Lots of people in life, whether they admit it or not, are practical atheists. But when bad times come, they are quick to pick up religion like a lucky charm in the hopes that God will put them right. Some churches and Christians seem to treat God in the same way, as if God’s will can be bent to ours.
But God is sovereign and we are not. We cannot back God into a corner. In 1 Samuel 4, the scene shifts from the birth of Samuel to the beginning of God restoring his name and honour among the Israelites, starting with a reminder that God is not a cosmic porter who can be summoned to their support on call. This passage reminds us as Christians and as a Church not to behave in the same way today.
The first three chapters of 1 Samuel have focused on God beginning a new phase of his salvation plan through the birth of the boy Samuel to two faithful Israelites, Hannah and Elkanah. The faithfulness of these two and their son, Samuel, is contrasted with the unfaithfulness of Hophni, Phineas, and (by extension for his failure to discipline them) their father Eli.
In chapter 4, the story pans out to show the wider context of Israel, which was in much the same state as at the end of the Book of Judges. Thus the behaviour of Israel in this time reflects a coldness towards God that needs to be thawed if the covenant relationship is to continue.
The start of God’s work to restore his name and honour among the Israelites comes through the renewal of the Philistine threat to Israel. The Philistines were foreign settlers into Canaan, who were both pagans and technologically advanced. Samson defeated the Philistines, but now they were back.
The Philistines marched out of their cities and up into the hills to attack Israel (v.1). The two armies gathered to fight, and the Philistines won the engagement, inflicting significant losses on Israel (v.2).
This defeat led to some reflection from Israel’s leaders (v.3). After all, if they were God’s People then surely God should be with them and help them defeat their foes, as they had during the conquest and (selectively remembering) in Judges.
Sadly the reflection did not last long, and consider if their defeat were the covenant curses coming upon them for their unfaithfulness to God (cf. Deut. 28:25). No, the answer was they needed the Ark of the Covenant there to ensure God would be with them (v.3)!
There are multiple ways to interpret this move. Perhaps, charitably, they thought that they needed to see the Ark as a symbol of God’s presence with them and success. More likely, though, they were trying to back God into a corner; to force God to grant them victory by associating the Ark with his presence. They may have even falsely believed that God’s power and presence was tied to the Ark, just as the pagan nations did with their idols.
Sure enough, the arrival of the Ark with Hophni and Phineas from Shiloh led to excitement in the Israelite army (vv.4-5). On the other hand, the superstitious Philistines reacted in fear just as the Israelites hoped, as they recognised that a symbol of Israel’s God (or gods, they were not too sure on that point) had entered their opponents camp (vv.6-8).
Unfortunately for Israel, the fear did not last long. The Philistines encouraged each other to stand up and be a man, in case they were defeated and became slaves to Israel (v.9).
Another battle. Again, the Philistines won an even larger and crushing victory over Israel, who were so demoralised that they fled the battlefield (v.10). Even worse, in Israel’s eyes, the Ark of God was captured (v.11). And just as God had promised, Hophni and Phineas died (v.11).
Israel may have thought they were onto a sure thing by trying to force God to fight for them through bringing the Ark to the battlefield, but they were wrong. God is not waiting to act on command for our benefit, before returning back to his desk. God is not our servant. We are God’s servants.
We cannot live our days ignoring God except when it is useful to us. When things go wrong, or there is something which we would like; whether a new job, a new house, a spouse, or anything else.
God cannot be manipulated or forced to act, whether for us individually or for his church. Might God respond to a prayer vigil? Yes. Must he? No. Can you buy God’s blessing with enough devotions or donations? Nope.
God desires to help us in our trials, and to deliver us from the problem of sin, but God did it his way, not ours. Through sending Jesus, who died on the Cross for our sin, and calling us to repent of our self-reliance and to trust in Jesus always. In Christ, we will prevail against our foes and enjoy God’s presence always.
