Yet Eli did not show true repentance—He did not forsake his sin. Year after year the Lord delayed His threatened judgments. Eli might have done a lot to redeem the failures of the past, but the aged priest did not do anything effective to correct the evils that were polluting the Lord’s sanctuary and leading thousands in Israel to ruin. The patience of God caused Hophni and Phinehas to harden their hearts and become still bolder in transgression.
Eli made known to the whole nation the messages of warning and reproof to his family. By doing this, he hoped to undo the evil influence of his past carelessness, but the people disregarded the warnings, as the priests had done. The people of surrounding nations also became bolder in their idolatry and crime. They felt no sense of guilt for their sins, as they would have felt if the Israelites had preserved their integrity. It became necessary for God to intervene, to maintain the honor of His name.
“Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.” The Israelites undertook this expedition without counsel from God, without the agreement of high priest or prophet. “Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.” As the shattered, discouraged force returned to their camp, “the elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?’” They did not see that it was because of their own sins that this terrible disaster had occurred.
And they said, “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” The Lord had given no command or permission for the ark to come into the army, yet the Israelites felt confident that victory would be theirs, and they gave a great shout when it was carried into the camp by the sons of Eli.
The Philistines considered the ark as the god of Israel. They said, “‘What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?’ Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, ‘God has come into the camp!’ And they said, ‘Woe to us! ... These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!’”
The Philistines made a fierce attack, which resulted in great slaughter. Thirty thousand men lay dead on the field, and the ark of God was taken. The two sons of Eli died while fighting to defend it.
The most terrifying calamity that could happen had come on Israel. The ark of God was in the hands of the enemy. The symbol of the abiding presence and power of Jehovah was gone. In former days, miraculous victories had followed whenever it appeared. The visible symbol of the most high God had rested over it in the holy of holies. But now it did not bring any victory, and there was mourning throughout Israel.
The law of God, contained in the ark, was a symbol of His presence, but they had shown great disrespect for the commandments and had grieved the Spirit of the Lord away from them. When the people did not honor God’s revealed will by obedience to His law, the ark could not help them any more than a common box. They looked to it the way the idolatrous nations looked to their gods. They violated the law it contained, for their worship of the ark led to hypocrisy and idolatry.
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