A 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. 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.
A Comment
The beginning of verse 1 transitions from Samuel’s call as a prophet to the Ark of the Covenant story. In a sense, we are moving away from Samuel’s story for a few chapters to consider the situation of the Israelites and their priesthood under Eli and his sons, which is tied to Samuel’s prophecy from 1 Samuel 3. In terms of what we will encounter in 1 Samuel 4:1-11, we will witness the terrible consequences of assuming God can be controlled.
With the first words of the second part of verse 1, we see the Israelites going to war with the Philistines. Some scholars believe these words should be tied to the first sentence of verse 1 regarding the “word of Samuel coming to all of Israel.” Other scholars think that we should read the beginning of verse 1 as a conclusion to 1 Samuel 3:21.
At this point, it is helpful to remember that chapter and verse divisions were not a part of the original text of Scripture. They were added hundreds of years after the canonization of Scripture. So, there is a genuine sense in which it is a judgment call on the reader's part to determine whether we should interpret the second half of verse 1 as related to the first half of verse 1 or as an independent introduction to a new section. If you read the second half of verse 1 as tied to the first half of verse 1, then you could interpret what follows in 1 Samuel 4:2-11 as a response to Samuel’s words, which lead the Israelites to engage the Philistines in battle. In light of the rest of 1 Samuel 4:2-11,I believe it is best to read the first section of verse 1 as a conclusion to the end of chapter 3 and the second half of verse 1 as introducing a new section about the Ark of the Covenant. I believe this understanding of the structure of the passage makes the most sense of what we find in 1 Samuel 4:2-11. What do I mean by this? I mean that what we see is the Israelites making assumptions about the presence and blessing of God in their battle with the Philistines, which leads to their defeat.
If we read that Samuel’s words to the Israelites told them to go to war with the Philistines, then we have a few things that we have to deal with. First, if Samuel told them to go to battle with the Philistines, we must explain why the Israelites lost the battle. One explanation could be that Samuel was sending them into battle so that God’s prophecy regarding Hophni and Phineas would be fulfilled, which we see at the end of verse 11 after the capture of the Ark of the Covenant.
The other way to read this passage is to see the first part of verse 1 as a conclusion to chapter , and then the second part of verse 1 as a new section, wherein the Israelites presume upon the Lord’s presence and blessing in their military action against the Philistines. Based on the text itself, we do not see any indication that the Lord had called the Israelites to go to war with the Philistines at this point in their history. Furthermore, we see the Israelites using the Ark of the Covenant as a means to an end instead of the symbol of the Lord’s presence in their midst.
Given how pathetic the priesthood was in those days, we should not be surprised to see the Israelites taking the gift of the Lord’s presence in the form of the Ark of the Covenant in Shiloh and attempting to use it however they saw fit. Initially, when they lost the battle, they wondered why the Lord had allowed them to be defeated. The Israelites blamed the Lord for their loss without ever considering that maybe it was their sin or presumption that caused their defeat. So, they responded by bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefield, assuming that God could be controlled, but this was a tragic error.
God is not a thing to be manipulated for the satisfaction of the desires of our flesh. We cannot simply carry His presence into the midst of our endeavors and expect Him to bless the things He has not authorized. As later passages like Psalm 78:56-58 describe, when we take the LORD and attempt to fashion Him into our own likeness and conform Him to our own wills, we are guilty of sinful idolatry. He might be present in the midst of our endeavors, just as the Ark was present when the Israelites went into battle with the Philistines, but He won’t be there to bless us. It will be to discipline us.
There are so many things that I could mention here, but this devotional is already longer than normal. However, I need to mention a few things we must understand as we prepare to approach God in prayer. This passage teaches us that God will not be controlled by us. He is the Potter; we are the clay. We don’t get to bring Him into whatever we want to accomplish and expect Him to do it. God will not be controlled. If He could be controlled, then He would cease to be God.
I see this so often with people who misinterpret and misapply the Bible in ways that claim that God always wants to bless us with material prosperity. It may be health, wealth, or other forms of prosperity. They will quote passages like Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” assuming that this passage means that God never intends for us to go through hardship, difficulty, or discipline. Of course, most people who quote this passage are either ignorant or willfully disregarding its context, which situates the passage in the context of Babylonian exile for Judah. Most people don’t want to be reminded that this “cute” Bible verse we put on our bags and t-shirts appears in the context of 70 years of God’s discipline on His rebellious people. We just read or hear this passage and assume that God will do what I want Him to do when I want Him to do it, which is the same sin that we see the Israelites committing in 1 Samuel 4:1-11.
As we reflect on this passage, we must be humbled by it. We need to not only read the passage but let this passage read us as well. We need it to expose the places in our lives where we have carelessly sought to carry the presence of the LORD, thinking that we could control Him while His Word clearly shows He will not be controlled. Even as we prepare to pray, we must recognize that our prayers do not make God do anything. Our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). Thus, prayer is not about manipulating God or making Him do whatever we want Him to do, but rather making our requests to Him to do in and through us whatever pleases Him according to His will.
May the Lord deliver us from the kind of presumption that we see in the Israelites in 1 Samuel 4:1-11, and grant us to approach Him with humility, making our request known without assuming that we always know what’s best in our lives.
A Prayer
Would you pray with me this morning?
A Blessing
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The God We Can't Control (1 Samuel 4:1-11)