Reading for Today:

• 1 Samuel 4:1 Chapter 4 1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. –5:12
• Psalms 54:1-7 Chapter 54 1 Save me, O God, by thy name, And judge me in thy might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers are risen up against me, And violent men have sought after my soul: They have not set God before them. Selah 4 Behold, God is my helper: The Lord is of them that uphold my soul. 5 He will requite the evil unto mine enemies: Destroy thou them in thy truth. 6 With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto thee: I will give thanks unto thy name, O Jehovah, for it is good. 7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble; And mine eye hath seen `my desire' upon mine enemies. Psalm 55 For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.
• Proverbs 15:12-13 12 A scoffer loveth not to be reproved; He will not go unto the wise. 13 A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
• Luke 21:1-19 Chapter 21 1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all: 4 for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had. 5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said, 6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 7 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what `shall be' the sign when these things are about to come to pass? 8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not led astray: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am `he'; and, The time is at hand: go ye not after them. 9 And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately. 10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13 It shall turn out unto you for a testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how to answer: 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay. 16 But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and `some' of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. 18 And not a hair of your head shall perish. 19 In your patience ye shall win your souls.

Notes:

1 Samuel 4:4 dwells between the cherubim. A repeated phrase used to describe the Lord (see 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kin. 19:15; 1 Chr. 13:6; Ps. 80:1; 99:1; Is. 37:16). It spoke of His sovereign majesty. Hophni and Phinehas. These were the two wicked sons of Eli (2:12–17, 27–37), of whom it was said that they “did not know the LORD” (2:12). The fact that they were mentioned together recalls the prophecy that they would die together (2:34).

1 Samuel 4:11 the ark of God was captured. In spite of their hopes to manipulate God into giving them the victory, Israel was defeated and the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines. The view of having the ark of God being equivalent to having control of God, possessed both by Israel and then the Philistines, is to be contrasted with the power and providence of God in the remaining narrative.

1 Samuel 4:21 Ichabod…The glory has departed. Due primarily to the loss of the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, Phinehas’s wife names her child Ichabod, meaning either “Where is the glory?” or “no glory.” To the Hebrew, “glory” was often used to refer to God’s presence; hence, the text means “Where is God?” The word “departed” carries the idea of having gone into exile. Thus, to the people of Israel, the capturing of the ark was a symbol that God had gone into exile. Although this was the mind-set of Israel, the text narrative will reveal that God was present, even when He disciplined His people.

Psalm 54:1 by Your name. In the ancient world, a person’s name was essentially the person himself. Here, God’s name includes His covenant protection. vindicate. David requests that God will execute justice for him, as in a court trial when a defendant is declared not guilty.

Luke 21:1 the treasury. Thirteen chests with funnel-shaped openings stood in the court of the women. Each was labeled for a specific use, and donations were given accordingly.

Luke 21:5 donations. Wealthy people gave gifts of gold sculpture, golden plaques, and other treasures to the temple. Herod had donated a golden vine with clusters of golden grapes nearly 6 feet tall. The gifts were displayed on the walls and suspended in the portico. They constituted an unimaginable collection of wealth. All of these riches were looted by the Romans when the temple was destroyed (v. 6).

DAY 1: Contrast the pagan god of the Philistines and the living God.

In Judges 5:2 2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah. , Dagon is mentioned. Ugaritic literature identifies this deity as a god of grain or vegetation, whose image had the lower body of a fish and upper body of a man. Dagon seems to have been the leader of the Philistine pantheon (Judg. 16:23) and is noted to be the father of Baal. The placing of the ark of God in the temple of Dagon was supposed to be a sign of Dagon’s power and Yahweh’s inferiority, a visual representation that the god of the Philistines was victorious over the God of the Hebrews.

The next morning the Philistines found Dagon had “fallen on its face” (1 Sam. 5:3). Ironically, God Himself overturned the supposed supremacy of Dagon by having Dagon fallen over, as if paying homage to the Lord. The same thing happened the next morning, but this time the “head…hands were broken off” (v.4). The first display of God’s authority over Dagon was not perceived. God’s second display of authority, the cutting off of Dagon’s head and hands, was a common sign that the enemy was dead (Judg. 7:25; 8:6; 1 Sam.17:54; 31:9; 2 Sam. 4:12), and was to be understood as God’s divine judgment on the false idol. Because the head and hands of Dagon fell on the threshold, superstition developed that it was cursed; therefore, the Philistines would not tread on it (v. 5).

In contrast to the hands of Dagon being cut off, symbolizing his helplessness against the power of Yahweh, the Lord was pictured to be actively involved in judging the Philistines. “The hand of the LORD was heavy” on the people (v. 6). The imagery of God’s hand is found throughout the ark narrative (4:8; 5:6, 7, 9, 11; 6:3, 5, 9). It has been suggested that “tumors” refers to the sores or boils caused by an epidemic of the bubonic plague carried by rats (6:4, 5). The spread of the disease and its deadly effect (5:6, 9, 12; 6:11, 17) make this a likely view.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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