7:1The Ark was taken to Kiriath-jearim, a city near the battlefield, for safekeeping, and Eleazar was given the task of caring for it. Why wasn't it taken back to the Tabernacle at Shiloh? Shiloh had probably been defeated and destroyed by the Philistines in an eartier battle (4:1-18; Jeremiah 26:2-6) because of the evil deeds of its priests (2:12-17). Apparently, the Tabernacle and its furniture were saved because we read that the Tabernacle was set up in Nob during Saul’s reign (21:1-6) and in Gibeon during the reigns of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29, 30; 2 Chronicles 1). Shiloh, however, is never again mentioned in the historical books of the Old Testament. Samuel’s new home became Ramah (7:15-17; 8:4), his birthplace (further evidence of Shiloh’s destruction).
Life Application Study Bible1 SamuelChapter 7
1 Samuel 7
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 416, 417, 418
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
1Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon Judg 16:23 and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 3But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the ae next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD! isa 19:1; 46:7 2 a TE So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. 4But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. 5That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold. Then the LORD’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.* 7When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can't keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the LORD’s heavy hand fell on itsmen, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic. 10So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” "The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it* will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
The Philistines Return the Ark
The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the LORD? Tell us how to return it to its own country.” 3“Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.” 4What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked. And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. SMake these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go. 7“Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them ina pen. 8Put the Ark of the LORD on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. 9If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the LORD who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.” 10So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up ina pen. 11 Then the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. 12And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed! 4The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the LORD as a burnt offering. Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the LORD that day by the people of Beth-shemesh. '6The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day. 17The five goid tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the LORD were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. '®The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers. The large rock at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the LORD, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.
The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim
1019But the LORD killed seventy men* from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the LORD. And the people mourned greatly because of what the LORD had done. 2°“Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?” 21So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, 11
Textual footnotes
- throughout the city.
- 7:12 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Shen.
Life Application Notes 9 notes
7:2,3Israel mourned, and sorrow gripped the nation for 20 years. The Ark was put away like an unwanted box in an attic, and it seemed as if the LORD had abandoned his people. Samuel, now a grown man, roused them to action by saying that if they were truly sorry, they should do something about it. How easy it is for us to complain about our problems, even to God, while we refuse to act, change, and do what he requires. We don’t even take the advice he has already given us. Do you ever feel as if God has abandoned you? Check to see if there is anything he has already told you to do. You may not receive new guidance from God until you have acted on his previous directions.
7:3Samuel urged the Israelites to get rid of their foreign gods. Idols today are much more subtle than gods of wood and stone, but they are just as dangerous. Whatever holds first place in our lives or controls us is our god. Money, success, material goods, pride, or anything else can be an idol if it takes the place of God in our lives. The LORD alone is worthy of our service and worship, and we must let nothing rival him. If we have “foreign gods,” we need to ask God to help us dethrone them, making the true God our first priority.
7:4Baal was believed to be the son of El, chief deity of the Canaanites. Baa! was regarded as the god of thunder and rain; thus he controlled vegetation and agriculture. Ashtoreth was a goddess of Jove and war (she was called Ishtar in Babylon and Astarte or Aphrodite in Greece). She represented fertility. The Canaanites believed that by the sexua! union of Baal and Ashtoreth, the earth would be magically rejuvenated and made fertile.
7:5Mizpah held special significance for the Israelite nation. It was there that the Israelites had gathered to mobilize against the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20:1); Samuel was appointed to be leader (1 Samuel 7:6); and Saul, Israel's first king, would be identified and presented to the people (10:17ff).
7:6Pouring water on the ground “before the LORD” was a sign of repenting from sin, turning from idols, and determining to obey God alone.
7:6Samuel became the last in the long tine of Israel’s judges (leaders). For a list of these judges, see the chart in Judges 1, p. 355, A judge was both a political and a religious leader, God was Israel's true leader, while the judge was to be God’s spokesperson to the people and administrator of justice throughout the land. While some of {srael’s judges relied more on their own judgment than on God’s, Samuel's obedience and dedication to God made him one of the greatest judges in Israel’s history. (For more on Samuel as a judge, see the note on 4:18.)
7:12The Israelites had great difficulty with the Philistines, but God rescued them. in response, the people set up a large stone as a memorial of God’s great help and deliverance. During tough times, we may need to remember the crucial turning points in our past to help us through the present. Memorials can help us remember God’s past victories and gain confidence and strength for the present.
7:14\n Joshua's time, the Amorites were a powerful tribe scattered throughout the hill country on both sides of the Jordan with a heavy concentration occupying the east side of the Jordan River opposite the Dead Sea. In the context of this verse, however, Amorites is another general name for all the inhabitants of Canaan who were not Israelites.