From Divine Manipulation to Humble Repentance – 1 Samuel 4–7
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more
I originally preached this sermon at Redemption Church on January 15, 2023. Included below is my manuscript for the sermon. You can access the full sermon archive or Redemption Church here or subscribe to the sermon audio podcast.
Throughout all cultures, humanity displays an interest in the spiritual world. We consider the spiritual world to be the domain of untapped power—power over others, power over the world, and power over the spirits. So people use religious rituals, magic crystals, sacred artifacts, and secret rites to harness spiritual power in attempts to bend the world to their will.
For many people, Christianity allures them as a possible way to force God’s hand to act for their benefit. A failing student prays in order to force divine aid to ace the test. An unbelieving sick person turns to fasting as a last-ditch effort for healing. The businessman longing to close the deal goes to church to earn divine success. While prayer to the Lord is a good thing, many engage in the practice not to submit to the God of glory but as a manipulative tactic to summon divine power for their ends.
Using religious practices to manipulate supernatural power is paganism. And sadly, many people take up Christianity with pagan motives. We bark orders at God with fasting as a way to coerce God’s hand to act as we demand. We stay regular in our Scripture reading not because we long for communion with God but because we hope it earns divine favor to bless the day ahead. We schedule revival, employ formulaic prayers, and create man-made practices and routines in a “name-it-and-claim-it” sort of way that all attempt to force God to act as we desire.
But the Lord refuses to bring his blessing through human coercion. If we long for the blessing of the Lord’s salvation, we must humbly depend upon him, not arrogantly manipulate him. We could sum up our text today in a single sentence. Revival comes through repentance, not manipulation.
We have several chapters today that serves as a narrative unit. The bookend chapters of this section, chapter four and chapter seven, parallel and contrast one another. In chapter four, Israel attempts to manipulate God and is defeated by the Philistines. In chapter seven, Israel is repentant towards God and is granted victory of the Philistines. In between these two chapters, we get an extended account of the Lord’s victory march through enemy territory. Though the book has been building up to the ministry of Samuel, he is absent for the next three chapters and turns back up again in chapter seven. This is intentional for a few reasons. First, because God’s judgment precedes his redemption. And second, we see Israel’s spiritual need for God’s prophet and leader. In other words, Samuel’s absence in chapters 4-6 point demonstrates why Israel needs him. Because of the amount of Scripture that we are covering today, I will have to summarize some sections. But in this account, we will see the glory of our untamed God and the proper response we should have to him.
“And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.” (1 Samuel 4:1–11, ESV)
Israel was being harassed by their neighbors, the Philistines, and the two prepared for battle. Israel encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The armies line up to fight, and Israel gets demolished, with around four thousand casualties. The elders of Israel regroup, trying to strategize a way to victory. They recognize that their defeat is a result of God’s sovereign hand—“Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?” But they give the question little thought before they manufacture a solution. The elders decide to get the ark of the covenant from Shiloh and bring it with them into battle.
The ark of the covenant was the symbol of God’s presence among his people built at the instruction of the Lord to Moses. The ark was a box laid with gold, designed to be transported, and enclosed with a lid that included two golden cherubim. The ark represented God’s presence among his people, leading them through the wilderness. When not traveling, it was to be kept within the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. The ark represented God’s revelation; within the ark contained the Ten Commandments of God. The ark represented God’s redemption, as the ark was enclosed with the mercy seat where on the day of atonement, sacrificial blood was placed.
The decision to bring out the ark to fight the Philistines was a misguided attempt to claim Israel’s old-timed glory—“If we just did like we used to do, then God will grant us victory!” The elders remembered how pivotal the ark was in Israel’s crossing of the Jordan or in the destruction of Jericho. Their decision to bring out the ark was an attempt to replicate the methods of the past as a way of forcing God to act in the present crisis.
The pattern of the past led the elders to pragmatic arrogance. Military battles in the ancient world was a battle between gods. The strongest god would grant victory to his army. The weaker god would have his army crushed. With Israel getting their tail kicked in the last fight, they think they can force the Lord to fight on their side by bringing his ark into battle with them. “Surely the Lord values his honor enough to guarantee our victory,” so they think, “There’s no way we can lose with the ark of the covenant with us!”
Dale Ralph Davis calls this “rabbit-foot theology.” He preached, “When we, whether Israelites or Christians, operate this way, our concern is not to seek God but to control him, not to submit to God but to use him. So we prefer religious magic to spiritual holiness; we are interested in success, not repentance.”1 Israel’s plan is to use the ark as a lucky totem, as a mechanism of religious control to force a victorious outcome. But the Lord will refuse to be used in this way.
And so they go to Shiloh and share their master plan for guaranteed victory with Hophni and Phineas, Eli’s two worthless sons. As the priests responsible for the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle, they agree to the plan and go with the ark into another confrontation with the Philistines.
The Philistines, hearing that the ark of the covenant was in Israel’s camp, are filled with fear. They know nothing of the Lord, thinking Israel has many gods just like they did. But they had heard the stories of the ark, and they knew what Israel’s God did to the Egyptians. But emboldened to fight, the Philistines go to battle, and utter disaster strikes Israel. Israel was defeated, and her armies scattered as they fled. Thirty thousand soldiers of Israel dead. The ark of God was captured by the Philistines. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The author saves that last detail for last to tip us off to what’s actually happening. After this battle, the news headline would read, “Yahweh and his people Israel Crushed by Dagon and the Philistines.” Was Israel’s God over-hyped? Did he underperform? Did he become old and weak since the days of Egypt and Joshua’s conquest? After the battle, everyone in the ancient world would have assumed that Yahweh was the loser. But here is the irony: Israel sought to use the ark for their own purposes, but Yahweh used it to fulfill his purpose of judgment—the death of Hophni and Phinehas. The Lord appears to have lost, but in fact, sovereignly is fulfilling his Word. Here is a lesson for us: the Lord will gladly suffer dishonor in the eyes of the world to shatter his people’s misconceptions of him. He is a God who will happily disappoint us in order to confront us with who he is. He is the sovereign God who cannot be tamed and refuses to be reigned by the bit and bridle of human cunning. The Lord will not submit to us. We must submit to him.
The news of Israel’s defeat was carried to Eli.
“A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”” (1 Samuel 4:12–22, ESV)
Old Eli sat at the gate, quaking in his heart in concern over this plan—worried about the ark of God. But when the old, blind man heard the report, it devastated him. Israel has fled. The army was defeated. His sons were dead. And worse of all, the ark of God had been captured. At this news, fat Eli topples over in shock, falling from his seat and breaking his neck. On this tragic day, Phinehas’s wife, upon hearing the news that the ark was captured and her husband dead, goes into labor. She names the boy Ichabod before she dies from the trauma of birth. Ichabod means “Where is the glory?” And with her final words, Phinehas’s wife taught more truth than Phinehas did with his entire life. With the ark gone, Israel’s glory has gone into exile.
There is a play on words in the text. The word for “heavy” (kebed) and “glory” (kabod) are variants of the same word. Eli didn’t bring glory to God in Israel but his own fatness. And his heaviness, the evidence of his corruption and consumption, now breaks the old man’s neck as he falls. In the final analysis, Eli is only a gloriously fat man.2 As heavy Eli falls, the glory of the Lord departs from Israel.
The end of chapter four ends in utter tragedy and devastation. What will Israel do now? How will they get the ark of the covenant back from the Philistines? Who will deliver their God out of the hands of the Philistines?
As we will find out, the Lord doesn’t need his people. It’s the other way around; his people need him. And as the Philistines take possession of the ark, the so-thought-defeated God of Israel takes a victory lap in enemy territory.
Due to limitations of time, I must summarize much of chapters five and six. But let’s read the beginning of chapter five.
“When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.” (1 Samuel 5:1–5, ESV)
The only godly response to this chapter is uproarious laughter. We ought to laugh as we sing, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord!” (Ps 86:8). Just as Israel tried to use the Lord for their own gains, the Philistines attempted to do the same. They bring the ark to Dagon’s temple, trying to make Yahweh Dagon’s assistant. But the next day, early in the morning, they see that the statue of Dagon had fallen over, prostrate before the ark of the Lord. With great irony, the Philistines have to help their god get back up—here is a god who has fallen and can’t get up! And they came in the next morning, and not only had Dagon fallen over again, but his head and hands were cut off. Yahweh has no rivals. He cuts off the hands of Dagon as he raises his hand against the Philistines. Tell me, who is the real loser? We read in verse six, “The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors….”
The Philistines then played hot potato with the ark of the covenant as the Lord inflicted terror and tumors upon the Philistines. They thought they caught and captured Israel’s God, only to find out they are the ones caught and captured. Over seven months, the Lord terrorized the Philistines, creating panic and crisis among them—“We’ve got to get rid of the ark of the Lord!”
Not wanting to make the same mistake as Egypt, they come up with a test to see if it’s actually the Lord that is causing this plague or whether it’s just a coincidence. So they took two milk cows, separated them from their calves, and hitched them to a cart with the ark of the covenant, along with offerings of gold tumors and rats to appease the Lord. They set up the cart, strapped on the cows, and waited to see where they would go. Ordinarily, the cows would head straight to the stable to be with their young. But if the cows pulled the cart to Israel, then they would know it was the Lord and allow the ark to return to Israel. 1 Samuel 6:12 tells us what happened: “And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.” The cows make a straight path to the border of Israel. It’s a humorous image: an unnamed cart being pulled by two cows, guided by Yahweh’s invisible hand, as the ark of the covenant rides off into the sunset of victory.
The Lord has no need for us to protect him, vindicate him, avenge him, or guard him. You can try to capture God, defeat him, and make him subservient to your idols, but he will not be bound by us. He cuts the heads off our idols and inflicts us with the plague of his judgment. The Philistines, rather than recognize the Lord for who he is, instead just wish to be rid of him.
Similarly, Jesus experienced the same reaction at Gerasene. After Jesus cast out the demon hoard legion, with pigs stampeding to their deaths in the waters. The reaction was not a humble worship of Jesus, the Son of God who commands demons, but the people were filled with great fear, begging him to depart from them (Lk 8:37). When we witness the power and glory of God, we can have two different reactions—humble worship or fearful repulsion. When we, like the Philistines, recognize that the Lord won’t follow our orders, we can submit to him or send him away.
But Israel is no better than the Philistines, and they share in the Philistine impulse to send God away.
“And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow. Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to you.” And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.” (1 Samuel 6:19–7:2, ESV)
The Lord is against the Philistines wherever it is he finds them, even in a city of Levites. Israel learns the hard lesson of divine judgment that comes from disobedience. The ark returns to a Levite city called Beth-shemesh on the border of Israel. If anyone in Israel should know how to properly handle the ark of God according to the Law, it should be the citizens of this city. Yet, we see the people mishandling the ark, setting it on stones, and looking upon the ark of the Lord. Whatever they did, the text tells us that their handling of the ark was sinful, showing irreverence to the Lord and disobedience to his commands to Israel. The number of those who died has some translation challenges, but the ESV reading is the common consensus—seventy Israelites died for the offense. The Lord is impartial in his judgments.
But Israel’s response mirrors the Philistines—they want the ark gone! And so they sent the ark to the house of Abinadab, where it would stay for decades until king David brought the ark out of obscurity into the center of Israel’s national and religious identity in Jerusalem.
The Lord will not be controlled. We cannot manipulate him, coax him, lure him, or entrap him. Those who seek to use the Lord as an instrument of their power will face his judgment. But don’t so many do the same today? We treat God like a genie to grant our wishes, a bodyguard to protect us, or a mercenary to achieve our victory. We treat religious practices—church attendance, prayer, or Bible reading—as a way to coax God to act as we see fit. Perhaps you came here this morning with such motives lurking in your heart.
And those who treat God in that way, God is happy to disappoint in order to confront them with who He is. And in the midst of that disappointment, we can have two reactions—we humble ourselves before a God who cannot be tamed, or we send him off away. Sadly there are many superficial professors who get disillusioned with God and then reject him, whether we use trendy words like ex-evangelical or the good old-fashioned term for it, apostasy. Those who attempt to hog-tie the Lord end up abandoning the Lord when he refuses to be bound by our preconceived notions. And those who reject the Lord will be judged by him.
So if the Lord can’t be manipulated or controlled for our ends, what should be our proper response to him? Spiritual revivals do not come by human craftsmanship or innovative strategies but by humble prayer and repentance. Revival in Israel begins when the prophet of God proclaims the Word of God, calling the people of God to repentance. Twenty years after the defeat of the Philistines and the capture of the ark, Samuel emerges on the scene again, calling Israel to national repentance.
“And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only.” (1 Samuel 7:3–4, ESV)
Revival begins with repentance. Samuel calls the people of Israel to forsake their false gods and devote themselves only to the Lord. True repentance is an about-face, a turning away from sin to the Lord. In other words, being sorrowful over sin and being repentant over sin are two different things. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7:10 that “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” As Samuel preaches God’s Word, he calls the people to true repentance. And true repentance is a grace given by God. Worldly grief is a natural phenomenon, but godly grief is supernatural, a grief that leads to true change and repentance.
What did repentance look like for Israel? We tend to misunderstand the allure of paganism that Israel faced. But pagan worship of gods like the Baals and the Ashtaroth combined spirituality with sensuality. These fertility cults celebrated the indulgence of human sexual desire. Paganism combined spirituality with a strip club. Samuel’s call for Israel’s repentance was not as simple as changing one jersey for another but a call to abandon brothels masquerading as sanctuaries. Samuel called Israel to forsake hedonism for holiness.
The national call for repentance leads to a supernatural response of repentance. Israel repents of violating the first commandment and worships the Lord their God alone. They turn away from the lifestyle of paganism and submit themselves to the Lord and his Word. The entire nation drastically changed.
How do we measure whether a true revival of God has happened? It can’t be measured by emotions or tears, hands raised or cards filled out. No, revivals can only be measured by repentance. The Holy Spirit may work visibly and dramatically in people’s lives, but ongoing, widespread repentance is the reliable sign of a true work of the Spirit of God. In Israel, we read of a true God-wrought revival in 1 Samuel 7.
But the Philistine crisis from 1 Samuel 4 still remains twenty years later. Israel tried to take matters into their own hands and manipulate God to help them by bringing out the ark of the covenant. But how will the Lord respond to Israel’s humble repentance?
“Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.” (1 Samuel 7:5–11, ESV)
As the nation repents, Samuel prays for the people as they fast and offer offerings to the Lord. At the corporate repentance of Israel, the prophet Samuel becomes God’s judge and leader of the nation. Unlike Eli, who coddled Israel’s sin, Samuel calls for Israel’s repentance. The leaders we need are not those who affirm us in our sins but courageously call us to repentance. As Israel is gathered as Mizpah, the Philistines heard of the gathering and mounted their offensives for an attack. The people are afraid and ask Samuel in verse 8, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Humbled and repentant, Israel calls out to the Lord, and the Lord acts to save his people. The Lord thundered against the Philistines, throwing their army into chaos and confusion as Israel crushed the Philistine army.
Here is the pattern of God’s working, laid out explicitly in the gospel of Jesus Christ, repentance precedes God’s salvation. When we recognize our sin and behold our great need for the Lord, we fling ourselves desperately before him. As we repent from our sins and put our faith in Jesus, the Lord saves us. The precious atonement purchased at the cross of Christ is applied to our lives. God covers our sin, rescues us from our judgment, and delivers us from death and hell.
Like Israel, we cannot be helped by God until we realize we are helpless. And it is by God’s grace that we come to recognize our desperation. Perhaps you’ve treated the Lord like a rabbit foot, a genie you can control by your strict religious observance or exploit by your prayers. And you may appear very religious to everyone around you, but your religious deeds are nothing more than foolish attempts to manipulate God. You are just a pagan operating in the garb of Christianity. And perhaps the Lord has disappointed you, refusing to be tamed by your religious manipulation as a way to help you recognize your sin and helplessness. Today, I pray the Lord knocks the head and hands off your idols and empowers you to repentance. With empty hands and humble hearts, repent this day and put your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. The Lord will not help those who arrogantly use him for their own ends, but he comes to the aid of the humble, the repentant. Judgment comes upon the manipulators, but salvation comes to the repentant.
After the Lord brought salvation from the Philistines, Samuel leads the people to follow the Lord and commemorated the Lord’s deliverance by setting up a memorial of his deliverance.
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.” (1 Samuel 7:12–14, ESV)
We sing in the song, “Here I raise my Ebenezer,” and here is where that line comes from. The Lord is a help to his people. This event cements Samuel’s leadership as the judge of Israel, and he leads the people to devote themselves to the Lord.
“Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 7:15–17, ESV)
Without the Lord, we can do nothing, and he comes to the aid of those who recognize their impotence. The Lord will not deliver the proud and the arrogant who attempt to use God for their own sake. But to those who humble themselves in repentance and call out to him in faith, the Lord will save. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Pt 5:6).