1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,520 All right, well, we're going to go ahead and continue our study 10 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:27,840 here in First Samuel. 11 00:00:28,250 --> 00:00:31,290 So if you have your Bibles, you can turn there with me. 12 00:00:31,290 --> 00:00:32,810 First Samuel, chapter four. 13 00:00:32,970 --> 00:00:37,690 So we're three chapters in so far, and we've been tracking so far 14 00:00:37,690 --> 00:00:39,370 the life of Samuel. 15 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:44,370 And if you remember, Samuel is a product of the power of God and 16 00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:46,090 the prayer of his mother, Hannah. 17 00:00:46,570 --> 00:00:51,690 And Hannah prays and asks the Lord to give her a son, and he gives 18 00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:52,610 her a son. 19 00:00:52,610 --> 00:00:55,410 And part of the promise that she made the Lord was that she would 20 00:00:55,410 --> 00:00:59,950 commit her son to the work of the Lord there in the tabernacle. 21 00:01:00,190 --> 00:01:01,150 And that's what she does. 22 00:01:01,150 --> 00:01:01,870 And so first. 23 00:01:02,190 --> 00:01:03,630 First chapter is about that. 24 00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:07,910 Second chapter is about Samuel and his obedience as a young child. 25 00:01:07,910 --> 00:01:10,430 And then we see that there were two men. 26 00:01:10,670 --> 00:01:13,190 And you need to know these two men, because they're going to play 27 00:01:13,190 --> 00:01:18,030 a huge role in chapter four is sons of Eli, which are named Hophni 28 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:18,670 and Phineas. 29 00:01:18,910 --> 00:01:22,670 Hophni and Phineas are living in rebellion to the Lord. 30 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,800 We see that they have the love of money. 31 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,880 They're stealing from people that are bringing tithes and offerings 32 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:28,440 to the. 33 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:29,520 The tabernacle. 34 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,800 And then also they were abusing women that were coming to 35 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:33,480 worship there. 36 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,880 And so they were sinning in. 37 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:36,880 In two capacities. 38 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,400 One in covetousness and pride and. 39 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:39,880 And theft. 40 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,320 And then the other way, they were fornicating and living in sin. 41 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,680 And then God rebukes his. 42 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,880 Eli's sons there, and he gives a vision, or actually he gives a. 43 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,840 A message to Samuel to present to Eli. 44 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,440 And that is that God would judge Eli and his sons, Hophni and 45 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,600 Phineas, and he would actually judge Eli's whole family. 46 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,760 But in doing so, part of the promise was that Hophni and Phineas 47 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:05,280 would die. 48 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,960 So that was the hard message that Samuel had to bring to Eli, 49 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:11,480 his spiritual mentor. 50 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,080 But at the end of chapter three, we see that Samuel grew, Samuel 51 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:19,240 mature, and the testimony of the Lord was working through him. 52 00:02:19,730 --> 00:02:22,410 So now we're going to pick up in Samuel, chapter four, First Samuel, 53 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:23,090 chapter four. 54 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:27,490 And this is a very difficult passage of Scripture to talk about, 55 00:02:27,490 --> 00:02:30,570 because we see here that there's defeat we see that there's 56 00:02:30,570 --> 00:02:33,970 pain and suffering, but really the pain and suffering and the defeat 57 00:02:33,970 --> 00:02:38,250 come through rebellion and missing the message of the Lord. 58 00:02:38,250 --> 00:02:39,490 So look with me. 59 00:02:39,490 --> 00:02:42,410 In verse number one, it says, and the word of Samuel came to all 60 00:02:42,410 --> 00:02:43,010 Israel. 61 00:02:43,570 --> 00:02:45,570 And so that's a testimony of Samuel's ministry. 62 00:02:45,570 --> 00:02:48,780 Samuel at this point is prophesying about the things of God 63 00:02:48,780 --> 00:02:49,220 to the people. 64 00:02:49,220 --> 00:02:50,780 And remember, that's the role of a prophet. 65 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:53,780 The role of a prophet was to speak the word of God to the people, 66 00:02:54,180 --> 00:02:55,580 to speak forth the Word. 67 00:02:55,580 --> 00:02:56,900 And that's what Samuel was doing. 68 00:02:57,620 --> 00:03:00,660 But what we see here is that the vast majority of Israel is not 69 00:03:00,660 --> 00:03:03,460 listening to the preaching of the Word of God. 70 00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:05,140 They're living their own way. 71 00:03:05,380 --> 00:03:08,540 And we see at this point in time, they are in battle with the 72 00:03:08,540 --> 00:03:09,060 Philistines. 73 00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:12,180 And the Philistines were a regular foe that they would face 74 00:03:12,180 --> 00:03:12,460 against. 75 00:03:12,460 --> 00:03:15,940 And the Philistines were a group of people that lived on the 76 00:03:16,810 --> 00:03:17,970 western side of Israel. 77 00:03:17,970 --> 00:03:22,450 They had five city states, and they were basically transplants from 78 00:03:22,450 --> 00:03:23,610 the island of Crete. 79 00:03:24,010 --> 00:03:27,250 And they had come to the land of Israel at this point, the land 80 00:03:27,250 --> 00:03:27,850 of Canaan. 81 00:03:27,930 --> 00:03:30,290 And they were in rebellion to God. 82 00:03:30,290 --> 00:03:33,570 They were pagan, and they were obviously against the Israelites. 83 00:03:33,570 --> 00:03:34,890 And so they're in battle here. 84 00:03:35,210 --> 00:03:38,410 And it says now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle 85 00:03:38,410 --> 00:03:39,810 and pitch beside Ebenezer. 86 00:03:39,810 --> 00:03:41,690 And the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 87 00:03:42,260 --> 00:03:43,340 So we see this setting. 88 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:44,620 The setting is a battlefield. 89 00:03:44,620 --> 00:03:47,300 The way that you read it here, it kind of looks like the Israelites 90 00:03:47,940 --> 00:03:48,980 instigated the battle. 91 00:03:48,980 --> 00:03:51,300 But really what we can understand through the original Hebrew 92 00:03:51,300 --> 00:03:54,300 is that the Philistines initiated this battle, verse 2. 93 00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:56,740 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. 94 00:03:57,140 --> 00:04:00,980 And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines. 95 00:04:01,220 --> 00:04:05,300 And they slew of an army in the field, about 4,000 men. 96 00:04:06,020 --> 00:04:10,400 So right here, because of Israel's rejection to the Word of 97 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,680 God because of their sin, they go out into battle and they lose 98 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:15,600 against the Philistines. 99 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:17,000 And they lose 4,000 men. 100 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,000 And that sounds like a lot. 101 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,800 Until we study a little bit further on in this chapter, we're 102 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,320 going to see that there's a greater defeat. 103 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,680 And so they turn to something, but they don't turn to the right 104 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:26,960 thing. 105 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,760 If you read verse three and four, you might initially think that 106 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,040 they're turning to God, but they're not turning to God. 107 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,760 They're actually turning to what we would consider to be a superstition. 108 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:37,840 They turn to the Ark. 109 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:40,680 Now, the Ark of the Covenant was a Picture of God's power. 110 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,520 The Ark of the Covenant, as you know through other stories in 111 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,320 scripture, contained certain elements of the power of God. 112 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,440 But by this point in time for the Israelites, they were looking 113 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,480 to the Ark of the Covenant somewhat like a lucky charm. 114 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,880 Basically, there's something that they could turn to a superstition 115 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,760 that they could turn to thinking that that Ark was the reason 116 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,800 why they were powerful, that Ark was the reason why they had victory. 117 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,350 But what we're going to see is that instead of turning to God, they 118 00:05:05,350 --> 00:05:07,550 turn to the gift that God had brought them. 119 00:05:08,030 --> 00:05:08,390 And. 120 00:05:08,390 --> 00:05:10,910 And so we're going to see that they turn to the ark. 121 00:05:10,910 --> 00:05:11,310 Verse 3. 122 00:05:11,310 --> 00:05:14,710 And when the people were coming to the camp, the elders of 123 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:17,510 Israel said, wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before 124 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:18,270 the Philistines? 125 00:05:19,470 --> 00:05:20,510 So the question is this. 126 00:05:20,510 --> 00:05:22,270 Why did God do this to us? 127 00:05:22,430 --> 00:05:24,510 Again, they're blaming God for this defeat. 128 00:05:24,750 --> 00:05:28,150 Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh 129 00:05:28,150 --> 00:05:28,550 unto us. 130 00:05:28,550 --> 00:05:32,040 And so at this point in time, the Ark was being held in a place 131 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,000 called Shiloh. 132 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,320 And so they said, let's go to a place called Shiloh. 133 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,120 Let's take the Ark and let's bring it into battle. 134 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:38,200 That will give us a victory. 135 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,920 So when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our 136 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:42,440 enemies. 137 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:46,159 And so instead of turning to God, instead of asking God why, instead 138 00:05:46,159 --> 00:05:49,320 of pleading with the Lord in humility to give them the victory, 139 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,000 which we've seen in other studies, is a recipe for victory 140 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,840 in the Lord, is by coming to him in humility and asking him for 141 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,320 guidance, asking him from strength. 142 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,400 Instead, they get ahead of the Lord and they say, well, we just 143 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:01,960 need to bring the Ark into the battlefield. 144 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:03,800 The Ark will give us everything we need. 145 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:05,480 The Ark is going to bring us to the victory. 146 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,560 And so verse four, the people sent to Shiloh and they that bring 147 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,320 from fence the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts, which 148 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,920 dwelleth between the cherubims and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and 149 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:17,800 Phinehas, remember them? 150 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:18,800 We already talked about them. 151 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:20,760 They're living in open rebellion to God. 152 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,760 Eli knows about their rebellion. 153 00:06:23,410 --> 00:06:24,650 God knows about their rebellion. 154 00:06:24,650 --> 00:06:26,770 And God has already prophesied that they would die. 155 00:06:26,770 --> 00:06:30,410 So Hophni and Phinehas were there with the Ark of the Covenant. 156 00:06:30,410 --> 00:06:33,730 So essentially, Hoffney and Phineas are the ones that are ushering 157 00:06:33,730 --> 00:06:35,250 the Ark into the battlefield. 158 00:06:35,650 --> 00:06:40,850 So we see it's agents of sin trying to pose as deliverers of God. 159 00:06:41,330 --> 00:06:41,650 And. 160 00:06:41,650 --> 00:06:44,850 And that's a recipe for disaster, which we're going to see 161 00:06:44,850 --> 00:06:45,650 here in a few moments. 162 00:06:45,650 --> 00:06:50,200 And so during this time, the Philistines are already on top with 163 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,840 those 4,000 men that were slain. 164 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:54,840 And now they think that they can turn this around. 165 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:57,400 And looking to the Ark of the Covenant, they think that this is 166 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:58,760 their, their salvation. 167 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:05,040 And really that's what we see at the end of this, this chapter 168 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,240 essentially is that the Ark does not save them. 169 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,400 Ultimately, it's only God that can save them. 170 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,160 And so they think that they, it's, it's the Ark that can save 171 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:13,880 us and not God that can save them. 172 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,090 So, so look at there with me with, at the end of verse four, it 173 00:07:18,090 --> 00:07:21,170 says that Hoffney and Phineas came and they were with the Ark of 174 00:07:21,170 --> 00:07:21,770 the Covenant of God. 175 00:07:21,770 --> 00:07:24,170 So instead of Hophni and Phineas being dealt with in their 176 00:07:24,170 --> 00:07:26,730 sin, they're actually championed as the ones that are gonna 177 00:07:26,730 --> 00:07:27,650 be bringing victory. 178 00:07:28,210 --> 00:07:32,130 And so their hope is, their hope at this time, their hope is 179 00:07:32,290 --> 00:07:33,890 to bring the Ark for victory. 180 00:07:34,690 --> 00:07:35,290 Instead. 181 00:07:35,290 --> 00:07:37,610 What we see here in this passage is that, that what they should 182 00:07:37,610 --> 00:07:41,410 have been doing is repenting of their sin and turning to God. 183 00:07:42,110 --> 00:07:45,750 Their, their hope was in a quick pragmatic fix. 184 00:07:45,750 --> 00:07:48,790 Meaning this, if it works, it's worked for us before, it's going 185 00:07:48,790 --> 00:07:49,510 to work for us again. 186 00:07:49,510 --> 00:07:50,430 We got to do this quick. 187 00:07:50,430 --> 00:07:53,230 We got to find an easy way, we got to find a fast way to get back 188 00:07:53,230 --> 00:07:53,870 into this. 189 00:07:54,670 --> 00:07:57,549 And so if you look at verse three, they, they say, let's fetch 190 00:07:57,549 --> 00:08:00,550 the Ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us that when 191 00:08:00,550 --> 00:08:03,590 it cometh among us, it might save us, that it might save us, that 192 00:08:03,590 --> 00:08:04,670 it might be the fix. 193 00:08:05,150 --> 00:08:08,350 And so sometimes in our Christian life, instead of going 194 00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:11,710 the way that God has us to go through a lifestyle of repentance 195 00:08:11,710 --> 00:08:15,950 and humility and confession and brokenness and growth and allowing 196 00:08:15,950 --> 00:08:20,510 God to grow us, we as humans look for that fast route. 197 00:08:20,510 --> 00:08:21,670 We look for a quick fix. 198 00:08:21,670 --> 00:08:24,510 We look for something that we can just grab and apply and get through 199 00:08:24,510 --> 00:08:24,750 it. 200 00:08:24,750 --> 00:08:27,870 And that's really what our Christianity looks like today in 201 00:08:27,870 --> 00:08:30,390 most senses, is that people want that easy fix. 202 00:08:30,950 --> 00:08:32,870 I, I, I want to figure this out in my life. 203 00:08:33,030 --> 00:08:35,230 What, what three step program do I need to get into? 204 00:08:35,230 --> 00:08:36,470 I, I, I've got about three weeks. 205 00:08:36,470 --> 00:08:37,350 I can get this right. 206 00:08:37,870 --> 00:08:40,270 Look, sometimes God's timing is not an overnight fix. 207 00:08:40,270 --> 00:08:43,670 Sometimes it's, it's a series of lessons that we have to learn 208 00:08:43,670 --> 00:08:45,230 and choices that we have to make. 209 00:08:45,390 --> 00:08:48,550 And so they think, well, instead of Thinking about why did 210 00:08:48,550 --> 00:08:50,510 we lose 4,000 people in this battle? 211 00:08:50,670 --> 00:08:52,510 And it wasn't because of their battle tactics. 212 00:08:52,510 --> 00:08:55,710 It wasn't because the Philistines had more power than they 213 00:08:55,710 --> 00:08:55,950 had. 214 00:08:55,950 --> 00:08:57,670 It was because they were walking away from God. 215 00:08:57,670 --> 00:09:00,190 They should have learned that from prior battles. 216 00:09:00,830 --> 00:09:03,230 So we look here that they're looking for this vix with Hophni 217 00:09:03,230 --> 00:09:06,970 and Phineas and eventually what we're going to see is that there's 218 00:09:06,970 --> 00:09:08,450 an emotional response. 219 00:09:09,730 --> 00:09:14,450 But emotional responses don't equal truth and it doesn't equal 220 00:09:14,450 --> 00:09:14,770 change. 221 00:09:15,010 --> 00:09:16,130 So look at verse number six. 222 00:09:16,130 --> 00:09:19,010 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout. 223 00:09:20,290 --> 00:09:21,570 Now what shout are we talking about? 224 00:09:21,570 --> 00:09:23,610 Well, if you look back at verse five, it says when the ark 225 00:09:23,610 --> 00:09:25,730 of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp. 226 00:09:26,210 --> 00:09:29,410 So they're in the camp, they're waiting to go back into the 227 00:09:29,410 --> 00:09:30,650 battlefield and the ark comes. 228 00:09:30,650 --> 00:09:32,000 What, what's the response? 229 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,240 What's the Israelites response? 230 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,040 It says when it came into the camp, all Israel shouted with great 231 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,760 shout so that the earth rang again. 232 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,760 So we see that there's this huge emotional response. 233 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,479 They all cheer, they all, they all celebrate thinking victory is 234 00:09:47,479 --> 00:09:47,760 here. 235 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:53,280 And what we can liken this to is an emotional response to something 236 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:54,560 that happens within our life. 237 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,960 But there's no truth change, there's no heart change. 238 00:09:57,780 --> 00:10:02,540 And what we're really seeing is that in this case there's a lot 239 00:10:02,540 --> 00:10:06,140 of sound, there's a lot of energy, there's a lot of emotion, 240 00:10:06,140 --> 00:10:09,620 but there's no true sense of substance, of the truth, of repentance. 241 00:10:10,020 --> 00:10:13,140 And I liken this to a lot of times what we see in modern worship. 242 00:10:13,140 --> 00:10:17,020 Modern worship's a lot of sound, a lot of noise, a lot of excitement, 243 00:10:17,020 --> 00:10:17,780 a lot of energy. 244 00:10:18,100 --> 00:10:20,340 But at the core of it, there's not a lot of truth, there's not a 245 00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:21,060 lot of repentance. 246 00:10:21,540 --> 00:10:26,160 And here we see that the Philistines hear this shout and they 247 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,760 said, what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of 248 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:29,480 the Hebrews? 249 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,360 And they understood that the ark of the Lord was coming to the 250 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:32,560 camp. 251 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:34,040 So they hear that the ark is coming. 252 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,680 Now the Philistines, now remember, Philistines are pagans. 253 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,680 The Israelites knew the true God, the Philistines did not. 254 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,480 At least they didn't know him in a personal way. 255 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:43,240 They knew about him. 256 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:44,120 We're going to see here. 257 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,360 But they didn't know God in a personal way. 258 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:47,880 And the Philistines were afraid. 259 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,960 The Philistines first reaction to hearing that the ark is coming 260 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:53,780 is, wow, there's there's fear here. 261 00:10:53,940 --> 00:10:54,340 Why? 262 00:10:54,340 --> 00:10:58,020 Because it says in verse 7, God has come into the camp. 263 00:10:58,420 --> 00:11:02,500 And they said, woe unto us, for there hath not been such a thing 264 00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:03,620 heretofore. 265 00:11:03,620 --> 00:11:05,260 Meaning they've never seen this before. 266 00:11:05,260 --> 00:11:08,180 The Philistines had never seen the ark actually come into the camp. 267 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:11,260 And so for the Philistine side of things, they're thinking, man, 268 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:12,500 their God is powerful. 269 00:11:12,660 --> 00:11:13,940 Their God's in their camp. 270 00:11:14,260 --> 00:11:17,500 Obviously, there's going to be a lot of power on the side of the 271 00:11:17,500 --> 00:11:18,020 Israelites. 272 00:11:18,020 --> 00:11:21,700 And they say, woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hands 273 00:11:21,700 --> 00:11:22,740 of these mighty gods. 274 00:11:23,140 --> 00:11:26,220 Now, you see that it's plural there, that that means that they 275 00:11:26,220 --> 00:11:28,100 don't understand the God of Israel. 276 00:11:28,100 --> 00:11:31,140 They think that just like every other country, every other 277 00:11:31,140 --> 00:11:32,660 people, that there's multiple gods. 278 00:11:32,980 --> 00:11:35,220 And they say, who can save us from these gods? 279 00:11:35,220 --> 00:11:38,140 These are the gods that smoke the Egyptians with all the plagues 280 00:11:38,140 --> 00:11:38,900 in the wilderness. 281 00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:42,260 And so the Philistines knew the testimony of the Lord. 282 00:11:42,340 --> 00:11:44,580 The Israelites knew the testimony of the Lord. 283 00:11:44,830 --> 00:11:47,390 The only difference is, is that the Israelites had that personal 284 00:11:47,390 --> 00:11:49,830 walk with God where the Philistines didn't. 285 00:11:49,830 --> 00:11:52,670 And what we can see in our world today is that people understand 286 00:11:53,470 --> 00:11:56,150 the power that God has, but many times they're not willing to 287 00:11:56,150 --> 00:11:56,590 submit. 288 00:11:56,590 --> 00:11:58,790 It would be one thing if the Philistines said, we need to go over 289 00:11:58,790 --> 00:11:59,510 there and join them. 290 00:11:59,510 --> 00:12:02,590 But instead, they strengthen themselves in their rebellion. 291 00:12:02,590 --> 00:12:04,910 They harden their necks, and they say, okay, this is going to 292 00:12:04,910 --> 00:12:05,950 be hard, but we're going to do it. 293 00:12:05,950 --> 00:12:06,510 Verse 9. 294 00:12:06,590 --> 00:12:08,430 Be strong and quit yourselves like men. 295 00:12:08,430 --> 00:12:12,720 Oh, ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews as 296 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:13,640 they have been to you. 297 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,120 Quit yourselves like men and fight. 298 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,360 Meaning, all right, this is going to be hard, but we're going 299 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:17,680 to do it. 300 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:19,960 So the Philistines continue their rebellion as well. 301 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,000 And so what we really should see is a difference between the Israelites 302 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:23,640 and the Philistines. 303 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,080 We should see the Philistines, knowing that they're pagans, stiffening 304 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,720 their necks, getting upset and saying, okay, this is going to be 305 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:30,280 a tough fight. 306 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,720 The Israelites should have repented and turned to the Lord for 307 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,040 victory, but they don't do that. 308 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:40,410 And so what really we see in verses five, all the way down to 309 00:12:40,410 --> 00:12:46,570 verse nine, is that there is a emotional response, but there is 310 00:12:46,570 --> 00:12:49,290 not truth, there is not justice. 311 00:12:49,290 --> 00:12:50,610 There is not repentance. 312 00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:53,810 It's just noise without a response. 313 00:12:53,810 --> 00:12:54,290 It's. 314 00:12:54,450 --> 00:12:57,370 It's instead what we should have within our Christian lives, 315 00:12:57,370 --> 00:12:59,810 within our worship, within our service. 316 00:12:59,970 --> 00:13:02,530 Within everything, it should be substance over sound. 317 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:05,980 Now, sometimes sound is presented when we worship the Lord. 318 00:13:05,980 --> 00:13:07,900 Sometimes a noise is presented. 319 00:13:07,900 --> 00:13:11,300 But what we mean here is that sometimes people equate busyness 320 00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:13,500 and excitement with spirituality. 321 00:13:14,060 --> 00:13:17,260 And sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean that we're spiritually 322 00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:19,820 where we need to be just because we're excited about something. 323 00:13:20,780 --> 00:13:23,740 And one of the things that I've been thinking about and studying 324 00:13:23,740 --> 00:13:26,620 about recently when it comes to worship and it comes to the church, 325 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:30,710 is this movement of the juvenilization of the American church, 326 00:13:30,710 --> 00:13:32,830 which means we want to dumb everything down. 327 00:13:32,830 --> 00:13:34,390 We want to make everything exciting. 328 00:13:34,390 --> 00:13:38,870 We want to make things flashy and moving because that shows that 329 00:13:38,870 --> 00:13:42,790 we're spiritual, but we have to have substance behind the movement. 330 00:13:42,790 --> 00:13:44,150 I'm not saying that movement is wrong. 331 00:13:44,150 --> 00:13:45,670 I'm not saying excitement is wrong. 332 00:13:45,829 --> 00:13:47,950 I'm not saying that energy is wrong. 333 00:13:47,950 --> 00:13:50,790 But what I am saying is that energy and excitement and movement 334 00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:53,550 without substance is a problem because we're not getting to the 335 00:13:53,550 --> 00:13:56,550 core of what God has called us to do with our worship, with our 336 00:13:56,860 --> 00:13:57,260 obedience. 337 00:13:57,260 --> 00:14:00,660 And really what we have to see is that if we say we love God, the 338 00:14:00,660 --> 00:14:03,620 Bible doesn't say if we love God, we'll worship louder. 339 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:07,140 If we love God, we'll worship in certain ways and excitement. 340 00:14:07,140 --> 00:14:09,500 The Bible says if we love God, we obey him. 341 00:14:09,500 --> 00:14:13,100 So one of the acts of worship that we must follow through with, 342 00:14:13,100 --> 00:14:15,740 if we say that we're worshiping God is obeying his word. 343 00:14:15,740 --> 00:14:20,780 So the Israelites are excited the ark is in the camp, but they're 344 00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:24,470 looking at the ark disconnected from the power of God 345 00:14:24,470 --> 00:14:25,750 that gave them that ark. 346 00:14:26,310 --> 00:14:29,950 It's similar to when we talk about us as Christians worshiping 347 00:14:29,950 --> 00:14:31,590 the gift more than the gift giver. 348 00:14:32,230 --> 00:14:34,990 Oftentimes we look at something that God has given us and 349 00:14:34,990 --> 00:14:38,630 we worship that, or we celebrate that, or we get so happy 350 00:14:38,630 --> 00:14:41,430 about those things instead of thanking the Lord and worshiping 351 00:14:41,430 --> 00:14:44,150 the Lord for the one being the gift giver. 352 00:14:44,150 --> 00:14:47,950 And so here in First Samuel, chapter four, they get so excited 353 00:14:47,950 --> 00:14:50,470 about the ark, but they forget about the one who gave them the ark. 354 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:56,120 And so we know that the ark has power. 355 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:00,200 But the only reason the ark has power is because of the God who 356 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:00,920 extended that. 357 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,160 So verse 10, the Philistines fought and Israel was smitten, and 358 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,879 they fled every man into his tent, and there was a very great 359 00:15:06,879 --> 00:15:07,400 slaughter. 360 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,400 For there fell of Israel 30,000 footmen. 361 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,080 And so what we see here is that there's a bigger loss. 362 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:16,120 So. 363 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,040 So they doubled down, Israel doubled down, doubles down and says, 364 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:20,740 okay, I know we lost 4,000. 365 00:15:20,740 --> 00:15:22,940 But now we're going to try to do it our way. 366 00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:25,100 We're going to do it the way that we think is best. 367 00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:27,660 We're going to bring Hoffney and Phineas in with the Ark, and 368 00:15:27,660 --> 00:15:30,380 we're going to try to do what's worked for our forefathers. 369 00:15:30,380 --> 00:15:33,340 But yet they do it without substance, they do it without repentance, 370 00:15:33,340 --> 00:15:34,500 they do it without humility. 371 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:37,740 They do it without having a heart for God and seeking his will. 372 00:15:37,740 --> 00:15:40,380 And what we see is that there's a greater defeat. 373 00:15:40,780 --> 00:15:43,500 So it goes from 4,000 to 30,000. 374 00:15:44,540 --> 00:15:49,230 And so they not only lose 30,000 men in this battle, but we're 375 00:15:49,230 --> 00:15:50,590 going to see that there's a Greater loss. 376 00:15:51,790 --> 00:15:52,510 Verse 11. 377 00:15:52,670 --> 00:15:54,830 And the ark of God was taken. 378 00:15:56,270 --> 00:16:01,190 Now, now they've allowed not only for 30,000 men to be slaughtered, 379 00:16:01,190 --> 00:16:05,630 which is a huge amount, but now they've allowed the ark, which 380 00:16:05,630 --> 00:16:09,270 was called for them to protect and to champion and ultimately to 381 00:16:09,270 --> 00:16:11,630 worship God through that has now been taken. 382 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:14,680 And then we see more loss. 383 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,640 And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were slain, which 384 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,560 obviously is a culmination of God's promise to Eli that his sons 385 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:23,040 would be killed. 386 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,080 He didn't say that his sons would be killed at the same time. 387 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:26,600 But we see here in this case, they. 388 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,600 They are killed in this battle as well. 389 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,920 And so they lose the ark, they lose 30,000, and they lose 2 of their 390 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,960 spiritual leaders, as bad as they are. 391 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,600 So moving forward, we're going to see that Eli hears about his sons 392 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,200 being killed, he hears about the 30,000 being lost, and he hears 393 00:16:44,980 --> 00:16:46,420 ultimately the Ark being taken. 394 00:16:46,740 --> 00:16:47,300 Verse 12. 395 00:16:47,300 --> 00:16:50,220 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army and came 396 00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:53,580 to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent and with earth upon 397 00:16:53,580 --> 00:16:54,020 his head. 398 00:16:54,020 --> 00:17:01,420 Now, every time I see that a guy runs, I've always just read those 399 00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:03,300 verses and never thought about how far do they run. 400 00:17:03,700 --> 00:17:06,180 And so recently, what I've been trying to do is look at how 401 00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:08,820 far the cities are, and obviously we're not going to have 402 00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:12,980 the exact numbers, but from my research, not that this might matter 403 00:17:12,980 --> 00:17:16,180 to any of you, but it was probably about 20 miles that he ran 404 00:17:16,180 --> 00:17:17,020 in that timeframe. 405 00:17:17,020 --> 00:17:18,820 So he's having a purpose. 406 00:17:18,820 --> 00:17:21,580 He's trying to get back and tell Eli what happened. 407 00:17:21,580 --> 00:17:23,580 Now, you might say, what's significant about Eli. 408 00:17:23,580 --> 00:17:24,500 Well, he's the high priest. 409 00:17:24,500 --> 00:17:24,780 He's. 410 00:17:24,780 --> 00:17:28,100 He's the main spiritual leader of Israel at this point. 411 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:31,940 And so he runs, and it says his clothes rent with Earth upon 412 00:17:31,940 --> 00:17:32,340 his head. 413 00:17:32,340 --> 00:17:35,940 That means he's in a picture of mourning, he's in sadness, and 414 00:17:35,940 --> 00:17:37,460 he's bringing the news to Eli. 415 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:37,900 Verse 13. 416 00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:42,430 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching, 417 00:17:42,430 --> 00:17:44,510 for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. 418 00:17:45,230 --> 00:17:48,430 I mean, he knew probably that in. 419 00:17:48,430 --> 00:17:50,390 In this case, that they shouldn't have taken the Ark. 420 00:17:50,390 --> 00:17:52,030 They weren't in the right place for it. 421 00:17:52,270 --> 00:17:55,590 And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried 422 00:17:55,590 --> 00:17:55,710 out. 423 00:17:55,710 --> 00:17:58,550 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, what meaneth 424 00:17:58,550 --> 00:17:59,710 the noise of this tumult? 425 00:17:59,950 --> 00:18:01,830 And the man came in hastily and told Eli. 426 00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:05,670 Now Eli was 90 and 8 years old, and his eyes were dim that he 427 00:18:05,670 --> 00:18:06,350 could not see. 428 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,680 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, 429 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,320 and I fled today out of the army. 430 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,240 And he said, what is there done, my son? 431 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,040 And the messenger answered and said, israel has fled before the 432 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:17,640 Philistines. 433 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,760 And there hath been also a great slaughter among the people. 434 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:22,840 And thy two sons also hop in. 435 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,240 The opinions are dead and the Ark of God is taken. 436 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,720 So he just dumps it all on Eli right there. 437 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:28,680 He tells him everything. 438 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,360 Now, what we're going to see here is the death of Eli. 439 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,380 He's lived a long life, and there's a lot of criticism that we 440 00:18:36,380 --> 00:18:37,220 could have for Eli. 441 00:18:37,220 --> 00:18:39,340 We definitely know that Eli was not a good father. 442 00:18:39,580 --> 00:18:43,740 We know that through chapters one through three, that he was not 443 00:18:43,740 --> 00:18:46,060 disappointing his children the way that he should have. 444 00:18:46,860 --> 00:18:49,860 Eli still, though, was sensitive to the call of God. 445 00:18:49,860 --> 00:18:51,340 And he has such a reaction to this. 446 00:18:51,340 --> 00:18:51,820 Verse 18. 447 00:18:51,820 --> 00:18:54,540 And it came to pass when he made mention of the Ark of God, that 448 00:18:54,540 --> 00:18:57,500 he fell off the seat backward. 449 00:18:57,980 --> 00:19:02,270 This is interesting because I thought, always hearing this when 450 00:19:02,270 --> 00:19:04,510 I was growing up, I thought that it was the news of his sons 451 00:19:04,510 --> 00:19:05,230 that he would fall. 452 00:19:05,230 --> 00:19:07,310 You know, like he would just get so overwhelmed with hearing his 453 00:19:07,310 --> 00:19:08,070 two sons died. 454 00:19:08,150 --> 00:19:10,470 But you actually see what causes him to fall. 455 00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:15,110 Here it says that he heard the mention of the Ark of God. 456 00:19:15,590 --> 00:19:18,390 And I think that he realizes here what this really is. 457 00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:21,830 This is not just a physical defeat, but this is a spiritual defeat 458 00:19:21,910 --> 00:19:24,470 that the enemies, the Philistines, would take their most 459 00:19:24,630 --> 00:19:27,230 precious possession that God had given them, and that's the Ark 460 00:19:27,230 --> 00:19:27,910 of the Covenant. 461 00:19:28,420 --> 00:19:32,420 And so because of hearing of the Ark being taken by the Philistines, 462 00:19:32,420 --> 00:19:36,380 he fell backward by the side of the gate and his neck break, and 463 00:19:36,380 --> 00:19:36,900 he died. 464 00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:40,540 For he was an old man and heavy, and he had judged Israel 40 465 00:19:40,540 --> 00:19:40,900 years. 466 00:19:41,620 --> 00:19:42,860 And so we see sadness. 467 00:19:42,860 --> 00:19:46,100 We see a sad end to the life of Eli. 468 00:19:46,260 --> 00:19:51,500 And I think it's a picture, an example of living an extended amount 469 00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:55,590 of time where he does not get right with God, does not align himself 470 00:19:55,670 --> 00:19:58,710 completely with the obedience that God has called for him to live. 471 00:19:58,710 --> 00:20:00,310 And now we see great loss. 472 00:20:00,310 --> 00:20:06,230 He loses his sons, he loses 30,000 people, and he ultimately 473 00:20:06,230 --> 00:20:07,470 sees the ark being lost. 474 00:20:07,470 --> 00:20:11,750 Now, we know that God restores that ark, but in this period of time, 475 00:20:11,750 --> 00:20:13,350 this is a huge loss for them. 476 00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:16,790 And we know that even earlier on in the book of First Samuel, that 477 00:20:16,950 --> 00:20:20,350 Eli heard that not only would his two sons die, but basically the 478 00:20:20,350 --> 00:20:22,830 priesthood would leave his family, which was a great shame on 479 00:20:22,830 --> 00:20:23,270 his part. 480 00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:25,620 But the story isn't over with yet. 481 00:20:26,180 --> 00:20:27,580 I wish I could tell you that that was it. 482 00:20:27,580 --> 00:20:28,100 But there's. 483 00:20:28,100 --> 00:20:28,740 There's more. 484 00:20:28,980 --> 00:20:29,660 Verse 19. 485 00:20:29,660 --> 00:20:32,540 And his daughter in law, Phineas's wife, was with child, near 486 00:20:32,540 --> 00:20:33,460 to be delivered. 487 00:20:33,460 --> 00:20:35,620 And when she heard the tidings that the ark of. 488 00:20:35,700 --> 00:20:38,940 Of God was taken and that her father in law and her husband were 489 00:20:38,940 --> 00:20:41,980 dead, she bound herself and travailed for her pains came upon 490 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:42,220 her. 491 00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:43,380 So she's with child. 492 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:46,100 And because of this great stress, she goes into labor. 493 00:20:46,580 --> 00:20:47,140 Verse 20. 494 00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:50,340 And about the time of her death, the woman that stood by her 495 00:20:50,340 --> 00:20:54,220 said unto her, fear not for thou has born a son. 496 00:20:54,460 --> 00:20:57,340 But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 497 00:20:58,860 --> 00:20:59,500 Now, when you. 498 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:02,260 When you hear verse 20, you might skip over it and you might 499 00:21:02,260 --> 00:21:07,020 not understand the implication there that's being told to us. 500 00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:10,780 But she's having her son, which is a. 501 00:21:10,940 --> 00:21:13,580 In specifically in this culture, but in every culture, it's 502 00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:14,540 a joyous occasion. 503 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,040 It's an occasion that causes. 504 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,240 I mean, though there's pain and travail, there's usually joy 505 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:21,280 in a birth of a son. 506 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,760 But what we see here in verse 20 is because of the news and because 507 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,720 of the sin that was in the nation of Israel, it says, but she 508 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:29,320 answered not. 509 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,600 Neither did she regard it, meaning she didn't even care that 510 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:32,520 her son was born. 511 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,560 And so she hears this news and it stresses her out. 512 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,640 And, you know, specifically in the Jewish culture of the birth of 513 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,660 a son was wonderful news, but not for her. 514 00:21:44,660 --> 00:21:48,100 This day she's full of anguish, she's full of loss. 515 00:21:48,500 --> 00:21:50,700 And we see that through how she names her child. 516 00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:51,260 Verse 21. 517 00:21:51,260 --> 00:21:52,740 And she named the child Ichabod. 518 00:21:53,220 --> 00:21:54,460 What does Ichabod mean? 519 00:21:54,460 --> 00:21:56,540 Saying the glory is departed from Israel. 520 00:21:56,540 --> 00:21:58,860 So her outlook on everything in life. 521 00:21:58,860 --> 00:22:01,180 Because when they would name their child, it wasn't just a name 522 00:22:01,180 --> 00:22:04,420 that they would like to hear, you know, today, you know, most people 523 00:22:04,420 --> 00:22:06,900 name their child because that's a cool name or that's a, that's 524 00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:07,540 an interesting name. 525 00:22:07,540 --> 00:22:08,860 And maybe you think about the meaning. 526 00:22:08,860 --> 00:22:12,910 But for the Hebrew culture, it was, it was vital for them to name 527 00:22:12,910 --> 00:22:15,590 their child for a specific purpose. 528 00:22:15,590 --> 00:22:19,990 For, for, you know, Joshua and Joseph, they all have meanings behind 529 00:22:19,990 --> 00:22:20,550 their names. 530 00:22:20,550 --> 00:22:22,550 So he, she names him Ichabod. 531 00:22:22,950 --> 00:22:26,749 So at the core of everything, Ichabod means the glory has departed, 532 00:22:26,749 --> 00:22:28,790 particularly with their nation of Israel. 533 00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:32,750 And so this shows her grief, this shows her sadness, this shows 534 00:22:32,750 --> 00:22:33,830 her brokenness. 535 00:22:33,830 --> 00:22:36,430 And I think it's a picture of the whole country at this point in 536 00:22:36,430 --> 00:22:38,470 time, the whole people that they are in grief. 537 00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:40,330 And now why are they in grief? 538 00:22:40,970 --> 00:22:42,970 It's not just because they lost the battle. 539 00:22:43,610 --> 00:22:46,370 It's really at the core of it because they're in rebellion to God, 540 00:22:46,370 --> 00:22:47,530 whether they know it or not. 541 00:22:47,930 --> 00:22:53,130 Great sorrow, great, great, great struggles, great pain, great 542 00:22:53,130 --> 00:22:55,450 separation comes through rebellion to the Lord. 543 00:22:55,450 --> 00:22:56,810 So her grief is, is great. 544 00:22:58,090 --> 00:23:00,970 Her maternal joy did not overcome that grief. 545 00:23:00,970 --> 00:23:03,050 And so it's a, it's a total loss. 546 00:23:03,850 --> 00:23:08,020 And so that's a sadness that we see here in the life of this woman 547 00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:11,780 and the sadness in all the people going forward. 548 00:23:11,780 --> 00:23:13,380 It says, it explains why. 549 00:23:13,380 --> 00:23:16,420 She says the glory is departed because the ark of God was taken 550 00:23:16,420 --> 00:23:18,340 and because of her father in law and her husband. 551 00:23:18,340 --> 00:23:21,020 And she said the glory is departed from Israel for the ark 552 00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:21,980 of God is taken. 553 00:23:22,860 --> 00:23:27,180 And so we can see that there at the end of chapter four. 554 00:23:27,180 --> 00:23:30,820 I wish, I wish I could end you with good news that we could keep, 555 00:23:30,820 --> 00:23:34,500 continue on in chapter five and six and, and work our way to 556 00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:36,460 when they get the ark back, which they do. 557 00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:39,540 And, and there's more good news that comes later on. 558 00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:42,020 But really the end of chapter four, that's just hopelessness. 559 00:23:42,020 --> 00:23:46,780 It's sadness, it's grief, it's, it's emptiness to the degree 560 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:50,900 of basically there's no hope, the glory is gone, we've lost it, 561 00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:51,860 we've missed the mark. 562 00:23:51,860 --> 00:23:53,500 We, we're, we're, we're done. 563 00:23:54,060 --> 00:24:01,510 And that's a picture and, and, and an example of really how we can 564 00:24:01,510 --> 00:24:04,550 end up being when we are walking in rebellion to God. 565 00:24:04,950 --> 00:24:09,390 You know, there's, there's Christians who know that they're 566 00:24:09,390 --> 00:24:13,350 walking away from the Lord or they're not in step with God and 567 00:24:13,510 --> 00:24:14,310 his plan. 568 00:24:14,789 --> 00:24:17,790 And that can bring great sadness, that can bring great grief, 569 00:24:17,790 --> 00:24:20,230 that can bring hopelessness, that can bring despair. 570 00:24:21,110 --> 00:24:23,590 And I'm not saying that every Christian that goes through pain 571 00:24:23,590 --> 00:24:26,440 and suffering causes it through rebellion. 572 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,640 Obviously there's pain and suffering, no matter what the case 573 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,440 might be, because we're humans and that's the part of the same curse. 574 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,960 But many times Christians can lose joy, they can lose hope, they 575 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:42,040 can lose satisfaction, they can lose everything when it comes 576 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:43,920 to walking in rebellion to God. 577 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,800 And some of the most miserable people that can be are people that 578 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,640 know the grace of God, but yet are walking outside of that in rebellion. 579 00:24:52,580 --> 00:24:55,620 And so what I would encourage us to do is to not get to a place 580 00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:59,220 in our life where we're at the place where we're saying that the. 581 00:24:59,220 --> 00:25:01,380 The glory of God is departed from my life. 582 00:25:02,260 --> 00:25:05,940 I've mentioned this before, that, you know, even David the psalmist 583 00:25:06,260 --> 00:25:09,300 asked God to restore in him the joy of his salvation. 584 00:25:09,860 --> 00:25:12,700 And sometimes that's a prayer that we need to have because we lose 585 00:25:12,700 --> 00:25:13,460 for whatever reason. 586 00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:16,500 It doesn't necessarily mean that it's because of open rebellion 587 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:16,860 and sin. 588 00:25:16,860 --> 00:25:20,440 But sometimes, for whatever cause, we lose the joy of our salvation. 589 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,760 Folks, the Bible says in Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is 590 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:24,440 our strength. 591 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,640 So when we don't have the joy of the Lord, we're losing our strength, 592 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,000 we're losing our effectiveness. 593 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,040 And so I personally don't believe that we can lose our salvation 594 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,800 because of the security of God, because of his mighty hand in 595 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:36,200 our life. 596 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,360 But the Bible does speak of how we can lose our joy and ultimately 597 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:42,040 miss the glory of God in our life. 598 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,160 That's all around us. 599 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:46,840 We live in a time that it would be easy to get our eyes fixed 600 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,640 on all of the evil and darkness around us. 601 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,740 And we say, well, the glory of the Lord's left us us. 602 00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:55,500 But if we're open and our hearts are ready to receive the things 603 00:25:55,500 --> 00:25:58,500 that God has for us, it's very easy to see the glory of the Lord 604 00:25:58,500 --> 00:25:58,940 around us. 605 00:25:58,940 --> 00:26:01,580 And for them, the reason why they couldn't see the glory of the 606 00:26:01,580 --> 00:26:04,380 Lord around them is because they were in rebellion. 607 00:26:04,380 --> 00:26:06,020 They had the art taken away from them. 608 00:26:06,020 --> 00:26:07,220 They had just been defeated. 609 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:09,780 But what I'm going to tell you here is that no matter what the case 610 00:26:09,780 --> 00:26:12,140 might be, within our life, within our spiritual battles that 611 00:26:12,140 --> 00:26:15,060 we face, the glory of Lord has not departed us. 612 00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:21,230 And what we have to do is, you know, they, they didn't know this 613 00:26:21,230 --> 00:26:22,470 because they don't know the rest of the story. 614 00:26:22,470 --> 00:26:23,670 We know the rest of the story. 615 00:26:23,670 --> 00:26:26,110 God, God had not departed them yet. 616 00:26:26,910 --> 00:26:29,470 He was just beginning to show his glory. 617 00:26:29,710 --> 00:26:33,870 And we're going to see that later on in chapter five, that God 618 00:26:34,430 --> 00:26:37,230 even In the midst of Israel's rebellion, God's going to show his 619 00:26:37,230 --> 00:26:39,550 power against the false gods of the Philistines. 620 00:26:40,190 --> 00:26:44,940 And every time God comes out on top, every time God displays his 621 00:26:44,940 --> 00:26:47,100 power, it might look like and. 622 00:26:47,100 --> 00:26:50,460 And we will fail him as his people. 623 00:26:50,460 --> 00:26:52,540 But at the same time, God never fails. 624 00:26:52,700 --> 00:26:55,500 And we're going to see the overwhelming power of God against 625 00:26:55,500 --> 00:26:56,460 the Philistines. 626 00:26:56,780 --> 00:27:00,620 And we're going to see that God restores his people, that God 627 00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:04,780 restores his plan and his purpose and their lives, and ultimately 628 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:05,660 they turn to Him. 629 00:27:05,820 --> 00:27:07,580 Yet there's ups and downs through that. 630 00:27:08,790 --> 00:27:11,230 And we're going to get all the way to chapter eight in First Samuel, 631 00:27:11,230 --> 00:27:13,710 and we're going to see that after God gets them through all of 632 00:27:13,710 --> 00:27:18,190 this, you've got, God restores everything back to them and God gives 633 00:27:18,190 --> 00:27:19,030 them victory. 634 00:27:19,270 --> 00:27:20,950 They say, now we want a king. 635 00:27:21,270 --> 00:27:23,510 It's like, weren't you satisfied with the Lord? 636 00:27:23,510 --> 00:27:25,350 Weren't you satisfied as God being your king? 637 00:27:25,350 --> 00:27:26,430 But yet they wanted a person. 638 00:27:26,430 --> 00:27:28,950 They wanted to be like everybody else in the world. 639 00:27:29,270 --> 00:27:32,430 And that's sometimes where we get in trouble with our own Christian 640 00:27:32,430 --> 00:27:35,380 walk in our churches and in our personal life is we. 641 00:27:35,380 --> 00:27:37,860 We aren't satisfied with just what God has for us. 642 00:27:37,860 --> 00:27:39,140 We want what other people have. 643 00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:40,540 We want what the world has. 644 00:27:40,700 --> 00:27:41,940 We want to have the same things. 645 00:27:41,940 --> 00:27:43,340 We want to be treated the same. 646 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:46,020 But I'm going to tell you here tonight, and, and this is the lesson 647 00:27:46,020 --> 00:27:48,580 I'm trying to learn, is I need to learn that I don't want the things 648 00:27:48,580 --> 00:27:51,540 of the world because I don't want the things that come along with 649 00:27:51,540 --> 00:27:51,820 it. 650 00:27:52,460 --> 00:27:55,260 I don't want to be tied to this world because the Bible says 651 00:27:55,260 --> 00:27:58,180 the more that we're tied to this world, the less we're tied to 652 00:27:58,180 --> 00:27:59,060 the things of God. 653 00:27:59,060 --> 00:28:01,540 And so what I would encourage you to think about in this passage 654 00:28:01,540 --> 00:28:05,010 of Scripture, it's a very bleak passage of Scripture, but I 655 00:28:05,010 --> 00:28:08,290 think about the idea that decisions that we make in our life 656 00:28:08,290 --> 00:28:09,730 do have consequences. 657 00:28:10,850 --> 00:28:14,250 We live in this interesting balance in our life where as Christians, 658 00:28:14,250 --> 00:28:16,290 we live in a life of grace. 659 00:28:17,170 --> 00:28:18,450 Thank God for grace. 660 00:28:19,090 --> 00:28:23,010 Thank him so much for the fact that when I fail him, he's there 661 00:28:23,170 --> 00:28:26,410 and that he picks me up and that he's faithful, as the New Testament 662 00:28:26,410 --> 00:28:27,890 says, even when I'm not faithful. 663 00:28:27,890 --> 00:28:31,750 But at the same time, we all must realize that decisions that 664 00:28:31,750 --> 00:28:36,070 we make even under the veil of grace do have consequences on this 665 00:28:36,070 --> 00:28:36,710 side of heaven. 666 00:28:36,710 --> 00:28:40,150 And what I will say to you here this evening is that just as 667 00:28:40,150 --> 00:28:44,270 Hophni and Phinehas fell into the trap of the lust of this world, 668 00:28:44,350 --> 00:28:47,710 in particular the lust of covetousness and having material 669 00:28:47,710 --> 00:28:50,190 things, and then ultimately the lust of the flesh. 670 00:28:50,350 --> 00:28:53,230 It really boils down to the sins that are listed in the New Testament. 671 00:28:53,230 --> 00:28:55,990 The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 672 00:28:55,990 --> 00:28:56,270 life. 673 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,360 Those are the three areas that God attack that, that Satan attacks 674 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:00,480 us. 675 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,880 And then God warns us about lust of the flesh, the lust of the 676 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,000 eyes, and the pride of life. 677 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,960 And really the only answer to overcoming those things and those 678 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,639 temptations and ultimately not falling into sin is to rest in a 679 00:29:12,639 --> 00:29:13,720 relationship with God. 680 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,240 What happened is, is that Israel drifted away Israel's relationship 681 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,920 and, and the person, the personal touch of God in their life 682 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,960 had drifted and they were doing their own thing. 683 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,810 And that's exactly when the lust of the flesh, the lust of the 684 00:29:25,810 --> 00:29:29,890 eyes and the pride of life can attack us and grip us and ultimately 685 00:29:29,890 --> 00:29:33,170 have us fall into those sins that can cause devastation in our 686 00:29:33,170 --> 00:29:36,330 homes and our families, in our communities, in our churches. 687 00:29:36,490 --> 00:29:39,970 And though we are going to be perfect, we have the flesh in our 688 00:29:39,970 --> 00:29:40,250 life. 689 00:29:40,410 --> 00:29:42,890 It doesn't mean that we just give up and give into that. 690 00:29:42,890 --> 00:29:47,010 So, yes, we walk in grace, but at the same time, we know that decisions 691 00:29:47,010 --> 00:29:50,170 that we make ultimately in our relationship with God do matter. 692 00:29:51,540 --> 00:29:55,140 And when you look at Israel, yes, Israel makes a ton of mistakes, 693 00:29:55,300 --> 00:29:56,900 Christians make a ton of mistakes. 694 00:29:57,460 --> 00:29:58,340 But when we. 695 00:29:58,340 --> 00:30:01,780 We see a common theme in the Old Testament and the New. 696 00:30:02,020 --> 00:30:06,140 When someone is walking with God, it doesn't matter how smart 697 00:30:06,140 --> 00:30:08,660 they are, it doesn't matter how perfect they are. 698 00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:10,580 It really matters is where they're walking. 699 00:30:10,900 --> 00:30:11,980 Are they walking with God? 700 00:30:11,980 --> 00:30:13,540 Are they walking in their own wisdom? 701 00:30:13,940 --> 00:30:16,420 And every time someone's walking with God, they go. 702 00:30:16,420 --> 00:30:17,500 They can go through great hardship. 703 00:30:17,500 --> 00:30:18,100 Think about Job. 704 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:24,660 I mean, Job was in many ways probably the one that struggled the 705 00:30:24,660 --> 00:30:28,180 most in scripture, but yet he walked with God in the midst of it. 706 00:30:28,980 --> 00:30:29,700 There's others. 707 00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:30,260 Joseph. 708 00:30:30,260 --> 00:30:31,140 Think about Joseph. 709 00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:32,660 I mean, he. 710 00:30:32,660 --> 00:30:35,060 He was sold into slavery by his own brothers. 711 00:30:35,060 --> 00:30:36,340 He was betrayed by his brothers. 712 00:30:36,500 --> 00:30:38,860 He was then betrayed by someone in his house, and he was 713 00:30:38,860 --> 00:30:40,100 lied about over and over again. 714 00:30:40,100 --> 00:30:42,620 Joseph went through all these things, and at the very end he says, 715 00:30:42,620 --> 00:30:45,060 yes, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. 716 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,240 He had the right outlook in the midst of difficulty. 717 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,760 Then we look at some other examples in Scripture, and they did 718 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,360 not have the right outlook of difficult circumstances. 719 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,480 And they allowed those temptations to let them fall into 720 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,160 that life of lifestyle sin. 721 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,880 And so I think that's a picture there of Eli Hoffney and 722 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,560 Phineas as they just didn't deal with the temptations of this 723 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:04,560 world in the right way. 724 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:06,480 And so how do we. 725 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,080 How do we prepare ourselves in that? 726 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,920 Well, we don't look at the things of God as superstitious things 727 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,660 that we can just add in when things are, are, are needed. 728 00:31:14,980 --> 00:31:15,460 We don't. 729 00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:19,580 We don't look at the Bible as a rabbit's foot that, you know, when 730 00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:21,980 I'm going through a struggle now, I bring out the Bible and make 731 00:31:21,980 --> 00:31:22,660 it help me. 732 00:31:22,900 --> 00:31:25,780 And then when everything's good, then I just put back on the 733 00:31:25,780 --> 00:31:26,300 shelf and. 734 00:31:26,300 --> 00:31:27,940 And go back to it when I can. 735 00:31:28,180 --> 00:31:30,420 And that's often how American Christianity is. 736 00:31:30,420 --> 00:31:30,660 Again. 737 00:31:30,660 --> 00:31:31,180 It's that. 738 00:31:31,180 --> 00:31:32,500 It's that pragmatic fix. 739 00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:33,060 Right now. 740 00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:35,940 They go, my life isn't going so well, so I better get back into 741 00:31:35,940 --> 00:31:36,340 church. 742 00:31:36,580 --> 00:31:39,060 I'm not saying that getting back in church is the wrong thing. 743 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,200 What I'm saying is getting out of church is the reason why there 744 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:44,360 are issues in her life. 745 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,880 And I'm not saying that being in church causes all those issues 746 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:47,600 to go away. 747 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,280 But what I will say is that sometimes we look for religious things 748 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:57,480 as little tokens of luck and superstition, and that's exactly 749 00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:58,920 what they were doing with the Ark of the Covenant. 750 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:00,200 There's nothing wrong with the Ark. 751 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:01,440 There's nothing wrong with the Bible. 752 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,040 There's nothing wrong with going to church. 753 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:04,720 There's nothing wrong with serving in ministries. 754 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:05,840 There's nothing wrong with prayer. 755 00:32:06,290 --> 00:32:09,810 But if we look to all these fringe things as the cause of us 756 00:32:09,810 --> 00:32:11,410 getting right, that's. 757 00:32:11,410 --> 00:32:12,010 That's the problem. 758 00:32:12,010 --> 00:32:14,210 Because really, at the end of the day, it's all things that are 759 00:32:14,210 --> 00:32:15,650 getting us closer to God. 760 00:32:16,210 --> 00:32:17,410 God is the answer. 761 00:32:17,890 --> 00:32:18,210 If. 762 00:32:18,210 --> 00:32:22,690 If we just say a little recitation prayer that is, I don't 763 00:32:22,690 --> 00:32:25,010 know, on a piece of paper, and we just say that prayer, but we don't 764 00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:26,170 have any meaning behind it. 765 00:32:26,170 --> 00:32:27,810 We're not really communicating with God. 766 00:32:27,890 --> 00:32:30,370 That prayer in and of itself is not going to save us. 767 00:32:30,690 --> 00:32:33,330 What, what saves us is that relationship with God. 768 00:32:33,330 --> 00:32:36,090 Draw near to God and He draws near to us. 769 00:32:36,250 --> 00:32:37,450 Now, how do we talk to Him? 770 00:32:37,450 --> 00:32:38,650 We talk to him through prayer. 771 00:32:39,130 --> 00:32:42,130 But what we can see in this passage is that people were doing 772 00:32:42,130 --> 00:32:45,290 religious things, but they were not connecting with God. 773 00:32:45,770 --> 00:32:46,890 I think that can happen. 774 00:32:46,970 --> 00:32:50,929 And many of you maybe have even experienced sections of that 775 00:32:50,929 --> 00:32:54,330 in your life that you were doing religious things, but there 776 00:32:54,330 --> 00:32:57,250 was no connection to God because it was devoid of God. 777 00:32:57,250 --> 00:32:57,610 It was. 778 00:32:57,610 --> 00:32:59,690 It was just little things that we were doing. 779 00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:01,780 And so I'm not against traditions. 780 00:33:01,780 --> 00:33:05,780 I'm not against doing different things that are disciplines 781 00:33:05,780 --> 00:33:06,340 in our life. 782 00:33:06,500 --> 00:33:09,260 But what I would say is always understand that everything that we 783 00:33:09,260 --> 00:33:13,380 do, whether it's prayer, Bible study, going to church, anything, 784 00:33:13,860 --> 00:33:18,020 wearing a cross, you know, doing whatever, putting up a sign 785 00:33:18,020 --> 00:33:21,740 in our house, putting a fish on the back of our car, I'm not saying 786 00:33:21,740 --> 00:33:25,060 that any of those things are bad, but reason we do that is ultimately 787 00:33:25,060 --> 00:33:27,060 to have that closer relationship with God. 788 00:33:28,070 --> 00:33:30,630 It's not so that we can just have a little token that's going 789 00:33:30,630 --> 00:33:31,430 to keep us safe. 790 00:33:32,070 --> 00:33:35,950 And so, yeah, I'm all for putting up things in our houses. 791 00:33:35,950 --> 00:33:39,110 I mean, I have different signage in our house that helps me 792 00:33:39,110 --> 00:33:43,750 remind myself of my goal for the day over the door that I head 793 00:33:43,750 --> 00:33:45,030 on every single day I have. 794 00:33:45,270 --> 00:33:47,190 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 795 00:33:47,190 --> 00:33:49,270 And it's not just there for a decorative piece. 796 00:33:49,430 --> 00:33:52,030 It's there so that I'm reminded every single day when I 797 00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:52,350 walk out. 798 00:33:52,350 --> 00:33:53,110 That that's my call. 799 00:33:53,110 --> 00:33:54,870 That's my mission, is I want to serve the Lord. 800 00:33:54,870 --> 00:33:58,080 I want to have my house and my family serving the Lord. 801 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,120 But again, if I just put that up on my house and said I'm serving 802 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,520 the Lord just because it's up there, that doesn't, that doesn't 803 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:04,400 equate to that. 804 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,120 It equates to the application of whatever we're dealing with in 805 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:08,400 our life. 806 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,360 And so what I would encourage you to do is just think about it 807 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:16,040 from this perspective and what I am, is what I'm doing in my day 808 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,120 to day life as a Christian drawing me closer to God. 809 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,280 Or is it just something that I'm doing to stay busy? 810 00:34:21,930 --> 00:34:22,490 I've been there. 811 00:34:22,490 --> 00:34:27,290 I've been in ministry long enough to go through seasons where 812 00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:29,450 I'm just staying busy, thinking that that's enough. 813 00:34:29,770 --> 00:34:32,250 But busyness does not equate spirituality. 814 00:34:32,250 --> 00:34:35,210 Busyness does not equate me being close to the Lord. 815 00:34:35,690 --> 00:34:38,250 So what I would encourage you to do is not just think about like, 816 00:34:38,250 --> 00:34:39,690 well, yes, Pastor, I'm close with God. 817 00:34:39,690 --> 00:34:40,730 I'm in six ministries. 818 00:34:41,450 --> 00:34:43,290 I didn't ask you how many ministries you're in. 819 00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:45,210 Yes, Pastor, I read my Bible every day. 820 00:34:45,690 --> 00:34:46,290 I'm good. 821 00:34:46,290 --> 00:34:46,890 That's great. 822 00:34:47,050 --> 00:34:47,930 I'm glad you read. 823 00:34:47,930 --> 00:34:50,530 I mean, we should be reading her Bible as much as we possibly 824 00:34:50,530 --> 00:34:50,810 can. 825 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,400 But at the core of it, is my Bible reading a checklist or is my 826 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,160 Bible reading a way for me to get to know my Lord more? 827 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,040 Pastor, I pray, but. 828 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:02,240 But is it just. 829 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,880 I say my, my set prayer before my meals, I ask God for all my, my 830 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,240 issues in my life, and then I just go back to my everyday life. 831 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:10,920 Or is it, yes, I ask God for things? 832 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:11,240 I. 833 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:14,680 Yes, I pray for my meals, but at the same time, it's me communicating 834 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,590 with him in a personal way to get to know him more, for him to 835 00:35:17,590 --> 00:35:18,230 get to know me. 836 00:35:18,230 --> 00:35:19,990 And it's like, God knows me completely. 837 00:35:20,470 --> 00:35:21,350 God knows me. 838 00:35:21,430 --> 00:35:25,670 Like, I was talking to my, my kids recently and I made a joke. 839 00:35:25,670 --> 00:35:26,910 I was like, I know you guys really well. 840 00:35:26,910 --> 00:35:28,910 And they're like, yeah, you don't know us that well. 841 00:35:28,910 --> 00:35:30,630 I was like, I've known you guys your whole life. 842 00:35:30,630 --> 00:35:30,950 I've. 843 00:35:30,950 --> 00:35:32,390 I've seen you from the very beginning. 844 00:35:32,470 --> 00:35:37,590 And, and so, yes, I. I know my kids well, but just because I know 845 00:35:37,990 --> 00:35:40,310 them, it doesn't mean that I want to stop getting to know them. 846 00:35:40,310 --> 00:35:42,630 If I have a good relationship with my family, I want to get to 847 00:35:42,630 --> 00:35:43,190 know them more. 848 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:45,040 And so God knows us completely. 849 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,080 And so it's not a matter of God being aware of us. 850 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,960 He already is aware of us, but it's that growth and that bond that 851 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:52,760 we have with Him. 852 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,920 And so that's what we saw Israel lose. 853 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,440 We saw Israel lose that personal walk with God. 854 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:01,680 Therefore, there was judgment and there was problems and ultimately 855 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:02,640 defeat. 856 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,440 But we're going to have good news next week. 857 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,640 We're going to come back and we're going to read an awesome story 858 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:13,920 about how God clearly is on top and the Philistines are gonna 859 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:15,200 give the ark back. 860 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:18,120 Basically, they're gonna return the ark and then there's some 861 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,120 stories there that we're going to look at, and it's going to be 862 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:20,800 pretty interesting. 863 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:24,880 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 864 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:25,520 podcast. 865 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,080 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 866 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,080 You would like to find out more information about our church 867 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:35,210 or this sermon, you can find us@middletown baptistchurch.org or 868 00:36:35,450 --> 00:36:37,370 find us on Facebook or YouTube. 869 00:36:38,090 --> 00:36:42,650 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 870 00:36:42,730 --> 00:36:43,130 Com. 871 00:36:43,530 --> 00:36:47,010 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 872 00:36:47,010 --> 00:36:49,850 along for future podcast and updates. 873 00:36:50,490 --> 00:36:51,450 Thank you so much. 874 00:36:51,690 --> 00:36:52,410 God bless. 875 00:36:52,650 --> 00:36:53,930 Have a wonderful day.