Please open your Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel. We've been working through the book of Exodus. We just finished the section of laws and then the instructions God gave for the tabernacle, the literary blueprints. We focused in especially on the purpose of the tabernacle, which is to make God's presence visible to Israel, his dwelling with them visible. What I'd like to do for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas is talk about that theme of God dwelling with men and God's intention and plan to do that and how that worked out because we know that ultimately the tabernacle, the temple, both of those things failed. They were both destroyed. But I'd like to zero in on those things and see how relentlessly God pursues his aim, which is to restore the fallen sons of Adam to glory and to his own presence. So 1 Samuel 3. Samuel has been placed into the ministry of the tabernacle as a boy. He has been called by the Lord into prophetic ministry. 1 Samuel 3 verse 19. Samuel grew 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 was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord." This is God's word. Let's pray. Our God, we delight in this reality that you have taken up residence among us. That you dwell not merely in our midst, but in our own hearts. That we are the temple of the living God. But our father, we often feel that the glory has departed. whether because of our own sin or the sin of others against us, we feel profaned. Father, remind us today that your mercy is inexorable in the lives of your people, that your intention is deliberate and certain in the lives of your people. that your plan will not fail, that your desire to have us with you where you are, that we may always see you face to face, that your plan will certainly be fulfilled. Remind us of this, Lord, for we need reminding. In Jesus' name, amen. As we saw last week, Israel's claim to fame among the nations of the world was the glory of God in their midst. As they went from place to place in the wilderness, the glory of God went with them. Remarkable, absolutely remarkable. A cloud in the day, a pillar of fire in the night. And as they built the tabernacle, the cloud ultimately came to rest on the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle was first finished, the cloud even filled the tabernacle, so much so that, as we read in Exodus chapter 40, the priests could not even go into the tabernacle to minister. Not even Moses, who had been in the presence of God on the mountain, could go into the tabernacle to minister. Such was the glory of God in the midst of Israel. That was their claim to fame. This tabernacle was built so that God could meet with the people of Israel. He was their glory. And so when David writes in Psalm 3, 3, you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. In Jeremiah 2, verse 11, the Lord could say to Israel, has a nation changed its God even though they are not gods? My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Israel's glory is the glory of God in their midst. God has always intended to dwell among mankind and the tabernacle was the first step toward that great end, the first time God's presence is visibly manifested on earth permanently. Prior to this, he's come and gone. He comes down in the flood, he goes back up again. He comes down in the tower of Babel, and he goes back up again. He comes down to judge Sodom, and then he goes back up again. He comes down to meet Abraham and call him out, and he goes back up again. Comes down to meet him again, goes back up. Comes down to meet him again, goes back up. And then he's up in heaven for 200 years. Once he comes down to wrestle with Jacob, then he goes back up again. Until he comes down to smash the kingdom of Egypt. And when he tells Pharaoh in Exodus chapter nine, I am gonna show you that the Lord has come down, the Lord of all the earth has come down and is in the land of Egypt. He stays. He stays in Egypt, smashing their gods, destroying the kingdom. He brings his people out and he stays with them so that when they get to the Red Sea, the Lord's glory parts the sea and they cross on dry ground. When they come to the place where they meet the Amalekites, the Lord's glory is above their camp. The Lord stays with them. Israel is the nation with whom God dwells. That's stunning. That is Israel's glory and the tabernacle is the beachhead in God's reconquest of the earth and the kingdom of the dragon. The serpent had come into the garden, he had defiled the garden, he had defiled God's creation, now everybody's in exile. God comes down into the tabernacle as a beachhead in his reconquest of creation. The tabernacle stays with Israel through their wanderings. They set it up. God goes up in the cloud. They take it down. They march to wherever God is going to have them camp next. Cloud comes down. They set up the tabernacle again. And they take it down and do it all over again. Ultimately, Israel moves into the promised land, conquers it, and they settle the tabernacle at the city of Shiloh. City used loosely there in ancient terms. We wouldn't call it a city today, we'd call it a village or a town. Shiloh is about right at the middle of the Israelite inheritance. And the tabernacle stays there for almost 400 years, through the whole period of the judges. Almost 400 years it rests in Shiloh. And the worship of God, the name of God, dwells in the city called peace. But of course, you know the story, the worship at the tabernacle becomes corrupted. The priests are evil, 1 Samuel 2. The sons of Eli, verse 12, were worthless men. That expression in Hebrew, literally, they were sons of Belial, sons of the devil. They did not know the Lord. They would steal sacrifices from people, sacrifices intended for God. They would take them for themselves. They would threaten worshipers with violence if they did not give them the favored part of the meat that they wanted. They would sleep with the women ministering in the tent. Their sin was very great. The priests had become more interested in what they could get out of the people than with how they could represent the people to God and God to the people. Now there were many faithful worshipers who came to Shiloh, Elkanah, for example, and his wife, but the priests were wicked men and they would be judged for their sins. Eli, the high priest, himself tolerates their wickedness. He confronts them for it. How long will you continue doing this? Don't you know that God is bigger and God is judge? But they don't listen. Eli does not put them out of the ministry. He continues to let them do what they do and then fattens himself off of their plunder. So God raises up Samuel. He raises up Samuel in Shiloh. And for a brief period at the end of the judges the city experiences revival of sorts, renewal, the reappearance of God's wisdom and glory. That statement at the end of chapter three, the Lord appeared again at Shiloh. It's very interesting. At the beginning of the book of Judges, you'll remember, the tribes failed to conquer the whole land. They did not drive out all of their enemies. So the Lord appeared in glory at Bochim and rebuked the assembled tribes, Judges chapter two. He says, now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, I brought you up from Egypt and I brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars, but you have not obeyed my voice. What is this that you have done? So now I say I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides and their gods shall be a snare to you." And so they called that place Bochim, weepers, because there they wept before the Lord. After that appearance of God to the whole nation, that appearance at the beginning of Judges to the whole nation, after that only two people see God in the book of Judges. Samson's mother and Gideon. That's it. For 400 years. And there's only two prophets mentioned as well. There's one who we don't even know his name. He's just a faithful man who comes to the nation and says, God isn't going to deliver you from your enemies because you have not given up false worship. And of course there's Deborah as well. Two appearances of God, two prophets. in 400 years. Most of the deliverances and judges are God providentially raising up a man, not necessarily speaking to him or being seen by him, not until Samuel. Samuel comes to the tabernacle, is placed into prophetic ministry by God, and the glory of Israel returns. God is again dwelling at Shiloh in the tabernacle. He is again seen, his glory is again seen through Samuel's ministry. When Samuel speaks, God speaks. The Lord let none of his words fall to the ground so that everybody from Dan to Beersheba knew there's a prophet in Israel. And that prophet speaks for the God who dwells in Israel. Now God is about to judge Israel. He's about to hand them over to their enemies. They have tested and rebelled against him. They've not obeyed his commands. They've been treacherous to him. They've twisted like a warped bow so that when God tries to shoot an arrow with them, the arrow just goes off in the wrong direction. They've provoked him to anger with their high places. They've moved him to jealousy with their idols. So what does God do? Before judgment, he raises up a prophet. to warn of the judgment and to guide the nation through the dark times that are coming because dark times are coming for the nation of Israel. God was patient with them. For 400 years, he tolerated their continual cycles of rebellion and repentance and rebellion and repentance and rebellion and repentance and rebellion and repentance. He waits. He hands them over to their enemies. They cry out for mercy. God delivers them. They fall back into sin. He hands them over to their enemies in discipline. They cry out for mercy. God delivers them over and over and over again. He has mercy on them. His presence continually rescuing them from their enemies. Dear friend, God is patient with you. He is patient with your failures, patient with your rebellions, patient with your sins. If you are a child of God, your sins are forgiven and your failures are overlooked by mercy. If you are not a child of God, you do not know what it means to be forgiven of your sins. God is patient with you too. But his patience will not last forever. If you persist in your sins, judgment will come. So don't wait any longer. Turn from your sins and cry out to God for forgiveness. He is rich in mercy. He is willing to forgive. And he's proven that. Christ has suffered God's judgment in your place and risen from the dead. God is willing to forgive you if you are willing to ask for it. He is patient. For nearly 400 years, he has dwelt with his people despite their continual failures. Israel strayed from the Lord from the very beginning of their national life. They have gotten the covenant from God in Exodus chapter 24. All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. 40 days later, they are bowing before a golden calf. From the very beginning of their national existence, they strayed from the Lord. They were never faithful to him. And now after 400 years his patience has run out. Because of the wickedness of the priest a terrible evil is going to come on the nation of Israel. Shiloh, the place where God has made his name to dwell, Deuteronomy 26 verse 2 uses that terminology. The place where God has caused his name to dwell is going to be forsaken by God. The Lord gives this prophecy to Samuel and he says, I want you to tell this to Eli. Chapter 3 verse 11, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. But notice what he says, I'm about to do a thing at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. Have you ever experienced that? You hear news and your whole body starts to tingle. That is a flood of adrenaline and cortisol. It's your body reacting to news by flooding your body with fight or flight chemicals so that you are ready either to fight the threat or to flee. God says, I'm gonna do something that's gonna make everybody who hears about it experience that. Even their ears are gonna tingle, down to their very toes, every part of their body is gonna be flooded with dread. Now, the death of a couple of priests would not do that. What does do that is what we read about in 1 Samuel chapter four. Israel goes into battle against the Philistines. The first day of that battle, chapter 4, verse 2, 4,000 Israelite soldiers die. So they all come back to the camp. Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Here's what we need to do. We need to bring the Ark of the Covenant. into the midst of our camp, God himself into our midst so that he dwells among us on the battlefield, then he will save us from the power of our enemies. So they send to Shiloh, Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim. They bring it into the camp and the whole camp explodes with shouts of confident joy. The Philistines are terrified. A god has come into the camp. Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? This is the same gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. You better fight hard, Philistines, or you're going to be slaves to the Israelites just as they were slaves to you. So they did, they fought hard. Israel fled, 30,000 soldiers of Israel fell, and the Ark of God was captured. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas died. Messenger from Benjamin runs back from the battle line to Shiloh, which is only about 20 miles away from the battlefield. He comes back to Shiloh the same day, That's a long run, that's a hard run but doable. Some of you have run a marathon in one day. Some of you are gluttons for punishment. Not that it's bad to run a marathon, it's a good thing. But this guy runs his marathon, comes back, meets Eli, sitting on his seat by the road, watching his heart trembling for the ark of God, and the man tells Eli what has happened. The battle is lost, your sons are dead, and the ark of God is captured, and Eli has a heart attack, falls over, breaks his neck, and dies. Why? Not because his sons were dead. Chapter 4, verse 18, as soon as he mentioned the Ark of God. Verse 19, his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, pregnant about to give birth, when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth. Her pains came upon her. The women attending her said to her, don't be afraid, you've born a son. She did not answer or pay attention. She named the child Ichabod. which means no glory, the last thing she was thinking about as she died, the glory has departed from Israel for the ark of God has been captured. The glory is gone. That would cause nationwide tingling. But it's not just the ark of God that's captured. The battlefield is only 20 miles away from Shiloh. The Philistines know that the ark came from Shiloh, which as far as Israel goes at this time is the closest thing Israel has to a capital city. The place where God dwells. In Jeremiah chapter seven. Jeremiah prophesied to the nation of Israel and he says, he says, guys, you think that because the temple of the Lord is in your midst, you're going to be okay. He says, what I want you to do is I want you to go to my place that was in Shiloh, Jeremiah 7 verse 12. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh where I made my name dwell at first and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. Psalm 78 speaks of the same event. Psalm 78 down to verse 59. When God heard of their rebellions, he was full of wrath and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind. He delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. You see, what happened is after the Philistines defeated Israel on the battlefield and captured the ark, they made that short little jaunt over to Shiloh and burned the tabernacle. That's what Psalm 78 is saying. The tabernacle that Moses had built, destroyed. This is more than a national tragedy, this is a national catastrophe. The tent where God dwelt among mankind, forsaken and handed over to the enemies of God, the Ark of God captured. The Ark, remember, is called God's footstool in different parts of the Bible. It's the representation on earth of God's throne in heaven. Not that that's literally what God's throne in heaven looks like, but it's the visible analogy to God's throne in heaven. So that the holy place is in some ways like a representation of God's throne room. The throne room of God traveling with Israel from place to place. And God has handed it over to be plundered by the Philistines. The priests are slaughtered, the ark is captured, his house is forsaken, Psalm 78, 60, his power in captivity. Catastrophe. Now, you know the story, what ultimately happened. The Philistines bring the Ark of the Covenant back and put it in the temple of their god, their god Dagon, and God humiliates Dagon, knocks him over off of his nice pedestal, he falls on the ground. The Philistines come back in and like, oh, that's not, that's weird, put him back up. Next day he's back again, and this time he's been amputated in five places, his head, his hands, and his trunk. They put him back together, put him back on his place, and then God judges the city with plagues So they move the city from Gath to Ekron, or from Ashdod to Ekron. Ekron gets stricken with plagues, so they move it from Ekron to Gath, and Gath is like, no, don't bring that here. So they send it back to Israel. The Ark of God returns to the nation of Israel, 1 Samuel chapter 7, the men of Kiriath-Jerim came and took up the Ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. Why? Because when the Ark of God first returned, a bunch of guys run up to it and open it up, they're like, what's inside? And they die. Ezra's like, oh, I guess God's not on our side. So they put the Ark in somebody's house. And it stays in that house for 70 years. The house of Abinadab on the hill. 70 years. You may be wondering, how do you know that? Well, verse two of chapter seven. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed, 20 years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Then Samuel comes and judges Israel. He judges Israel for a while and then Saul becomes king. Saul is king for 40 years. So that's 20 at least plus 40 at least, that's 60. And the ark of God is still there when David becomes king. 2 Samuel chapter six verse three speaks of this. After he has captured Jerusalem, which happened seven years into his reign, he brings the ark of God out of the house of Abinadab on the hill, 2 Samuel 6 verse 3. So a minimum of 70 years, you have 20 years plus 40 years plus seven-ish minimum. As long as the Ark of God is in the house, Israel can't do the Day of Atonement. For 70 years, there is no Day of Atonement. Where the priest brings the two goats and casts lots over them, one of them to be slaughtered and the other one to be the scapegoat. When he slaughters that goat, he takes the blood into the holy place and sprinkles it on the mercy seat, which is on the top of the ark. But if the tabernacle has no ark, then you can't do the day of atonement. You see, the ark is never actually reunited with the tabernacle. It's not until the temple is built that the ark and everything else come back together. Now the loss of the Ark and the Tabernacle, that apparently stimulated national renewal for a time. Samuel comes to Israel and says, guys, put away the foreign gods, serve God and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So they do, they serve the Lord only. God delivers them from the Philistines. Samuel has a long and fruitful ministry, but when Samuel became old, makes his sons judges, the people don't like them, and they demand a king. Now we're used to reading the king story as well, they rejected God from being king over them, which the Lord says, 1 Samuel 8, verse seven, obey the voice of the people and all that they say to you, they have not rejected you, they have rejected me from being king over them. But there's a deeper reality going on here. The ark of God is still in a house. And Israel is okay with that. They haven't brought these things back together in obedience to God to do as he commanded them to do. Their repentance has not gone far enough to say to God, we are willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild your dwelling among us so that all the nations might know that you are our God. When Israel demanded a king that they could see to lead them into battle, They were demonstrating that they were not seeking the return of God's visible presence among them. They were okay with a tabernacle ministry that was bifurcated, cut in two, as long as they could have a king that they could see. And you know how that king turned out. He became so attached to his throne, so committed to his kingship, that when God removed it from him, he fought back tooth and nail. Now apparently, when the Philistines burned Shiloh, the furniture and some of the tabernacle was saved, because in 1 Samuel 21, we find the tabernacle operating again, partially. There's the table of showbread there, and there's probably the altar of burnt incense, maybe the burnt offering altar as well, the big one. But it's set up at the city of Nob, and the priests are serving there, putting the bread before the Lord, but they can't do the Day of Atonement because they don't have the Ark of the Covenant. Saul finds out that David has fled through Nob on his way to the wilderness. Saul comes to Nob and demands of the priests, why have you served my enemy? And when they say, well, we didn't know he was your enemy, Saul says, kill them all. Just kill these priests. When God removed the throne from Saul, he fought back even to the point of devastating God's own house at Nob. by slaughtering the priests and everyone who lived in that city. 1 Samuel 22, verse 19, Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen ephod and Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword. Man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. For a king to stand against the king of kings, that's not a surprise. But for the first king of Israel, to invade and ravage the remnants of the throne room of the king of kings instead of allowing his throne to pass to another of God's choice is utterly heartbreaking. But it's not the last time that the leaders of Israel would destroy a high priest and tear down his temple. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. What sign do you give us that you do these works? And Jesus says, tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days. So for 70 years or more, Israel has no fully functioning tabernacle. God's house is ruined and partially rebuilt and then ruined again. The Ark of the Covenant is in storage. The high priest's effort the special vest that he wears with the Urim and the Thummim for figuring out what God wants you to do, and the 12 stones of remembrance on his chest that he carries the names of the tribes of Israel into the presence of God to bring them to remembrance before him. That effort is with David on the Lamb. It's not any longer with the tabernacle. And the priests serving the tabernacle are slaughtered by God's anointed king. So if there's no Ark of the Covenant, there's no Day of Atonement. If there's no functioning tabernacle, there's no daily offerings, no sin offerings, no burnt offerings, no peace offerings celebrating the fellowship between God and man. If there's no tabernacle, Israel is in exile. I find it very interesting that the tabernacle lasted roughly 400 years, which is roughly the same amount of time that the temple lasted. And that the period between the destruction of the tabernacle and the building of the temple was about 70 years, probably longer than that, but that's the minimum. And the period of the exile of Israel out of the land was also 70 years, though in some cases it was longer. I don't know if that means anything, I just find that very interesting. What is God doing when he permits his power to go into captivity? When he permits his dwelling to be burned to the ground? When God allows his visible presence among his people to be withdrawn, when he doesn't just allow it, but he activates it and pulls himself back, what is he doing? Sometimes it looks like the darkness is winning. You look at the world and it just seems like, man, The bad guys have the upper hand. They've got the courts, they've got the legislature, they've got the governors, they've got the kings, they've got the princes, they've got the electors, or whatever it is, whatever governmental situation you live in, it seems like death really will have the final word. That wars really will never cease. that desolations will endure not just to the ends of the earth but to the ends of the age. Sometimes it looks like the glory is gone forever and we are tempted to write over the doors of our churches. I've heard pastors say this before, we should just write over the doors of our churches, Ichabod. The glory is gone. And usually they're not saying that about good, healthy churches, but about apostate churches. My friends, appearances are deceiving. We look at the nations and they are raging. We look at the kings of the earth and they are setting themselves against the Lord and against his anointed. They are taking counsel together. They are saying, let us burst his bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Beloved, he who sits in the heavens laughs. He laughs at them. When the Philistines captured the Ark of God and brought it into their city of Ashdod to great rejoicing and celebration, our gods have conquered the God of Israel. Ours are bigger and stronger. God was laughing because he was about to demonstrate to them just how big and strong he is. He holds them in derision. He speaks to them in his wrath and terrifies them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. My friends, do not be afraid when the wicked wax and the righteous wane. The Lord will not long tolerate the affliction of his beloved children. The day did eventually come when Israel was able to celebrate and worship again in the presence of God. 2 Samuel 6 verse 17, the ark of the Lord was brought in and set in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when he had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. God is not abandoned his people. He made that clear to Israel through his deliverances of David and his establishment of David's kingdom. But even then, God's dwelling is still fractured. The ark of God is in Jerusalem, the tabernacle is now at Gibeon, or what's left of the tabernacle is at Gibeon. And there's two high priests, 2 Samuel 8 verse 17 tells us that. That's why David was so desperate to build the temple. The state of affairs is intolerable and it's gone on long enough. We need to build something permanent so that God's house will no longer be in disarray. The time has come to fix this and God says to David, no. Not because he does not desire to dwell with Israel, he surely does, but because his desire is to do something better. First Chronicles chapter 17, the Lord says to David, it is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day. Notice this, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. God is content to dwell with his people even to the point of being homeless in his own land. The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And he's okay with that because he's with his people. When David is on the run, God is on the run with him. When David is hiding in the caves of Adullam, God is with him in the caves of Adullam. He does not leave him or forsake him as he does not leave us. The Lord's design is to dwell with us permanently, his intention is to live among us forever and so his ravaged tent testifies not to glory departed nor to the victory of the kingdom of darkness but to a greater glory that is coming when the Son of God will pitch his tent among us by becoming flesh. The reason the Son of God came into the world is to destroy the works of the devil. The devil ravages some of God's works but he cannot destroy them. God in Christ will destroy everything Satan has built. That's what we're waiting for. And that will not come until God himself is dwelling with us and we see him as he is. My friends, Christ has come. And Christ is coming. Let's pray. Our Father, we are eager for the day when we see you as you are. When in the face of your son, we behold the light of the glory of God. A glory that will never be removed from us, a glory we will never fear has forsaken us. But our God, this glory is ours even now. You have placed it in us as in earthen vessels A treasure indescribable and hidden from the world. Lord, let it not be hidden from us. Let us see and delight in this glory that you have committed to us. Even when we feel that you are absent let us be confident, let us strengthen ourselves with this promise that you have never left and never will leave those who are called by your name. Our father give us this joy, give us this boldness for the sake of your son Jesus. In whose name we pray, amen.