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Samuel grew, and every day he
learnt more and more about God. He was God's child, and God kept
him, and made him wise in holy things. It is very pleasant when
children grow older, and better too: but some grow worse, and not
better. Eli's sons grew worse, more and more wicked every day.
God did not bless Israel now; they were wicked, and God was going to
punish them all. The
Philistines came to fight against Israel, and there was a great
battle. Who conquered? Not the Israelites, because God did not
fight for them, and without Him they had no power to conquer their
enemies. The Philistines gained the victory; and 4,000 of the
Israelites were killed. Then the people of Israel said, "Why
does God let the Philistines conquer us? We will bring the ark from
Shiloh, and take it to the camp; perhaps the ark will save us from our
enemies." So they sent to Shiloh, and took away the ark, and
brought it to the camp, and Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's two sons, came with
it. The army of the Israelites shouted very loud when they saw the
ark, for they thought they were now sure of the victory; but God could not
bless wicked priests and disobedient people; He turned away, and would not
help them. When the
Philistines saw the ark, they were frightened; for they thought it was the
Israelites' god, and idol-god, like Dagon, or Baal, and they told their
soldiers to be very brave, and to fight against them with all their
strength. Then the battle began; and the Israelites were beaten, and
ran to their tents; and 30,000 were killed. Where were Hophni and
Phinehas? Their dead bodies were found on the field; their souls
were gone to appear before God, and to be judged for all their sins!
And the holy ark was gone from Israel too; the Philistines took it away,
and carried it to their own country; God showed His sinful people that he
was not with them now. Eli
did not see the battle; he was too old to go so far; but he felt very
unhappy, because he knew how angry God was, and he thought much about his
wicked sons. He went to the gate of the city, and sat down
there. All the people of Shiloh were unhappy too, and they waited
trembling till the news came about the battle. At last, a man came
running very fast from the army; and when the people looked at him, they
saw that his clothes were rent, and dust was upon his head, and they knew
that he brought very sad news. When the man told them that the
battle was lost, all the people cried out; the cry was very loud, and very
bitter, and Eli heard it. He could not see, for his eyes were dim
with old age, he was ninety-eight years old, but he heard the noise, and
he called the messenger, and asked, "What is the noise I hear?
Why do the people cry?" The messenger said, "I have just
run from the army." Then Eli trembled very much, and asked,
"What is done there? tell me." The man said,
"The Israelites are conquered, Hophni and Phinehas are slain, and the
ark of God is taken away." Eli heard it all; but when the
messenger said that the ark was gone, he could bear no more; he did not
look up, nor speak again; he fell back off his seat, and his neck broke,
and he died. He could not bear so much sorrow. He had lost all
his comforts; God's anger was upon the country; and the ark and the
blessing of God were taken away.
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