PROCLAMATION
“And the Philistines fought, and Israel
was smitten … And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, were slain.” 1 Samuel 4:10-11
EXPLANATION
These words were written under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet Samuel. The
Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines and were defeated. (1
Samuel 4:1-2) The elders of Israel asked why The Lord allowed them to be
defeated, and then they sent for the ark of covenant so that The Lord could go
with them into battle. (1 Samuel 4:3) When the people brought the ark of
the covenant to them, the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the ark.
(1 Samuel 4:4) Eli’s sons did not know The Lord although they ministered
in the temple. (1 Samuel 2:12-17) Again Israel fought against the
Philistines, and again they were defeated. This time the ark was captured
and both of Eli’s sons were killed. (1 Samuel 4:10-11) Eli the priest fell
over backwards, broke his neck and died when he heard that his sons had died
and that the ark had been captured. (1 Samuel 4:15-18) Eli’s
daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was near the end of her pregnancy and
she went into labor when she heard that her husband and father-in-law were both
dead. She died during childbirth but delivered a son whom she named
Ichabod saying, “The glory of The Lord is departed from Israel, for the ark of
God is taken.” (1 Samuel 4:19-21)
APPLICATION
Everybody carrying a Bible is not a man
of God. For whatever reason, some men pretend to be men, prophet, or
priest of God and they mislead God’s people. (Matthew 24:11 and 2 Peter
2:1) That is why we a taught to compare everything that we hear to The Word
of God before we accept it as truth. (1 John 4:1) That is also why we
should read and study The Word of God so that we can rightly divide the word of
truth. The Lord God will deal with those who pretend to be His servants.
(Revelation 20:10)
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