The Darkness Before the Dawn

We all have a worst fear, a greatest nightmare. For Israel, their worst nightmare was the absence of God’s presence. 1 Samuel 4 is a low point in the history of Israel, a time of incomprehensible darkness: 34,000 Israelite soldiers dead. The sound defeat by an arch enemy. Judgment fulfilled on the house of Eli. But all this devastation paled in comparison to the capture of the ark of the covenant, the very symbol of God’s presence and power among Israel.

Is He the living God to Israel or just a good luck charm? The loss of God’s personal presence was of unspeakable horror to Israel. Yet, we can see from the preceding chapters that Israel had a slow deterioration in reverence for God. This brings the loss of the ark into sharper focus. They didn’t treasure God or worship Him. Israel had forgotten God’s majesty and forgone relationship with Him in exchange for expedient results.

After their first defeat by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:2), they did not pray, repent, or seek God’s counsel. Instead they conferred among themselves and came up with a plan that seemed right to them (1 Samuel 4:3-4). Bring the ark! That’ll work! They had reduced the living God to an oversized good luck charm. They almost were saying by their actions, “We don’t want God; we just want His power and victory.” They had lost sense of the reality that they are God’s servants, created to honor, enjoy, and glorify Him. The unimaginable darkness that follows (1 Samuel 4:10-11, 18, 20-22) is God’s just and merciful judgment to wake Israel up from their spiritual slumber and bring them back to covenant faithfulness.

What can we learn? We are also prone to spiritual slumber, lulled to sleep by preoccupations and distractions. We easily forget of our identity, purpose, and who is reigning on the throne. It’s not us! We are not the chief executives of our little worlds; God is not our consultant to advance our comfort and success. He is the living God— holy and awesome, whose greatness is unending (Psalm 145). We would all do well to ask God to search our hearts (Psalm 139: 23-24) to see where we may have grown cold in our affection or where we desire expediency or self-sufficiency over relationship with Him. We may also ask God to train our hearts to trust Him when we face darkness or confusion of any kind.

How do we hope for the dawn when darkness strikes? In 1650, a British preacher and historian wrote, “…It is always darkest just before the day dawneth, so God useth to visit His servants with greatest afflictions when he intendeth their speedy advancement.”1 This is true for Israel. And it is true for us. God never abandons His people. He cannot forsake them. God is always at work. Israel was in a valley of the shadow of death, but even in 1 Samuel 4 there is the lingering hope that the story is not finished. His promises give hope (Lamentations 3:21-24). He strengthens us to keep going. There is promised movement through the dark valley (Psalm 23:4a). Moreover, He is always with us (Psalm 23:4b), even when we fear the darkness will swallow us whole. No matter what you are facing, He is with you. The darkness for those of us in Christ is never permanent or perpetual. The dawn will surely come.

1. Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah Sight of Palestine (1650), Book II, ch. XI.