the terrible denunciations (1 Samuel 3:11-18) was, “It is the Lord; let him
do what seemeth him good”, the passive submission of a weak character,
not, in his case, the expression of the highest trust and faith. The Lord
revealed himself now in divers manners to Samuel, and his fame and his
influence increased throughout the land as of one divinely called to the
prophetical office. A new period in the history of the kingdom of God
now commenced.
The Philistine yoke was heavy, and the people, groaning under the
wide-spread oppression, suddenly rose in revolt, and “went out against
the Philistines to battle.” A fierce and disastrous battle was fought at
Aphek, near to Ebenezer (1 Samuel 4:1, 2). The Israelites were defeated,
leaving 4,000 dead “in the field.” The chiefs of the people thought to repair
this great disaster by carrying with them the ark of the covenant as the
symbol of Jehovah’s presence. They accordingly, without consulting
Samuel, fetched it out of Shiloh to the camp near Aphek. At the sight of
the ark among them the people “shouted with a great shout, so that the
earth rang again.” A second battle was fought, and again the Philistines
defeated the Israelites, stormed their camp, slew 30,000 men, and took the
sacred ark. The tidings of this fatal battle was speedily conveyed to Shiloh;
and so soon as the aged Eli heard that the ark of God was taken, he fell
backward from his seat at the entrance of the sanctuary, and his neck
brake, and he died. The tabernacle with its furniture was probably, by the
advice of Samuel, now about twenty years of age, removed from Shiloh to
some place of safety, and finally to Nob, where it remained many years
(21:1).
The Philistines followed up their advantage, and marched upon Shiloh,
which they plundered and destroyed (comp. Jeremiah 7:12; Psalm 78:59).
This was a great epoch in the history of Israel. For twenty years after this
fatal battle at Aphek the whole land lay under the oppression of the
Philistines. During all these dreary years Samuel was a spiritual power in
the land. From Ramah, his native place, where he resided, his influence
went forth on every side among the people. With unwearied zeal he went
up and down from place to place, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting the
people, endeavouring to awaken in them a sense of their sinfulness, and to
lead them to repentance. His labours were so far successful that “all the
house of Israel lamented after the Lord.” Samuel summoned the people to
Mizpeh, one of the loftiest hills in Central Palestine, where they fasted