So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 1Samuel 4:10-11

The mighty shout in the camp of Israel that resulted from the presence of the ark caused fear and panic in the camp of the Philistines. They started recounting all the mighty acts of God in Egypt, which they attributed to the ark of the covenant. The Philistines were exhorted by their leaders to fight for their lives; otherwise they would run the risk of being servants to Israel forever. 

While the people of Israel were jubilant over the presence of the ark of the covenant in their midst, the Philistines were preparing for battle with motivational speeches. The people of Israel had substituted the symbol for the substance. The presence of God becomes real to people who are determined to seek the Lord with their whole heart. Those who seek, find and to those who care to knock, the door is opened to them. 

The people of God had failed to seek the counsel of God on what they should do. They were relying on past experience and what would be considered as human logic. Unfortunately for the people of Israel, those approaches had never been the way of the Lord. So the people were banking their hopes on a false premise. As a result, they found to their surprise that they were alone on the battlefield without the much-needed presence of the Lord.

The Philistines had a reason to fight with all their strength -- to prevent them from becoming servants of the Israelites, and that was what they did. The Israelites were defeated soundly and to make matters worse, the ark of the Lord was captured. There could not have been anything more humiliating for the house of Israel. The symbol of nationhood and the presence of God in their midst had now fallen into the hands of their enemies.

The priests who accompanied the ark were of no assistance in the battle. The two young priests (Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas) had compromised their role as priests and therefore were of no help to the fighting men. Both priests were killed in the battle with the Philistines.

God is Spirit and those who worship him must do so in Spirit and truth.

Blessings,

Brother Seth