“In those days the Philistines mustered for war against Israel, and Israel went out to battle against them; they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek” (I Samuel 4:1). This is another verse that points out the difference between the time of writing and the time written about. The location of the Israelite encampment is given as Ebenezer, but that place would not have that name until twenty years later (7:2, 12). The author wrote down Ebenezer as the location of the camp, but when the battle took place, the place didn’t yet have that name.

The Israelites fought against the Philistines, and lost: four thousand soldiers dead on the battlefield. What should they do? “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies” (4:3). They brought the ark to the battlefield, and raised a mighty shout of exultation: now they would be victorious. The Philistines heard the shout, and discerned that the Israelites had invoked divine assistance. They were afraid, but they exhorted each other to take courage and fight “in order not to become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you” (4:9).

So the two armies battled again, and Israel lost even more severely, with thirty thousand casualties (4:10) – plus the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant (4:11). Among those who were killed were Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of the high priest Eli. When Eli was given the news, it was the loss of the ark, rather than the loss of his sons, that overwhelmed him so that he fell and broke his neck, and died. And the wife of Phinehas, dying in childbirth as she heard the news, named her son Ichabod, “the glory has departed.” She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured” (4:21-22).

The ark would be returned by the Philistines after seven months (6:1), but Israel continued to be dominated by the Philistines for twenty more years (7:2) before the nation turned their hearts to the Lord in response to Samuel’s exhortations (7:3-6). God provided deliverance in the next battle, and Samuel raised the stone to commemorate the victory: the stone of help, eben ezer in Hebrew.

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Help us, Lord! We want a quick and easy solution, a magic solution, like bringing in your ark to make you give us the victory Right Now. But in reality we are not in control, and our efforts to control you are doomed to failure. All we can do is repent of our sins, and commit ourselves once more to follow you, day by day.

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