“The glory of Israel has gone into exile,
because the ark of God has been captured.”
-1 Samuel 4:22
Whether you realize it or not, Chapter 4 of 1st Samuel is a pivotal moment in Israel’s history.
There are two reasons why.
FIRST, in this chapter we witness the end of Israel’s priesthood as represented by Eli and his two scoundrel sons.
SECOND, we witness the horror of the Philistines stealing the Ark of the Covenant away from Israel.
These two events are connected by the way.
Together they indicate God’s decision to withdraw His glory from Israel.
This was no laughing matter…
Because the 12 tribes and the Priesthood combined represented every element of Israel.
So when the Lord abandoned them, the very heart, soul and identity of Israel was in danger of disintegration.
Yet all was not lost.
Because in His grace, the Lord had already begun preparing Samuel to be his servant.
As Samuel matured and began prophesying, we’re told that all Israel from north to south (meaning all the 12 tribes) grew to accept Samuel’s authority.
This was revolutionary.
Because during the era of the Judges, a prophet was normally attached only to a single tribe.
There wasn’t any central authority except the Levitical Priesthood…
And as we’ve already seen, that institution was dysfunctional as hell.
In fact, it wasn’t since the time of Moses that Israel would have one leader who was recognized as a central authority.
Which leads us to the takeaway for today.
Even when Israel was going through dark times, the Lord was still working behind the scenes to prepare a savior to rescue His people.
In this case, the righteous one to come would be Samuel.
This was the pattern of God’s behavior back then…
And it remains so today.
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