#8 The Ark Captured and Returned

I Samuel 4

The philistines capture the Ark of the covenant

The news of Samuel had spread throughout all Israel.

At that time Israel went out to fight the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. The Philistines went to meet Israel in battle, and as the battle spread, the Philistines defeated Israel. They slew the army of Israel in the field about four thousand men. When the people came together in the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh. When it is here among us, it will save us from our enemies.”

So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwells between the cherubims. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.

When the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a great shout of joy, so loud that the earth shook. The Philistines heard Israel’s shout, and they asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”

Then the Philistines found out that the Ark of the Lord had come into the Hebrew camp.  They were afraid and said, “God has come into the Hebrew camp! We’re in trouble! This has never happened before! How terrible it will be for us! Who can save us from these mighty Gods? These are the Gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.“

But they encouraged their men, and said, “Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men! In the past they were our slaves. So fight like men, or you will become their slaves.”

So the Philistines fought hard and defeated Israel, and every man ran away to his own tent. It was a very great slaughter, about thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell that day. The Ark of God was taken, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also slain.

That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle. He tore his clothes and put dust on his head to show his great sadness. When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli sat upon a seat by the side of the road. He was troubled in his heart and worried about the Ark of God. When the man entered Shiloh, he told the bad news. Then all the people in the city cried loudly, and when Eli heard the crying he asked, “What’s all this noise?”

The man ran to Eli and told him what had happened. Eli was now 98 years old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see. The man told him, “I have come from the battle. I ran all the way here today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

The man answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons are both dead. And the Ark of God has been taken.”

When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He fell beside the gate and broke his neck, because he was old and heavy. And Eli died.

Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was great with child. It was nearly time for her baby to be born. When she heard the news that the Ark of God had been taken, and that Eli, her father-in-law, and Phinehas, her husband, were both dead, she began to give birth to her child.

When the child was born, and as she lay dying, the women who helped her give birth said, “Don’t worry! You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not answer nor pay it any attention. She named the baby Ichabod., and said, “The glory has departed from Israel.” She said this because the Ark of God had been taken, and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 

She said again, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been taken.”

I Samuel 5

The ark of god placed in the temple of dagon

After the Philistines took the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

When the Philistines took the Ark of God they carried it into temple of Dagon and put it next to Dagon.  And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they found that Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the Ark of the LORD. So they took Dagan, and set him back in his place.

The next morning the people of Ashdod rose from sleep. And again they found Dagon on the ground! He had fallen down before the Ark of the Lord. His head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only his body was still in one piece. So, even today, Dagon’s priests and others who enter his temple at Ashdod refuse to step on the doorsill.

  

The Lord punished the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He gave them much trouble, and destroyed them. He struck them, and all those around them with boils and sores on their skin. And when the people of Ashdod saw what was happening. They said, “The Ark of the God of Israel can not stay with us. God is punishing us and Dagon our god.”

Trouble for the philistines

The people of Ashdod, therefore sent for all the lords of the Philistines, and said to them, “What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Move the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath.” So the Philistines moved it to Gath.

But after they had moved it to Gath, the Lord greatly punished that city also. He made the people very afraid. God troubled both the old and young alike, He caused them to have boils and sores on their skin, and in their secret parts.

Therefore the Philistines sent the Ark of God to Ekron.

But when the Ark of God came into Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, and said, “Why are you bringing the Ark of the God of Israel to our city? Do you want to kill us and our people?”

So the people of Ekron called all the lords of the Philistines together, and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its place, so that it does not kill us and our people!”

God’s punishment was very terrible, and there was deadly destruction throughout all the city. The people who did not die were troubled with boils and sores on their skin. And the cry of the city went up to heaven.

I Samuel 6

The philistines return the ark of the lord

The Ark of the LORD was in the land of the Philistines seven months. They called together their priests and magicians, and said, “What shall we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to send it back to his place!” And they said, “If you send back the Ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it away empty. Send a guilt offering, then you shall be healed, and it will be made known to you that it was His hand that caused the plague.

The Philistines asked, “What kind of guilt offering should we send to Israel’s God?” They answered, “Make five golden emerods (images of the boils on their skin), and make five golden mice. Five is the number according to the number of lords throughout Philistine. This is because the same plague was on all of you and your lords. Then perhaps Israel’s God will stop punishing you, your gods and your land.“

They warned, “Don’t harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh harden their hearts. God punished them terribly. That is why the Egyptians let the people leave Egypt.”

“You must build a new cart. And get two cows that have just had calves. These must be cows that have never had yokes on their necks. Then hitch the cows to the cart, and take the calves home from them. Put the Ark of the LORD on the cart, and put the jewels of gold, which is your guilt offering, in a box beside it. Send the cart straight on its way.”

“Watch and see if it goes toward Beth Shemesh in Israel’s own land. If so, the Lord has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us, but that it just happened by chance.”

The Philistines did all what they were told, and sent the Ark of the LORD away upon the cart. The cows went straight toward Beth Shemesh, turning neither left nor right, mooing all the way. The lords of the Philistines followed the cows as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.