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Ark of God and the Fortunes of Israel
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unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like
men, and fight. And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten,
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and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great
slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the
ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were slain.”
The Philistines thought that this ark was the Israelites’ god. They
knew not that the living God, who created the heavens and the earth,
and gave His law upon Sinai, sent prosperity and adversity according
to the obedience or transgression of His law contained in the sacred
chest.
There was a very great slaughter in Israel. Eli was sitting by the
wayside, watching with a trembling heart to receive news from the
army. He was afraid that the ark of God might be taken and polluted
by the Philistine host. A messenger from the army ran to Shiloh and
informed Eli that his two sons had been slain. He could bear this
with a degree of calmness, for he had reason to expect it. But when
the messenger added, “And the ark of God is taken,” Eli wavered
in anguish upon his seat and fell backward and died. He shared the
wrath of God which came upon his sons. He was guilty in a great
measure of their transgressions, because he had criminally neglected
to restrain them. The capture of the ark of God by the Philistines
was considered the greatest calamity which could befall Israel. The
wife of Phinehas, as she was about to die, named her child Ichabod,
saying, “The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God
was taken.”
In the Land of the Philistines
God permitted His ark to be taken by their enemies, to show
Israel how vain it was to trust in the ark, the symbol of His presence,
while they were profaning the commandments contained in the ark.
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God would humble them by removing from them that sacred ark,
their boasted strength and confidence.
The Philistines were triumphant, because they had, as they
thought, the famous God of the Israelites, which had performed
such wonders for them and had made them a terror to their enemies.
They took the ark of God to Ashdod and set it in a splendid temple,