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From Eternity Past
stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt
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offering unto the Lord.” The Philistines had followed the ark “unto the
border of Beth-shemesh” and had witnessed its reception. The plague
had ceased, and they were convinced that their calamities had been a
judgment from the God of Israel.
The People of Israel Do Worse Than the Philistines
The men of Beth-shemesh quickly spread the tidings that the ark
was in their possession, and the people from the surrounding coun-
try flocked to welcome its return. Sacrifices were offered. Had the
worshipers repented of their sins, God’s blessing would have attended
them. But while they rejoiced at the return of the ark as a harbinger
of good, they had no true sense of its sacredness. They permitted it to
remain in the harvest field. As they continued to gaze upon the sacred
chest, they began to conjecture wherein lay its peculiar power. At last,
overcome by curiosity, they removed the coverings and ventured to
open it.
Israel had been taught to regard the ark with awe and reverence.
Only once a year was the high priest permitted to behold the ark of God.
Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings.
Angels of heaven, unseen, ever attended it in all its journeyings. The
irreverent daring of the people at Beth-shemesh was speedily punished.
Many were smitten with sudden death.
The survivors were not led by this judgment to repent of their sin,
but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. Eager to be free
from its presence, the Beth-shemites sent a message to the inhabitants
of Kirjath-jearim, inviting them to take it away. With joy the men of
this place welcomed the sacred chest and placed it in the house of
Abinadab, a Levite. This man appointed his son Eleazar to take charge
of it, and it remained there for many years.
Samuel’s call to the prophetic office had come to be acknowledged
by the whole nation. By faithfully delivering the divine warning to
the house of Eli, painful and trying as the duty had been, Samuel had
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given proof of his fidelity; “and the Lord was with him, and did let
none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to
Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the
Lord.”