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you you you you Well good evening everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your word songbooks and turn to song 207 Song 207 in your songbooks will sing only a sinner and If you would stand we'll sing song 207 Not have I got ten, but what I received Grace had bestowed it since I have believed Boasting is clued in pride. I have based. I'm only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace This is my story to God be the glory I'm only a sinner saved by grace Once I was foolish and sin ruled my heart Causing my footsteps from God to depart Jesus have found me happy my case. I now am a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace This is my story to God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace Tears on a veiling no merit had I Mercy it saved me or else I must die Sin had alarmed me Fearing God's face, but now I'm a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace This is my story to God be the glory. I'm only a sinner Grace suffer a sinner whose heart overflows Loving a savior to tell what he knows Once more to tell it would I embrace I'm only a sinner Saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved by grace This is my story to God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord. We just want to tell you we love you. Thank you so much for your word Thank you so much for salvation Lord all the blessings that you bestow upon us each and every day I pray Lord now that you would just meet with us Fill our pastor with your power and spirit. We love you for it's in Jesus name we ask all but amen All right may be seated and you were mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books Your blue folders and turn to Psalm 81, which is page 5 Page 5 and your mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books and we'll song Psalm 81 Sing aloud unto God our strength Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob Take a Psalm and bring Heather the temporal the pleasant heart with the psalm to re- Blow up the trumpet with the new moon In the time appointed on our solemn feast day For this was a statue for Israel and a law of the God of Jacob This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony when he went on Down Through the land of Egypt where I heard a language that I understood not I removed his shoulder from the burden His hands were delivered from the pots Thou call some trouble and I delivered thee I answered thee in the secret place of Thunder I Prove the at the waters of Meribah see I hear all my people And I will testify unto thee Oh Israel if thou will hearken unto me There shall no strange God be in thee Neither shall thou worship any strange God. I Am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt Open wide Will fill it But my people would not hearken to my voice and Israel Would none of me so I gave them up unto their own hearts lost And they walked in their own councils Well that my people have hearken unto me and Israel had walked in my way. I should soon have subdued their enemies And turned my hand against their adversaries The haters of the Lord should have cemented Should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured for ever He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat and with honey Out of the rock should I have satisfied thee out of the rock should I have satisfied thee Hey, man Welcome Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening and Just some announcements here. We have our normal Church times this week. So this Sunday should be normal As far as that's concerned and in our soul any time, we'll have our normal so anytime at 1 p.m. On Sunday so we'll get teamed up and go out on Sunday, but This Saturday, we're gonna have a soul winning marathon out in Ohio out in the Cleveland area And like I said earlier we were talking earlier. I didn't realize how far out it is from us. So we're getting up early drive out there, so But so that's coming up we're gonna try to carpool I saw some room in my truck if anybody wants to ride with me But I'm taking brother Richie and brother David at the moment David Crandall And so But we'll be meeting up there at the Panera up in the Strongsville, Ohio Which is obviously outside of Cleveland, but? Excited about that if you can't make it pray for it and pray that that many souls are saved and that everything goes well with that and then The Sunday after this coming Sunday brother brother Matt Stuckey actually pastor Matt Stuckey now Matthew Stuckey, I don't know if it's he's like goes by Matthew when he's out there or how that works. But anyway, I Just call him Stuckey all the time. So that's it. But anyway, but pastor Stuckey will be preaching for us on October 1st, so he's gonna be preaching both services for us And so I'm excited to see him for a little bit as when he comes in and so he's gonna be here just for That that day so and then but excited about that and and Yeah, that's the one thing the one bad thing about like when your friends are in your friends are in the ministry and then they're Doing other things. You don't get to see him very often. So when brother Stuckey used to go to church with us up out here and everything and it was just a you know times are different now we're all spread out, but anyway Women's prayer meeting will be this Friday and then the men's prayer meeting will be the Saturday before Or I'm sorry the Friday before brother or pastor Stuckey comes in. I'm gonna have to get used to saying that so It's like when I when I got ordained and then it was just really weird for everybody to call me pastor, you know anyway So that's coming up and then we're still in September So Malachi chapter 4 is our memory chapter or memory chapter for the month Amos 5 15 is our memory verse for the week and then on the pregnancy list there obviously congratulations to the spina the spina's and their new arrival and but being prayer obviously for Amanda and also for For tiara with recovery and all that stuff and when it comes to after having a baby And then be in prayer for all the ladies on the list still that are due Jennifer Alyssa Anastasia and Tabby and so being prayer for all these and excited about all the all the babies and everything that are coming but Is there anything else and I'm missing I Don't think so. So yeah, the big thing is we got the soul winning marathon coming up this Saturday. So If you make it great if you can't pray for us Pray everything goes well And so hoping to see many soul saved that day, but hope I haven't even checked to see what the weather's gonna be like so But the weather getting colder it's gonna just prices are snowing up there for all we know but although I'll take snow over like like cold rain so but Um Yeah, I think that's about all I have that I can think of The offering boxes in the back there if you want to give a tithe or an offering mother baby room So the mothers babies only we're continuing our study through the book of 1st Samuel. So we're gonna be in chapter 4 tonight Who's reading tonight? David so, but David will be reading first thing with chapter 4 after brother Dave does one more song All Right take your song books and turn to song 229 Song 229 and your song will sing since I have been redeemed We'll sing song 229 I Have a song I love to sing since I have been redeemed of my Redeemer Savior King since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed I will glory in his name since I Have been redeemed. I will glory in my Savior's name I have a Christ that Satisfies since I have been redeemed To do his will my Highest price since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed I will glory in his name since I Have been redeemed I will glory in my Savior's name. I have a Goodness bright and clear since I have been redeemed Dismaling every doubt and fear since I have been redeemed since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed I will glory in his name since I have been redeemed I will glory in my Savior's name. I Have a home prepared for me since I have been redeemed Where I shall dwell Eternally since I have been redeemed since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed I will glory in his name since I Have been redeemed. I will glory in my Savior's name All right, if you'll take your bowels and turn to first name of chapter four First name of chapter four, we'll have brother Dave read that for us First Samuel chapter 4, the county place say men And the Bible reads on the way to and the word of Samuel came to all Israel now Israel went out against the Philistines to Battle and pissed beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pissed in effect and the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel And when they joined battle Israel was smitten before the Philistines and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men And when the people were coming to the camp the elders of Israel said wherever hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Silo unto us that when it cometh among us It may save us out of the hand of our enemies So the peoples were sent to Silo that they might bring From thence the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts was twelfth between the cherubims and the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas Were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God and when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp all Israel Souted with the great south so that the earth ring again and when the Philistines heard the noise of the south they said what meaneth the noise of this great south in the camp of the Hebrews and They understood that the Ark of the Lord was coming to the camp and the Philistines were afraid For they said God is coming to the camp and they said woe unto us for there hath not been just a thing heretofore Woe unto us who shall deliver us of the hand of these mighty gods These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness Be strong and create yourselves like men Are you Philistines that you be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been unto you Create yourselves like men and fight and the Philistines fought and Israel smitten and they fled every man into his tent And there was a very great slaughter for their fellow of Israel 30,000 footmen and the Ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were slain And there ran a man a Benjamin out of the army and came to Silo the same day with his clothes rent And with earth upon his head and when he came low Eli sat upon a seat by the raised side watching for his heart trembled for the ark of God and when the man came into the city and told it all the city cried out and When Eli heard the noise of the crying he said what meaneth the noise of this tumult and the man came in hastily and told Eli Now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were dim that he could not see and the man said unto Eli I am here That came out of the army and I fled today out of the army and he said what is there done my son and the messenger answered and said Israel is fled before the Philistines and there has been also a great slaughter among the people and my two sons also Hophni and Phinehas are dead and the Ark of God is taken and It came to pass when he made mention of the Ark of God that he fell off that he fell from office the seat Backwards by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died He was an old man and heavy and he had judged Israel 30 years and his daughter-in-law Phinehas his wife was a child near to be delivered and when she had heard the tidings of the Ark of God That the Ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead She bowed herself and travailed for her pains came upon her and about the time of her death a woman that stood by her said Fear not for that has borne her son, but she answered not and neither did she regard it She named the child Ichabod saying the glory is departed from Israel because the Ark of God was taken Because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory is departed from Israel for the Ark of God is taken Let's pray. Dear Lord I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house I pray that you fill a pastor with your spirit and help us to be unified in Jesus' name. Amen Amen, so you're there in 1st Samuel chapter 4 if you remember in chapter 3, this is where God calls out to Samuel and has to call out multiple times till he realizes that it's the Lord But in this passage if you remember in chapter 2 God sends a man of God to Eli to tell him that basically His house is done and his two sons are gonna die and then when God appears to Samuel He says pretty much the same thing or repeats the same thing to Samuel and so that's kind of where we end in chapter 3 is where Samuel ends up telling Eli what God told him about that and chapter 4 is really where this is coming to fruition as far as The punishment that's being put on Eli's house and in verse 1 here We see that the word of Samuel came to all Israel So if you remember that God was speaking in chapter 3 That it says the Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel and Shiloh by the word of the Lord So the beginning of chapter 3 the Lord the word of the Lord was precious in those days meaning there was no open vision but now he's coming to Samuel and now Samuel is Basically the word of Samuel is coming to Israel But at this point we still have Eli, Eli's alive, Hophni and Phinehas are alive But that's gonna be coming to an end here in chapter 4 But in verse 1 there as we keep reading it says now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside Ebeneezer and the Philistines pitched an affect and the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel And when they joined battle Israel was smitten before the Philistines and they slew the army in the field about four thousand men So if you get the picture well If you know the book of Judges right because we're still in the judges if you will and the idea that we have Eli that judged for 40 years it mentions in here and that's Samuel is also a judge in certain provinces so We're still in the time of the judges There's no king at this point and during if you read the book of Judges It's just like the Philistines, the Philistines, the Philistines, the Philistines it's just I mean obviously the famous the probably if you remember anybody in judges you think of Samson and the Philistines be upon the Samson, you know, the idea is the Philistines are like enemy number one when it comes to Israel and still the case here, but they're going out the battle against the Philistines and They are they end up getting Getting defeated with 4,000 men dying now they meet up in this place or they pitch an Ebeneezer now I believe this place actually wasn't named that yet and go to go to first Samuel chapter 7 but something that the Bible does in a lot of cases is it'll it'll because They weren't scribing this down as the events were happening, right? Obviously first Samuel was written way after the fact of these events happening just like the Gospels and just like You know all the other books in the Bible essentially, right? It's the idea that It's writing it of things that have already happened So when it mentions a place and this happens a lot in Genesis where it'll mention a place in a call it a name But it hasn't it hasn't really received that name yet until later in the story as far as the fact that when they're writing it It's named that but In the chronological story order as far as where they're at in the timeline it hasn't been named that yet Now the reason that I say that is because Ebeneezer is a place and in first Samuel chapter 7 And this is it's also this place is mentioned in chapter 5 I believe but in chapter 7 verse 11, it says and the men of Israel went out to misbe and and Pursued the Philistines and smote them until they came under Bethkar Then Samuel took a stone and and set it between misbe and shen and shen and called the name of it Ebeneezer saying hitherto hath the Lord helped us so one it It tells you that what does Ebeneezer even mean it means hitherto have the Lord helped us so it's basically talking about the Lord helping us and But I believe that that's when it actually received its name, but it's basically telling you like this is the same place so And this happens a lot in the Bible where where it does this I don't want to really spend a bunch of time showing you that but Ebeneezer This this chapter actually has a couple names in it that That Basically books stories and stuff like that will use this this this this name or Ebeneezer But I think of like the one of my favorite hymns come now foul Here that I raised my Ebeneezer, right? And the idea there is what it it's not Ebeneezer is a place in the Bible, but it means something Meaning like the fact that the Lord is going to to help us, right? That's the idea is like I'm raising my Ebeneezer meaning like I'm raising up like like for the Lord to help me And if you think about it I raised my Ebeneezer because it's talking about the fact that I'm like a sheep wandering from the fold Lord I feel it, you know, like all that ideas that I need the Lord's help and so, you know The hymns have a lot of Bible attached to it and things that really you need to know the Bible to really understand What's even being said? But I think about Charles Dickens, you know and the Christmas Carol Ebeneezer Scrooge, right and they're like who's named Ebeneezer, but that name is actually a good name, you know as far as what it means but Call you know as far as literary culture Has taken biblical stories names and stuff like that and it is it is intertwined in our culture and in literature and all of that whether the world wants to likes that or not and When everybody just wants to say well, you know, we're not a Christian culture or whatever It's it's like the phrases that are used the names that are used like I mean you can't get around it like a Christmas a Christmas Carol is like one of the most famous Christmas like movies and stories of all time and You know, I'm not saying it's biblical I'm just saying that that it's it's it's in culture right that everybody would Look at Charles Dickens as like a literary like, you know, you know novelist or whatever you want to say, but It's always interesting when you see names that are used in literature or you see even phrases that are used today Like I've escaped by the skin of my teeth and I did a sermon on this at one point I forget when but I was kind of hitting on these things that the Bible mentions like scapegoat you know, obviously I I'm trying to think there's different phrases That are just used all the time and what people don't realize is that it actually comes from the Bible not only does it come from the Bible comes from the King James Bible it comes from the English Bible and that basically, it's intertwined in our culture and And You know, you can't really get around it But all that to say is that I believe that place was named later on but obviously When you're writing down the story It's like everybody knows Ebeneezer because it's already named that at the time that writing it this happens a lot in Genesis this happens a lot in the Bible where it'll state that and Sometimes it'll tell you like it was called Luz, you know, like it talks about like Bethel, but then it was called Luz, you know before that It'll tell you what it was called before 1st Samuel chapter 4 and verse 3 I want you to notice the mentality of Israel And you may say well, you're just reading into this but When I'm reading through here About the fact that he loses battle, right? And so what's their answer? Or what's the response to losing this battle in verse 3? It says and when the people were coming to the camp the elders of Israel said Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? And so at least they realize like hey, there's a problem here Like the Lord's not on our side But it says let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us That when it cometh among us it may save us out of the hand of our enemies So let me ask you a question. Who are who or what are they saying is gonna save them the Ark of the Covenant? They're kind of missing the whole point right? It's God that's gonna save you the Ark of the Covenant is obviously You know something that represents something in heaven. Obviously, there's a lot of there's a lot of you know godly representation of the Ark of the Covenant but notice the it when it cometh among us and when It will save us. So the Ark when he arcs here and it's among us. It's gonna save us So it's like this this inanimate object Is gonna be what saves us so you can kind of see the Obviously, we know that Israel is in a low spot Spiritually speaking but you can kind of see it by what they think is gonna save them and all that. Okay now The Ark is brought out of Shiloh and notice what it says in verse 4 it says so the people Sent to Shiloh that they might bring from fence the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts which dwells between the cherry bins and the two sons of Eli Hoth 9 fin has were with the Ark of the Covenant of God, so The people are saying like bring it bring it here and it's gonna save us and now you got two reprobates that are bringing it To you like I mean it just gets worse as you go down the line. You have two sons of Belial That Are bringing the are and so it's not a good setup. It's I mean basically just fit for disaster but I do kind of want to just talk about Shiloh, okay this place Shiloh and Where is Shiloh well go to judges chapter 21, it's obviously in Israel, but we're at in Israel Judges 21 and verse 19 Because this Shiloh is where the tabernacle was at when Joshua if you think about when they they they come in the Canaan They set up the tabernacle in Shiloh Now we all know where the temple ends up being ultimately right? It's in it's on Mount Zion and Jerusalem, right? That's where You know Solomon builds the temple all of that, right? But and I'm gonna get to that but I want you to see here it says in and judges 21 It actually tells us kind of exactly the location of where this is at. It says in verse 19 It says then they said behold There is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel on the east side Of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem and on the south of Lebanon So it's kind of like here's where it's at, right? It's the north of Bethel It's on this highway, but it's the east side of this You know, so it's kind of telling you the exact location where this is at now Bethel is in Ephraim and if you think about it you kind of know what's in northern in the northern portion of Israel because Where were the two calves of Jeroboam put Bethel and Dan, right? Those are the two places they were put So I always remember it that way as far as like where it's located. I know it's not in Judah But Bethel is It's really close to Bethel. It's just north of Bethel. But if you think about Bethel is the place where where Jacob He sees that vision of the Ladder and the angels ascending and descending upon it and he sets up that pillar calls it Bethel because it's the house of God all that and so So we kind of know that the area but The thing to think about too or the thing that I want to mention here and I'm not really gonna get too deep into this But Shiloh is a place and it's the first place where the tabernacle is set up in Jerusalem But Shiloh is also the name a name given to the Lord Jesus It's a prophecy, but go to Genesis chapter 49 Genesis chapter 49 and this may be a sermon for another day to really kind of get into You know the foreshadowing or the the idea of You know the place Shiloh compared to why Jesus is called Shiloh but That's not happening tonight I just want to show you that that there's Shiloh the place and then there's this this prophecy of Jesus so in In Genesis 49 in verse 8 it says Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies thy father's children shall bow down before thee Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey my son Thou art gone up. He stooped down. He couched as a lion and as an old lion He shall rouse him up who shall rouse him up The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet notice this until Shiloh come And unto him shall the gathering of the people be Vining his foal unto the vine and his ass his colt unto the choice vine He washed his garments and wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk now I don't have time to get into that obviously this talking about Jesus coming on The colt when in his first coming but then he's also going to be coming on a white horse with a vesture dipped in blood But until Shiloh come so you think about it There's always going to be a king and a lawgiver for Judah until Shiloh come and if you think about there was a king in Judah until Jesus came and now Jesus is that seed of David sitting upon a throne forever and ever and so Shiloh is a person, you know, it's a name given to Jesus But also it's just interesting on the fact that that was the first location for the tabernacle now And that's just you say does that have a lot of relevance to what we're talking about I just think it's interesting when when you think about the place That's where the tabernacle is at. What does the tabernacle represent obviously going through Exodus? we saw a lot of the representations of Christ and what he's going to do and all of that and and maybe more so looking into the fact of why why he's called Shiloh, but first Samuel chapter 4 first Samuel chapter 4 and verse 5 Notice what it says here It says and when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp all Israel shouted with a great shout So that the earth rang again So basically, I mean when when the ark gets there, it's it's just so loud that The Philistines here are gonna actually get scared So that's what it says here It says and when when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout they said what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews and They understood that the ark of the Lord was coming to the camp Now I want you to note here. It doesn't say when they came into the camp of the Jews I'm just kind of defining terms tonight a little bit but you won't actually see that term Jews until you get into like until you get into second Kings where you have a split in The kingdom and you have the fact that you have Judea and northern Israel But what you will see is Hebrews and even in the New Testament that term is used Hebrew so Moses the heat, you know Hebrews like all of that right even Paul says I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews He doesn't say I'm a Jew of the Jews Now Obviously Judea and Judah That was just a name to be associated with that But you know I just kind of want to point out those things when people are just like the Jews the Jews the Jews No It says the Hebrews and it says they understood that the ark of God was coming to the camp Notice in verse 7 in the Philistines were afraid But they said God is coming to the camp and they said woe unto us for there hath not been such a thing hitherto for Woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness So obviously they don't have a full understanding, you know that they have this polytheistic type of understanding of God, but And They they know what happened in Egypt Now I want you to think about how long ago that was Right we're in 1st Samuel And there's like 450 years that have gone by since then at least That have gone by since those events So you're probably closer to like 500 years that that has gone by and they're and they're remembering These are this, you know, this is the god that Smote the Egyptians and did all this and they're like we're in trouble And so they were afraid of what was gonna happen Now the Philistines end up strengthening themselves, so this actually backfires for the Israelites because they're all excited They're getting excited and they're just like the Philistines are so afraid. They're like we better do something. You know, like we need we need We're gonna get destroyed. We better we better, you know, lace up bootstraps girl upper loins, right? Because notice what it says in verse 9 It says be strong and quit yourselves like men Oh you Philistines that you be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you Quit yourselves like men and fight And the Philistines fought and Israel was smitten and they fled every man into his tent and there was a very great slaughter For there fell of Israel 30,000 footmen in the ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli Hoth Nigh and Phinehas were slain now the thing that I that I think about here is There's a lot of stories in the Bible where God will basically Smite the hearts of I mean when they took Canaan to begin with right? He kind of smote their hearts and to where they didn't have any courage But that's not it it's not just that For the reason why Israel was victorious and other times in the Bible with the Kings He would do certain things and they would hear battle. They thought there was this great army out there I think Gideon you think of just other cases in the Bible where where this happened And it's not just that you make them afraid You know to where like oh man, we're in trouble We're about to die Like that's not that's not the endgame. Like if you just do that, that's not enough. So all those cases where let's say You're dealing with the Midianites or you're dealing with you know Other other armies or the Assyrians or different different things like that throughout the Bible where God Has this great victory know this is that when God scares them that's the beginning that's part of it But that's not the endgame Because you can look at that be like well, let's just figure out a way to scare them, right? You know if you're a general you're like you read these stories and you're like, okay We just need to figure out ways to make them afraid like kind of trick them to be afraid But listen if you don't have the Lord on your side, it doesn't matter how scared they are You're not gonna win And so this is a case where they were they were afraid they were afraid that they're gonna be the servants of the Hebrews and they ended up winning and So we have to remember that it's not just like Because some people would read through the Bible be like wow, it's just tricks and you know, that's how they won that battle. No the Lord obviously caused them to be Their hearts to melt but on top of that the Lord was there with them in battle And so You can't just look at it as far as well if we trick him when we don't really need the Lord on our side No, you need the Lord on your side. And obviously the Lord is very wise and knows how to He's you know, he's a great commander when it comes to war to figure out how to to beat big numbers now It says here that there fell 30,000 footmen. So total in this battle is 34,000 men now it says footmen that there may be more right? I mean sometimes when it shows you that that little bit of like specific details, maybe there was horsemen Maybe there was other others that died So I would say at least thirty five thirty four thousand people died like men died in this Philistine battle but on top of that top nine vinahas were slain and Not sad about that But the Ark of God was taken and that's really where in the rest of this the chapter here You're really dealing with that that this that's the big deal is that the Ark of God was taken now I want to I want you to think about this the Ark of God never goes back to Shiloh It's gonna go it's gonna actually the next chapters that we get into it's gonna kind of shift from being in the Philistines other places and ultimately It's gonna go to Jerusalem Right, that's the ending place David brings it into Jerusalem and we'll get to that story where that happens, but But it never goes back to Shiloh. So when it leaves Shiloh, it's done It's out of Shiloh. It's the part out of Shiloh So this is kind of like this finale of where it was up there in that place and Shiloh was being blessed With that you'll kind of see that where the Ark of the Covenant is when it goes into Obed-Edom's house. He's blessed and And We'll get into the stories when it comes to the Ark. So this isn't the end of dealing with the Ark of the Covenant but The Ark of God is taken and the news comes back to Eli so when it comes to this You know Hophni and Finnahaz, I'm not really Getting into them as much because they die and you know, that's what God told said was gonna happen and it's fulfilling scripture It's fulfilling what God said would happen, but in verse 12 We see that the news comes back About what happened in this battle and it says in verse 12 It says in there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent and with earth upon his head When he came lo Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching for his for his heart trembled for the heart for the Ark of God and When the man came into the city and told it All the city cried out and when Eli heard the noise of the crying He said what meaneth the noise of this tumult and the man came in hastily and told Eli So basically this man's coming in and he's telling everybody everybody's just like crying out They're hearing this news and Eli still doesn't know what's going on. He's like, what's this what's going on? What's what's happening? And then he comes in to Eli and says now Eli was 90 90 and 8 years old. So I mean, he's an old man. I mean even back then I mean Back then I mean 98 old I mean We're not like pre-flood where this would not be old but 98 years old It says and his eyes were dim that he could not see and the man said unto Eli I am he that came out of the army and I fled today out of the army and he said What is there done my son so you can imagine like the guy can't see like he's pretty much like I gotta tell this guy Exactly who I am. Like he doesn't doesn't know. I mean imagine you came out an army got blood all over you You know like all this stuff. I mean you kind of figure it out If you can see but I'm just imagining like you can't see anything all the stuff and he's like basically like hey listen Just so you know, I came out of the army, you know all this stuff and He's basically Obviously Eli wants to know what's going on. It says in verse 17 and the messenger answered and said Israel's fled before the Philistines and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people and thy two sons also Hoth nine Finnahaz are dead and the ark of God is taken And it came to pass when he made mention of the ark of God now That's the thing that just kind of sticks out to me. Okay He just said like all these people were there was this big big slaughter His sons were killed but was when the ark was mentioned and notice that that's what he was thinking about too Before this guy came was he was his you know, basically it talks about how he his heart trembled for the ark of God and so that's really what his main concern was and It says here that It came to pass When he had mentioned the ark of God that he fell from off this the seat Backward by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died But he was an old man and heavy and he had judged Israel 40 years So if you do some math there and he was 58 years old when he started judging which is interesting You know in the fact that that's when he started and all that But the the idea here is that He obviously fell back out of his chair and he was old but he was also heavy And that's just something that's interesting there when it comes to this because if you look back It's first Samuel chapter 2 and verse 29 There's something that God says to or basically God speaks to the man of God the man of God tells Eli Basically this judgment is gonna come upon him, but notice what it says here. It's first Samuel chapter 2 and verse 29 It says wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering which I have commanded in my habitation And honor is thou thy sons above me to make yourselves fat with the cheapest of all the offerings of Israel My people so he notice that it says yourselves So he's talking to Eli so it's not like he's just saying your sons made themselves fat because we kind of already know that they were Just taking advantage of these these sacrifices all this stuff But Eli also was making himself fat From these sacrifices and so when you see this that he fell back. He was one old, but he was also very heavy And but why was he heavy, you know that it just kind of adds to that but We see here that that Eli dies His sons are dead. And so there's a lot a lot going on here and when the archer God is taken I want you to think about this Throughout these chapters. What do we see? We see that there's no open vision The Lord's not speaking Eli The word is the word is precious in those days all of that and what does that arc I mean, obviously there's just a physical application of the ark is taken away from them, right? but what When you think about the ark You can obviously think about the blood being sprinkled on the ark on the mercy seat But I want you to look at when you're dealing with the fact that God spoke From between the cherry bins from the mercy seat It's really just kind of showing you this finale that like hey Eli's dead half nine finishes are dead and the ark is taken from Israel That's the state of affairs and it just physically represents how all that's been taken away from Israel Like the priests and the in the the Ark of the Covenant of God speaking to them now We know the backdrop because Samuel's there right? It's kind of it's always like this idea of you know You have Eli you have his sons But then but that's Samuel and even the chapter starts off with the fact that you know The word of Samuel came to all Israel that kind of starts off with that But then you have this like all this terrible stuff happening And in Leviticus chapter 16, I just wanted to kind of just show you this that God spoke to Moses From the mercy seat in the tabernacle So and Leviticus chapter 16 verse 1 it says in the Lord spake on the Moses after the death of the two sons Of the two sons of Aaron when they offered before the Lord and died if you remember that story, it's when they offer that strange fire And they died So it's kind of similar if you think about it and the fact that Eli's two sons died and all that But anyway, it says in verse 2 here says in the Lord said unto Moses speak unto Aaron thy brother that he come not at all At all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat Which is upon the ark that he die not for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat so think about the fact that He's appearing there it's it's kind of showing you like the presence of the Lord is being is departing from Israel and This this finale of this happening numbers chapter 7 go to number 7 verse 89 number 7 verse 89 I mean think about this the ark has been there since the wilderness And All of a sudden it's gone I Mean hundreds of years they've had this ark there and now it's gone Now in number 7 verse 89 it says and when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him Then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat That was upon the ark of the testimony from between the cherry bins and he spake unto him So God was speaking. He was appearing there and he was speaking from there So now think about the fact of the ark being taken away From Israel, it's like you're taking away the fact that God is speaking to you and his presence is there And you can think about why everybody's lamenting that now obviously, I'm sure there's people that are just lamenting it because of The the ark itself, right? I Mean they're they're basically like when it comes here then it's gonna save us all that Because you definitely see how people elevate the actual physical Inanimate object Above God because that's just that's just a typical thing that that people do is they want that tangible item That they're holding on to more than obviously God Who's invisible now? when it comes to the mercy seat and All that the Bible talks about in Hebrews and think about this too the Ark of the Covenant wasn't there when Jesus was in the temple When he was here on the earth in the flesh and in Hebrews when it's talking about the tabernacle we talked about the first tabernacle and it talks about beyond the veil is The second tabernacle which is called the holiest of all and it talks about the Ark of the Covenant And in Hebrews 9 5 it says and over it the cherry beams of glory shadowed the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly and so Like we don't have that today They didn't have it. I don't believe they I mean even Paul who's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost can't speak about it particularly now in Revelation it talks about the Ark of the Covenant that's in heaven and The temple that's in heaven, so I'm not saying we'll never see it. We'll see the real thing But as far as that physical one that was made in the wilderness they had in the temple You know we can't speak particularly about that and there are certain things in the Bible That we just can't speak particularly about like that they saw but you know and what you have to probably realize with that is that If if we can't speak particularly about it, then it's not something we really need to know You think about like the fact of like I'm actually planning on doing a sermon about angels and devils And just kind of getting into like angels and the fallen angels and just kind of getting into that realm But you also have to be careful with that type of stuff because you don't want to speak of things you don't understand Right it actually even tells you that That to speak it you know they speak of those things which they know not and you don't want to Go beyond what's given to us as far as what we know And you say well is there more to know about it. I guarantee there's more to know about it but now we look through a glass darkly and The idea is that there's some things that we we can we can kind of we glean a little bit We're like okay. I kind of see that I kind of see the big picture of that But I can't see the particulars of it right. I can't see all the details of it and One day I believe we'll be able to see the Ark of the Covenant be like that's what it looked like And I have a feeling it's not gonna look like the one on the Indiana Jones It's probably gonna be similar and the idea of like the shape of it and all that stuff But there's a lot of things where you're gonna see it. You're gonna like that's not what I thought Have you ever like met somebody that you've only talked to on the phone? And you hear their voice and you got a picture in your mind I just did this recently there was like this architect that I was talking to and I talked to him for years I don't know if he's I think he is an architect anyway. I talked to him for years and in my mind I had this picture of What he looked like in my mind. He was a goofy looking guy Okay, just to give you like I'm just like picturing this kind of goofy looking guy And then I met him finally, and I'm like just shocked Because he wasn't goofy looking he's like he was like a good-looking guy like that Like but the words that were coming out of his mouth, and how he said it. I'm like that's the guy Just doesn't match the face all I'm saying is that like There's I believe there's gonna be a lot of things that we're gonna We're gonna in our minds you've ever read a book you know and you're kind of picturing what something should look like and then someone Makes a movie about you're like that's not what it looked like in my mind You know the book is always better But Obviously the real thing is gonna be better with the Bible But I just think about that type of stuff when you when it comes to the Ark of the Covenant We're gonna be dealing with that the Ark of the Covenant in these chapters and throughout first Samuel and going into second Samuel and all that stuff, but And there's definitely a lot to be preached about the Ark of the Covenant as far as what it represents But there's just a lot of things that we're just not going to know that particular is about and so Just kind of wanted to touch on that because that's something that that translates to all Different areas in the Bible besides just the Ark of the Covenant when it comes to the ark What did the ark exactly look like and I'm talking about the ark like Noah's ark Right what did that exactly well? We know the dimensions, but what did it look like exactly and We could all guess about it But we're not gonna know I do believe that we'll be able to see those type of things that you know Hopefully God will be able to look into the past and see like the parting of the Red Sea and like see these things I think that would be cool But anyway going on first Samuel chapter 3 go to 1st Samuel chapter 3 and verse 11. I just want to point out that the Lord is performing what he said it would happen to Eli and to his family and Notice what it says here in 1st Samuel chapter 3 and verse 11 1st Samuel chapter 3 verse 11, this is where the Lord is speaking to Samuel and it says the Lord said to Samuel behold I will do a thing in Israel at at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle Now once you think about this when they came back in what was the big thing? They were all crying with a big shout all this stuff. There's a lot of commotion That when they heard the noise of what was going on Now when you're reading this you don't hear that the ark is taken do you? Right when you're reading through what's gonna happen, it's all about Eli and his sons and his household and everything, but here it says It says I will do a thing in Israel What thing do you think he's talking about? I? Think it's probably talking about the ark being taken and so You know when you hear this you're like there's gonna be a thing that's gonna be done What is it? And obviously we we can we we have the next chapter so we see what that is but I believe that's what it's talking about and then it goes in verse 12 it says in that day I Will perform against Eli all the things which I have spoken concerning his house When I begin I will also make an end so think about it the same day What was what was said that Eli your sons are going to die? Right off nine fin has they're gonna die on the same day. What happened the ark was taken That's kind of like the big thing. I mean I guess you could say like the the slaughter That could be part of the thing that they would be thinking about, but what is what is everybody? Mentioning after to this whole thing are they mentioning half-time finnehat I mean they're kind of mentioning them just for the fact that it happened But you know what the thing that's being brought up the ark is taken the ark is taken the ark is taken Because we haven't got the finna has white But she's not lamenting that her husband died She's talking about the ark being taken That's the whole premise so I think that's really what the thing that was gonna be done To where everybody hears that their ears are going to tingle In verse I go to Go to first Kings chapter 2 first Kings chapter 2 and verse 26. You're like, what are we doing at first Kings? Sometimes God starts punishing somebody or sometimes there's a delay on it Now in this case His son's dying that happened that day the ark was taken But the idea if you remember about the fact that there's not gonna be an old man in The house of Eli right? It's not saying that it doesn't say that there's no one going to be Born or anything like it's basically like no one's gonna basically Be in the office or live to this old like old age like there's not gonna be an old man all this different stuff, right? I Want you to think about how this keeps going even into Solomon's reign No So says in first Kings chapter 2 and verse 26, I don't know we're not thinking like hundreds of years later, right? But still you're in salt Solomon's reigning. It says in verse 26 here It says an unto Abiathor the priest said the king get thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields for thou art worthy of death But I will not at this time put thee to death because thou bearest the ark of the Lord God before David my father And because thou has been afflicted and all wherein my father was afflicted verse 27. So Solomon Thrust out Abiathar from being priests unto the Lord that he might fulfill the word of the Lord Which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh So notice how that's like still going on. It's not like he forgot about it and Solomon's Solomon is doing that and it's actually fulfilling now There's kind of other reasons why he's doing it as far as getting into the story with Solomon and Abiathar and and this is where Jehoi, I'm sorry, uh, but but not Benaiah the son of Jehoiada It's just cleaning house If you know the story, he's just like killing Joab He's going I mean, he's just killing all of David's enemies after David dies and he's just he's he just you don't want to mess with that guy but That that that judgment is still being put out how about the Amalekites, right? The Amalekites there was a curse put upon them because they were killing those that were faint in the wilderness and there was a curse put upon them that they were gonna be all wiped out that still hasn't been fulfilled yet and That's actually how Saul gets in trouble King Saul gets in trouble because he doesn't fulfill it to the T So notice the delay on that hundreds of years of delay and So sometimes when we think about God's judgment or him performing that which he's stating we can look at him be like man Is it gonna happen? Like it's been a couple days You know like in our minds if we're like that impatient, right? But think about like how hundreds of years later is when he fulfills that when it comes to the Amalekites, but then when you think about About this that it's still going on. It's like I haven't forgotten about that like Eli's house still haven't forgotten about it You know and you're talking, you know 80 years later or whatever it was Maybe probably more because Saul Saul reigned for 40 years David reigned for 40 years and I don't know when this This event I mean there was time between this and when Saul started raining So you're getting close to 100 years or something like that. It's still like nope. You're still being judged Now go down to verse 19 of 1st Samuel chapter 4 we get at Finnahad's wife here And It says in verse 19 and his daughter-in-law, so obviously we're talking about Eli because Eli just died So a lot happens today, I mean She's gonna die See, Hothnite, Finnahad, Eli dies Finnahad's wife dies giving birth that we're gonna see here. The Ark of God is taken. I mean we're talking about Just getting annihilated and then 30,000 men died that day in battle So, I mean this is this is quite The the catastrophe in verse 19 it says and his daughter-in-law Finnahad's wife was with child near to be delivered and she heard the Tidings that the Ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead and she bowed herself and travailed for her pains came upon her and About the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her fear not for thou has borne a son Now she we know that she dies because it says about the time of her death So obviously that means it has to be somewhere About this time, right? but basically You're gonna be born of this Born it says for thou has borne a son, but she answered not neither. Did she regard it now? Reading through this because then it later on talks about the child being named and everything and you may Look at this to be like well if she didn't regard it. Did she die? Like when they said this, I don't think she's dead yet. I think the reason why I say that is because it says women The women said that to her but then it says and she named the child Ichabod So to me that has to go back to Finnahad's wife because dealing with a singular pronoun of she Because it it didn't say like the woman said unto her or something like if it said that I would maybe be saying well Maybe it was this woman delivered the child that just named it right, but I don't think so. I think that the the woman Names the child the woman the Finnahad's wife names it and says she named the child Ichabod saying the glories is the part from Israel because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law And her husband and she said the glory is the part from Israel for the ark of God is taken So the last thing she does before she dies is names this child Ichabod Which obviously means the glory is departed So a lot of times I mean names will have meanings and all that And again, you kind of have this name that has a cultural like literary I mean who here has not read this and think and thought of the headless horseman story of Ichabod Crane If you're not then you're too spiritual, okay? Now who here has heard that story? Like two people you haven't heard that story. Are you serious? I'm gonna listen we're gonna talk about this No, it's not that important. It's like how Halloween's coming up aren't you gonna? No, I'm just kidding. We don't celebrate Halloween, but Anyway, but think about that Not think about that story The story of Ichabod Crane has to do with like some kind of like scary type of you know horror essentially and The person I don't know who wrote the story Where do you think they got that name from? And the name literally means the glory is departed. How would you like to be named Ichabod? I mean, that's not a popular name today, is it? I mean I've looked up a lot of baby names You know, you get those lists and you're like in some era of like what were they naming them in the 30s? You know, what were they naming them and you know, whatever time I've never seen Ichabod on the list. I think people are probably more they have to call someone Judas than the Ichabod. I don't know but Anyway, I you know Every time I hear the story, I'm just thinking of that story So that you know, that's one of those things kids when when you don't see things that are in the world It kind of helps because you're not like thinking about like you don't have to flush these things out of your mind And there are certain things when I'm reading through the Bible. I just cannot read this and not think of that story. So And you adults if you look it up later now, you're gonna think about it so, I'm sorry if I put that in your mind, but But basically when it comes to the glory the glory is departed For the ark of God was taken so you think about just how this is affecting everybody And just the tragedy that's going on go to go to the last thing we show you here and we'll be done Psalm 78 Psalm 78 And like I said the ark doesn't come back to Shiloh So kind of the bigger picture to this is how Shiloh is no longer the place where God's house is going to be It's going to move locations I know we talked about this, you know when it comes to like churches the kind of you know, Eli being like the Pastor that's failing and not doing what he should be doing and how the lamp of God air the lamp of God went out and just these different things as far as like the glory departing and all of that and How it moves locations, right? It's like the house of Lord is no longer there And I think about the verse where it says let their days be few and another man take his office It'll use that type of terminology sometimes when talks about like people leadership and stuff like that That I mean how true is that right? I mean their days, I mean although Eli did live to 98 He died and his sons died The ark was taken it never returns and the tabernacle Lord is no longer gonna be in Shiloh But let me just show you where God literally states that and go to Psalm 78 verse 56 Psalm 78 verse 56 I've just never really thought about that I you know, I kind of knew that that it was in Shiloh and then it went to Jerusalem but I never really just thought about that application of the fact that You know, there's no open vision like Eli's blind can't see He's fat and old and can't do anything and then his sons are wicked and All these different things that are going on the ark's taken everybody dies and But then it's moved. It's not like it just goes away That's kind of want to say is that when it comes to You know, there's there's churches that die off you think about Sardis, right? That's the name that thou liveth and art dead And God's like, you know, basically you start doing what you should be doing before you die, right? And so but there are churches that just die out But listen, there will always be a righteous remnant They'll always be churches that are taking up the mantle going out So winning just as much as there will always be Those that are soul winning because the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as is written the just to live by faith And how should I hear without a preacher there's not this there's not gonna be an unbroken Chain when it comes to churches and when it comes to soul winners, there might be low points Where it's not getting done as much But they'll never be a case where it goes out completely God just moves it to a different location think about these nations, right? I preach the sermon on the fact of like the branches being broken off and how throughout history You know certain nations would pick up that mantle and then it goes to a different nation and then you see that light kind of Going out of those nations think about Greece think about England and we don't want America to be like that but Psalm 78 in verse 56. I don't want to read the whole Psalm for sake of time here, but This is dealing with them coming out of Egypt and all of that But it says in verse 56 yet They tempted and provoked the most high God and kept not his testimonies But turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers they were turned aside like a deceitful bow For they provoked him to anger with their high places and moved him to jealousy with their graven images When God heard this he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh The tent which he placed among them among men now If you look in the book of Joshua, that's where they placed it in Shiloh It's just it's very specific like this is where it's at. This is where the tabernacle is at This is where they went out from Shiloh when he's giving he's allotting the land and all that. It's coming out from Shiloh But it says that the that so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh. When do you think that happened? This chapter right chapter 4 where he's pulled. I mean literally the Ark of Covenant was taken out of there But you know what's interesting about that And I just kind of thinking about the fact that they took it out first like Israel took it out before the world did and the idea is that the only way that our church or any church can be destroyed is from within and Us taking God out us taking the Word of God out. That's when it can be taken out and But going off from that it says in verse 61 here It says and delivered his strength into captivity and his glory into the enemy's hand now We're going to get into that because we're going to get these next chapters are actually going to hit on this as far as Dagon and just these different things when it comes to the ark where where it goes And gave his people over also unto the sword and was wroth with his inheritance The fire consumed their young men and their maidens were not given to marriage now It's giving you kind of a little more information as far as what's going on Because there's some things that maybe aren't mentioned in here That happened besides the fact that there was a slaughter, but then what was the state of Israel when the ark was gone? Right because the next chapters are going to really be hitting on like where the ark is at and in moving places and dealing with The Philistines and Dagon and all that but think about the fact that when you don't have God's house there, and you don't have God there present in the house of God and just how You're just not being blessed, and there's curses and there's different things going on there Now in verse 64 their priests fell by the sword and their widows made no lamentation So I mean you can definitely see Hophni and Phinahaz there, but also In verse 65 it says then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine So that's kind of what we see in chapter 4 But then God's gonna start working with the ark and then Samuel's gonna step up Right it's like it's now all right now for Samuels turn right got to get rid of the You know the riffraff or get rid of the you know those that don't want to follow the Lord all that stuff get rid of that It's time for the man of God to stand up right, but it says here That the Lord the Lord's gonna Shout by reason of why it says he smote his enemies in the hinders parts now These next chapters are gonna get into this. I don't want to you know spoiler alert the emerods and all that stuff but He smoked them in the hinders parts. He put them to a perpetual reproach So this is all going to be mentioned in these chapters coming ahead here verse 1667 moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim. Where was Bethel in? That northern portion of Joseph or you know, where Ephraim was at, right? It says But chose the tribe of Judah the Mount Zion which he loved and he built his sanctuary like high places like the earth which he had established forever He chose David also his servant and took him from the sheepfolds from following the Hughes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob his people in Israel as inheritance So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands Listen, the ark of God didn't come into Jerusalem until David brought it in and it wasn't until after he was made king and after Saul died and all that right so At this point it's not in shallow, but it's not in Jerusalem and It's stating here that he forsook the tabernacle in Shiloh and then but he chose Zion he chose David and so It's just interesting how Psalm 78 just kind of puts that all together for the big picture as far as like the arcs being taken out of Shiloh and it's gonna kind of roam around for like 20 years and then it's going to Eventually when when when David brings it back into Into Jerusalem, so we'll be seeing more about the ark and See what happens to the Philistines when they have the ark and all that but that's chapter 4 Definitely some heavy stuff there with with Eli and his son, but we kind of we already saw God saying that was gonna happen This is where it actually happens. And so let's end with a word of prayer. Dear heavenly father we thank you for today Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of 1st Samuel and I pray you should help us to understand it Help us to apply it and Lord. Thank you for these stories I pray that you'd help us to understand and see different things in it that we haven't seen before and Lord we just pray to be with us with work and Pray that you'd bring us back at the appointed time in Jesus Christ's name. Amen But they will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed You All right, take your song books and turn to song 218 Song 218 we'll sing hallelujah. It is done if you would stand we'll sing song 218 Tis the promise of lawful salvation to give unto him who on Jesus his son will believe Hallelujah is done. I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one Hallelujah is done I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one though the pathway be lonely and dangerous to Surely Jesus is able to carry me through Hallelujah is done. I believe on the son I am saved by the blood of the crucified one Hallelujah is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved