1 Samuel 6 and 7
So once again a war is a-brewing.
The Philistines and the Israelites had a war.
In the first battle, the Israelites were defeated. They lost 4000 soldiers on the battlefield.
So the people (Israelites) decided to do something about it.
They went to Shiloh and took the Ark of the Agreement back to battle with them.
In fact, when the Ark reached the Israelite camp, the people went crazy, hooping and hollering.
So much so, the Philistines heard and asked, "What is going on over there?"
When they heard what the ruckus was about, they were a bit nervous. They knew about the Israelite God. They knew what that God had done to the Egyptians.
I have to give them credit though.
The Philistines could have tucked their tails and run.
But instead, they decided to fight like men.
So they did.
And they defeated the Israelites.
30,000 soldiers were killed.
Including Eli's two sons.
Even worse, the Philistines who were so nervous about that God captured the Ark of the Agreement.
Meanwhile, Eli is now 98 years old. And he is sitting in a chair by the side of the road, waiting to hear the outcome of the battle. Apparently he was rather large (in size) at this point. And perhaps a bit lazy. I am not judging. It basically says that in these verses.
So one of the men from the Benjamin tribe comes running into town, tearing his clothes and grieving.
Eli, who is blind at this point, asks the man what was wrong.
The man told him all about the men who died, Eli's sons, and the Ark.
And Eli, apparently distraught, fell out of the chair beside the gate, broke his neck, and died.
A sad ending for a man who had led the people for 40 years.
Even sadder, Eli's daughter-in-law was about to give birth. She heard the news of the Ark and Eli and her husband and went into labor. She had difficulties with the delivery and also died.
Only the baby was left.
Meanwhile, the Philistines were having a tough time of their own.
They carried the Ark of the Agreement back to their idol temple and put it with the idol.
Then strange things started happening.
Idols fell and broke.
The people got growths all over their skin.
People died.
In the end, after moving the Ark to different places (and having the same results everywhere it went, they decided it was too much trouble.
It was going back to the Israelites.
Tomorrow's reading:
1 Samuel 6-7
Happy reading!
Reba
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