{"id":32839,"date":"2024-10-03T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-3_1-21-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T16:39:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T23:39:33","slug":"1-samuel-4_1-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-4_1-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Put Your Faith in a Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Samuel 4:1-11\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 4:1-11.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>\u00a0Samuel\u00a04:1\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n1<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.<\/p>\n

On verse 1: Here’s some background for you.\u00a0 The Philistines were Israel’s most prominent adversaries during the time of Judges and 1 Samuel.\u00a0 During this time, there was ongoing conflict between the Philistines and Israel, including a period of 40 years when the Philistines occupied Israel and subjected the Israelites to oppression and servitude (Judges 13:1).<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 4:2-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the\u00a0LORD\u00a0bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the\u00a0LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.<\/p>\n

On verses 2-4: \u00a0After suffering a great defeat at the hands of the Philistines (v2),\u00a0the Israelites decided to bring out the ark of the covenant.\u00a0 The ark of the covenant was a gold-plated box that contained the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.\u00a0 It also contained a jar of manna collected during Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness as well as the almond clustered rod that Aaron the first high priest used.\u00a0 The ark was kept in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle and only the high priest was allowed to go in and approach it.\u00a0 The ark represented the presence of God.<\/p>\n

The Israelites thought that if they brought the ark of the covenant with them to battle, this in and of itself would gain them victory over the Philistines.\u00a0 For example, in verse 3 they said, “Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” (v3) \u00a0That is why when the ark of the covenant came into the Israelite camp, the Israelites shouted so loud that the ground shook (v5).\u00a0 But this was pure superstition.<\/p>\n

Notice that other than bringing out the ark (which God did not tell them to do in the first place),\u00a0there is no evidence that the Israelites repented, prayed, listened for God’s guidance, or trained harder.\u00a0 They did not consult a godly leader like\u00a0Samuel\u00a0(although they did enlist the help of Eli’s sons, who did not know any better).\u00a0 Instead, they just thought, “the box will save us”.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0The Israelites simply thought: “The box will save us.” \u00a0This was superstitious, childish thinking. It’s like someone who fails a mid-term exam and as they get ready to write the final, you ask them, “Did you look at what mistakes you made last time so you don’t repeat them?” “No.” “Did you study harder this time?” “No.” “Did you prepare differently?” “Did you ask the teacher for help?” “No, but I’ve got this cross around my neck and therefore I will survive the exam!”<\/p>\n

But that’s not how the power of God works.\u00a0 God wants us to place our faith in Him, not in a box.<\/p>\n

How do you know if you’ve put your faith in the box?\u00a0 It’s when you think your success depends more on a person, a plan, or a program than on God Himself.\u00a0 It’s when you say, “As long as I have X, then I’ll be happy and successful” (X being something other than God).<\/p>\n

When we put our faith in a box, we limit God’s ability to work in our lives and are only asking for defeat.\u00a0 Don’t put your faith in a box.\u00a0 Instead, put your faith in\u00a0God Himself.<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 4:5-10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the ark of the\u00a0LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned that the ark of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had come into the camp,
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “We’re in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”<\/p>\n

On verses 5-10a:\u00a0 When the Philistines heard the Israelites shouting as the ark was entering their camp, they were deathly afraid (v7-8), even thinking that the Israelites\u2019 \u201cgods\u201d were coming for them.\u00a0 Yet what impresses about the Philistines is that they didn\u2019t stay afraid.\u00a0 Rather their fear quickly turned into determined resolve to find a way to defeat the Israelites anyway.\u00a0 And win, they did.<\/p>\n

Likewise,\u00a0when you hear scary news, your first instinct made be to panic in fear.\u00a0 But just don\u2019t stay afraid.\u00a0 With the help of God, respond to the news with a determination not to be defeated by what you fear, and find a way to win.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 4:10-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.<\/p>\n

On verses 10-11:\u00a0 Because the Philistines fought hard and the Israelites placed their faith in a box rather than in God Himself, the Israelites suffered an even greater defeat the second time around.\u00a0 The Israelites lose 30,000 men (v10), Eli’s sons the priests are killed just as it was prophesied earlier (1 Samuel 2:34), and even the ark of the covenant itself was captured (v11).<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for all the times when I’ve place my faith in a box.\u00a0 May I trust and hope be in You alone and not give in to fear.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 4:1-11.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

1\u00a0Samuel\u00a04:1\u00a0(NIV)
\n1\u00a0And\u00a0Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verse 1: Here’s some background for you.\u00a0 The Philistines were Israel’s most prominent adversaries during the time of Judges and 1 Samuel.\u00a0 During this time, there was ongoing conflict between the Philistines and Israel, including a period of 40 years when the Philistines occupied Israel and subjected the Israelites to oppression and servitude (Judges 13:1).\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32839"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32842,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839\/revisions\/32842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}