KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES || Lesson 38 

KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES – Lesson Thirty-eight

TEXT:  Psalm 78 (Cont’d.) – V.60-61

[We continue to “consider the marvelous works” listed in this psalm, in keeping with I Samuel 12:24 – But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Be sure to fear the LORD – Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.]

V.60-61 – ⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men. ⁶¹He sent [the ark of] his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

The text is a continuation of the details of the punishment meted out for their rebellion.

The tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men – Some details:

Joshua 18:1 – The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control,

Shiloh was the place spoken of by the Lord in Deuteronomy chapters 12 to 16 as “the place the Lord your God will choose.”  Examples: 

Deuteronomy 12:5 – But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;

Deuteronomy 12:10-11 – ¹⁰But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. ¹¹Then to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name–there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:3 – Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.

[Note 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22 – ¹²Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD. ¹³Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

¹⁶If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would then answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

¹⁷This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

²²Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Contrast Judges 2:7 – The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

This was the state of affairs when the Tent of Meeting was set up and which should have continued.

Let us ask the GOD OF MIRACLES to help us to “receive” John 15:9 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.]

1 Samuel 1:24-28 – ²⁴After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. ²⁵When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

1 Samuel 3:19-21 – ¹⁹The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. ²¹The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

As was the case with Samuel, let us ask the GOD OF MIRACLES to help us to “hear” Philippians 2:14-15 – ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁹so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

He sent [the ark of] his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy   –   (See 1 Samuel 4 and 5.)  Excerpt:

1 Samuel 4:10-11, 21-22 – ¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

²¹She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”–because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

Let us thank the GOD OF MIRACLES for the following:

Matthew 16:18 – And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Romans 11:36 – For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 – ²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.