1 Samuel #05: an exposition of 1 Samuel 4:1-22. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, November 13, 2011.
Intro:
There are some lessons you just don’t want to learn. Lessons that are valuable and add immensely to the happiness and well being of your life. But lessons that are painful and difficult. 1995 was not a “good” year for me and yet one of the best years of my life. I began the year with a brain tumor and I ended the year with a kidney stone! Neither experience was welcomed or appreciated, at the time. Both were painful and frightening. Yet I learned during that year that what I preach is really true. I discovered the care and comfort of God in ways I had never known it. Looking back, it was a good experience. Yet a lesson I didn’t want to learn. I’ve learned through the years that God’s peace really does “pass understanding.” I’ve discovered that there is peace in the darkest night. I’ve learned death does not win. But in order to learn that I had to say goodbye to people I love. Some lessons you just don’t want to learn. The problem is they are often lessons you really must learn.
It was a dark time for the nation of Israel.
There was no king in the land and every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Moral decay and spiritual corruption where common place.
Tragically the greatest corruption was in Shiloh at the house of God.
Hophni and Phenihus, the worthless sons of Eli, served as priests.
They did not know the God
They treated the sacrifices with contempt
They used the house of God as a brothel
All the while, in the midst of the corruption, God was raising up Samuel to be a priest, king-maker, judge and prophet. God was at work in spite of how it seemed. God was at work though faithlessness abounded.
A man of God arrived in Shiloh with some bad news for Eli.
God was fully aware of the corruption of his sons and was coming in judgment.
Never again would there be an “old man” in the house of Eli.
The house of Eli was finished and God was raising up another.
Eli would know this is coming about when his 2 boys die on the same day.
Later God revealed himself to Samuel and reinforced the message as he called Samuel as a prophet in chapter 3. That brings us to 1 Samuel chapter 4.
Text: 1 Samuel 4:1-22
The first part of verse 1 of chapter 4 establishes Samuel as the lead figure in this drama. Then he’s put on the back burner until chapter 7. Chapters 4-6 have a new focus – the Ark of the Covenant. That wooden box, plated with gold that served as the visible reminder of the presence and power of God. You remember that the Ark contained the tablets of stone Moses brought down from the mountain; Aaron’s rod that budded, and a jar of manna. Further this box had on its top the “mercy seat” upon which the blood was spilt on the Day of Atonement. The mercy seat was flanked by 2 cherubim giving the appearance of a seat or throne. Once the people settled in the land, the Ark was placed behind the heavy curtain, in the most holy place in the house of God at Shiloh.
That Ark becomes the focus of the next three chapters.
Chapter 4 opens with Israel at war with the Philistines. They had already been Israel’s enemy for 200 years and would remain their enemy for the next 300 years. The Philistines occupied 5 cities along the coastal lands to the west of the hill country were most of the Israelites lived. Those cities were, Ekron, Ashdod, Gath, Ashkelon, and Gaza.
An important, painful lesson is learned in this chapter…
Thesis: 1 Samuel 4 is a potent reminder that God will not be used and is always faithful in fulfilling His word.
There are 2 things I want to point out in our text.
- In times of crisis, serious corruption and imminent threat superstition is a sorry substitute for genuine faith. (4:1-11)
- Even in the midst of chaos, judgment and confusion God is at work fulfilling His purpose. (4:12-22)