Blogging Bible Study: The heart of the Matter - 1 Samuel part 2, God defends the Ark

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We have a couple of chapters now dealing with the ongoing hostilities between the Philistines and the Hebrews, with the captured Ark playing a large part.  The Philistines had captured the Ark and taken it to Ashdod and placed it in the temple of their pagan god, Dagon.  While Israel was mourning the loss of Eli and his sons, and doubtless others, along with the tragic loss of the symbol of God's dwelling with them, the Philistines were learning that the God of the Israelites wasn't to be trifled with.

1) The day after the Ark was placed in the pagan temple, the  statue of Dagon was found fallen facedown in front of the Ark  (1 Sam 5:3).  The Philistines thought, gee, that's odd, and set the statue back in its place.

2) The second day after the Ark was placed in the pagan temple, the statue of Dagon had fallen facedown in front of the Ark again...only this time his head and hands were broken off and lying on the doorway. (1 Sam 5:4)

3) The people of Ashdod and the surrounding area were suddenly afflicted by...something.  The NIV 84 says that God 'brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors.' (1 Sam 5:6; some manuscripts add that a plague of rats had also appeared; noted in the margin of the NIV 84)...other translations indicate these tumors were hemorrhoids.  So the people of Ashdod begged the rulers to move the Ark away so it was moved to Gath.

4) Same thing happened to the people of Gath...young and old were afflicted with tumors and the city was thrown into a panic (1 Sam 5:9).  So the Ark was sent to Ekron. 

5) When the Ark was brought into Ekron, the people there began lamenting, and a death plague hit the city.  The folks there, in a panic, requested that the Ark be sent back to Israel; anyone who didn't die was afflicted with the same tumors that had hit Asdod and Gath.

So...7 months after the Ark was captured, the leaders of the Philistines went to to their priests and asked them to figure out how they could return the Ark to Israel (1 Sam 6:1-2)

Their recommendation was to be sure to send the Ark back with a 'guilt offering' of 'Five gold tumors and five gold rats' (1 Sam 6:5).  Then they make an interesting statement:

"Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?  When he treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?" - 1 Sam 6:6

Consulting the timeline of Biblical Events in my Inductive Study Bible, it had been somewhere around 400 years since the Exodus at this point.  But the Philistines remembered.  And their own pagan priests warned them against hardening their heart against the God of the Hebrews, like the Egyptians had done.  They came up with a test: Take a couple of cows who had nursing calves, pen the calves up so their mothers can't get to them.  Then hitch the mama cows to a wagon, put the Ark and the gold offering on the wagon, and let the mama cows go where they will.  Nature would have them head over to their calves in the pen...if they headed down the road to Israel, then everyone would know this was the Hebrews' God at work and they should let it go. (1 Sam 6: 7 -9).

The cows, lowing and mooing all the way, nonetheless headed straight down the road to Israel.  The Philistine rulers followed them all the way to the border, watched them keep going,   Then, no doubt greatly relieved, they turned around and went home, convinced that everything would be ok now that the Ark was no longer in their territory. God returned the Ark 7 months after it had been captured.

But there is another little tidbit here about God protecting the Ark.  We read in 1 Sam 6:19 that 70 men were killed ...Israelites...because 'they had looked into the Ark of God.'

The Philistines had learned from the Egyptians not to try to prove themselves greater than the God of the Hebrews; apparently the Hebrews themselves needed a reminder not to treat the Ark of God like something common. The people of the area sent word to the next city over, Kiriath Jearim, and asked them to take the Ark because...they were not comfortable with it amongst them.  So it went to the house of Abinidab, where it stayed until King David undertook to move it to Jerusalem twenty years later.

But that's another story.

Meantime, the Israelites saw the hand of God in all of this and repented of their idolatry...

And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." - 1 Sam 7:3

So, if I am reading things right (and the reference to the 20 years that the Ark was at Abinidab's is, I think, kind of a parenthetic thing, because Samuel died before the Ark was moved again.), Samuel's speech was right after the Ark was installed at Abinidab's.  So we are somewhere between 7 months and maybe a year or so after the Ark was captured, and the Israelites were still reeling from their losses in that battle.  So Samuel interceded, God intervened,  and we read in 2 Sam 7:13 - "So the Philistines were subdued and did not invate  Israelite territory again.  Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines."

Because the Israelites gave up their idols and served God with all their hearts. 

(Both references are Strong's 3824)

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - 1 Samuel Part 1 - Samuel and the Fall of the House of Eli

 Posted  by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our perusal through the Bible looking at occurrences of 'Heart/ Hearts'  has wandered through Joshua, but, despite the prevailing thought that Ruth is a romantic story...there isn't a single mention of heart/hearts in the entire 4 chapters.  It's all about the inheritance, not romance.  So that brings us to the book of 1 Samuel, which has a surprising number of mentions.  I debated trying to look at the references thematically, but decided the best thing is probably to just follow the narrative, so today we're looking at the first 4 chapters (all references today, per usual, are from the NIV 84).

1 Samuel opens with the story of Hannah, the favored but childless second wife of one Elkanah, who was an Ephraimite.  Up to this time, the spiritual leaders of Israel had been the priests descended from Aaron, with the current leaders being Hophni and Phineas, sons of Eli of the house of Aaron.  These were corrupt leaders, who pursued their own agenda and abused their position, as we find in chapter 2, and Eli, their father, did nothing to correct them.  But this was all peripheral to Hannah, who was desperate to have a son.  When Elkanah's family were in Shiloh for a time of sacrifice and worship, Hannah made her way to the tabernacle to bring her pain and hope to God; Eli was sitting in a chair at the entrance.

As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.  Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk?  Get rid of your wine." -- 1 Sam 1:13 [Heart: Strong's H3820]

Would all my private pray-ers wave at me?  I can pray with others, in front of others, for common concerns but if it comes to praying for me or mine...I wanna keep that between me and God.  This verse is extremely comforting to me...it is the second one we've encountered that indicates that God hears the prayers spoken only in the heart. Those burdens or concerns that should not be spoken to others can be spoken to God.  He hears.  And there's something else that this passage says, kind of tangentially, about Hannah's heart.  She didn't react to Eli's judgmental rebuke with offense.  She replied with humility, and Eli blessed her....although he didn't apologize.  She was comforted all the same...she left, she ate, and she received the answer she sought. And, as she had vowed, she brought her son Samuel back to Shiloh to serve God as soon as he was weaned, which I am sure was extremely difficult for her, but she rejoiced that God had heard her and blessed her even then.

Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high.  My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance"   -- 1 Sam 2:1, Strong's H3820.

Hannah's song goes on through verse 10; it's pretty amazing.  And they do, indeed, leave Samuel with Eli to be raised to serve God.  Hannah had 5 more kids...two daughters and three sons. Hannah saw Samuel when they came to Shiloh for worship, about once a year, and she would bring him a coat she'd made.  Her heart was brought from pain and despair to contentment.

But Eli and his family were under judgement.  You know how you think you know something and then suddenly realize it wasn't what you knew?  Yeah, that happened.  I thought Samuel was the one who prophesied the downfall of Eli's house...and he did, but he wasn't the first.  An unnamed 'man of God'  (1 Sam 2:27) came to Eli, apparently  while Samuel was still very young, and gave him a blistering prophecy, which includes

"Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life." -- 1 Sam 2:33.  'Heart' here is a different Hebrew word - nepes (Strong's H5315), which is more commonly translated 'soul', having distinct implications of 'breath' .  Why it was translated 'heart' here instead of  'soul' I cannot guess...because 'grieve your soul' would make just as much sense.  In both cases, the implication is the seat of emotion.    

The man of God goes on to proclaim that, to prove his word true, both Hophni and Phineas would die on the same day, and that God said, "I will raise up for my self a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.  I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always." - 1 Sam. 2:35. (Strong's H3824)   As I typed that, I am reminded of something we'll see later, when God rejects Saul with almost the same language.  And, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time we have encountered a reference to God's heart since the very first post, which looked at God's heart being grieved, and God making a promise in his heart.  In this case, he's referring to a man who does what is in his (God's) heart.  Which implies that humans can know the heart of God...or at least, know it enough to know his character and order their lives in accordance with the character of God.  Which is both an encouragement and a challenge.

In chapter 4, we come to the fulfillment of the prophecy of both the unknown 'man of God' and young Samuel.  I don't know how old Samuel is at this time; the chronology is a little vague, but the Israelites are battling the Philistines and try to use the Ark of the Covenant as a magic weapon of some sort, thinking God would act to protect it, which fails utterly.  Hophni and Phineas are killed and the Ark is captured.  News travels...

That same day, a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.  When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God.  When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. -- 1 Sam 4:13 (Strong's H3820 again).

Eli, with a premonition of doom, probably related to the prophecies he had heard, was worried about the Ark and seated where he could get news.  I also wonder if Eli had counseled against taking the Ark to battle.  It was a bad idea...especially since they had had no word of God to do so (remember Ai?).  God did, of course, protect the Ark, but not how the Israelites had expected.  They were soundly defeated for their presumption.  Not once in the account of the fighting is there any indication the Israelites did what God had demonstrated to them over and over was necessary...seek His counsel for the coming battle.  Eli's heart knew.  And when he got word, he fell backwards from his chair...stricken?  Fainted?  Hard to say, because he broke his neck.  So even if he had a stroke or a heart attack, the fall killed him.

God hears our hearts...and God's heart can be known.  That's a good place to start if one is honestly seeking God.  

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter- Judges, The Song of Deborah

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

In all the book of Judges, there are only three verses that reference 'heart/hearts'...all Strong's H3820 ...and they all occur in chapter 5. Mr. Scofield has labeled this chapter 'The Song of Deborah and Barak', a poetic response to the victory of Israel over the Canaanite army of Jabin, led by one bad dude named Sisera, who was dispatched in a grisly manner by a lady named Jael.

The song praises God for the victory, lauds the leaders who took initiative, berates the tribes that lagged and didn't fight, and recounts the actions of Jael, the woman who dealt the enemy the final blow.

My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people.  Praise the LORD!...The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley.  In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.  Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks?  In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.  - Judges 5:9, 15-16 NIV84

I really like the first verse of the song...When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves -- praise the LORD!  (5:2); that kind of sets the tone for the whole song.  The leaders stepped up and the people followed.

Y'all, that'll preach.  But we are here to talk about hearts.

And the uses for 'heart' are kinda different than what we have looked at before.  The first one indicates that the heart of the psalmist (in this case, Deborah, from v. 7) is with the folks who rose up willingly to fight the battle.  She was interceding for them and proud of them.  They were doing the right thing.

It's a contrast to the use of 'heart' later in the chapter, which is the same phrase repeated:  In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.  The folks of the tribe of Reuben apparently did not muster to the battle as the passage implies that they stayed around the campfires to mind sheep.  But what DID the 'searching of heart' actually mean here?  That they hemmed and hawed over the call to arms too long and missed it?  That they wanted to go to battle but couldn't convince themselves it was worth the risk? That they dug around in order to find an excuse not to go and decided they had to mind the sheep?  I'm honest, I really don't know what their issue was.  But whatever it was...they were listening to the internal dialogue and did not show up to help Israel defeat their enemies.

And that, too, will preach.  The enemy doesn't have to flat out convince us to choose wrongly; he can just throw us into enough internal conflict that, if we don't recognize what's going on, we spend so much time wrestling over some aspect of the issue that we ultimately take no action.  Which was his actual goal anyway.  Searching one's heart to find and root out sin and disobedience is a good thing; searching one's heart to find an excuse to not turn up when called is a whole 'nuther issue, and I'm as guilty of that as the next person.  

I would even go so far as to posit that searching one's heart to find an 'out' in such a situation is the first step to hardening one's heart to reject such appeals in the future.  And that is definitely a problem.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Joshua, Part 2

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Of all the rest of the verses in Joshua that reference heart/hearts, one refers to hardened hearts; the rest refer to hearts devoted to God.

And...I'll be honest, given the current world events, I kinda feel like I need to treat that one verse with kid gloves; folks who are not convinced of the origin and authority of scripture could have a knee-jerk reaction to the content. So I am providing some context, but I can't quote the whole preceding two chapters about the battles....

Joshua waged war against these kings for a long time.  Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he  might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses. -- Josh. 11: 18-20 (all references today from the NIV 84).

There are references in Scripture to the reasons why God commanded the Israelites to be merciless; I'm not going to chase that rabbit right now but if you are curious, look up the sin of the Amorites, and also look up the references to the practices of the people who occupied the land before the Israelites returned...particularly where God promises to send judgement upon the Israelites should they adopt those practices.  Conquering/ invading nations was one way God visited judgment upon disobedient and rebellious nations...even Israel/ Judah were subject to that judgement because they fell into the heinous idolatry of the day.  But it's a long and heavy topic and I'm looking at hearts so...I will also recommend going back and re-reading the posts about the hardening of Pharoah's heart from earlier in the study for a more detailed look at just what leads to a heart being hardened.

But...what is the protection against a hardened heart that brings judgment?  A fully devoted heart.

[Joshua speaking to the people] "But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and serve him with all your heart and all your soul." - Josh. 22:5

[Joshua speaking to the people] "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.  You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.  Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed."  -- Josh. 23:14

[from Joshua's last address to the people] - "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." -- Josh. 24:23

I think it's interesting that Joshua reminds them that they know in their heart and soul what God has done for them...they have experienced it themselves.  They saw the Jordan run dry, they felt the ground shake when the walls of Jericho fell, they utterly defeated alliances of armies that far outnumbered them.  They had also seen the ground open up and swallow rebellion,  watched Aaron stand between the living and the dead to make atonement to stop a deadly plague, and they knew the sting of defeat because of greed and rebellion in the camp.  God kept ALL of his promises.

But the ultimate reminder from Joshua's last words to the people he led...fully commit your heart to your God.  

[I didn't include the Strong's numbers in the verses as I have been doing...it seems distracting when I re-read past posts.  But I still feel like I should still include them, so we'll try footnotes, lol. Josh. 11:20 uses H 3820, while the other three references are all H 3824, both of which we've looked at before..in fact, H 3820 is listed as a form of H 3824.]