God could not communicate with the high priest, Eli, and his sons. Their sins had shut out the presence of His Holy Spirit. But the child Samuel remained true to Heaven, and giving the message of condemnation to the house of Eli was Samuel’s first task as a prophet of the Most High.1TC 400.2

“While Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, ... the Lord called Samuel.”1TC 400.3

Thinking that the voice was Eli’s, the child hurried to the bedside of the priest, saying, “Here I am,; for you called me.” Eli answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”1TC 401.1

Three times Samuel was called, and three times he answered in the same way. Then Eli was convinced that the mysterious call was the voice of God. The Lord had passed by His chosen servant, the man of gray hairs, to speak with a child. This in itself was a bitter yet deserved rebuke to Eli and his family.1TC 401.2

No envy or jealousy stirred in Eli’s heart. He told Samuel to answer, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”1TC 401.3

Once more the voice came, and the child answered, “‘Speak, for Your servant hears.’”1TC 401.4

“Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. ... The iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.’”1TC 401.5

Samuel was filled with fear and amazement at the thought of having received such a terrible message. In the morning he went about his duties as usual, but with a heavy burden on his young heart. The Lord had not commanded him to reveal the fearful condemnation, so he remained silent. He trembled in the fear that some question would force him to reveal the divine judgments against the one whom he loved and reverenced. Eli was confident that the message predicted some great calamity to him and his house. He called Samuel and told him to relate faithfully what the Lord had revealed. The youth obeyed, and the old man bowed in humble submission to the dreadful sentence. “It is the Lord,” he said. “Let Him do what seems good to Him.”1TC 401.6

Eli Loses His Last Chance

Yet Eli did not show true repentance—He did not forsake his sin. Year after year the Lord delayed His threatened judgments. Eli might have done a lot to redeem the failures of the past, but the aged priest did not do anything effective to correct the evils that were polluting the Lord’s sanctuary and leading thousands in Israel to ruin. The patience of God caused Hophni and Phinehas to harden their hearts and become still bolder in transgression.1TC 401.7

Eli made known to the whole nation the messages of warning and reproof to his family. By doing this, he hoped to undo the evil influence of his past carelessness, but the people disregarded the warnings, as the priests had done. The people of surrounding nations also became bolder in their idolatry and crime. They felt no sense of guilt for their sins, as they would have felt if the Israelites had preserved their integrity. It became necessary for God to intervene, to maintain the honor of His name.1TC 402.1

“Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.” The Israelites undertook this expedition without counsel from God, without the agreement of high priest or prophet. “Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.” As the shattered, discouraged force returned to their camp, “the elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?’” They did not see that it was because of their own sins that this terrible disaster had occurred.1TC 402.2

And they said, “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” The Lord had given no command or permission for the ark to come into the army, yet the Israelites felt confident that victory would be theirs, and they gave a great shout when it was carried into the camp by the sons of Eli.1TC 402.3

The Philistines considered the ark as the god of Israel. They said, “‘What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?’ Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, ‘God has come into the camp!’ And they said, ‘Woe to us! ... These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!’”1TC 402.4

The Philistines made a fierce attack, which resulted in great slaughter. Thirty thousand men lay dead on the field, and the ark of God was taken. The two sons of Eli died while fighting to defend it.1TC 403.1

The most terrifying calamity that could happen had come on Israel. The ark of God was in the hands of the enemy. The symbol of the abiding presence and power of Jehovah was gone. In former days, miraculous victories had followed whenever it appeared. The visible symbol of the most high God had rested over it in the holy of holies. But now it did not bring any victory, and there was mourning throughout Israel.1TC 403.2

The law of God, contained in the ark, was a symbol of His presence, but they had shown great disrespect for the commandments and had grieved the Spirit of the Lord away from them. When the people did not honor God’s revealed will by obedience to His law, the ark could not help them any more than a common box. They looked to it the way the idolatrous nations looked to their gods. They violated the law it contained, for their worship of the ark led to hypocrisy and idolatry.1TC 403.3

Tragic News Kills Eli

When the army went out to battle, Eli had stayed at Shiloh. With dread he waited for the result of the conflict, “for his heart trembled for the ark of God.” Day after day he sat outside the gate of the tabernacle by the highway, anxiously expecting a messenger to come from the battlefield.1TC 403.4

Finally a Benjamite, “with his clothes torn and dirt on his head,” rushed to the town and repeated to eager crowds the news of defeat. The sound of wailing and crying reached Eli beside the tabernacle. The messenger came to him and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead.” Eli could endure all this, terrible as it was, for he had expected it. But when the messenger added, “and the ark of God has been cap tured,” a look of extreme anguish passed over his face. The thought that his sin had dishonored God and caused Him to withdraw His presence from Israel was more than he could bear. He fell, “and his neck was broken, and he died.”1TC 403.5

The wife of Phinehas feared the Lord. The death of her father-in-law and her husband, and above all, the terrible news that the ark of God was taken, caused her death. She felt that the last hope of Israel was gone. She gave the name Ichabod, or “inglorious,” to the child born during this terrible time, with her dying breath mournfully repeating the words, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”1TC 404.1

But the Lord had not completely cast His people aside, and He used the ark to punish the Philistines. The divine presence, invisible, would still be with it to bring terror and destruction to those who transgressed His holy law. The wicked may triumph for a time as they see Israel being punished, but the time will come when they too must receive the sentence of a holy, sin-hating God.1TC 404.2

Heathen Gods Cannot Stand Before the Ark of God

In triumph the Philistines took the ark to Ashdod and placed it in the house of their god Dagon. They imagined that the power that had gone with the ark would be theirs, and that this, united with the power of Dagon, would make them impossible to defeat.1TC 404.3

But when they entered the temple the following day, they saw a sight that filled them with dismay and confusion. Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of the Lord. The priests reverently lifted the idol and restored it to its place.1TC 404.4

But the next morning they found it strangely mutilated, again lying on the earth before the ark. The upper part of this idol was like that of a man, and the lower part like a fish. Now every part that resembled the human form had been cut off, and only the body of the fish remained. Priests and people were horror-struck—they saw this as an evil sign, predicting destruction to themselves and their idols before the God of the Hebrews. They removed the ark from their temple and placed it in a building by itself.1TC 404.5

The people who lived in Ashdod were struck with a distressing and fatal disease. Remembering the plagues inflicted on Egypt, the people blamed the presence of the ark among them for their sufferings. It was decided to take the ark to Gath. But the plague followed, and the people of that city sent it to Ekron. Here the people received it with terror, crying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” The work of the destroyer went on, until “the cry of the city went up to heaven.”1TC 405.1

Afraid to keep the ark any longer among their homes, the people then placed it in the open field. A plague of mice followed, which infested the land, destroying the crops in the storehouse and in the field. Complete destruction now threatened the nation.1TC 405.2

For seven months the ark remained in Philistia. The Israelites made no effort to recover it, but the Philistines were eager to get rid of it. Instead of being a source of strength to them, it was a burden and heavy curse, yet they did not know what to do. The people called for the princes of the nation, with the priests and diviners, and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.” They were advised to return it with a costly trespass offering. “Then,” said the priests, “you will be healed.”1TC 405.3

The Ark Sent to Beth Shemesh

Based on a widespread superstition, the Philistine lords directed the people to make likenesses of the plagues that had afflicted them—“five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For,” they said, “the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.”1TC 405.4

These wise men recognized that a mysterious power accompanied the ark. Yet they did not counsel the people to turn from their idolatry to serve the Lord. They still hated the God of Israel, though His judgments had compelled them to submit to His authority. Such submission cannot save the sinner. The heart must be yielded to God—must be subdued by divine grace—if God is to accept our repentance.1TC 405.5

How great is God’s patience toward the wicked! Ten thousand unnoticed mercies were silently falling on the pathway of the ungrateful and rebellious, but when they refused to listen to the voice of God in His created works and in the warnings and counsels of His word, He was forced to speak to them through judgments.1TC 406.1

The priests and the soothsayers urged the people not to imitate the stubbornness of Pharaoh and the Egyptians and thus bring still greater afflictions on themselves. These religious leaders now proposed a plan with which everyone agreed. The ark, with the golden trespass offering, was placed on a new cart, to avoid all danger of defilement. Two milk cows that had never worn a yoke were attached to the cart. Their calves were shut up at home and the cows were left free to go where they pleased. If the ark returned to the Israelites in this manner by way of Beth Shemesh, the nearest city of the Levites, the Philistines would take this as evidence that the God of Israel had done this great evil to them. “But if not,” they said, “then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”1TC 406.2

When they were set free, the cows turned from their young and took the direct road to Beth Shemesh. Not guided by any human hand, the patient animals kept on their way. The divine Presence accompanied the ark safely to the very place chosen by the Philistines.1TC 406.3

The men of Beth Shemesh were reaping in the valley, “and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.” The Philistines had followed the ark “to the border of Beth Shemesh” and had seen its reception. The plague had stopped, and they were convinced that their calamities had been a judgment from the God of Israel.1TC 406.4

The People of Israel Do Worse Than the Philistines

The people of Beth Shemesh quickly spread the news that the ark was in their possession, and many people from the surrounding country flocked to welcome its return. Sacrifices were offered, and if the worshipers had repented of their sins, God’s blessing would have rested on them. But while they rejoiced at the return of the ark as a good omen, they had no true sense of its sacredness, so they let it remain in the harvest field. As they continued to look at the sacred chest, they began to wonder where its peculiar power came from. At last, overcome by curiosity, they removed the coverings and dared to open it.1TC 406.5

Israel had been taught to regard the ark with awe and reverence. Only once a year was the high priest permitted to see the ark of God. Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings. Angels of heaven, unseen, always went with it in all its journeyings. The irreverent daring of the people at Beth Shemesh was quickly punished. Many were struck with sudden death.1TC 407.1

This judgment did not lead the survivors to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. Eager to be free from its presence, the people of Beth Shemesh sent a message to those living in Kirjath Jearim, inviting them to take it away. With joy the people of this place welcomed the sacred chest and placed it in the house of Abinadab, a Levite. This man appointed his son Eleazar to take charge of it, and it remained there for many years.1TC 407.2

The whole nation had come to acknowledge Samuel’s call as a prophet. He had given proof of his allegiance by faithfully delivering the divine warning to the house of Eli, painful and difficult as the duty had been. “And the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.”1TC 407.3

Samuel visited the cities and villages throughout the land, hoping to turn the hearts of the people to the God of their fathers, and his efforts brought good results. After suffering the oppression of their enemies for twenty years, the Israelites “lamented after the Lord.” Samuel counseled them, “‘If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only.’” Practical religion was taught in the days of Samuel, as Christ also taught it when He was on earth.1TC 407.4

Repentance is the first step that everyone who wants to return to God must take. Individually we must humble our souls before God and put away our idols. When we have done all that we can do, the Lord will show us His salvation.1TC 407.5

Samuel Becomes a Judge

A large assembly gathered at Mizpah, and they held a solemn fast there. With deep humiliation the people confessed their sins, and they gave Samuel the authority of judge.1TC 408.1

The Philistines interpreted this gathering as a council of war and set out to scatter the Israelites before their plans could mature. News of their approach caused great terror in Israel. The people begged Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”1TC 408.2

While Samuel was in the act of presenting a lamb as a burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for battle. Then the Mighty One who had parted the Red Sea and made a way through Jordan for Israel showed His power again. A terrible storm burst on the advancing army, and the earth was littered with the bodies of mighty warriors.1TC 408.3

The Israelites had stood trembling with hope and fear. When they saw the slaughter of their enemies, they knew that God had accepted their repentance. Though unprepared for battle, they took the weapons of the slaughtered Philistines and pursued the fleeing army. This victory came on the very field where, twenty years before, Israel had been defeated by the Philistines, the priests killed, and the ark of God taken. The Philistines were now so completely subdued that they surrendered the strongholds that they had taken from Israel, and they avoided any acts of hostility for many years. Other nations followed this example, and the Israelites enjoyed peace until the close of Samuel’s lone administration.1TC 408.4

So that they would never forget the occasion, Samuel set up a great stone as a memorial. He called it Ebenezer, “the stone of help,” saying to the people, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”1TC 408.5

Eli and His Wicked Sons

The Schools of the Prophets