Look with me in your Bibles, if you will, to first Samuel chapter seven. And my text is going to be taken from verses one and two. I want to speak with you about what I've entitled here, a spiritual eclipse of the sun S O N. We've all. witness perhaps in our lifetime at least one eclipse of the sun. It's always a quite a phenomenon. It's a wonder that people consider and yet it's a passing time. It's for us for a while and then the sun brightens again, but I believe it's a good illustration here. of what we see taking place with regard to the Ark that was taken by the Philistines according to God's purpose. And then he struck them with plagues. They brought it back. And as we saw last time, there was a great rejoicing among the remnant, I call them, those that the Lord had preserved by his grace. And they saw the importance of offering up this great sacrifice that we considered last time, cutting up the wood of the cart and offering the kind, the cows that had brought the Ark back and how that's a type and picture of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we saw how some of the Beth Shemites took for granted this Ark and became curious and approached it and a great number, 50,000, three score and 10, were killed. And it says there in verse 19 of 1 Samuel 6 that the people lamented, that word means a great wailing in the face of God's judgment because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. We never know why, People wail, there's a lot of emotion even in religion. But I'll tell you what I found and even knowing my own heart even before the Lord was pleased to open it to Christ and see my lost estate, my need of Him, you can move people to emotion. You can find many people that lament and wail over judgment. But that's not the same thing as repentance. And you would think sometimes, well, God rendered his judgment and so it's done, nothing more to worry about. Well, it left such a strong impression, even as we saw in verse 20 of 1 Samuel 6, the men of Beth Shemesh said, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God and to whom shall he go up from us? And again, here, I believe that these were men, just like these over in verse 13 of first Samuel six, that saw the need to offer up a sacrifice. These were ones that the Lord had preserved in that day, that remnant as We read in Isaiah, according to the election of grace, and that asks this question, who's able to stand? There's a true indication of one that is the Lord's because they ponder these things. What is it to stand before a holy God? I wonder if we consider this. We don't stand based on our works. We can't approach without a mediator. That was already proven. And so they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jairim saying, the Philistines have brought down the Ark of the Lord. Come ye down and fetch it up to you. So you can see their desire to find a place for this Ark because It was resting on this great stone where they placed it temporarily, but it was exposed. It was out in the open. But we can find them here moving forward carefully, understanding the importance of this ark and weighing every decision as to the Lord's direction regarding the ark. What does that ark represent? It's representation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the mercy seat. It's the ark of the covenant. And here was but a type and a picture, but to us, as we read this, what could be more important to us when we understand that sinners are either saved or condemned in relationship to this ark? It's not as you hear preachers saying today that everybody needs to have a personal relationship with the Lord, no. We're either in that ark and that bloodshed of Lord Jesus has paid our debt or there's no relationship. This isn't an ongoing thing. As you hear modern preachers saying that bow your head and say a prayer and get right with God, no. This judgment has already been settled, just like here. Those who were the lords he preserved alive, and the rest that got curious and approached it in their way, he struck dead. There are very few today that really consider it to be that important. In fact, they'll laugh at you if you make too big a deal about Christ and His death and what He accomplished. They'd say, well, now you're just splitting hairs. I don't think anybody in the day of these men of Besshamus were 50,000, three score and ten, were saying, oh, well, you're just splitting hairs. Something wasn't right. Chapter 7 and verse 1, the men of Kirjath-Jerim, this was a city in the northern part of Judah. They came and fetched up the Ark of the Lord. And I believe that these that came to fetch it would have been Levites. They would have been ones that that was their responsibility to handle the Ark of the Lord, to carry it. as the Lord had instructed to Aaron and his sons. And they brought it into the house of Abinadab. And that name in and of itself is a very interesting name. It means a willing father. So they brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill and sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord. These were Levites. And the concern of these of Beth Shemesh, who were the lords, who said who is able to stand before this holy Lord God, they recognized the need to get this ark in the proper hands. And the name Eleazar means God has helped. So even reading those names and how the Lord brought this ark into this house of Abinadab. I think of the willing Father, God the Father, willing and able to save to the uttermost those that come to God through His Son. He brings them. In all of this, the Lord is directing. He's bringing that ark back to that place where it would stay for nearly 40 years, because from here it would stay in this house until David, you can remember, we're gonna see this in 2 Samuel, when David determined it needed to be fetched to Jerusalem. So 40 years. A whole generation. And it says this one Eleazar, God has helped sanctified, they sanctified his son to keep the ark of the Lord. And then verse two, it says, and it came to pass while the ark abode in Kirjath-Jerim, that the time was long for it was 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. It was 20 years up to the time of what we're going to read here in the following. And it's too much to try to get into tonight. So we'll stop there. You're welcome to read ahead for next time. But I want us to consider for a few moments what we're seeing here. You say, why did you entitle this message, a spiritual eclipse of the sun? Because this arc was not yet in its final resting place. And It abode here in this house of Abinadab for nearly 20 years. The indication and implication is that it rested there, but there weren't any sacrifices being offered on it. That wasn't the role of Levites. It was in the hands of Levites. They were awaiting the Lord's direction and guidance every bit as much as the children of Israel were not to move unless that Shekinah glory moved when they were in the wilderness. And so here we have the ark in essence sitting idle. That's the part that I want you to see. It's not yet in its place of function. Remember Shiloh, the Lord caused Shiloh where the Ark had been to be destroyed by the Philistines. And so here we begin to see and connect this even with what we read in Amos chapter eight. Why would God cause the land to continue to lament? Because that's the word that's used there in verse two and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. That word means a great crying unto the Lord. So the indication is that for 20 years, the Lord had removed his hand. See, this goes against what most people in religion think, and that is that you can organize revival. Think about when you were growing up. We had annual revivals. These were times where, okay, unless we become stagnant, let's get together, let's bring in some big wig preacher. Man, let's get things going. And I grew up in an environment where it was customary to give all kinds of invitations. The first one was for people to come down front and get saved. That word is detestable, abominable, but that's what it was. Come down and get saved. Or if no one came, then you went on to, well, how about you that need to dedicate your lives and leave here on fire, or rededicate, whatever it was. It was all designed to try to get some kind of action going. make something happen. And yet here the Lord purposed that for 20 years in a private house this ark remain here and in essence be silent. There were no sacrifices that were being offered. as we considered already in Amos chapter eight, this would be a true famine in the land. And that's why I compared this to an eclipse of the sun. How often do we take for granted, for example, the sun rising and setting? That's a term we use. We know it doesn't actually, everything's going around the sun, but we use that. And what really gets our attention is when the Lord causes a phenomenon to take place where all of a sudden people think, whoa, the sun's darkened. Or as we just experienced not too long ago, the red moon. These are things that people talk about. And then when it's passed, they go right on about their way like nothing was, taking everything for granted. I'm the chief of centers. I like to get up early. And many times I'm so focused down here looking around, if I'm out delivering papers to the neighbor's doorstep. There's times when I'll look up and, whoa, what a beautiful scenery to see the stars and the planets out there against the dark sky. And I stop and think how often I take that for granted. But those have been in place for forever. And where you miss them is when you have days and days of cloud and rain and you're wondering when will it ever break? Why does the Lord do that? Well, I believe it causes us to appreciate all the more the light and compels us, those that are His children at least, to consider His hand. Doesn't the scripture say that even the creation, the firmament, declares His glory. That word declares means speaks to it. God causes His voice to be heard even through these things. So a darkened sun or a darkened moon is a reminder not to take these things for granted. That's what I see here in this chapter in 1 Samuel 7. Things are settling back. They had a rough ride. Things happen and yet The Lord doesn't immediately cause the glory of that ark to shine forth. It's put in a private place here for 20 years. That would be something to consider that if for 20 years God hid his face in essence, what would be that generation? If from here forward, and again, related to Amos chapter eight, that summer fruit is, that's the harvest. It came in and now he says no more. Eventually, people and things die off. And that's the reason here in verse two where we read, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. This is not just some bitter, remorse. Okay, Lord. But the sense of the word is that a true crying out unto the Lord in their need. You know, if you get hungry enough, you get thirsty enough, you're going to pant. You're going to hunger. You're going to seek after help. And that caused us to think of Christ as the bread of life. Christ, the water of life, quenches our thirst. So I believe that the Lord does this in order to cause those that are his to cry out after him, because I will tell you, in my nature, and I don't believe I'm alone here, we're thankless creatures. We get used to having this Bible sitting around on a table somewhere. What if the Lord just removed it? where you couldn't pick it up. And it could be done in many ways. It doesn't have to be somebody coming burning Bibles. It could be take away your eyesight or mine could be that he take away your hearing. And to think then that all I would have left was whatever was in this heart and mind. Imagine if Lord just took my, my sight and my hearing away and that could happen. It could be through a wreck where you become totally disabled and you're destined to live out the rest of your life in a shell of a body where there's life inside. And I've read stories about this where people have in some way described their handicap where suddenly it's all taken away but they're a living person inside. They think, they reason, and yet no more ability to be able to hear the word or read it. That's just one example. How often we take it for granted. The Lord could shut it down to where we no longer have a place here to meet. And scatters all of us to the four corners of the world. It's happened before, the Lord's done it. We dare not be like those in Israel in Amos day that said, the temple, the temple. That was a pretty sizable temple. That was Solomon's temple. That made it all the more important in their eyes. God would never destroy that temple. That's Solomon's temple. It's like we might think, well, you know, Lord's given us an oasis here. God would never take it away, would he? That's God's prerogative. And I say it just to help us that we not take for granted what we have here. The word, eyes to see, spiritual eyes. But we know from scripture that there are times that the Lord will cause shadows of darkness or not bless perhaps in a mighty way as he has in the past. I hear some thinking man if we could just have the days of the Acts of the Apostles again where several thousand were converted to the Lord. Well if the Lord so purposed that would take place but what I can see right now when you talk about an eclipse of the sun and you consider the remnant, you consider how scattered those are that are the Lords that he's taught of himself and of his work there accomplished at Calvary. We're living these days where the Ark of the Lord is in a quiet place. It's in a place of blessing like we have here. It's in a house. It's not in the ornate things that the world seeks. They brought it and put it in Abinadab's house here and sanctified one, Eleazar, to oversee it. But its glory was not as in the days of the tabernacle when all of Israel encamped around this and the glory of the Lord sat above this ark, the Shekinah glory and the priests went in and out, all that's gone now. And we're not very many generations removed from that in reading this story here of Samuel. No wonder there was a great lamenting, but notice after the Lord, but it's a reminder that The Lord's not at our beck and call. He might cause us to cry unto him in our need and have no other fellowship with anyone other than the Lord. But in that, we find our blessing. It's not in the crowds. It's not in the masses. That's not where you're going to find the Ark of the Lord today. It's in the private house. It's in the hearts of those that the Lord has redeemed. If you look in Luke chapter one, because this is where I want you to see the parallel even with our Lord Jesus Christ, all of these are types. The laws of a shadow of good things to come. And I was reminded of this in Luke chapter one when It was revealed that John the Baptist would be the forerunner to come and prepare the way of the Lord. And Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, in verse 67, his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, and all of this is prophecy, blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people. Now, this was a prophecy. Think about the days of Israel. Think about how things were in Jerusalem, in Israel, when Christ was born. There was a famine in the land. In fact, scriptures say he came unto his own, his own received him not. But here Zacharias is prophesying, it says, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began. Let's don't forget that between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament there were 400 years of silence. where God did not raise up a prophet. Here we're reading about 20 years, and they lamented and cried. 400 years where the Lord gave no new revelation. All they had was what had already been revealed. Just like Zacharias, going back to what the prophets had written. We live in a generation where people couldn't tolerate that. They gotta have some new revelation. That's why they run the way they do. And there's plenty of false prophets willing to stand up and say, the Lord said this and the Lord spoke to me and he can speak to you and all this nonsense that goes on in the name of religion. When we read Revelation, the last word has been said, that's been 2000 years ago. Even Christ, given that illustration of the rich man and Lazarus in his day when he The rich man cried out to Abraham to go and tell his brothers, the Lord said through Abraham, they have the scriptures, let them hear them. Lord's not at our beck and call. And you stop and think about the one thing that is ignored today, it's this very word we have in our hand. In fact, most people don't even recognize it because there's so many different versions that are being put out. When you begin to read here, they'll look at you and say, what are you reading? Try to go into a religious bookstore today and ask them to see the section where the King James Bible is. They'll look at you funny like, I went into one and they said, well, we'll have to special order that. But there was a whole wall of, I don't even call them Bibles, of modern day dynamic, equivalent, translations, interpretations, and commentaries. That's all they are just because men put the word Bible on it. So even in that the Lord can remove his glory, but it doesn't take away from the true word. You can change this all you want to, but there's a text underneath it that you can go back to and you can do it right there on your on your iPhone now, smartphone. I'm thankful for whoever did that. You can go back to the original. I don't care what version you got, go back and take a strong concordance because that was the text. That was based on the text that up till the 1800s was always the text on which what we know of Christ and the gospel is founded. Even that we live in a generation where people don't recognize the word when they hear it. It's strange in their ears. It's like a foreign language because they're deceived. And we would be too were it not for the spirit of God and his grace. But you can see Zacharias here in the midst of this famine in his day as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. In this one prophecy, he summoned up the whole of the Old Testament. It all comes down to this, that this one who is to come was the one who was foretold from the beginning of time. That means you can go all the way back since the world began, says. The very first pronouncement, what would that have been? Genesis 3.15, when God said he would bring the seed of the woman, a seed that would crush the head of the serpent. You think about how much time passed, depending on who you look at, three, four, 5,000 years. The waiting. In many ways, you could say that all that, those thousands of years, the true glory of the ark was eclipsed because it was still only there in shadow and type. But get ready, because the sun's about ready to burst forth. That's what Zechariah's saying here, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. We forget, but God never does. That's what gives us hope for tomorrow. How do I know that God is going to be faithful to save me as a sinner? Well, I'll tell you what, if Christ shed his blood for you, there's no question. The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that's everyone that's a seed of Abraham, spiritually, grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him, God, without fear. And the Old Testament under that law until it had been fulfilled that there was nothing but fear and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou child, this is speaking of John the Baptist, shall be called the prophet of the highest. He would have been the very first prophet since Malachi 400 years that the Lord would raise up. and the very last prophet of the Old Testament. I know we're reading about him here in the New Testament, but John the Baptist was the very last. He was the one the Lord said that all the other prophets would have desired to see what he saw. And that is the fulfillment. They prophesied it, but John the Baptist actually set eyes on the very glory of God in the flesh. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." Is there any question that Christ is God in the flesh? Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways? Who did he go before? That Jesus of Nazareth. That's the Lord, to prepare his ways. And here it is, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby The day spring, that's the sun from on high, hath visited us to give what light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. I believe that's why when the Lord does a work of grace in the heart of one of his redeemed ones, the first thing he does is cause them to know the darkness, that lost estate. how dark it is, how dark that state is without the day star. And whatever light you thought you had in religion, the Lord has to just show you how dark it is. What he said, he said, if that light that is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness. That's the first thing I remember seeing, dark. You talk about the Lord taking away an instant, he can, he does, thankfully. Because I had a little old, like I was taught as a kid, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, but there's nothing to it. That's like holding a candle to the sun. And sadly, we had false teachers and preachers that taught us to make games of those things. If Satan doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack. I can remember singing that, no clue. We'd go through the motions, and they had people up there lead us. It's a game, but it's a deadly game. I'll tell you, for our children, the one place I want them is sitting right here with you, wherever they are, and listening to the very same gospel, because there's no hope otherwise. We're not gonna hive them off somewhere and keep them entertained and wait till the adults get done with whatever they're doing. Now, they need to hear a word from the Lord, just like any of us. give light to them that sit in darkness and notice in the shadow of death. That's an interesting term because if the Lord has chosen you and Christ has redeemed you then there is therefore now no condemnation but there's that shadow of death of which the psalmist said in Psalm 23, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I'll fear no evil. We have plenty of reason for God to condemn us but we need not fear if Christ has paid our debt. It says there to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. Oh how important is it for the Lord though there be seasons of darkness that when that he does cause the light to shine and that's what we're gonna read in the rest of this story here of the Lord raising up Samuel. We're going to see that next time, how in this dark day where this ark laid silent, but all the while the Lord was working. He'd raised up a mediator and we're going to see how Samuel was a type of Christ as a prophet, as a priest, and as a King, as a judge, but all three, We find him established there for the good of his people. Oh, the blessedness of seeing Christ. May we never take him for granted. Let's take our hymn books and sing hymn number 84. 84. This will be song, let's sing it as our prayer. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. This describes what would have been, and I trust is, our longing after Him. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free. It should be from our fears and sins, release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel's strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth, our heart, Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king. Born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone. by thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne. Amen. May that be our continual prayer. Have a good evening.