Transcript of Radio Show #406:
Book 2nd Samuel, Part 10
Continuing on the series in the Old Testament,
now with the Book of 2nd Samuel, Part 10

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics of Bible studies and theology such as end times, prophecies, Old Testament, New Testament, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....

And remember this radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched is broadcast every Sunday at 7 am and 7 pm pacific time... and if you unfortunately miss it for whatever reason at any time, you can hear the program any time after that for 4 weeks...at my web site TimingRevelation.com

And I did mention to you before that with this series begins the start of the 9th year of these radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched.

So, we continue today, with the new series in the Old Testament, now in the

Book of 2nd Samuel, Part 10...

We will begin here right after this opening music, prayer and worship...

Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music

Narrative 1

Alright, so now just before I get into the message for today, for those who noticed last week, there were a couple of production mistakes in my radio program – my fault entirely, nothing to do with the station... I missed doing my last and final tweaking run before I uploaded to the station, and low and behold, there were a couple of segments that were not moved into their righteous spaces...

So it ended up with doubled up song introducttions at the front end... and an extra song duplicated at the end... so I do apologize for that... but I'm glad to be able to say that this is the first time I've done that in 9 yrs of weekly broadcasting of these radio shows... praise the Lord I give Him all the glory... and here's to another 9 more years of glorifying the Lord with our human flaws...

So last week we ended with 1 Samuel chapter 3 where the Lord revealed Himself to the young Samuel... and let's read the last verses where we left off:..

vs 19 to 21 of chapter 3...

v.19 So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.

21 Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. (and of course Shiloh is a place-- a city.)

And now today we get into chapter 4 where we will hear about a time when Israel was defeated by the Philistines and how they captured the ark, and then the death of Eli the bad priest.

So chapter 4, verses 1 and 2

and I'm reading from the New King James Bible.

v.1_”Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

v.2_”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.

chapter 4, verses 3 to 11...

Israel wondered why this would happen to them:

Let's read that:

v.3_”And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? 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.”

4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.

v.6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, 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.

7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before

My note:
Well that had happened before but not to this new group... as we will hear in a moment.

v.8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? (and they have here small g). These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

(Here it is, they remembered from way back in Egypt).

9 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!”

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand footsoldiers.

Wow – didn't expect that! Defeated again.

11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

And next we will read about the death of Eli the priest...

Music interlude...

Narrative # 2

Now, verses 12 to 18 of Chapter 4

Death of Eli

12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.

14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli.

15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.

16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”

And he said, “What happened, my son?”

17 So the messenger answered 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; and the ark of God has been captured.”

18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Ichabod (no glory)

19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and 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 herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her.

20 And about the time of her death (Jewish Bible says “as she was dying”) the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it.

21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

(As I'm reading this I'm thinking about the “Veggie Tales” Christian videos – remember those? They are very popular... I wonder if they have this story in them?) Interesting.

Verse 9_”So it was, after they had carried it away (the Ark of the Covenant that is), that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.

10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!”

11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And next chapter 6,

verses 1 to 6 of

The Philistines return the ark

1_”Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.”

3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

4 Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?”
They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.

5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravaged the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land.

And verse 6... Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart?

So this is all about wanting or trying to make peace with God; the trespass offering is about making reparations. The golden tumors and rats were to remind God of their plagues. You see, they knew about the God of Israel, they had heard about Him all throughout Israe'sl treks across the desert, and how Good God is to His people, etc... So now in their judgments situation, they want to appease Him for themselves...

Music Interlude

Narrative #3

and now still in chapter 6, v. 7 to 21

Sending away the trespass offering to the God of Israel

verse 7_”Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them.

8 Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go.

9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

11 And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors.

v.12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

(So now they knew that God had done that to them).

The meaning of the 5 golden tumors and rats

v.13 to 19

v. 13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

14 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.

15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord.

16 So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;

v.18 and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

(And of course “to this day” means at time of writing.)

v.19_”Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

And verse 20, and 21,
The Ark at Kirjath Jearim

20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it (it being the ark) go up from us?”

21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up with you.”

And next time we will read what will happen to the ark from here and how Israel will defeat the Phillistines...

Music Interlude

Closing Narrative…

Oh how wonderful to appreciate what Jesus has done in our lives to save us from sin by Grace... and how He continues to keep us by His on-going and unlimited Grace...

...that wonderful Grace that comes into our life the moment that we receive Him as for who He is -- the Saviour of mankind and of every individual like you and me personally...

... and this Jesus the Son of God who came to give His life for you and me is the same Jesus who's life we've been reading about in these series of programs right now, and who's death on the cross we will see as we go through the gospel story to where He gave Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God that took the sin of the world...

...but right now, the question is:

...do you know this Jesus that we're talking about? If you don't know the Lord...

...Just say this prayer, “Lord come into my heart, come into my life, I turn to you right now and ask for forgiveness, I repent of my sins and receive your work on the cross... I receive your gospel as it was delivered through your blood shed on the cross in my place, and I thank you, Amen...

The Blessing

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

/DMH

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Blessings,