, listen to Him, and are eager to consult Him at
all times.
(c) Reading the Word of God daily. Over time, we will grow in our
understanding of the fullness of God’s plan and His desires for us.
(d) Asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide
our daily decisions. We will turn often to the Lord and ask, “Is this something you want me to have?
Is this something that has your stamp of approval on it? Is this something that
is right for my life?”
(e) Remaining in Christ and his massage (1
John 2:24-25).
May God help us to know
his ways and worship Him in truth and power.
Be blessed
Pastor
Kubwimana Joel
Masters
of Theology (African Christianity) at:
Akrofi-Christaller
Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture/Akropong-Akuapem/Ghana
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