People here that were leading this fight, that were in this war, the bulk of them, were not truly following God. They trusted in the shadow of holy things, we would say relics, but not the substance of holiness itself. Faith is the substance of things to hope for, the evidence of nothing. of things not seen. But they just wanted the symbols, not the authority that the symbol represented.
God was reduced to a mascot. A figurehead. In their heads, of course, not in reality. You're listening to Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville.
Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 4 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. 1 Samuel chapter 4 this evening. the glory departed is what we are going to consider.
Well, as The glory of The Holy Spirit arrived in a dramatic bay on the day of Pentecost with at the birth of the church. Here, the glory in a dramatic way, the glory of God, departs. From the nation of Israel. Dramatic arrival in the book of Acts, dramatic departure. It's found in other places of the scripture also.
He departs, the glory of God, the presence of God. Or should I say the approved presence of God? Because God is always present, but He withdraws. His companionship from his people when they insist on not obeying him, coming under his lordship. And This is the case with the Jews in this fourth chapter.
of 1 Samuel. These days were characterized and dominated by disobedience, rebellion, and ignorance. It's still in the book of Judges. Technically, we are in that period of time. Eli is the next to last judge of Israel, after him was Samuel, and Eli dies in this chapter.
In the book of Judges, The writer starts off early on to sort of. Lay out the landscape, the religious landscape, what was happening with the people. Judges 2, verse 10, when all All that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know Yahweh, nor the work which he did. had done for Israel.
Now, that generation, he's talking about Joshua and those that were with Joshua when they passed on. The next generation just fell out of love with God. And ignorance flowed for three hundred years. There were. Pockets of Righteousness rising up, but it didn't last long, and we covered that when we went through the time of the judges.
Here, for the next three chapters, We follow the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh on a journey. First, the ark is captured in this chapter. And then it is seen separated from the people of God in the ne in chapter five, and then in chapter six it is returned to the people of God. And we don't read about Samuel in these next three chapters.
sort of a rebuke.
Well, here we're going to find that God stops feeding the mouth that bites at him. Verse 1 now in 1 Samuel 4. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines and encamped beside Ebenezer. and the Philistines encamped in Aphex.
Well, this is a turning point in the history, that first sentence, which really belongs in the previous chapter, but it's not totally out of place here. Look at it again. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
And then the writer will stop with Samuel, as I mentioned, until we get to chapter 7. And he goes on, he talks about this period of time with this transition period. But it is a turning point. Samuel again is held up in contrast to Eli and his wicked sons.
Now we have a man in Samuel who is a priest in Israel and he is also a prophet. Again, looking back at 1 Samuel 3, then Yahweh appeared again at Shiloh. Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel. In Shiloh, by the word of Yahweh. And so the writer says: hey, remember, this man was a man of the word.
God showed himself to him, and this is God's choice to lead the nation into a right relationship with him. And ultimately, it issues in David the king. David had such an impact. On the spirituality of Israel. To this very day, in fact, the star of the Israel's flag is called the Star of David.
And Samuel Absent But when he shows up, his impact is going to be very beneficial. And as the sun goes down on the judges, it will rise up on the monarchy, the kings. There would be a priest to intercede, there will be a prophet of God to speak, and there will be a king to rule. The first king, of course, will be King Saul, a disaster, but King David will then take the throne. Prophet Hosea.
God speaking to the people, appealing to them to get their act together there in the Northern Kingdoms, which they never did as a nation in the Northern Kingdom, but individuals did. And there he writes, I have spoken by the prophets. and have multiplied visions. I have given symbols through the witness. Of the prophets.
And that's what's going to happen with Samuel. He's going to speak to the people.
So we read now, we now begin the story here in chapter 2. 4 verse 1.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. It seems like Israel is the one that is forming the battle line first. They are the initiator of this. War that is about to take place, this battle between the Philistines and the people of God. Probably because they're trying to get uh from underneath the oppression of the Philistines.
That's why they're forming this line. With Samson out of the way, the Philistines were once again menacing the people, and the people were just, you know, we have to do something about this. It will not be until Samuel and Saul that the Jews really start pushing back on the Philistines, and David will finally break their hold on Israel and subdue them. This parallel that exists between The Philistines and the Jews, of course, is a parallel our old sinful nature versus our new life in Christ, the war, that it just doesn't stop. There's no reconciliation.
The Philistines, of course, being a type of that sinful nature that was saddled with. It fights fiercely to remain in the promised life. That's what the flesh does. Here, of course, the Philistines are fighting to stay in the promised land. They say, well, we were here first.
And they saw the people of God as invaders. That's what the carnal nature does. The carnal nature is here first. We come to this life's. screaming and wailing and crying and protesting and Wetting things up.
And uh the flesh is just always protesting so opposed to the spirit. And while historically they could not push Israel out of the promised land, they could enslave many of them, and that is what they did, and that's what the flesh does. I can't stop you from being a believer, maybe, but I can enslave you. In Genesis, we have this. Picture of the Philistine nature again early on in the history.
of the promised land before the Jews as a people came in. But Abraham and Isaac were there. Genesis 26, verse 15.
Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, And they filled them with Earth with dirt. Why? It's just mean. They didn't want the Jews, they didn't want Isaac there. They wanted him out.
and if they could take the water away, he would move away. And that didn't happen, Genesis 26, 18, and Isaac dug again the wells. Of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
So Isaac, you know, Isaac was the man that was not quick to go to war, but here he is defiant. He redigs the wells. He names them again. I'm honoring my father. My father dug these wells, and we're staying.
And that is what happened.
So there is that defiant spirit in such a gentle man as Isaac against the Philistines, and again the flesh has got to be resisted. We defy the flesh. And we dig again the wells. And we remain uh we we we we retain The name of our father on the wells that we dig in life. You can see the metaphor flying all over the place.
It says here, and encamped beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphax.
Now, Ebenezer means stone of hell. Samuel, twenty years later, is going to give this particular piece of land the name Ebenezer. But the publisher, at the time of writing, his audience knows it as Ebenezer. And so he's writing to an audience that gets it. It would be like, you know, we don't refer to New York as New Amsterdam.
Which was original as the Europeans n named it, but became New York. You may say, why did I choose New York, though? I don't know. I don't know about any other place. But anyway, this is not a discrepancy at all.
It belongs to the publication, and the audience would have well been aware that at the time of this particular battle with the Philistines, it was not yet named Ebenezer. That will come later. Verse 2 now. Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel, and when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men. the army in the field.
So the flesh comes ready to rumble. and on this day it winds. It's just like the sinful nature. It says who killed about 4,000 men of the army in the field. The significance of it mentioning the field is that's where the chariots got to roll.
They had the advantage. David, well not David, Saul. David enters in. When he meets them in the valley of Elah, he doesn't enter the valley, he stays up on the hill. That's why there was no war going on.
The Philistines weren't going to come running up the hill. The Jews weren't going to go into the valley and have the chariots take them out.
So they were at a stalemate, and the giant would come out and he'd boast about what he was going to do. And David, of course, says, I'll take that guy out. And that's what he did.
So that's just a little Side note, that's kind of interesting. Uh the Philistines were dominant because they They had the weapons. Verse 3. And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh from Shiloh.
to us That when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. They really thought that God would bless them in spite of their reckless treatment. of God. His word, his will, his will. is people.
We had covered this in earlier chapters, what the sons were doing. There was, again, a remnant, there were some righteous people, but they were the minority. And God makes comments on this throughout the Old Testament, looking back into this age and this period of time.
So this is presumptuous sin. I have no basis. To look for God to bless. Or to help. Or to make a statement about him, but I'm going to make it anyway.
That's presumptuous sin. Psalm 19, verse 13. Keep your servant. Also, from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me, that I shall be blameless and I shall. Be innocent of great transgression.
Too bad David wrote that after.
Well, it didn't matter if he wrote it earlier. They still would not have read it because they had the same teachings from Moses. The people here that were leading this fight, that were in this war, the bulk of them, were not truly following God. They trusted in the shadow of holy things, we would say relics, but not the substance of holiness itself. Faith is the substance of things to hope for.
The evidence of not. of things not seen. But they just wanted the symbols, not the authority that the symbol represented. God was reduced to a mascot. A figurehead.
in their heads, of course, not in reality. And they didn't want him to lord over them. They just wanted to take the blessings and go. Can you stop it with the rebukes? Can you not preach a sermon that strikes at my conscience?
Can you just tell me what I want to hear and take a hike after that, Pastor? But that's what they were doing with God. And The people that it refers to here, they did not have yet a standing militia or military, sorry. That will not come until. Saul is king.
This was just a militia that rallied when they were called to arms. The elders were the tribal leaders before the monarch. He says, monarchy was put in place. Let us bring. The Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, of the Lord from Shiloh, to us.
That when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. This is how they thought, and it was wrong, and there was no excuse for this. No wonder Samuel is not associated with these people. Samuel was writing this. You know what?
I was in Ephraim, I was doing garden work. I didn't know these people were doing this stuff. Of course, we don't know where Samuel was, but he's not here. Or if he is here, he's in protest. Um Anyway, they say, but hey, I got a good idea.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Let's bring up the ark. After all, it worked for Joshua. He potted the Jordan with it. Remember, the priest went out and they stood in the Jordan and it rolled back, and everybody.
And then they marched around Jericho with it, and the walls came down. Let's bring it here to the battlefield. That's all you can say about this kind of stuff, you would think. But it still goes on to this day. People will hold on to a crucifix.
to take it into battle as though it's going to protect them. It's the relationship with God, and that's it. Whether He protects or not, it is the relationship with God. Personally, that is what matters. And Samuel had it, and Moses had it, and Joshua and many others had it.
Even Ruth got it. wherever you go. Where you die, I die. Your people will be my people. I don't care how they treat me, your people will be my people.
Your God will be my God. They have no excuse, these folks, in this chapter. And it here it is, uh the the custom of warriors amongst the pagans was to carry their little gods into battle with them. seeking protection. from their little symbols.
And as I mentioned, practice to this day, this was not supposed to be how the people of Israel were to do it. Their God was invisible, unseen. And yet they are saying, let's take the ark. That's supersize our idol. Against their gods.
That was their sick thinking. Second Samuel chapter five. And 2 Samuel is in the time of David, David goes to the battlefield and he defeats the Philistines, and this is the comment. They left the Philistines their images there. Why?
Because they took them into the battle to fight with David. And David and his men carried them away. And then David, of course, took the gold and the silver and melted it down, smelted it down and made finance the building of the Temple of God with things like this. But the point that I make why I reference it the days of David. and the Philistines bringing their images Of their gods to the battlefield, why are the Jews behaving like the world?
Why do Christians look to the world and say, How should we do church? Tell us, we're not looking for the Holy Spirit to guide us. We need you to tell, give us some worldly wisdom. It's uh too bad that A successful businessman, for example, can come into a church and without even considering his spiritual state, they look for him to be on the board. He must know what he's talking about.
He is a successful company.
Well, what does God say, though?
Now, granted, you know, usually board successful businessmen make good board members. But they have to learn how to be not businessmen, but just Christians who have that knowledge. And now you got you've got some power now. Anyway. I mean, it makes perfect sense.
I mean, you don't w you know, would you would you take a A soccer player, just say, Well, he must know what he's talking about. All right, maybe one of you out there likes soccer, but you shouldn't.
Alright, well I don't know where I was at. I always get to this spot. I just need a little break.
Okay, I'm good. I'm back. Hi, everyone.
So th these Jewish Soldiers who were not walking with God off the battlefield, now they need Him on the battlefield. They cared more about what they thought of God Than what God said about God. Again, practice to this day. We have people just well, they think more about what other people think about religion than what God says about faith.
So verse four So the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, We're there. with the Ark of the Covenant. How disgusting, right? When we know what these men are about, we know who they are. It would be like Letting uh De Blasios preached from the pulpit.
Sorry, had a physical reaction to that one. But you get it, don't you? That's how d disastrous this is. I mean, these guys are are thugs. They're not.
Priests, they do not have the people's interest at heart, they have their own interest at heart. Of course, they want to beat the Philistines, because the Philistines were their enemies. Even Saul had that much common sense. But the symbolic presence of God was just a lucky charm to these people.
Now Shiloh is about twenty miles away from this battlefield. And as I mentioned, it it seemed like a good idea at the time, but really it was packed with stupidity, spiritual stupidity. and God was not permitted to rebuke them. But he was to bless them. There are people like that to this very day.
They want to call the chaplain at the hospital. They don't want to worship the Lord and read His Word and find out what He has to say, and they don't want to suffer the causes of Christ. He says here who dwells between the cherubim, Well, to a righteous Jew, that have been just special. Yes, the power, the glory of God, the mercy of God. They would see that.
What These guys are seeing is the power without the holiness. Yeah, some people they want to speak in tongues and they want the gifts of the Spirit. They just don't want to be obedient. That's not holiness. And those gifts are now questionable.
They want to show off. Look how much of the Holy Spirit I have.
Meanwhile, they're loveless and unfriendly so many times. Not all the time, of course, not. But there are many, too many, that are that way and This is uh something we should not. Um promote And the two sons of Eli, Hopni and Phineas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant. This is the last day of their lives.
according to the story. These men were Born into the home of a priest. They were born to be priest. They were to uphold the Scripture, they were to cherish the Scripture. Instead they trampled it.
They used it to satisfy their own flesh, their own sinful desires. They had no interest whatsoever in spiritual matters. And yet here they have the audacity to tote The symbolic presence of God. Where it should not have been. No sense of honor, no sense of s shame, but much superstition.
Superstition is baseless belief, often accompanied with emotions, but not all the time. Baseball is one of the uh most notorious sports for superstition. If you watch a baseball game after the end of the inning, and many times as the pitcher is walking back to the dugout, you'll see him step. Over, not on, the baseline that runs between either home plate and first base or home plate and third base. He won't step on that line.
Bad luck. Then what do you base that off of? Is there some other force out in the universe that has power over these things, could help you win the game?
Well, we rebuke that thought. Verse 5. And when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Aww, how moving. They got a regular you know what a waste of morale.
What a waste of emotion. Because it's powerless. What does Paul say about this kind of stuff?
Well, one place he says this, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, and from such people turn away. They act religious. You know, you hear they're all emotionally whipped up. That's what's happening here. It's a sad shout.
Both sides, the Philistines and the Jews, in this battle, on this day, reduced the God of the universe into to an image of their own creation. Team mascot Imagine attending a church service. where the music makes everybody feel really good. about themselves. But they have no interest in what God has to say.
They get up and they just go out and live like him, but they really enjoyed the the songs. Or maybe they go to a service where the preaching makes everyone feel good about themselves. But truth in the pursuit of truth is bypassed. They're really not interested in that. That's the same thing.
You know, they make a great shout, it shakes the earth, but it doesn't move heaven. In contrast to that, in the book of Acts, we read this in chapter 4.
Now Once I was praying that the Church when we were in Brandy Creek we had the annex, and I was praying with one of our brothers. Whom will remain un unnamed at the moment. Because he's not here. The moment.
Well, anyway, as I was praying, they had an earthquake, you know. The ones here you can talk about. The ones in California, you gotta time to move. Anyway, I like to always just tell that story when I read this verse because I feel like I'm one of the apostles in that regard. Acts chapter 4:31.
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. The emphasis God's word gets over everything else in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is dramatic. God doesn't hint at it. And of course, we have those that want to shake the earth and put songs. One of my pastor friends in Florida years ago, some people were coming for the song and leaving after the songs.
They didn't want to sit for the message. You know what he did? He stopped singing for like three months. Fix that. You know, you filter out the ones that, oh no, we got a mission here because this will engulf the church.
is serious business. Uh we love the sing, we love the song, but uh We have to make sure God's word is first.
Well, moving forward. Verse 6.
Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, They said, What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean? Then they understood that the Ark of Yahweh had come into the camp. Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Rick is in the book of 1 Samuel.
If you'd like to listen again to this or other messages or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreferenceradio.com. Here, you can also listen to interviews with Pastor Rick to learn more about his life and ministry. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss another edition. All you have to do is find us on your favorite podcast app. You can also access full-length video messages on YouTube.
So, many options are available to you. Again, if you're not sure where to go, just go to crossreferenceradio.com for resources. Tune in again next time for more Crossreference Radio. Um
