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Hermeneutics

Professor: Dr. Poythress

A Biblical Theological Paper on 1 Samuel 4:4-11

By Román González Pérez

Mail Box: 128

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THE SETTING OF THE STORY

Judges – The Vicious Circle in Israel

The narrative takes places at the beginning of Samuel’s ministry. Samuel is the last judge

and the last prophet of God before Israel’ monarchy era. This is a transitioning period for Israel.

In the time of the Judges, a new generation rose in Israel, which did not know Joshua or the

things the Lord did to recue Israel through him. This period is described as the time when the

judges were judging in Israel. The list of judges in Israel is long, it goes from Othniel, Ehud,

Shamga, Deborah, Abimelec, Tola, Jair, Jephtha, Ibzan, Elon, Samson and Samuel. This period

is a time of political, moral, spiritual and religious chaos in Israel. Israel’s loyalty to God would

last while these leaders lived, but when they were gone Israel would go back to disobeying God.

This period of time is also the time when pagan nations oppressed Israel. These nations

were the same nations that Israel was not able to cast out, they were allowed to live among the

people of Israel. Israel could not defeat these nations, and they continually kept oppressing God’s

people. These different pagan nations would arise from time to time against Israel. When it was

not the Midianites, it was the Amalekites or the Philistines, but Israel was always under the

oppression of their enemies.

During this time, God is against his own people (Judges 2:15). This is the explanation we

are given for these nations to be allowed among the people of Israel. When this pagan people

oppressed Israel, they would cry out to God, and God would send a liberator to set them free

from the oppressors. But once there were freed they would sin against God again.

The Philistines – The Main Enemies of Israel

This is the time of the Philistines. They oppressed and dominated Israel for 40 years

(Judges 13:1). Israel did evil before the Lord, so the Lord gave his people into the hands of the
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Philistines. Every single battle against the Israelites is God allowing this pagan nation to oppress

his people for the evil they did by breaking the covenant.

Samuel – Judge and Prophet in Israel

Samuel is the prophet of God and the last judge of Israel before the time of the

monarchy. It is under Samuel that Israel will defeat the Philistines after the incident of the ark of

the covenant. He is the one who would also prophesy concerning the tragic end of Eli’s sons, and

the cuffing off of the house of Eli from the priesthood. Samuel is also the one who would anoint

the first king in Israel. With Samuel, the judges’ era ends and the kings’ era begins. It is under the

figure of a king and not under a judge that Israel would continue to fight against the Philistines

for a little longer before defeating them completely.

RETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT

Israel went out to do battle against the Philistines. We are not given any specific reason why

Israel was doing so. They encamped in Eben-Ezer while the Philistines encamped in Aphek. It is

very likely that the Philistines were interested in expanding their territory to the north. The result

of the first encounter was the defeat of Israel. The people who survived the battle came into the

Israelites’ camp and understood it was God who delivered them into the hands of the Philistines.

The elders said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?” The question

they are asking shows us they did not consider that sin might be the reason for this. The elders

are perplexed that God did not help them to win the battle. This is probably showing the

exceeding confidence they have in themselves. The elders did not go to God to inquire about

the God’s reluctance to deliver them from the Philistines’ hands.

The Pagan Nations – A Thorn and A Snare to Israel

We find the reason for the defeating of Israel in Judges 2. We have said that this story

take place in time of the Judges, with Samuel the last one of them. It seems that Samuel,
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however, is still very young to appear in the story. During this period, God has delivered his

people into the hands of his enemies. The Philistines are part of the nations God said would

become like “thorns in Israel’s sides, and their gods shall be a snare to Israel.” (Judges 2:3)

“And God sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies.” (Judges 2:14) In other words,

God sold them into the hands of the Philistines. The biblical author puts it this way, “When

ever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had

warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.” (Judges 2:15)

In other words, the period of Israel’s oppression has not ended.

The losing the battle against the Philistines is part of what the angel of God told Israel

would happen when he went up to Bochim. But the elders of Israel seemed not to remember

that these are consequences of breaking the covenant with God. (Leviticus 26:14–46;

Deuteronomy 28:15–68) They should know what it going here. The Lord is fulfilling his words.

Shiloh – The Worship Center of Israel

Instead of asking themselves what is their sin against the Lord, they sent to Shiloh to

bring the ark of the covenant. Shiloh was the dwelling place for the tabernacle as well as for the

ark of the covenant. It was the worship center for Israel for about three and a half centuries (369

years), the same period of the judges of Israel. Therefore, it was also the place where the priests

ministered to the Lord including Eli and his two sons. Shiloh was located to the north of Bethel,

in the hill country of Ephraim, according to Judges 21:19. The tabernacle, as well as the ark of

the covenant went from the wilderness to Gilgal, and from Gilgal to Shiloh. Later on in the

history of Israel, the ark would go from Shiloh to Quiriat-Jearin, and from Quiriat-Jearin to

finally arrived at Jerusalem when king David brought it up to his city from Shiloh, the place that

God had chosen for his tent and the ark to dwell. The location of the tabernacle with the ark is

important in the sense that it was tightly related to the leadership of the tribe in whose land the
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tent dwelt. In this case, it is the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim later on in the history of Israel would

take a leading role among the rest of the tribes. But for now Shiloh is the place God has chosen

to dwell.

The Ark – The Presence of God in Israel

After the tabernacle and therefore the ark of the covenant was settled in Shiloh, it stayed

there and was never moved to any other place. The ark of the covenant remained in Shiloh

during the time of the judges. It is until this battle that the ark would leave the tabernacle and

Shiloh after 369 years. In bringing the ark of the covenant, Israel did not consult God to ask if

this action was good, the elders were doing this by their own decision. They thought they could

have God at their command.

However, the bringing of the ark of the covenant to the battle field was not something

new to Israel. The ark of the covenant played a military role in Israel’s battles. In Numbers10:33-

36 and Joshua 3-4; 6: 6,11-13 we notice the importance of the ark in the battle. The ark of the

covenant was a physical symbol of God´s presence among his people. Bringing the ark into the

battle means to bring God to help them, to ask God to lead the battle and give them victory. But

in this occasion God did not do so. The elders of Israel were using the ark as a lucky charm and

God was going to show them that doing so is wrong and that God is not at Israel’s commands.

Samuel and The Sons of Eli – A Sharp Contrast

After telling us about the miraculous way Samuel was born, the biblical narrator makes a

pause to describe the unworthiness of the sons of Eli as priests of the Lord; these men were

impious and ungodly men. The second chapter of Samuel informs us that Hophni and Phineas

"treated the sacrifices of the Lord with contempt.” (Samuel 2:17) They were also immoral men

who “did not know the Lord” (2.12) nor walked in the way of Eli, their father. Eli, on his part,

did not rebuke them in time. They were so bad to the point that they not only treated the
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sacrifices of the Lord with contempt, but they would also have sex with the women who

were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. (Samuel 2:22)

The way in which the narrator connects both, the story of Samuel’s early life and the

story of the sons of Eli from the beginning of the the book, contrasts Samuel’s dedication to the

Lord with the ungodly character of the sons of Eli. On the one hand, the biblical narrator shows

how worthless the sons of Eli are. On the other hand, he describes Samuel “ministering before

the Lord” as a boy (2:18) At the end of chapter two the author adds, “And the boy Samuel

grew in the presence of the LORD.” (2:21) In other words, the biblical narrator points to the

fact that Samuel is doing what Hophni and Phineas as priests of the Lord were not doing. He is

in the presence of the Lord not only physically ministering in tabernacle in Shiloh, but also in the

very presence of God. So Hophni and Phineas “were with the ark of the covenant of God.” (v.4)

as priests. They were in charge of the transportation of the ark. So both are present for the battle.

The way in which the narrator tells us the story portrays the great hope Israel have in the

ark of the covenant. Everybody thought they would win the battle; none of them was expecting

this episode to have a different end. Israel’s and the Philistines’ reaction when the ark came into

the camp had the purpose of showing how confident Israel was, and even their enemies thought

Israel would be the conqueror this time. Israel shouted when they conquered Jericho, a shouting

they relate to victory. In that occasion, the walls of the city fell, this time the earth resounded.

(Joshua 6:20) The Philistines, on their part, are afraid of the ark of the covenant. They woe

themselves because they realize the ark of the covenant in in the camp. This reminds us of the

Isaiah 6 where Isaiah realizes that he is in the presence of God and he also exclaims, “Woe is

me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean

lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
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The narrator lets us see that the Philistines were aware of the miracles and mighty acts

that the Lord performed when he set his people free from Egypt. However, the Philistines refer to

the ark as a god, not to God the lord of hosts. The Philistines have a sort of idea of what God has

done to the Egyptians, and they feared him, but actually they were going to suffer for having the

ark among them. So in the same way God showed their mighty acts among the Egyptians, God is

going to show his mighty acts among the Philistines bringing sickness among them. What they

were afraid of is the exactly the same they are going to experience.

Latter the narrator tells us that the Philistines encouraged themselves to be men and fight

against Israel. The result of this second encounter is that Israel was defeated again. The shout

that made the earth resound was not enough to encourage them. Neither did the presence of the

ark help them to conquer. On the contrary, the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines

and Israel’s priests, Hophni and Phinehas, both were killed that dame day.

The Priests’ Death – The Fulfilment of The Prophesy

If we looked at this episode in Israel’s life within the context of the book of Samuel, we

would see that the narrator carefully explained to his audience why this happens to Israel. The

book opens up telling us about Hannah and Elkanah. This couple was not able to have any

children but God heard Ana, and, in a miraculous way, God gave them a son, Samuel. In

Chapter 2, Hannah sings a son of praise to the Lord for the son He has given her. In that same

chapter, the biblical author introduces a contrast, the evil sons of Eli and how they blasphemed

against the Lord and the godly parents of Samuel, who honored and served the Lord.

The very purpose of that contrast made by the biblical author from the beginning of the

book between Samuel as a prophet of God and Eli’s sons is now made more clear. The

immediate context of the book gives us the reason why Israel is defeated for the second time, the

sons of Eli are killed and the ark of the covenant is taken into captivity: God has decided to erase
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the house of Eli from the priesthood lineage because of Hophni and Phinehas sins. In other

words, the account in chapter four has the purpose to respond to the question that the Elders

were asking when Israel was defeated in their first encounter with the Philistines. This is the

immediate fulfilment of God’s prophesy about the sons of Eli. They died because they did not

honor God, and they blasphemed against the Lord.

In chapter 2:4. God told Eli, “And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and

Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.” To Samuel God said,

“Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will

tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from

beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the

iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain

them. (Samuel 3:11-13). This is basically the explanation why the people of Israel was defeated in

the battle. The sons of Eli did not honor God, so God did not honor them in the battle. “For

those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” (2:30)

This way God refused to forgive their sin and allowed Israel to be defeated and fulfill his word.

This text itself does not explain to us how they died. The text only says they died.

The Capture of the Ark – Israel Without Glory

Much more striking than Hophni and Phinehas’ death is the taking of the ark of the

covenant by the Philistines. The ark of the covenant stayed for about 369 years in Shiloh and

never left the worship center until this time. The biblical narrator presents it as a terrible thing

that happened to Israel. The later chapters shed light about what Israel understood to be the

meaning of this event.

When the sons of Eli were killed and the ark was taken, a man goes to Eli to tell him how

the battle ended. When he hears the report that his two sons are dead he seems not to be that
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surprised about it. This is probably because God told him through Samuel what God was about

to do with his sons. But when Eli heard the report that the ark was taken by the Philistines, he fell

to the ground, broke his neck and died instantaneously. The narrator is careful to say, “As soon

as he heard about he ark.” What shocked Eli was not his two sons’ death but the fact that the ark

of the covenant had been taken and its meaning for Israel: the ark was capture so God had

departure from Israel.

How Israel understood this event is best expressed in the words of Eli’s daughter-in-law,

“The glory has departed from Israel.” (4:22) In other words, God had abandoned his people.

This was a great tragedy for Israel and Eli knew it. This is precisely the reason he died. At the

same time, Eli was part of the prophesy of judgment that he was also going to die, the Lord

would exterminate his house. The three Hebrew words ‫גָּלָ ֥ה כ ָ֖ב ֹוד ִמיִּשׂ ְָר ֵ ֑אל‬, the glory had departed

from Israel, are full of meaning. ‫ כ ָ֖ב ֹוד‬means to be heavy, rich, splendorous, to have honor,

abundance. The word ‫ גָּלָ ֥ה‬can mean depart but also going into exile. So what Eli’s daughter-in-law is

saying is that God is not with his people, he has departed from his people. But not only that, the

author seems to be indicating that God is actually going into exile.

The word ‫ גָּלָ ֥ה‬can also mean uncover, which can be a way in which the author is playing

with the different meanings of the words. ‫ גָּלָ ֥ה‬is commonly used alongside the word naked. In

other words, the author might be also indicating that without the glory of God, Israel is naked

because God is the glory of his people. But Israel knows God is not among them. The Lord has

abandoned him people. The very Abrahamic promise, “I will be your God and you will be my

people,” seem to be at risk. (Genesis 17:7)

THE CAPTURE OF THE ARK – AN ANALOGICAL ANALYSIS

After having considering the rhetorical analysis of the text we are ready to move on and

look at the same passage from a different perspective. In doing this we will ask, “Is there any
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parallel in this text that points us to another event in the history of the Israel?” We think that it is

the case. In considering the taking of the ark by the Philistines we should also ask, “Why is it that

God allowed the Philistines to take the ark of the covenant and did not kill them? “Why is it that

God would kill anyone who touches the ark of the covenant but this time he seems no to care

much about it?

The reason for this is that the author is presenting the taking of the ark of the covenant as

a prefiguration of the great exile of Israel in Babylon. In other words, the taking of the ark of the

covenant is analogous to the exile Israel is going to undergo, and the biblical author is depicting it

as a sort of typological event of what is going to happen to Israel if they continue to sin against

the Lord. Having said this, let us look at the way we came to this conclusion. In the first place, we

see a parallel in the word that is used by the biblical author when describing the taking of the ark

by the Philistines.

As we said above, the word ‫ גָּלָ ֥ה‬means depart but also going into exile. This is the same

word that is used to describe the exile of Israel by the Babylonians in 2 Kings 24:12 when

Nebuchadnezzar took the city of Jerusalem. Ju 18:30 2 K 17:23; 25:21 Is 5:13 Je 1: 3; 52:27 Ez

12: 3; 39:23 Am 1: 5; 5:5; 6:7; 7:11, 17 Mi 1:16 La 1:3. The Philistines, as the enemies of Israel,

are depicting the Babylonians who would come and destroy the temple and Jerusalem and take

the people of Israel into captivity. The seven months the ark of the covenant was among the

Philistines depicts the 70 years of the Babylon captivity. After those 70 years, the people of Israel,

as the ark in 1 Samuel, will return to Jerusalem. The coming back of the ark then, as well as the

returning of Israel from the Babylonian captivity, is a picture of Israel redemption, where they

would be allowed to come back to their land, foreshadowing the re-construction of the city of the

Lord.
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This analogical analysis, however, has a breaking point in which there is no correlation

with the Babylonian exile, where it is actually Israel who is being taken into captivity. In

1Samuel, it is God himself who is being taken into captivity. God himself is going into exile. So in

Samuel we find a sort of reverse exile where the characters are switching roles.

This outstanding phenomenon finds its explanation in Psalm 78, where the biblical

author explains in more detail what is taking place in 1 Samuel 4. Asaph, reviewing Israel’s

history, gives us more details about what happened in 1 Samuel 4. For instances, he tells us more

specifically how Hophni and Phinehas died. Moreover, he sheds more light about why God

allowed the Israelite to bring the ark of the covenant into the war. In 2 Samuel we are told that

Israel’s elders send to Shiloh to bring the ark, but Asaph tells us that God was actually foresaking

his dwelling place in Shiloh. So God was using the evil desire of Israel’s elders to do his will.

(Psalm 78:60) Furthermore, Asaph also tells us God did not kill the Philistines when they took the

ark, but instead he “delivered his power to captivity and his glory to the hands of his foes” (Psalm

78:61). In other words, God gave himself into the power of his enemies, the enemies of Israel are

God’s enemies too. This is the reason why the Philistines were able to take the ark and not die. In

other words, God, by his own will, is depicted as going into exile to the land of the Philistines.

In going into exile, God’s glory is departing from the people of Israel. This is also

important because it also resembles what happened in Ezequiel 10 when the glory of God

abandoned the temple of Israel Jerusalem, which was also the dwelling place of the Lord. We will

comment of this later. For now, let us consider that 1 Samuel 4:4-11 only tells us that on that day

4000 people died. In Psalm 78 Asaph gives us more specific details about the reason for Israel’s

defeat, and he tells us that it was God who gave his own people to the sword. He poured out his

wrath upon them, the fire consumed them and their young daughter did not get married because

they died that day. This Psalm presents to us the event in a more vivid way. We are told that
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their priests fell by the swords, and their widows made no lamentation. This is obviously referring

to Hophni and Phinehas; they died by the sword, and Phineas’ wife was not able to lament the

death of his husband and father-in-law because she died right after them when she was giving

birth her son, Ichabod.

Psalm 78 also sheds light on another reason God is doing this. In allowing the taking of

the ark of the covenant, God is rejecting the tribe of Benjamin as the leading tribe in Israel. “He

rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim” (67) In turn, he is also

indicated that the real king of Israel is not coming from the tribe of Benjamin, but from the tribe

of Judah. This is indicated by the fact that the ark of the covenant did not return to Shiloh as it

would be expected. Instead, the ark stayed some time in Quiriat-Jearin and from Quiriat-Jearin

David brought it to Jerusalem. After 369 years staying in Shiloh, the ark never returned to Shiloh

again. In other words, Shiloh was the land where the Benjaminite king was rejected and, with it,

all the possibility of an eternal Benjaminite king. Instead, it is replaced by Jerusalem in Judah, the

tribe from which the true king of Israel would come as Psalm 78:68 states, “But he chose the tribe

of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.”

In this sense Shiloh and Jerusalem are being contrasted. Both cities or places are closely

related to their kings, Benjamin, on the one hand, to Saul, and Jerusalem, on the other hand, to

David. A new king lineage begins with David. The prophesies about the king of Israel favor the

city of Jerusalem (Mount Zion) and not Shiloh in Benjamin. In Mont Zion or Jerusalem, God

would build his new sanctuary. From there the real and great king would come. Also, the real

king would come from Judah, it was not Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, but it was

going to be from the line of David who was from the tribe of Judah. The presence of the ark of

the covenant then is closely related to a specific location and a specific tribe. Where the ark is so

the worship center is, and where the worship center is so the king also is.
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The structure of the Psalm also tells us God rejected a Benjaminite king even before Saul

was elected a king from the tribe of Benjamin. It is very interesting that Psalm 78 is giving an

overview of the history of Israel from the giving of the law to the election of David as a king. But

when he is telling the story of the taking of the ark, he ignored the election of Saul as king and

went directly to David. Why is this? It seems that for Asaph the story of the election of Saul is not

that fundamental for the history of Israel. The reason we believe this is that God rejected Saul

even before he was elected as the first king of Israel. He was not from the tribe of Judah. So the

Biblical author shows us that, in the end, the relocation of the ark of the covenant was an act of

God bringing all his presence into the center of one place. The city, the dwelling place, the ark,

the king, are being brought together into one place. So in the end it is God doing this and

relocating the ark to the place where the king of Israel would come.

A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF 1SAMUEL 4:4-11

The Imperfection of the Priesthood System – The Need for A Faithful Priest

In the Bible the priesthood is a central institution. The Old Testament presents the high

priest as the one who intercedes for the people before God. Adam was the first priest in Eden.

(Genesis 1-3 and Ezequiel 28:12-19) In Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek was the high priest of God

Most High. Later on, Israel as a nation was called by God to be a house of priests to minister the

nations. (Exodus 19:6) The institutionalization of the priesthood took place with Aaron. (Exodus

28:1) Aaron’s and his house were chosen by God to establish a lineage for the priesthood of

Israel. A little after Aaron began his ministry, it proved to be an imperfect system. When he failed

as a priest of Israel with the golden calf. (Exodus 32) This incident revealed from the outset that

the priesthood institution was going to be an imperfect system.

Hophni and Phineas are the example par excellence of the imperfection of Israel’s

priesthood. (1Samuel 2:12-17; 22-36) If Aaron’s failure shows the priesthood to be defective, the
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immorality of the sons of Eli shows the need for a promised priest who would be faithful.

(1Samuel 2:35) The New Testament presents the reasons that this institution was defective: the

priests were sinners and unable to offer eternal sacrifices because they died. (Hebrew 4:1-10:5-7)

At the same time, Christ is presented as the true, promised, faithful, greater and better high

priest. Christ is the intercessor and mediator for his people before the Father. (John 17; Hebrew

7:1-10:8) The church by virtue of its union with Christ is also a priestly nation. (1Peter 2:5-9

Corinthians 6:19-20-; Revelation 21:22)

The two people and the war – Philistines Enemies

Man’s fall brought different levels of conflict. In Genesis 3:15 two types of people are described

and a conflict officially begins. The conflict is between the seed of the woman and the seed of the

serpent. The seed of the serpent would always try to kill the seed of the woman. Later on we will

see the same conflict between Cain and Able. (Genesis 4) The reason for this conflict is the family

to whom each belongs (1John 3:12)

The enmity in Genesis 3:15 goes through the whole history of redemption not only between the

particular seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, but also between the followers of the

serpent and the followers of the seed of the woman. In the Old Testament, the Israelites, as a

nation, are the son of God. (Exodus 4:23) All the nations who are enemies of Israel depict the

seed of the serpent. They were always in war against the people of Israel. During the time of the

judges in Israel, these nations were oppressing Israel. The Philistines are the enemies of God’s

people. They were constantly oppressing Israel and fighting against them. In 1Samuel 17 they

were fighting again but this time the result would be different. In the New Testament, Christians

are called to be prepared for spiritual war. (Ephesians 6:1-10) The enmity between those who

belong to the seed of the woman and those who belong the seed of the serpent is a distinctive of

the Cristian life. (Revelation 12:1-6)

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In our passage in 1Samuel 4:4-11, Israel fought against the Philistines and Israel lost. They are

fighting without the presence of God among them. But they are also fighting without the

direction of a king. In 1Samuel 17 Israel goes to the battle against the Philistines again. This time

Israel has a king and God is with them. David killed Goliath and this act gives Israel the victory

over its enemies. This is analogical to the work of Christ. He is the King of the true Israel and He

already won the victory on behalf of His people on the cross. (Colossians 2:15, Luke 10:18, Mark

3:27) One day the war will be consummated. (Revelation 16:16; 20:1-3)

The Prophetic Role of Samuel – The Real Prophet of Israel

Another very central figure in the Bible is the office of a Prophet. A prophet is one who

has God’s authorization to speak God’s message to His people. (Exodus 4:15-16) God is the first

prophet who spoke his own words to Adam and Eve. (Genesis 2:4-3:24) Later on, Adam is also a

prophet who is to speak to the woman and the rest of creation in God’s name. The office of a

prophet is officially instituted with Moses and Aaron who would be God’s prophets before

Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:1-2 and Exodus 4:15-16)

There were different ways in which God spoke to his prophets. (Numbers 12:6-8) But to

the great Moses he would talk face to face. The office of a Prophet was officially instituted in

Moses' day, (Deuteronomy 18 :15-22) who would be known as the great prophet of Israel. Elijah,

Jeremiah, Isaiah also play an important role in the life of Israel. In Deuteronomy 18:15-22 and

13:1-5 we are given a list of signs to recognize a true prophet.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist is called the greatest prophet. (Matthew 11:11)

He was the Elijah whom Israel expected. (Matthew 11:14) Furthermore, Jesus is presented as the

true prophet of God. (Hebrew 1:1-2) He is the one who brought us God’s word through his

mouth and his own person. (Matthew 4:23-24, John1:1, Deuteronomy 18:15)
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In 1Samuel 4:4-11 we see a faithful picture of the prophetical ministry. The whole

passage is part of the fulfilment of Samuel’s prophesy about the destruction of the house of Eli.

The framework in which this episode took place is the truthfulness of the word of the young

prophet Samuel. Hophni and Phineas died as Samuel said. His words are words of judgment to

Eli’s house. Samuel foreshadows Christ’ faithful ministry as a prophet. He brings us the message

of the gospel of God. (Matthew 4:23-24) He is not the only one who speaks the word of God, he

is the very word of God, the promised prophet. (John1:1, Deuteronomy 18:15)

The tabernacle and the ark – the presence of God among his people

The tabernacle represents God’s desire to dwell among his people. The first dwelling

place was the garden. In the garden God met Adam. Genesis 1-3. The building of the tabernacle

and the ark are mentioned in Exodus 26 and 37. God’s presence in the tabernacle is mentioned

in Lev 26:12; Deuteronomy 23:14-15; 2 Sam 7:6-7; Ezekiel 28:14. The ark of the covenant was

kept in the most holy place in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was replaced by the temple of

Solomon, where the glory of God filled the temple as it did before in the tabernacle. (Exodus

40:35, 1King 8:10) The temple of Solomon was replaced by the second temple. 1 Kings 5-8. In

days of Jesus, it is the second temple that is in use.

In the New Testament Jesus is the real tabernacle, (John 1:14) and the true temple. (John

2:19-22) He is the very presence and glory of God among us, He is Emanuel. (Matthew 1:21,23;

Isaiah 7:14) Christians are now the temple of God in which God’s Spirit dwells. (Peter 2:2-9;

2Corintians 6:16) In our passage in 1Samuel 4:4-11, this principle of God dwelling among his

people is also present in the tabernacle in Shiloh, and particularly in the ark of the covenant.

This was the reason that the taking of the ark was astonishing to Eli and his daughter-in-law. The

departing of the ark of the covenant meant that God was rejecting his people. But at the same

time, this is a wonderful picture of Christ giving himself and leaving his glory for the sake of his
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owns. This event in Israel’s history foreshadows Christ life and ministry. Jesus went outside of the

camp of Israel to die. (Hebrew 13:12) He delivered his glory into the hand of his enemies, just as

the ark of the covenant was delivered into the hands of the Philistines. (Psalm 78: 61)