[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SUNDAY MARCH 20

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SUNDAY MARCH 20

DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Samuel 4-6 New King James Version
The Death of Eli
4 And the word of Samuel came to all [a]Israel.

The Ark of God Captured
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside
Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2 Then the Philistines put
themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle,
Israel was [b]defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand
men of the army in the field. 3 And when the people had come into the camp,
the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord defeated us today before the
Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to
us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our
enemies." 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the
cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the
ark of the covenant of God.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all
Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. 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
the Lord had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they
said, "God has come into the camp!" And they said, "Woe to us! For such a
thing has never happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the
hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with
all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like
men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as
they have been to you. [c]Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!"

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was [d]defeated, and every man fled
to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel
thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the
two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Death of Eli
12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to
Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13 Now when he came,
there was Eli, sitting on a seat [e]by the wayside watching, for his heart
[f]trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told
it, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he
said, "What does the sound of this tumult mean?" And the man came quickly
and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so [g]dim
that he could not see.

16 Then the man said to Eli, "I am he who came from the battle. And I fled
today from the battle line."

And he said, "What happened, my son?"

17 So the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before the
Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also
your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been
captured."

18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell
off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and
he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty
years.

Ichabod
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, due to be
delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and
that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave
birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death
the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not fear, for you have borne a
son." But she did not answer, nor did she [h]regard it. 21 Then she named
the child Ichabod,[i] saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" because
the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her
husband. 22 And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark
of God has been captured."

The Philistines and the Ark
5 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to
Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the
house of Dagon[j] and set it by Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod arose
early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth
before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place
again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen
on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and
both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only
[k]Dagon's torso was left of it. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon
nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in
Ashdod to this day.

6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged
them and struck them with tumors,[l] both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And
when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, "The ark of the God of
Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon
our god." 8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of
the Philistines, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of
Israel?"

And they answered, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to
Gath." So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 So it was, after
they had carried it away, that the hand of the Lord was against the city
with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small
and great, [m]and tumors broke out on them.

10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God
came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the
ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!" 11 So they sent
and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "Send away
the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that
it does not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly destruction
throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the
men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city
went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel
6 Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven
months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners,
saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should
send it to its place."

3 So they said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send
it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then
you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed
from you."

4 Then they said, "What is the trespass offering which we shall return to
Him?"

They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the
number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of
[n]you and on your lords. 5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors
and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to
the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten[o] His hand from you, from your
gods, and from your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among
them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart? 7 Now
therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked,
and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them.
8 Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put the articles
of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by
its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 9 And watch: if it goes up the
road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done [p]us this
great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that
struck us-it happened to us by chance."

10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the
cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the Lord
on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their
tumors. 12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and
went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the
right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to
the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the
valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14 Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood
there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and
offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down
the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, in which were the
articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth
Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the
Lord. 16 So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they
returned to Ekron the same day.

17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass
offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one
for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 and the golden rats, according to the number of
all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both
fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of
Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day
in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the
ark of the Lord. [q]He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people,
and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great
slaughter.

The Ark at Kirjath Jearim
20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy
Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us?" 21 So they sent messengers to
the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought
back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up with you."

Footnotes
1 Samuel 4:1 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. add And it came to pass in those days
that the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight; LXX adds further
against Israel
1 Samuel 4:2 Lit. struck
1 Samuel 4:9 Lit. Be men
1 Samuel 4:10 Lit. struck down
1 Samuel 4:13 So with MT, Vg.; LXX beside the gate watching the road
1 Samuel 4:13 trembled with anxiety
1 Samuel 4:15 fixed
1 Samuel 4:20 pay any attention to
1 Samuel 4:21 Lit. Inglorious
1 Samuel 5:2 A Philistine idol
1 Samuel 5:4 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT Dagon
1 Samuel 5:6 Probably bubonic plague. LXX, Vg. add And in the midst of their
land rats sprang up, and there was a great death panic in the city.
1 Samuel 5:9 Vg. and they had tumors in their secret parts
1 Samuel 6:4 Lit. them
1 Samuel 6:5 ease
1 Samuel 6:9 this calamity to us
1 Samuel 6:19 Or He struck seventy men of the people and fifty oxen of a man