Beginning of the End: The People of Israel Do Worse Than the Philistines

 The people of Beth Shemesh quickly spread the news that the ark was in their possession, and many people from the surrounding country flocked to welcome its return. Sacrifices were offered, and if the worshipers had repented of their sins, God’s blessing would have rested on  them. But while they rejoiced at the return of the ark as a good omen, they had no true sense of its sacredness, so they let it remain in the harvest field. As they continued to look at the sacred chest, they began to wonder where its peculiar power came from. At last, overcome by curiosity, they removed the coverings and dared to open it.

Israel had been taught to regard the ark with awe and reverence. Only once a year was the high priest permitted to see the ark of God. Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings. Angels of heaven, unseen, always went with it in all its journeyings. The irreverent daring of the people at Beth Shemesh was quickly punished. Many were struck with sudden death.

This judgment did not lead the survivors to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. Eager to be free from its presence, the people of Beth Shemesh sent a message to those living in Kirjath Jearim, inviting them to take it away. With joy the people of this place welcomed the sacred chest and placed it in the house of Abinadab, a Levite. This man appointed his son Eleazar to take charge of it, and it remained there for many years.

The whole nation had come to acknowledge Samuel’s call as a prophet. He had given proof of his allegiance by faithfully delivering the divine warning to the house of Eli, painful and difficult as the duty had been. “And the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.”

Samuel visited the cities and villages throughout the land, hoping to turn the hearts of the people to the God of their fathers, and his efforts brought good results. After suffering the oppression of their enemies for twenty years, the Israelites “lamented after the Lord.” Samuel counseled them, “‘If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only.’” Practical religion was taught in the days of Samuel, as Christ also taught it when He was on earth.

Repentance is the first step that everyone who wants to return to God must take. Individually we must humble our souls before God and put away our idols. When we have done all that we can do, the Lord will show us His salvation.