Bible Commentaries

The Ark of God

1 Samuel 4:3

IN order to understand the full import of these words, we must carefully study the idea which the ark of the Lord was intended to represent. The twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Exodus gives a most minutely detailed account of the making of the tabernacle. God gave Moses a special description of the proposed sanctuary. He did not consult Moses, nor did he make suggestions which Moses was to submit to the consideration of the people of Israel. God laid down the whole plan, and no more left anything to be settled by the taste of Moses than he left Noah to determine the colours of the rainbow. As he said to 1 Samuel 4:3).—We cannot attempt to define the object of the ark. It was the depositary of the Tables, and thus of the great document of the covenant. It seems also to have been a protest against idolatry and materialism. The mercy-seat was the place where God promised his presence, and he was, therefore, addressed as dwelling between the cherubim. On this account the ark was of the utmost sanctity, and was placed in the Holy of Holies, both of the tabernacle and of the temple. When the Israelites were moving from one encampment to another, the ark was to be covered by Aaron and his sons with three coverings, and carried by the sons of Kohath ( Numbers 4:4-6, Numbers 4:16). Joshua placed the tabernacle at Shiloh, and the ark does not seem to have been removed thence until the judgeship of Eli, when the people sent for it to the army, that they might gain success in the war with the Philistines. Yet the Israelites were routed and the ark was taken ( 1 Samuel 4:3-11). After seven months, during which the majesty of God was shown by the plaguing of the inhabitants of each town to which it was brought, and the breaking of the image of Dagon, the Philistines hastened, on the advice of their priests and diviners, to restore the ark to the Israelites. These incidents and those of the coming of the ark to Beth-shemesh, where the people were smitten for looking into it, show its extremely sacred character, no less than does the death of Uzzah, when he attempted to steady it, on the journey to Jerusalem, an event which caused David to delay bringing it in. It is noticeable that it was carried in a cart both when sent from Ekron, and, at first, when David brought it to Jerusalem, though after the delay on the latter occasion, it was borne by the Levites in the ordained manner ( 1 Chronicles 15:11-15; 2 Samuel 6:13). It was then placed on Mount Zion, until Solomon removed it to the temple. From the statement that Josiah commanded the Levites to place the ark in the temple, and to bear it no longer on their shoulders ( 2 Chronicles 35:3), it seems probable that Amon had taken it out of the sanctuary, or else that the Levites had withdrawn it from the temple then or in Manasseh's time, and the finding of the book of the Law under Josiah favours this idea ( 2 Kings 22:8; 2 Chronicles 34:14). A copy of the Law was deposited with, or, as some suppose in the ark, and it seems that this was the copy from which the king was required to write his own ( Deuteronomy 17:18-20). But perhaps the ark was only removed while the temple was repaired. It is generally believed that it was destroyed when the temple was burnt by the Babylonians, and it is certain that it was not contained in the second temple.

Prayer

Almighty God, thou settest up and thou bringest down, as servants of thy Church and ministers of thy will, whom thou pleasest, according to a counsel we cannot understand. Thou hast made the stone which the builders refused the head stone of the corner; thou hast passed over the wise and the mighty, the noble and the great, and thou hast revealed thy secret unto babes. Who can resist the call of the Lord? Who shall answer, but with all his love, the appeal and challenge of the Most High? Impress each of us with a deep sense of personal responsibility, which can be measured only by the gifts which thou hast bestowed upon us and the opportunities with which thou hast blessed us. May the servant entrusted with five talents, and the servant entrusted with but one, each do his Lord's will with simplicity, diligence, and all the homage of the soul! Save us from all uncharitableness in regard to one another; from all envy and malice; from all censoriousness and unfriendliness. May each esteem other better than himself; may the strong bear the infirmities of the weak; may the aged prophets be gentle and tender towards thy young servants; and may those who are youthful in the Church of Christ have within them sense of veneration, confidence, and respect in regard to those who have borne the burden and heat of the day. Establish us all in the counsel and service of Christ. May we love the Saviour with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. May the supreme joy of our life be to uphold the rights of his crown and to explain the mystery of his cross. Let thy blessing now descend upon us, that we may have life more abundantly, that our peace may pass understanding, that our joy may be unspeakable and full of glory. Shed light where there is darkness. Send the delivering word to souls held in the captivity of the enemy. Turn those whose faces are turned away from the living God and the eternal light. Now may our hearts lift themselves up towards their Father in praise, in thankfulness, in hope! Amen.

"And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp."— 1 Samuel 4:7.

Even those who do not openly believe in God dread his power.—Theoretically the Philistines would have laughed at God, but when they were sure that the God of the Hebrews had come into the camp their interest wakened and all their armour seemed to be of no avail; they were clothed with straw, and a great fire was advancing upon them.—The Philistines were not afraid of the Hebrews as such, for the Hebrews were but ordinary men: but when the Hebrews were associated with their God, and God had shown himself ready to operate on their behalf, then the whole earth as represented by the Philistines was afraid, and fell down in uttermost despair.—So it will be with all the enemies of God everywhere.—They are not afraid of literature, of science, of philosophy, of eloquence, of money, of mechanism: but when the Church is inspired, when it lives and moves and has its being in God, when it arises to a due apprehension of its function, then men begin to feel that the Church is invested with an influence that is not earthly, and therefore is not measurable.—Our whole hope is in God.—We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.—If God is not in our camp we can do nothing but make a vain display of impotent resources; but when God comes into the camp, then our little is turned into much—yea, our very nothingness is magnified into an infinite force- Let us cry mightily for God.—Let us say, "Why standest thou afar off, O God?"—Let us exclaim with our whole heart, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth."—When we call thus for God he will not turn a deaf ear to us, if so be our hearts are pure, and our spirit marked by candour, earnestness, and love.

"I-chabod."— 1 Samuel 4:21.

When the daughter-in-law of Eli, the wife of Phinehas, heard that the ark of God was taken, and that her brother-in-law and her husband were dead, she called the child that was born in that hour "I-chabod," saying, "The glory is departed from Israel."—Thus children are born into distressing circumstances.—Men come into the world when the world's history is deeply shadowed, when there is indeed little to be seen but cloud and storm.—How fortunate, as we say, have some men been in the time of their birth; they came into the world when everything was budding with promise, when the vernal air was awakening the whole earth, and beauty was about to clothe every plant that grew.—Others are born under circumstances that depress the spirit; everything is backward, disheartened, utterly without hope as to the future; nothing answers the touch of fire or the cry of inspiration; there is no contagion in enthusiasm, and prayer itself is an empty vessel.—We have no control, of course, over the times when we come into the world, but we should take their character into account in estimating our influence.—He may do a great work who comes into the world in a dark hour, though it may contrast but poorly with the work which is done by men who were born under radiant advantages.—The thought that applies to the matter of birth in relation to an age applies also to all positions of trust and usefulness; ministers come to churches under infinite disadvantages; merchants undertake the conduct of businesses that have been blighted or complicated and thrown into the most uncontrollable disorders; men are called upon to discharge the duties of life who have been born into bodies that are heavily afflicted,—all these things ought to be taken into account in estimating the work which we are doing in our day and generation.—Herein it is well that God himself is Judges , and not man. He knows our parentage, our difficulties, our disadvantages, our constitution, the peculiar conditions in which we have begun our work, and in adding up all these, and assigning our reward, he will be just with the justice of love.