2012-08-03
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to write about the Ark of the Covenant, it’s contents, and what they mean to the Jewish people. Today, I’m instructed by the Holy Spirit to write about the time the Ark was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh, and the Israelites had a battle with their enemies, the Philistines. We don’t have an exact date for this battle, but it must have been just before Saul was made king of Israel [just before c. 1030 BC]. When the Ark was returned [see 1 SAM 6]. It’s helpful to fill in some background on the status of the priesthood and obedient faith in Israel before retelling the story of this battle and the reasons for what happened in it.
The priests were Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. If we go back to 1 SAM 2: 12, we learn, “Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.” During the time the enemy forces were encamped, the Israelites were convinced that it would help them to bring the Ark of Covenant to the battlefield. Hophni and Phinehas didn’t do anything to restrain them from doing this, as they should have. They didn’t know the Lord in the sense that they hadn’t been saved by faith. There were three charges against them: 1) They robbed the people of their share of the peace offering, not being satisfied with just the breast and thigh [LV 7: 28-36]. 2. They demanded meat before the fat had been offered to God, thus shirking the law. 3. They wanted to roast the meat instead of boiling it, putting their own carnal appetite first. If anyone complained, they took the meat by force. Their sin was very great, because they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.
Now to the story of the battle. 1 SAM 4: 1-11 is the account. The Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines were camped [probably a short distance away] at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battled spread, Israel was defeated, with 4000 Jews killed. When the survivors returned to camp, the elders asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today?” It was their idea that bringing the Ark of the Covenant to their camp from the tabernacle at Shiloh would help their cause. It was believed that that Lord’s presence was in the space between the two cherubim atop the mercy seat (cover) of the Covenant box. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were there with the Ark. When the Ark arrived at the camp, the soldiers there shouted their approval, and that shout was heard in the enemy camp too. When the Philistines heard that the Ark was present in the Israelite camp, their first reaction was to be afraid. They knew the history of how the gods (the Philistines could think only in terms of polytheism) of Israel had brought the plagues on Egypt. Then, the Philistines encouraged themselves, “Be men and fight!” [1 SAM 4: 9]. They fought their Israelite opponents and slew 30, 000 foot soldiers, defeating Israel thoroughly. But that wasn’t all. The Ark was captured and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were killed as well.
We must realize that David and Jonathan knew the account of this battle and the background surrounding it. They knew Israel’s losses were more due to God’s displeasure at their disobedience to Him than the ability of the Philistines to best them in battle. There were some other possible explanations for this defeat. My understanding is that the Philistines had iron weapons, and Israel did not at the time. God’s attitude that the Jews should receive a wake-up call that their disobedience was getting out of hand in His sight is enough to explain this loss.
We should look into more reasons why a covenant relationship should never be taken lightly. David and Jonathan knew God holds people accountable for their actions. A covenant would be useless if He didn’t [RO 3: 26]. We can look at the problem one a single case basis or from the larger point of view of widespread impact on society. For example, let’s look at the marriage covenant once again. Please reread EPH 5: 22-23, 25. There is a connection made in this passage about how the husband is to be true to his wife, as Christ loves the church and has given up His life for it. The wife is to regard this husband as the head of the household. The reason I used the words “this husband” is that she has no right to make the final decision on important matters, just as he has no right to make a decision without honest, open consideration of her input on it. Both husband and wife are obligated not only to each other, but to having faithful obedience to the Lord’s teaching. A wife also should never hold herself back from her husband, any more than he should to her. This is a vow, taken before God, to be faithful to each other and to God. Breaking the vow has serious consequences. Such is true of breaking any vow before God. These are legal, moral/ethical, emotional, spiritual, and sometimes physical consequences. Consider the impact on our society of the breakdown of the family unit. It’s been very negative and enormous. We are to be reverent toward God. Once again without apology let me repeat PR 9: 10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
PRAYER: O Lord, once again we are before You in prayer with heads bowed in reverence. You have taken us through assurances of being in a covenant relationship. You give them to us- as we are Your human covenant partners, because You want us to know You better. You have told us, in COL 3: 9-10, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Every day You renew us in Your image, so that we can know You better. This is the work You do, and we must cooperate in it. We are not to be afraid of entering into the Covenant of Grace or living by it, because this is “the hard path that leads from the narrow gate” [MT 7: 13-14] that leads to eternal life. Your work has been in keeping the promise You made in EZK 36: 26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” Dearest Abba, we have learned that You are a Promise-keeper, so true as to be superior to any human on earth. You have not and will not give up on Your people, Israel. EZK 37: 26-28 shows us why. “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord, make Israel holy, when My sanctuary is among them forever.” Lord, we acknowledge Your omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. You are the God of all believers, Jewish and Gentile alike. No one person is more of a treasure to You than any other. We serve and obey You by choice, not by compulsion. We recognize our need for You to be in our lives, so that we can live righteously. Without You, that is impossible. We offer You honor, glory, thanks and praise in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to begin a new segment of the “Our Covenant” messages called “Our New Covenant Identity.” This is where I am honoring my pledge to write about the only testimony to which I have intimate knowledge-my own. I find it easy to write about God and much harder to write my own story. But God’s impact on my life has been tremendous; the contrast between my pre-Christ time and post-Christ time is huge over the last almost 69 years. As I share my own testimony, I hope you will consider your own testimony too. Look at the many ways your faith in Christ has blessed you, the many places it has led you, and the friendships with others that He has forged in your lives. This is what I am being called to do. God has had lessons for each of us, presented to us in highly effective ways He alone can orchestrate. Consider making a list of them for yourselves, as I have done. Consider our behavior toward God and how it changes, as we get to know Him better. There is nothing God wants more than for us to know Him better, which is to love Him more. Consider what our lives might have been like without Him, and observe the lives of people who are secular or who reject God’s existence altogether. Remember Paul’s God-breathed words in RO 7: 23-25 when he was discussing the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. “But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15