God in a Box-- I Samuel 4 (week 2, January 23, 2011)





Hannah, Samuel (age 3) and Eli the Priest

Samuel learned his lessons well in the “house of the Lord”. He learned to read, keep a clean neat living quarters. He learned to serve, respectfully, under those who were in authority over him. In short Samuel grew “before Jehovah”. And he grew in favor with God and man (I Sam 2 v26). This is the same description given of boy Jesus in Luke 2:52. …he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Not so with the priest, Eli’s sons. In verses I Sam chap 2, verses 13 through 17 there is a description of how Eli’s sons were disrespectful of the offerings to the Lord. They brought dishonor to God’s name and also to their position as priests. What was sad also-- Eli knew what was going on. He heard about the corruptness from the people, yet he didn’t take a strong stand against his sons, see v22. Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. Eli’s sons were priests. It was the duty of the priest to intercede for the people. If a person sinned, the priest would offer a sacrifice and ask for forgiveness on behalf of a person. The priest was the intercessor for the people. But, if the priest commits a deplorable sin, then there was no one to intercede. This is explained again in Hebrews 10:26. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. We hear this warning also in Proverbs 29:1.

Ancient art--Philistines

The difference between the time the Bible writer wrote in Proverbs and now, 2011, is Jesus Christ. The people of Samuel's time looked forward to a Savior. They are still under Moses' law, but after Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, we now are in a time of grace---if we confess and repent.



This lesson actually begins with battles raging in the lands of the Israelites.

The Israelites were in a place called Ebenezer. They had just experienced victory. The Philistines (see picture above) were nearby in the city of Aphek. The two armies charged one another and a terrible battle resulted in the death of 4,000 soldiers from Israel. One of the men said, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today?” We often ask this same question when we face tragedy or trouble. So, the people decided they should use God’s most sacred artifact, The Ark of the Covenant” (see above) as a kind of good luck charm and carry it into battle.



See Ekron

Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas, as priests, must accompany The Ark. The Philistines had heard the stories of Moses and his God who brought misery and defeat to opposing armies. At first they trembled but then rallied themselves and charged once more into battle. In the end 30,000 men died and the Ark was captured by pagan armies. The worst of this catastrophe was knowing that God’s Ark was now in the hands of wicked nonbelievers. The Philistines carried the Ark into their temple in the city of Ashdod and placed on a stand near their god Dagon. During the night, Dagon fell to the ground and lay before The Ark. The next day, the Philistines put Dagon back up on his stand, the same thing happened the following night, only this time Dagon, hands, feet and all appendages were broken off. The “god” could not move or touch the lives of the people, but the Israelite God remained in place. From here the Philistines decided they would move The Ark to another city. They wanted nothing to do with this God who was known to bring much trouble to the enemies of Israel. So they transported The Ark from Ashdod to Ekron and from Ekron to Gath. In each place, the Lord’s hand was heavy on those people. They suffered from plagues of tumors and of mice. Finally the people asked the Israelites, “What can we do to be rid of your God”? The priests suggested returning the Ark along with a guilt offering. The guilt offering is given to cover for unintentional sins. It is part of the Levitical laws (Lev 5:14-19.). Using this law, the priests advised the Philistines to load the Ark on a cart pulled by cows that were not used to being beasts of burden and who also were still nursing their caves. The point in this is that the cows most likely would balk and not pull the carts to any useful direction, but instead they did pull the cart directly to the home of a godly Israelite man. It remained at this house until, many years later, David comes to rescue the Ark and bring it back to Jerusalem.

This strange story reminds us that “…humans cannot control God any more than they can stop a hurricane. God will be God. A God who cannot act freely but is manipulated by humans is no God at all. Modern believers may try to control God through their particular interpretations of the Bible, or through prayer formulas they believe will obligate God to action. But God is not a genie in a bottle. (Cartledge, p.15).

Dagon, the pagon god lies broken beside God's sacred ark.

God is not a good luck charm to be carried as a reminder that He’s going to take care of us. He does keep His promises but His perspective of the world is not our perspective. …”people who would never bow before a statue or make-believe god but may fall prey to the worship of materialism, to the acquisition of things or the accumulation of wealth. Some worship career gods, while others give themselves to leisure. To support opulent lifestyles we put ourselves under great stress, and to deal with our stress we take longer and more frequent vacations. These, of course, require more money, which puts us under greater stress, which makes us want to get away even more. When our gods fall down, we keep propping them back up …like the Philistines propped up Dagon. If we want God’s strong hand to comfort us when we are in darkness, to guide us as we walk life’s journey, and to lift us up to a higher plane when this world’s walk is over, we will want to live without any other gods between us.” (Cartledge, p. 17).

Chapter 4, 5, and 6 are a bit unsettling. We are less comfortable with the notion of a deity who will not be trifled with. He expects our respect and for us to show reverence when in His house of worship. God will not bow down to our demands. He will not act or give just because we think we can’t live without a certain position, object, or standard of living. He’s a God who will not be put in a box.

Questions for reflections:

1. Have you ever been disappointed because you had certain expectations of God that were not met?


2. Prosperity preachers promote a gospel of “name it and claim it,” as if God exists to do our bidding. The idea is quite popular. Others who have good educations or come from privileged families maintain an entitlement attitude. A very popular book written by Bruce Wilkinson is called the Prayer of Jabez. It is based on 1 Chronicles 4:10. God did grant Jabez’s prayer request. Does one story in the Bible of one answered prayer mean that all of us are entitled to call on God to give us a guaranteed answer to what we request? What scripture can be used to show the answer to this question?

3. We tell children that they can have Jesus in their hearts. Adults are more likely to speak of having God in their lives. Is there a difference between “having God” and allowing God to have us?

4. If we give anything in our life a higher priority than serving God, we have effectively erected an idol or false god. Can you think of things, people, or aspirations that you have put before God in your life?

5. What gods have been in your life that have let you down? Did you try to prop them up? How did you do that?

6. The people of Israel misused or showed disrespect to the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred symbol of God’s presence. Can you think of ways in which contemporary people trifle with God and disdain what is sacred?