The First Book Of Samuel. Day 18, The Philistines Attack Israel Again

After seventy men of Beth Shemesh irreverently looked into the ark of the covenant and were struck dead, the ark was removed to Kiriath-Jearim where it would remain for the next twenty years. The Bible does not tell us why it wasn't returned to Shiloh and placed back inside the tabernacle. But it will remain at Kiriath-Jearim for the majority of the lifetime of Samuel.

We have not seen Samuel mentioned since Chapter 4. It is believed that he was not consulted by the elders when they decided to take the ark into the battle during which it was captured by the Philistines. If he was consulted, his advice must have been disregarded. But now that the ark is back within Israelite territory, we are told, "Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord." (1 Samuel 7:2a) Previously we found an attitude of taking the Lord for granted and of attempting to use the ark as a good luck talisman. But now a widescale attitude of repentance prevails. It is during this time that Samuel is brought back into the text.

"So Samuel said to all the Israelites, 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.' So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths and served the Lord only." (1 Samuel 7:3-4) The main reason for allowing the people to fall under Philistine oppression at this time is the same reason as in the past when they fell under the oppression of various enemies: idolatry has crept into the nation. I believe there was private idolatry taking place involving the installation of "household gods" in many of the homes. And I believe there was public idolatry taking place, with the setting up of idols in the public squares (as the father of Gideon did in Judges 6, for example) and pagan ceremonies and pagan feasts. Now, seeing that a spiritual revival is taking place, Samuel calls upon the people to renounce idolatry, individually and as a nation.

"Then Samuel said, 'Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.' When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, 'We have sinned against the Lord.' Now Samuel was serving as leader at Mizpah." (1 Samuel 7:5-6) The pouring out of water likely symbolizes the pouring out of their hearts and souls to the Lord. Attached to this action is a sense of surrender: the pouring out of themselves as an offering before God in submission to Him as Lord of their lives. 

While the people are gathered at Mizpah on this solemn occasion, the Philistines decide to attack them. "When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them." (1 Samuel 7:7a) We don't know why the Philistines chose this particular time and place to engage the Israelites in battle. When the Bible says "all Israel" is assembled at Mizpah, I think it probably means that representatives from every part of the nation have come together. It does not seem possible or practical that every citizen of the nation gathered together at the same time; we are talking about millions of people. Perhaps the Philistines viewed the gathering at Mizpah (located approximately eight to ten miles north of Jerusalem) as a good opportunity to slaughter the representatives of all the clans of Israel. Or perhaps the Philistines wrongly assumed that the leaders had assembled at Mizpah to plan to wage war with them. Or it could be that they believed the Israelites were vulnerable to attack while they wept and fasted at Mizpah. 

The rulers of the Philistines numbered five in all, according to earlier passages of the book of 1 Samuel, so when the Bible tells us that the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them, it means that each of these five men came up with a large number of soldiers. We don't know how many Israelites were gathered at Mizpah but they are evidently outnumbered by the approaching Philistines. "When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, 'Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.'" (1 Samuel 7:7b-8)

The people feel the Lord will hear Samuel even if He doesn't hear them. Their regret over sin and idolatry may be causing them to give in to doubt that the Lord will answer them, so they ask Samuel to intercede on their behalf. There are times in life when, even if we have not been living in opposition to the Lord, we may be unable to pray for ourselves and will need others to pray for us. An example of that would be when in extreme distress after receiving bad news. The Israelites, in today's text, have just received bad news: the Philistines are on their way to attack them. Their thoughts are scattered by the anxiety this news produces. They may be clinging to "false guilt" after repenting of sins and this false guilt is preventing them from feeling like they can ask God for help. Whatever is the reason for them asking Samuel to intercede, he doesn't preach them a sermon on praying with confidence. He doesn't chastise them for experiencing doubts and fears. That would not be helpful under these time-constrained circumstances. He immediately takes action instead. "Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him." (1 Samuel 7:9)

At Mizpah we've been told that the people poured water out before the Lord while they fasted and prayed and confessed their sins. But we have not been told they made a sacrifice for atonement. They likely intended to do so but news of the approaching Philistines reached them first. Samuel sacrifices a lamb for atonement for their sins because, as the Apostle Paul worded it, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22) The Israelites confessed their sins but, since "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a), a price must be paid for their sins. It must be atoned for by blood. It must be redeemed by blood. The law allows for a substitute to stand in the place of man to atone for sin and that is why a lamb dies a substitutionary death for the people in our text today. This is why the Lamb of God, perfect and holy and spotless, died a substitutionary death for us! This is why you and I can confess our sins to the Lord today and receive forgiveness without our own blood being shed for our sins and without having to sacrifice an animal so its blood can symbolically atone for our sins. One perfect sacrifice was made for us, once and for all, by the Lamb of God. When we repent of sins and confess them to God the Father, we are doing it with the understanding that it is nothing but the blood of God the Son that makes us forgiven and righteous in the sight of a holy God.

"While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.'" (1 Samuel 7:10-12) The word "ebenezer" means "stone of help".

Earlier in the book of 1 Samuel the Israelites lost their fight against the Philistines because their hearts weren't wholly committed to the Lord. But now they have cast aside their idols and have given their allegiance fully to Him, so He grants them a mighty victory. Something we should take note of is that the Philistines attacked Israel both when they were living in disobedience to the Lord and when they were living in obedience to the Lord. Trouble comes at us in this fallen world when we are doing wrong and even sometimes when we are doing right. The difference is that, when we're living in obedience to the Lord, we are in a position to prosper through our circumstances. We are in a position to learn about the Lord, to be strengthened in the Lord, and to achieve victory in the Lord---whether that victory is spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, or financial. Whether or not He causes our circumstances to turn out the way we want, He intends to use our circumstances for our good somehow. (Romans 8:28) 

I've been through a number of things in my fifty-two years on earth that I would have preferred not to go through. The only thing I wanted was for the Lord to make the troubles go away. But in looking back on them, although I wouldn't want to endure those same things again, I can see that the Lord caused good things to come out of those difficult times. I can see that He used those times to increase my faith. So when we see the Philistines coming against the Israelites in our passage today after they've repented of their sins, it's not because the Lord is punishing the Israelites. It's because they really need a big boost to their faith right now. When He intervenes on their behalf and throws the enemy army into panic and confusion, the people's doubts are lifted. Their faith is strengthened. Their confidence in the Lord is restored. They are no longer clinging to guilt over the past and feeling afraid that He will never fight on their side again. They've just seen Him fighting on their side! 

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 17, The Philistines Return The Ark To Israel, Part Three

We conclude Chapter 6 today with the arrival of the ark of the covenant at Beth Shemesh. The Philistines reluctantly decided they must return it to the Israelites after a plague struck the three Philistine cities where they attempted to store it. Because they were still not quite willing to let it go, their pagan priests and occult diviners devised a test to prove whether or not the plagues were a result of possessing the ark, as if they needed any more proof. 

The test involved placing the ark on a new cart and selecting two cows who had never worn a yoke before. It would be normal for cows who had never worn a yoke to resist wearing it and to refuse to pull a cart. In order to get them to pull the cart back to Israel, the Lord would have to direct their steps. The second part of the test involved these cows being nursing mothers and having their calves separated from them and placed in a pen. It would go against nature for the cows to leave their offspring behind, therefore causing the Lord to have to command them to do so. The religious leaders of the Philistines stated that if the cows submitted to the yoke and were willing to pull the cart, and if they were willing to leave their young behind, and if they headed straight down the roadway toward Israelite territory and delivered the ark back to the Israelites, "Then the Lord has brought this disaster on us." If the cows struggled against wearing the yoke, refused to walk away from their young, and did not set out for Israelite territory, then, "We will know it was not His hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance." This would allow them to keep the ark. 

When we concluded the middle portion of Chapter 6 we learned that the cows immediately began pulling the cart toward the closest Israelite settlement. The God who created cows is certainly able to command them to do as He wants. The cows recognize the voice of their Creator and obey Him. Out of everything the Lord created---the entire universe and everything in it---it is only man who ever refuses His instructions. 

The men of Beth Shemesh were threshing wheat when they heard the cows lowing and looked up to see the approaching cart with the ark of the covenant on it. "They rejoiced at the sight. The ark came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord." (1 Samuel 6:13b-15) 

Prior to losing the ark in a battle with the Philistines, we witnessed a spiritual decline taking place in the nation during the era of the judges, and it would appear that the people had perhaps begun to take the Lord for granted. The ark was taken into battle not upon command of the Lord, as it had been a couple of times previously in the Old Testament, but because the elders of Israel wanted to use it as a good luck charm. They did not believe the Lord would allow a battle to be lost if the ark was involved. They were essentially putting the Lord to the test in doing this because they believed He would have to defend the honor of His name by protecting the ark and refusing to allow the Israelites to be defeated. They couldn't imagine Him letting the heathen Philistines lay their unclean hands on the ark or letting them blaspheme His name by claiming that their gods had given them victory over the God of Israel. But the Lord had to teach them not to take His power and protection for granted. He let the ark be captured to remind them that the promise of blessings in the land were conditional upon their obedience to Him. To teach this lesson He allowed them to be defeated and He allowed the Philistines to capture the ark. 

To use the expression "killing two birds with one stone", the Lord offered the Philistines an opportunity to accept Him as Lord while they had the ark. He destroyed their idolatrous image of Dagon and caused it to bow before the ark. But the Philistines refused to repent, instead doubling down on their idolatry. So the Lord sent a plague, displaying His power over the natural world and over mankind. But still the Philistines refused to repent and acknowledge Him as Lord. Their reluctance to part with what they considered a war trophy and their reluctance to accept that the plague was from the hand of the Lord is symbolic of their reluctance to turn away from sin. They wanted to cling to their mode of spiritual living at all costs and were only persuaded to part with the ark when their heathen spiritual advisers told them they must get rid of it before their whole nation perished. 

The chief leaders of the Philistines watched from a distance as the cart made its arrival at Beth Shemesh and as the people rejoiced. "The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and returned the same day to Ekron." (1 Samuel 6:16) They were forced to accept that they weren't going to be able to keep the ark. But they didn't change their ways. They went home to Ekron and went back to their usual way of life.

The Philistines' spiritual advisers had directed them to send a guilt offering to appease the Lord which consisted of a chest with five gold tumors inside it (to represent the symptoms of the plague) and five gold rats inside it (to represent the rats that showed up at the same time as the plague). The Israelites open the chest to see what's inside it. "These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord---one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. And the number of gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers---the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the covenant is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh." (1 Samuel 6:16-18) 

There were Levites living at Beth Shemesh. You'll recall that the Levites weren't given swaths of territory in the promised land like the other tribes but were given cities to live in along with the surrounding pasturelands. The Israelites do the correct thing by having the Levites take the ark down from the cart; no one else was ever to handle the ark and even then it could only be carried by its poles. But something goes horribly wrong next. It appears as if not everyone has taken the lesson of losing the ark to heart. It would seem that not everyone regards the Lord (and the ark by extension) as holy. Some of the men of Beth Shemesh disobey the Lord by having physical contact with the ark. Not only do they touch it, but they irreverently look inside it. "But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them." (1 Samuel 6:19) 

We find the Lord holding the Israelites to a higher standard than the Philistines, and rightly so. No doubt some of the Philistines handled the ark all over and looked inside it. We know for a fact they transported it by cart which the Lord forbade the Israelites to ever do. But the Philistines didn't know the rules regarding the ark. The Lord had not personally spoken to them through Moses, as He did to the Israelites, giving them all the laws and all the commandments and all the regulations regarding the ark and the tabernacle in which it was to be kept. The Lord had not made a covenant with the Philistines as He did with the Israelites. The Philistines are guilty for not honoring God as Lord, for they know about Him and have had many opportunities to turn to Him over the centuries, but they aren't held accountable for keeping rules they aren't aware of where the ark is concerned. The Israelites, however, do know that no one but a specific family line of the Levites is ever to have contact with the ark, and even those men are only allowed to carry it by its poles. When some of the men touch the ark and look inside it they are displaying hearts that don't consider the Lord as holy. If they had considered the Lord as holy, they would have considered the object holy that symbolizes His presence among them. This infraction was so severe that the Lord put to death the seventy men who participated in this irreverent act.

Some of the citizens of Beth Shemesh seem to blame the Lord for these deaths. "And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, 'Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?'" (1 Samuel 6:20) They say something like, "This God can't be dealt with. Who can understand what He wants? Who can understand what He does? We need to rid our town of the ark before more bad things happen. Let's send it on to another town." It's not the presence of the ark that brought the trouble into their midst. It's the way some of the men treated the ark. It's sin that caused the Lord's hand of correction to fall heavily on those who didn't revere Him as holy. But instead of using this as an opportunity for repentance and for spiritual revival, they want to pass the ark along to someone else, in essence putting distance between themselves and the Lord.

The ark will be welcome at the next city where it resides. It will be treated with honor there and will remain there for twenty years. "Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, 'The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.' So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time---twenty years in all." (1 Samuel 6:21-1 Samuel 7:1-2) Did the people of Beth Shemesh expect tragedy to befall the men of Kiriath Jearim? Some scholars think so, suggesting they may have had some sort of conflict going with these neighbors. But we can safely assume that the ark was transported to Kiriath Jearim in the proper way, for no misfortune befalls anyone involved in the transport. It is clear that the people of that town welcome the arrival of the ark and that they take great care to treat it with reverence. They regard its presence as a blessing, and indeed this is how anyone who respects the Lord would regard it. They know the Lord doesn't literally live inside the ark but since the ark represents His beautiful covenant with Israel, to treat the ark with respect reflects a heart that is grateful to the Lord for choosing Israel as His covenant people. 

To present ourselves with a modern day example, would a person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ go into a church and vandalize it? Would a person who is thankful for salvation take down the cross hanging behind the altar and break it into pieces and burn it in a fire? Would someone who believes the holy word of God take a Bible and pull the pages out and tear them into pieces? No, because we love the Lord whom these objects represent. So we see that, although the people understood that the Lord didn't live inside the ark just as you and I understand that Jesus Christ doesn't live inside a church building, to treat with scorn anything that symbolizes the Lord's love and power and protection is to display a heart that regards the Lord with scorn. 

In our text today we found a percentage of people not giving the Lord the reverence that is due Him. By and large, though, the majority of the people of Israel will experience a spiritual revival as we'll be informed in tomorrow's passage. The loss of the battle to the Philistines was difficult to accept. The seventh-month absence of the ark was difficult to accept. The death of seventy men who disrespected the Lord was difficult to accept. But all these things will accomplish something good for the nation as a whole: most of the people will renew their commitment to the Lord. 

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 16, The Philistines Return The Ark To Israel, Part Two

The priests and diviners of the Philistines are advising them how to return the ark of the covenant to the Israelites. In yesterday's text they said to send the ark back with an offering of gold to the Lord. In today's text they will recommend a "contactless delivery" of the ark.

"Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to Him as a guilt offering." (1 Samuel 6:7-8a) The Lord instructed the Israelites only to transport the ark by its poles but the Philistines can't be expected to know that. At least they show the Lord the respect of placing the ark in a clean new cart. 

The religious leaders are aware that their political leaders are reluctant to part with the ark. The priests and diviners build a final experiment into the method they're devising for returning the ark to the Israelites. They advise having the cart pulled by two cows who are nursing mothers. It would be natural for these momma cows to refuse to leave their calves behind, which is why these religious leaders say the calves are to be separated from their mothers and placed in a pen. It would also be natural for these cows to balk at being in a yoke and pulling a cart since they've never done this before. The experiment is set up so that if the Lord wants the ark back in Israel, He will have to make these cows behave against their natural inclinations.

The religious leaders continue, "Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance." (1 Samuel 6:8b-9) In my opinion the priests and diviners probably know the plague was from the Lord but they are between a rock and a hard place. If their advice doesn't please the leaders of their nation, it could mean their death. The experiments they build into the return of the ark are for the purpose of protecting themselves from blame. 

"So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the borders of Beth Shemesh. Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight." (1 Samuel 6:10-13) These Israelite men are hard at work but when they hear the cattle lowing they look up and, lo and behold, here comes the ark of the covenant on a cart! This must have been a very dramatic moment. This had to be the last thing they expected to see. But, as so often is the case, the Lord turns their day around in an instant. How many times have you been way down in the dumps and then something unexpectedly great happened to you? Or how many times have your circumstances looked hopeless only to have the Lord suddenly come through for you in a big way? 

I was just thinking this morning of a time in my life when a particular situation in my life appeared hopeless. People even kept telling me it was hopeless! I was 90% of the way to believing it was hopeless. The only reason I had 10% of hope left is because I know my God specializes in doing what looks impossible to man. And He did do it, glorifying His name and helping me in my faith and hopefully helping the faith of those who didn't think my particular problem could be solved. Granted, it took three and a half years before I saw the answer to my prayer and the waiting was hard and I wanted to give up many times. I can't help wondering whether the men threshing wheat at Beth Shemesh were feeling pretty low right before the ark appeared. They and all their fellow citizens had probably been wondering, ever since the ark was captured, whether the Lord had deserted them. They may have been on the verge of giving up on ever seeing the ark again. 

I don't know what you might be going through today. As for myself, I'm going through a difficult time that's causing me some worry and anxiety. But it would help us to think back on all the times things worked out for us in the past. Our God has solved so many problems for us up until now! He's provided our needs up until now! It's not as if He's been keeping track of how many times He's helped us so that He can say, "Sorry, you've used up your share of all the prayers I'm ever going to answer for you. You've used up the mercies I allotted for you." No, the holy Bible promises us that the Lord's mercies are new every morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23) It's impossible to use up something that's renewed every single day. When you and I woke up this morning, the Lord had new mercies available to us. It would be doing Him a disservice to doubt it. His character is as faithful as it has always been. That should give us the confidence to approach Him with our requests. David lay his requests before the Lord every morning because He knew the Lord's mercies were new every morning, which is why he said: "In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly." (Psalm 5:3) 

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 15, The Philistines Return The Ark To Israel, Part One

In Chapter 5 a plague struck three different cities where the Philistines tried to store the ark of the covenant. A decision has been made that the ark must be returned to Israel. Today the Philistines begin discussing how the ark is to be returned. Over the last couple of years, since the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, we've become familiar with the concept of "contactless delivery" when ordering things like takeout food, groceries, and so on. In Chapter 6 we'll find the Philistines developing their own method of "contactless delivery" for placing the ark back into the hands of the Israelites, but first they will be advised by their religious counselors that a special offering must be sent along with the ark. 

"When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, 'What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place." (1 Samuel 6:1-2) It took seven months for the Philistines to reluctantly conclude that they weren't going to be able to keep what they considered the best war trophy of all time. It took months of illness and death in three cities before they believed possession of the ark was causing the judgment of the Lord to fall upon them. Now that they realize they have no choice but to return it, they ask their own religious leaders for advice about handling this religious object.

Surprisingly, these pagan priests and ministers of divination render very wise advice. Perhaps they should have been consulted much earlier on and then the death toll in Philistia might not have been so high. The heathen religious leaders of the Philistines display far more wisdom than their political leaders did. "They answered, 'If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it back to Him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to Him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why His hand has not been lifted from you.'" (1 Samuel 6:3) The men believe that the God of Israel exists, though they do not believe He is the only god. They acknowledge that the Philistines have offended Him by the taking of the ark and they understand that the plague in Philistia is a result of their possession of the ark. It must be sent back to Israel but not without an offering that they hope will appease the Lord. 

The type of guilt offering they will recommend sending is not the type of guilt offering the God of Israel accepts for atonement of sin, but the Philistines are not repenting of sin in the manner in which we understand repentance. They're not asking Him to save their souls. Their offering is just an admission that they've offended Him and it's a request that He would remove the plague from them in exchange for the return of the ark. The offering will be of gold and it's the type of offering they might make to their heathen gods in hopes of having a request granted. Still, though, in advising the people to send an offering, the pagan priests and diviners are showing a greater awareness of the power of the Lord and a greater respect for Him than the majority of their countrymen have shown. "The Philistines asked, 'What guilt offering should we send to Him?' They replied, 'Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel's god. Perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.'" (1 Samuel 6:4-5)

Here we learn that the country is being overrun with rats at the same time that the people are suffering from a plague. This is why the theory has so often been put forward that the disease which afflicted the Philistines was the bubonic plague. The "tumors", therefore, would have been the very painful swellings known as "buboes". The religious leaders go on to say something that might, or might not, be a reference to the plague of boils that struck the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. "Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel's God dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?" (1 Samuel 6:6) 

The Egyptian plague of boils took place in Exodus 9 when, yet again, Pharaoh refused to let the Lord's people go. Whether or not those painful boils were the bubonic plague is difficult to say, as there is no mention of rats associated with the malady of Exodus 9. The religious leaders of the Philistines may not be saying that Philistia and Egypt experienced the same plague but might simply be issuing a warning like this: "Remember how Israel's God sent a number of plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go? Do you want that to happen here? So far we've experienced only one plague but history tells us that He's capable of sending more than one type of judgment on those who have offended Him. If you persist in hanging on to the ark, more plagues may emerge like they did in Egypt. Every day you refuse to send the ark back is a day in which another calamity might strike us. Our nation could fall. We could all die. Let's take a lesson from what happened in Egypt due to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. Let's send the ark back before anything else happens."

The words of the priests and diviners leave us with no doubt that they and all the Philistines are very familiar with the acts of the Lord on behalf of His people Israel. They know He exists. They know He is powerful. They know He put the numerous gods of Egypt to shame. They know that Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth during the time of the exodus, was almost wiped off the map by the plagues the Lord sent because Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go. If Egypt could not stand before this God, Philistia cannot. And yet we don't find the Philistines experiencing a change of heart where the Lord is concerned; they do not forsake their useless idolatry and turn to Him. The Lord has demonstrated, in ways that cannot be denied, that He is Lord of lords. He has shown that He has all power over the earth He created. Yet the Philistines don't accept Him as their Creator and God. They know a great deal about Him but continue to reject Him. They can never stand before His throne of judgment and plead ignorance of Him or of His holiness and His power and His majesty. 

The Apostle Paul spoke about the inability of pagan idolaters (who never forsook their idolatry) to stand before the Lord and plead ignorance on judgment day. He stated that no one who has ever lived can legitimately say that they were given no opportunity to recognize that there must be a God and that He is worthy to be worshiped. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---His eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they glorified Him not as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:18-23)

The Philistines of Chapter 6 cannot say that the existence of God has not been made plain to them. As Paul says, they are "without excuse". They will continue to cling to their images of human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles instead of giving their hearts to the One who created human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles. They are among those about whom it can be said, they "worshiped and served things rather than the Creator". (Romans 1:25) Mankind was created with a need for a relationship with the Creator. When man refuses to worship the Creator, he will still worship something, which means he will serve himself and the carnal desires of the flesh or he will serve some type of idol---whether that idol is literally a graven image or whether it is a substance, a relationship, an ambition, a worldly possession, or things of those natures. But he will be without excuse because God has revealed Himself to mankind. 

Even had we not heard of the fame of the Lord, He has revealed Himself to us through the creation in all its wonder and complexity. The very creation itself testifies to the existence of a Creator. And if that Creator is capable of calling the entire universe and everything in it into existence out of nothing, isn't He worthy to be worshiped as God? Isn't He worthy to be worshiped as the only God? For there is no evidence of any other.

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 14, A Plague Befalls The Philistines For Possessing The Ark

In Friday's study we learned the Philistines placed the ark of the covenant in a pagan temple at Ashdod devoted to the false god Dagon. Two mornings in a row they found the statue of Dagon fallen facedown in front of the ark in a posture of worship. The second time the statue fell, its head and hands broke off. But still the Philistines didn't fear the Lord. They didn't turn away from useless idolatry and give their hearts to the one and only God. They didn't reverently fear Him. Instead they treated the threshold, where the statue fell, as a sacred spot. They actually "doubled down" on their idolatry, as we noted yesterday. As the familiar saying goes, "There is none so blind as those who will not see." Or as the Lord phrased it through Jeremiah the prophet, those who refuse to reverence Him "have eyes but do not see". (Jeremiah 5:21) 

The Philistines are being deliberately blind to the truth. The Lord has shown them mercy by displaying His power over their false god Dagon. This was an opportunity to repent and be saved by faith. But instead they burrowed even deeper into idolatry. The Lord will bring troubles on them for possessing the ark and for having no respect for the God it symbolizes. He will display His power and glory, and even though most or all of the Philistines will never bow their knees to Him, they can never say they were ignorant of His existence.

"The Lord's hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; He brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors." (1 Samuel 5:6) We typically think of cancer when we think of tumors but many modern scholars and medical professionals believe the Philistines were afflicted with "buboes": the painful swellings that occur in those with bubonic plague. A number of times in the Bible we find people dying of plagues but the symptoms of these plagues are not usually provided to us. Most times we can't even make a reasonably accurate guess as to what befell them. But as we continue moving on through the book of 1 Samuel we will learn that at the same time the "tumors" appeared on the people, a plague of rats also appeared in the territory of the Philistines. The fleas and lice that infest rats and other wild rodents can spread bubonic plague to humans when these parasites bite humans.

The Philistines at Ashdod are suffering and they call the leadership together to discuss what to do. "When the people at Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, 'The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.' So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, 'What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?' They answered, 'Have the ark of the God of Israel moved to Gath.' So they moved the ark of the God of Israel." (1 Samuel 5:7-8) Why did they think moving the ark would help? Wouldn't it have made more sense to return it to the Israelites? In my background study I found the theory that the Philistines were conducting a test. If they moved the ark to Gath and no illness broke out there, they could conclude that it was just a coincidence that the plague fell at Ashdod while the ark was at the temple of Dagon. 

"But after they had moved it, the Lord's hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors." (1 Samuel 5:9) You would think this would be enough to convince the Philistines that the plague is the judgment of God. But it doesn't. Just as they stubbornly refused to believe the Lord caused the statue of Dagon to bow before the ark, they stubbornly refuse to accept the results of their test. The leaders of the Philistines decide to run the test again. "So they sent the ark of God to Ekron." (1 Samuel 5:10a)

The people at Ekron don't want to be a part of this experiment. When they see the ark approaching their city, they cry out in fear because they've heard about what happened when the ark was at Gath and at Ashdod. "As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, 'They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to kill us and all our people.'" (1 Samuel 5:10b) The leaders of the Philistines will continue conducting their deadly experiment in spite of the people's protests but we don't want to miss the fact that no one (that we're aware of) at Ekron or at Gath or at Ashdod acknowledged God as the Lord. They believe He exists; they can hardly deny it at this point. But they believe He is merely one of many gods. They keep referring to Him as "the God of Israel" but never as their own God. They have not accepted that He is the only God. They have not turned from idolatry and accepted Him as their Savior. Had a large percentage of the population in any of these three cities repented and turned to the Lord, I believe His response would have been to lift the plague. Had the people of Ekron cried out to the Lord for salvation when they saw the ark approaching their city, I believe the plague would not have even begun there. But instead what the people of Ekron do is appeal to the leaders of the Philistines to send the ark back to the Israelites. 

"So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, 'Send the ark of the God of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.' For death had filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy on it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven." (1 Samuel 5:11-12) They reject the Lord as their Lord. They convince themselves that He's only doing what one of their own gods would do. For example, if another culture came in and took away a statue of Dagon or objects used in his worship, the Philistines believe Dagon would pour out his wrath on whoever was in possession of such objects. They're wrong, of course, and their stubbornness is difficult to understand after they witnessed Dagon's inability to protect his own statue in his own temple earlier in Chapter 5, but they are determined to remain willfully blind to the truth. They call for their leaders and say to them: "It's time to put a stop to these experiments before our entire nation is wiped out! What more evidence do we need that this plague is connected with the ark? The God of the Israelites is angry that His ark is in the hands of people other than the Israelites. We would expect our own gods to be angry if their images were carried off by another nation, wouldn't we? Wouldn't our gods afflict those people with a plague to make them bring our objects of worship back? Let's send the ark back to the Israelites immediately and end our dealings with the God of Israel. He will leave us alone and we'll never have to think about Him again."

On judgment day the Philistines who lived during the times described for us in Chapter 5 will be unable to claim that the Lord never displayed His mighty power among them or put to shame their false religion. They will never be able to accuse Him of not making Himself known to them and giving them an opportunity to repent and be saved. And it's not only the generation of Philistines of Chapter 5 to whom He revealed Himself. The Philistines will continue to pester the Israelites for some time to come in the Old Testament and they will witness, over and over, how mightily the Lord works on behalf of Israel. There may have been cases of individual repentance among the Philistines, but we will not find them turning to the Lord on a national scale. If any individuals in Ashdod, Gath, or Ekron from today's text turned to the Lord, the Lord very well may have spared their lives during the plague. The author of 1 Samuel would not be likely to know any personal stories like this to be able to relay them to us. But what we do know is that, by and large, all the Philistines really wanted was to put distance between themselves and the Lord and that involves getting His ark out of their territory. They want nothing to do with Him; they just want to hand the ark back over to the Israelites in a manner that won't cause the Israelites to engage them in battle. In tomorrow's text we'll find them planning a "contactless" method of putting the ark back into Israelite hands.

As we conclude today's study I'm reminded of what Governor Felix said to the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts when Paul was making his defense before him. After hearing Paul explain what the gospel message was and why he was preaching it, the Bible says Felix trembled in fear. Felix was under conviction when he heard the gospel message and was on the verge of accepting the Lord, but instead of making a life-changing and soul-saving decision he sent Paul out of his presence so he would not have to hear any more. (Acts 24:25) I think the Philistines found themselves in the same position as Felix when the ark was among them. They were so close to a saving knowledge of the Lord but they rejected Him instead. They did not want to see or hear any more of the God of Israel because that would cause them to have to do something about what they knew of the God of Israel. They could have become members of the family of God but they chose instead to cling to their idols and remain, as Paul described heathen Gentiles, "dead in transgressions and sins", "deserving of wrath", "excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world". (Ephesians 2:1,3,12)

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 13, The Ark In The Temple Of Dagon: A Dramatic Showdown

In Chapter 4 the Israelites suffered a crushing defeat in their conflict with the Philistines. The Philistines killed 34,000 soldiers of Israel, along with the two priests Hophni and Phinehas, and captured the ark of the covenant. Today we learn that the Philistines took the Lord's ark and set it up in the temple of one of their pagan gods.

It was an ancient custom to take an object or objects that belonged to a defeated person or army and to put such items on public display or to give those objects as an offering to a god. The Philistines give the credit for their victory to their god Dagon and they place the ark in his temple at Ashdod as thanks for his supposed help in the battle. Another reason for doing such a thing was probably to symbolize their belief that Dagon of the Philistines was superior to the God of Israel. Their actions are intended to show that the God of Israel has been humbled by the god of the Philistines. 

But Dagon doesn't exist and the only reason the Philistines were victorious in battle over the Israelites is because the Lord allowed it to happen due to what we've been referring to as a "spiritual decline" among the nation's religious and political leaders and among the general populace. As you'll recall from the book of Judges, in at least one Israelite city the behavior of some of the people had sunk to the level of that of Sodom and Gomorrah. We've learned from the book of 1 Samuel that corruption has entered the priesthood. We've learned that the elders of Israel made a battle decision without consulting the Lord: the elders of Israel voted to send the ark to the battlefield as a good luck talisman after losing 4,000 men in the first skirmish with the Philistines. Instead of bowing on their knees and praying and asking the Lord why the first defeat occurred, and thus allowing Him to reveal things that needed to be repented of, they decided to take the ark to battle because they thought the Lord would have to defend the honor of His name. But the Lord is far more concerned with the condition of people's souls than with the honor of His name. 

He doesn't need man's help in defending His holy name; He will defend the honor of His name when it needs defending, as He will do in today's passage, but He will not do it on man's command or in man's way. He allowed defeat in battle and He allowed the ark to be taken so that those in the nation who have gotten spiritually off track will humble themselves before Him and repent. When man lifts himself up in pride against the Lord, the Lord must humble him. But when man humbles himself and lifts the Lord up, the Lord lifts man up. The Apostle Peter wisely advises us, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." (1 Peter 5:6)

The Philistines believe they've gotten the upper hand over Israel. In a celebratory spirit, they carry the ark to the city of Ashdod and place it before an image of their god Dagon who is believed to have been represented by a figure that is half man and half fish. "After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!" (1 Samuel 5:1-3a) 

The Lord will glorify His name even when man does not. When the Philistines go to the temple the next morning, perhaps to bring thanks offering to Dagon or to conduct some type of ceremony there, they find the symbol of their god bowing to the object that symbolizes the God of Israel. Although there is only one God and no others have ever existed or ever will, idolatry has the powers of darkness behind it. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Christian church at Corinth, compared idolatry with the worship of demons, saying that offerings made to idols were offerings made to demons and referring to idolatrous feasts as "the table of demons". Dagon was not real and could not do anything for or against the Philistines who worshiped him but what he stood for is real: the sin of idolatry and the demonic influences of idolatry. When the statue of Dagon falls prostrate before the ark of the covenant I believe we are seeing something Jesus' brother James spoke about when he said the demons believe in God and shudder at the thought of Him. (James 2:19) The spiritual forces of darkness that are behind the sinful worship of Dagon are compelled to grovel before the ark of the one true God.

The Philistines don't take this sight to heart. They aren't overcome with fear and trembling at the thought of Israel's God. They evidently attribute the fall of Dagon to some sort of natural cause and set him back up. "They took Dagon and put him back in his place." (1 Samuel 5:3b) 

The same thing happens again but this time it's even more dramatic. "But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained." (1 Samuel 5:4) Dagon is once again bowing before the Lord but this time he fell facedown so hard that his head and hands broke off.

When the Philistines took the ark of the Lord and placed it in the house of Dagon, they were mocking the God of Israel. But, oh, how the tables have turned! The God of Israel has made a mockery of this useless idol. Dagon had never done anything for anyone, not even when he still had his head and his hands, and now the Lord has proven that Dagon wasn't able to protect his own statue. If a "god" can't even keep his own statue standing upright or prevent it from being broken in pieces, what can this "god" do for mankind? Nothing! 

The Lord is giving the Philistines an opportunity to take this sight to heart and turn from idolatry to the living God. If they had fallen facedown before the Lord, as their statue did, and if they had repented of their sins and called upon the Lord for salvation, everything would have turned around for the better for them. Their lives on earth would have been better by having the Lord with them and they would have gained the assurance of eternal life in His presence. Sadly, they don't take the Lord's display of His power to heart. Instead, bizarre as it may seem and against all common sense, they consider the threshold holy where Dagon's head and hands fell! "That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold." (1 Samuel 5:5) They actually revere this spot in the heathen temple. They treat the place of brokenness as something holy. They "double down", as the saying goes, on their idolatry. The prophet Zephaniah will make reference to this practice in Zephaniah 1:9 during a time when many of the people of Israel have fallen into idolatry, for they apparently took up the heathen practice of leaping across thresholds in heathen temples rather than stepping on the thresholds.

Many more dramatic things are going to take place due to the Philistines having the ark in their possession. But we'll close today with the thought of picking up idols. The Philistines picked up the fallen statue of Dagon twice: the first time while it was still intact and the second time when it was certainly the worse for wear. You and I may never have literally bowed on our knees before a graven image but idolatry takes different forms. Whatever form it takes, it will have a hold on our lives, so much so that we will find it difficult to lay it down and walk away from it---so difficult that we may lay it down over and over only to pick it back up again and again. It might be a bad habit or a temptation. It might be a wrong attitude or a tendency to have obsessive fears or doubts. Whatever that thing is, it's doing us no good, and it becomes the worse for wear as time goes on. Just as the statue of Dagon became less valuable as time went on in today's text, our idols are of less and less use to us as time goes on. Every time we pick that useless thing back up, we are figuratively bowing to it. 

There are things I struggle with and I'm sure there are things you struggle with too. It may not be the type of thing we typically think of as a sin, such as stealing or committing adultery. It may be other forms of disobedience, such as giving in to fears and worries when the Lord has specifically told us time and again in His word not to fear and not to worry. I'm going to go ahead and admit to you that worry is one of my biggest faults. It's something I struggle with a lot. I'm struggling with it right now because of a routine medical test that came back indicating I need further, more invasive testing. I've almost given in to panic several times over the past couple of days even though I know fear doesn't come from the Lord and the Lord doesn't want His children living in fear. Sitting here thinking about all the "what ifs" and feeling like life is spiraling out of control is doing nothing for me except taking away the peace the Lord wants me to have. It's doing nothing but taking my focus off the Lord and placing it on something that may turn out to be nothing. And even if it doesn't turn out to be nothing, it won't be something that's bigger than my God! I don't know whether fear and doubt and worry are the things you struggle with or whether your challenges are something else entirely, but I do think that the more often we bow to the Lord the less often we'll bow at the altars of fear or temptation or bad habits or whatever it may be. We can take a lesson from the mistakes of the Philistines in today's passage. Let's not treat as holy the things that are dragging us down. Let's not cling to them. Instead let us cling to the God who created us, who loves us, and who does mighty things on our behalf!

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 12, The Death Of Eli The High Priest

In yesterday's passage the Philistines defeated the Israelites in battle and captured the ark of the covenant. They killed thirty thousand Israelite soldiers along with Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli the high priest. A messenger runs to Shiloh with the bad news.

"That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry." (1 Samuel 4:12-13) This man has torn his clothes and thrown dust on his head in an expression of great anguish. As he approaches Shiloh, Eli is sitting in a chair by the road, waiting for news. Eli is seated because he is old and because he is morbidly obese, as we'll learn later in today's text. He's in a state of great anxiety over the safety of the ark. Though his physical infirmities and near-blindness have caused him to fail to harshly correct the sinful behavior of his sons, Eli loves the Lord. His primary focus as he awaits news of the battle is on the ark, not on the safety of his two sons. Certainly he realizes that if the ark is captured it means that Hophni and Phinehas, who accompanied the ark, are likely dead. But he loves the Lord above everyone and everything else. We don't want to miss the fact that although the elderly priest has made some mistakes in life (and who doesn't?) his heart genuinely belongs to the Lord.

"Eli heard the outcry and asked, 'What is the meaning of this uproar?'" (1 Samuel 4:14a) I think Eli's hearing is not so great by this time either since he has difficulty distinguishing a cry of grief from a shout of victory. "The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. He told Eli, 'I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.' Eli asked, 'What happened, my son?' The man who brought the news replied, 'Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.'" (1 Samuel 4:14b-17) Eli could scarcely have heard worse news. There's nothing positive at all in the man's report.

Eli knew it was wrong to take the ark to the battle but I believe the decision was made by the elders of Israel without Eli's consent or approval. He had a bad feeling about it, which is why his heart has been in turmoil the whole time the ark has been gone. Now he finds his fears are confirmed. The shock is so great that he either faints or loses the strength to continue holding himself upright. "When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years." (1 Samuel 4:18) The fall backwards evidently breaks his neck and kills him instantly, for he is old and his bones are brittle and the very heavy weight of his body causes him to hit the ground with a fatal thud. 

You'll recall that we were told earlier in the book of 1 Samuel that the wicked Hophni and Phinehas were in the habit of sleeping with some of the women they met who served at the entrance to the tabernacle. In today's text we learn that these priests not only seduced women into sexual immorality but that they were married men (Phinehas was for sure and Hophni almost certainly was too) and therefore they were committing adultery against their wives. For a Levite to be a priest he had to be at least thirty years old so we know these two men were over thirty. Since Hophni is always mentioned before Phinehas, he is believed to be the older of the two brothers. This means that, even though the Bible only mentions Phinehas' wife, we can safely conclude that Hophni was a married man as well. 

Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, goes into labor when she hears the bad news. "His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, 'Don't despair; you have given birth to a son.' But she did not respond or pay any attention. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, 'The Glory has departed from Israel'---because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, 'The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.'" (1 Samuel 4:19-22) With her dying breath this woman gives her son a name that expresses her sorrow; his name means "no glory". It's a terrible name with which to saddle a child. It's a name bestowed in an attitude of despair. Phinehas' wife departs this world erroneously believing that the "Glory" (meaning the Lord Himself and, along with Him, the favor and power and protection of Israel) has left the nation for good. She believes all is lost. 

Her despair may be so great because she realizes Israel's defeat in battle is a result of the wickedness of her husband and his brother and a result of the spiritual decline in the leadership and general population that took place during the era of the judges. She doesn't seem to be blaming the Lord for allowing the defeat to happen or questioning why He allowed it to happen. She has been married to Phinehas for some time, long enough to already have another son by him---Ahitub who will succeed him as priest. She is probably very well aware of the sinful character of her husband and his brother Hophni. She is aware of incidents of lawlessness taking place in the nation, such as some of those we studied in the book of Judges, and she knows that it is a time in which everyone is doing as he sees fit (doing whatever suits him), as the author of Judges kept telling us. She takes the capture of the ark as a sign that the Lord is finished with Israel because of the sins of the leadership and many of the citizens. 

But thanks be to the faithful God of Israel, she is wrong. The Lord has allowed defeat for the purpose of discipline, not for the purpose of allowing the nation and its people to be wiped out. He has not turned His back on Israel and walked away. The book of 1 Samuel begins in a difficult time when most things are going wrong. But that doesn't mean they won't start going right! Even the son she saddled with a terrible name like Ichabod won't allow his difficult start in life to keep him from having hope for the future. We don't know much about Ichabod's life but he is respected and admired enough that his name will be mentioned ahead of his older brother Ahitub, the high priest, in 1 Samuel 14. Ichabod's nephew Ahijah will be known for being the nephew of Ichabod in 1 Samuel 14 and this indicates it was an honor to be known as Ichabod's nephew. If this notoriety was due to any wickedness on Ichabod's part, I believe the Bible would say so, but nothing in the text of 1 Samuel 14 has a negative connotation where Ichabod is concerned. Scholars have taken that to mean Ichabod must have lived a life that honored the Lord, thereby breaking the sinful cycle of his father and uncle and thereby overcoming the sadness associated with the name his mother gave him.

The Glory has not departed from Israel, contrary to what Phinehas' wife believed. The Lord intends to do good things for Israel. He has allowed the current hardship in order to accomplish something of greater good for the nation. The tone of Chapter 4 is dark and gloomy but things are not as they seem. The night may be darkest just before the dawn but that just means light is soon to break through.