This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “I Samuel 1-7” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 5, 1997.
This morning we begin our scripture reading in 1 Samuel 4. We’ll start our reading at verse 1, to give you attention to God’s word. 1 Samuel 4, verse 1. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside Abimezer, and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel, and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines, and they slew the army in the field about 4,000 men. When the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the charioteers. And the two sons of Eli, Hockney and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the Ark of the Lord was coming to the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is coming to the camp.
And they said, Woe unto us, for there hath not been such a thing here before. Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and put yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you. Put yourselves like men and fight. The Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent. And there was a great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen, and the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.”
Then turning to the New Testament, to the book of Galatians, chapter 5. verse 1, and also verse 13. This is what the Apostle Paul says, Galatians 5.1, “‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage,’ and dropping down to verse For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but to love and serve one another.”
The impression you have as you begin to consider 1 Samuel 4 is that the events about to unfold before you are bound to, if not determined by, the word of Samuel mentioned for you in the opening line of that chapter. Thus, the word of Samuel came to all Israel. the great Old Testament commentators of the last century, saw the bond between that opening line and what was to follow. They went so far as to suggest that Samuel’s word in the first line of verse 1 is the direct reason for Israel’s action in the second line. In other words, Israel mobilizes its armies against the Philistines because Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, ordered Israel to do so. Personally, I am not convinced by Kyle and Delica’s opinion at this point. But I do believe that they were on the right track in connecting the opening of 1 Samuel 4 to what follows.
For I am convinced that Samuel’s word, as the word of God, presides over the events now to be described, over the entirety of those events. things are about to fall out according to Samuel’s message from God. And such is the nature of this message that the fall of Eli’s house is not only predicted by Samuel’s word, but actually compelled and accomplished by that word.
But further, Samuel’s word to all Israel, or most of all Israel, previews in actual fact the future for all Israel. Samuel is, after all, that foundational prophet, that transitional prophet into the epoch of the prophets. And what you are about to witness in the next three chapters is then a compressed prophetic and predictive summary of what lies ahead for Israel in her history, as that history is anticipated in the fate of Eli and his household. So yes, the word of Samuel to all Israel about Eli and his family is like unto the word of the prophets belonging to the epoch of the prophets coming to all Israel. That word about Israel’s own future, even her own future demands.
And Samuel’s word functions in these immediate events now described for you, even as the prophet’s words will function in the coming history of Israel, specifically as that history unfolds the reality of the intended looming judgment. You gain a feel for this as you look further into this fourth chapter in 1 Samuel.
What we have before us in this chapter is the account of Israel’s double defeat. Here is the account of Israel’s double, two-fold humiliation. You begin with one defeat as you start out the chapter, and by the time you’ve arrived at verse 11, you have witnessed a second. This account of the double defeat of Israel is then followed by the record of the impact of this double humiliation upon Eli and his extended family.
This morning, the most we will be able to do is to begin our address concerning these first eleven verses and what they have to say about Israel’s double humiliation. Are you able to make your own connections while thinking about such a double disaster? Are you able to make your own connections as you think about this double disaster? Remember what we said concerning the relationship between What we’re hearing in these verses, and what we will hear later on as Old Testament history unfolds, do you know of a later day double humiliation, double disaster anywhere in Israel’s history?
That humiliation which comes to Israel in the destruction of the northern kingdom. Humiliation number one, followed by another humiliation some 130 years later in the destruction of the southern kingdom. You will recall that in the second humiliation that of the mines of the southern kingdom. The glory truly does depart from the sanctuary as it is destroyed with the city of Jerusalem.
The loss of the Ark, the devastation now presently that comes to Shiloh, in this current passage, anticipate what is coming. What we witness, therefore, in the double humiliation of 1 Samuel 4 sets before us the end, the end of the Old Testament kingdom, even before that kingdom rises and runs its course from David to the destruction of Jerusalem.
When you are coming up against the word of God, it is imperative that you understand what you are dealing with. What seems to be an innocent remark at the beginning of 1 Samuel 4 concerning the word of Samuel going out to all Israel now has seemingly comprehensive significance. Do you know what the Word of God can do?
It can actually create the event it describes. By the Word, the world was created. It is brought into being. That is the nature of the Word. That world by which the worlds were made is now operative in the prophets. It is coming forth from them. It is coming forth from Samuel. And it is surveying the entire future history of Israel as a kingdom. It is not only predicting what is coming, it is establishing and determining what is going to take place. Before such a word, I should tremble, and you should too.
One subtle feature of 1 Samuel 4, adds weight to what I have been saying so far. What I have in mind is the way in which this chapter suggests that Israel actually forces the confrontation with the Philistines. This comes across in the contrasting description of the two armies. seems to be that Israel goes out deliberately in order to meet the Philistines now in battle. In verse 2, the Philistines, in response to the aggressiveness from Israel, form their battle line to repel the advancing Israelite army.
From this observation, what we are able to piece together is this. Consistent with the picture given to us from the book of Judges prior consideration, the Israelites live under the threat of invasion and with the reality of external domination. And although we last saw these Philistines humbled by Samson, who destroyed more of his death than in his life, Judges 16, still the Philistines remain the dominant force and they presently subjugate the Israelites. That this is in fact the case is proved by what we notice in verse 9 of this fourth chapter. For you see, in the response that the Philistines give, they consider the Israelites their servants, or even more powerfully, their slaves. The Philistines rule.
This means that what is taking place as 1 Samuel 4 opens It’s an attempt on Israel’s part to establish her autonomy, to gain her independence from Philistine rule. But now I want you to think about Israel’s later history. For this is precisely what was going on, both in the cases of the Northern Kingdom, where she met Kurdamaz, and the Southern Kingdom, where she met Kurdamaz. Samaria in the north rebelled against Assyria in her quest for freedom, and thus brought on the destruction, while Jerusalem in the south rebelled later against Babylon in her quest for freedom and brought on Pergamon.” as with 1 Samuel 4, so was the close of the history for the northern and the southern kingdoms. But there is another feature to the story in 1 Samuel 4 that further builds towards this conclusion, the interaction between the events.
It is this. Israel is subject to Philistia, even though she presently lives in the promised land. Israel is subject to Philistia even though she presently lives in the promised land. Consider this. Consider the doctrinal weight of it. Israel has come into her inheritance. That which was promised her through the patriarchs mediated to her through Moses and through Joshua.
But now, even here in the promised land, in possession of the inheritance, she, Israel, experiences bondage and lives presently in slavery. Slavery and bondage, therefore, are not to be confined to Egypt. It’s as if having left Egypt, the slavery and the bondage follow Israel, continue to be a reality in her experience, continue to be a threat to her. The slavery, the reality of it, the possibility of it, follows Israel. even as she leaves Egypt and comes into the territory of Canaan. Do you imagine a social and a political liberation to be the substance of the freedom of which the Scriptures speak?
Having experienced the political and social liberation Israel is still under threat, and while coming into the Promised Land, she is facing subjugation further. But as it was in the days of Samuel and Eli, likewise in the days of the rise of Assyrian and Babylon. and enslave Israel, even though Israel is living in the land of the promised inheritance. As we push ourselves and our consideration of these things that are being set in front of us, we have then Philistia, Assyria, and Babylon. all representing the same reality, with an increasing intensity as we move from the one to the other, until Babylon finally, in the magnitude of all of its evil, dominates the landscape of biblical imagery. And that singular reality represented by these three kingdoms—Philistia, Syria, and Babylon—is in actual fact an alien worldly yet spiritual power as seductive as was Delilah to Samson, whose goal is the enslavement, the binding of Samson, the enslavement of the people of God. to the end that their liberty as the children of God, their freedom as the children of God, might be destroyed, and this despite their possession of the promised inheritance.
There you are. If you were to understand Philistia, if the question of a serious meaning or Babylon’s meaning has perplexed you, I say it before you now, these empires are a singular reality. They are an alien, worldly yet spiritual power, profound in significance, seductive, whose goal is the enslavement of the people of God and the destruction of their liberty, despite the fact that the people live presently in possession of the inheritance. They have it in hand.
As things were prove themselves one of the most effective means of seduction at the disposal of Philistia, Assyria, Babylon and that which they represent, is to entice the children of God to rely on their own strength. So we’ll go out and we’ll fight the Philistines and we’ll gain our own freedom. by the power of our own hands. The high-water mark of the seduction of this singular reality is to entice the children of God to rely on their own strength just like everyone else. to be a nation like all the rest of the nations. Those of you who know 1 Samuel understand the direction of that comment. The ultimate implication of such a seduction will be the belief that the children of God have, by their own strength, both secured and presently maintained their inheritance. The ultimate reach of the seduction in you will be the belief that the children of God have, by their own strength, secured the inheritance and are presently maintained in it by their own wisdom and ability.
Philistia, like Assyria and Babylon to come, therefore, is that alien force, the epitome of worldly and spiritual evil, holding Israel in bondage within the inheritance, enticing Israel, becoming the occasion for Israel to think of herself as a kingdom like all other worldly kingdoms, relying on and boasting of her own strength. Philistia is double the fuse of Israel, therefore forecasts the coming devastation at the close of the Old Testament kingdom. We have here the coming history of Israel in preview and in miniature form. but to what purpose? Is it merely to leave you with an interesting parallel construction, an interesting organization for the events of Israel’s past history?
The Apostle Paul sees things differently. For instance, he says that the events of the Exodus and the aftermath of that Exodus in the wilderness were recorded as an example for us, the Church of Christ, those upon whom the ends of the ages have come. You think it was bad for the Northern and Southern Kingdom? You haven’t seen anything yet.
If you want to reference 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, Paul elsewhere tells us that whatever was written in earlier times, that is, in the entirety of the Old Testament, was written for our instruction, for the instruction of the Church of Christ. But what might be the specific instruction for the Church in what we find in 1 Samuel You too have come into possession of the inheritance.
Not an inheritance of this creation, a piece of real estate in a corner of the Mediterranean world, but an inheritance above, eternal, an everlasting inheritance in glory. And this inheritance has been granted to you in and through Jesus Christ, your Savior. It is a gift of God, and you trust for salvation now in Christ alone, do you not? You rely on him for your preservation in this inheritance that has been bequeathed to you. He, by his word and by his Spirit, sustains you. and in the Spirit he super-intends the entirety of the history which his Church has yet to endure, for he sees the end of it from the beginning, and it is all comprehended in him.
However, as was the case for Israel, there is a Philistia for you, and it, like the Philistia of old, seeks to enslave you. even though you have the inheritance in hold. This celestia seeks to undo your freedom, to countermand the truth that you are a child of God. This celestia seeks to do this by seducing you with the promise of worldly blessing and tempting you to become like everyone else in the world, and by dating you to fight against it in your own strength. that in this Philistia you are able to perceive all the forces of spiritual wickedness, all the powers of the flesh that threaten you and entice you. Truly, the objective of this Philistia is your enslavement.
Its tactic is to make you trust in yourself that the word from God is clear. The flesh which is the agent of your philistia is not only enslavement but death. While the spirit who is the agent of your inheritance, the one by whom you have been graciously granted freedom and are now maintained in that liberty, is life and peace.
Romans 8.6. You who are alive then in the Spirit, in your inheritance, must now walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5.25. You who know Jesus Christ as your Savior must now continually put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.
Romans 13.14. it was for freedom that Christ set you free, only do not now turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh.” Galatians 5, verse 1 and verse 13.
You must not Yes, there is a judgment, it will come upon the house of God, it will come upon the Church, just as it came upon Israel in the Old Testament. That is unavoidable. But when that day comes, may it be true of you that you have looked your Philistia in and seen him for what he is and renounced him and stood your ground in and through the power of Jesus Christ who has granted you the eternal inheritance that will never fade away. Amen.
Lord, we would not be ignorant of the threat that comes against us. Lord, in the power of your word and in the knowledge of the salvation you have given us, may we stand in your strength and in your strength alone. Acknowledging that our position is by grace, and that you are pleased to communicate to us this gift according to our faith which you have worked in our hearts. Father, we pray, therefore, that we would not surrender to the flesh or any of its enticements, but according to the ministry of that agent from our inheritance, namely the Spirit, may we endure walking by him and according to the word that you have given us. Father, as we come to the sacrament, we pray that we might acknowledge the truth, that we are saved by grace, and that our Savior’s sacrifice is the means for atonement and reconciliation. By him we are redeemed. Father, we ask that our hearts might be right and true, even as we have understood the nature of our freedom, the reality of our inheritance, and the truth of your Word. These things we pray through Christ, our Savior.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.