The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 97: Samuel's Prophecy (2024)

Episode Date: April 6, 2024

Fr. Mike zeroes in on Samuel's dramatic prophecy and the tragic moment when the Philistines capture of the Ark of God. We learn that God is mighty and holds his people to a high standard. Today we read 1 Samuel 3-5 and Psalm 150. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is Day 97. We're so close to day 100. You guys, this is phenomenal. If this is your day 97, well done. Congratulations. We're getting closer

and closer, closer and closer, not only to the Messianic checkpoint in like three days from now, but also closer and closer to day 100, which is four days from now. As I said, this day 97, we're reading from 1 Samuel chapters 3, 4, and 5. We're also praying Psalm 150, which is the last psalm in the book of Psalms. We're going to take a little break from the psalms after tomorrow and go to the Proverbs once again, and then we'll return back to the psalms because those prayers are so, so important. We are praying and reading from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. That's the version of the Bible translation that we're using right now.

I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. Also, you're invited to subscribe to this podcast and your podcast app to receive daily episodes. If you've not yet done that after 96 days, I don't know what to tell you. I don't think there's anything I can do to convince you. You've probably already done it. And you're like, father, why do you have to say this every single time? And the answer is because I was told to. And that is the answer. Once again, we are reading today on day 97 from first Samuel chapters three, four, and five and praying Psalm 150. The first book of Samuel chapter three, the Lord calls Samuel. Now the boy Samuel was ministering

to the Lord under Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no frequent vision. At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down within the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, Samuel, Samuel. And he said, Here I am, and ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call, lie down again. So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call, my son.

Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again a third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down. And if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood forth, calling as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said, Speak, for your servant hears.

Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have commanded concerning his house from beginning to end, and I tell him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity which 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 expiated by sacrifice or offering forever. Samuel lay until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli, but Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, here I am. And Eli said, what was it that

he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you. And more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you. So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him. Samuel's prophecy and the capture of the ark of God. And 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. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. Chapter 4. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the Lord put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.

Lord, hear from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who was enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean? And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, A God has come into the camp. And they said, Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of

these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage, and acquit yourselves like men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Acquit yourselves like men, and fight. acquit yourselves like men and fight. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated. And they fled every man to his home, and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. The Death of Eli A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with earth upon his head. When he arrived, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the road

watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, What is this uproar? Then the man hastened and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the man said to Eli, I am he who has come from the battle. I fled from the battle today. And he said, How did it go, my son? He who brought the tidings answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people.

Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured. Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God has been captured. When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, about to give birth. And when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, about to give birth. And when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death, the women attending her said to her, Fear not, for you have born a son.

But she did not answer or give heed. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God had been captured, and because her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured. Chapter 5. The Philistines and the Ark. When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they carried it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen

face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors both Ashdod and its territory.

And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon, our God. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? They answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath. So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out upon them.

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to slay us and our people. They sent, therefore, and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place, that it may not slay us and our people. For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

The men who did not die were stricken with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. Psalm 150, praise for God's surpassing greatness. Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty firmament. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his exceeding greatness. Praise him with trumpet sound. Praise him with lute and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and dance. Praise him with strings and pipe. Praise him with sounding cymbals. Praise him with loud crashing cymbals. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Lord God, we do give you praise, Father in heaven. We thank you so much for your word. We thank you for revealing yourself to us. We thank you for calling us to be part of this community that prays for each other,

that walks together, that listens to your word and lets it shape our minds and our hearts. We ask that you please help us to allow your word to do exactly that, to be a lens shaper for us, to be the heart shaper for us, that your word changes us, that not just we learn new things or hear new stories or are reminded of old stories,

but that your word actually makes a difference. We know, Lord God, that your word does not go forth from you and return to you empty, but it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it. And so we give you permission, whatever it is, Lord God. Whatever mission you have for your word in our lives today, we give you permission to accomplish your will. We give you permission in our lives.

Not that we need to, but you are so good that you are very humble and you will not force yourself, but you are patient with us. Thank you, God. Please receive our thanks and praise this day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Man, gosh, here we go. Today, we not only have the story of of at the end, right, of the ark of the Lord falling into the hands of the Philistines, which is just absolutely tragic, but there's a reason for that. We also have the beginning, this chapter three and chapter four, but chapter three, when God calls Samuel. Now, this is a, if you've read the Bible at all, or if you know the story of Samuel at all, one of the things you probably know is this exact call where Samuel is sleeping. Now, a couple of things to point out about this. One is it said in those days, the voice of the Lord was very rare that people rarely heard from God. But where is Samuel? Where is Samuel sleeping? He is sleeping before the ark

of the Lord. What's one of the things that reveals to us is that while others were going about their business, while others were just kind of hanging out wherever, were spending their lives wherever, Samuel had parked himself, had camped himself in the very presence of God, which is one of the things that we're doing here. When we're listening to the Bible in a year, one of the things we're doing is we're saying, okay, God, speak. Your servant's listening. What we're saying is we're placing ourselves under the waterfall of God's grace. We're placing ourselves under the waterfall of his word, and we're giving him permission to speak to us. But we're not just kind of going along our lives and saying, yeah, whenever, God, you can speak to me. We're putting ourselves in a position where we can hear him. This is what Samuel had done, even as a young man.

Here is Samuel in the presence of the Lord saying, this is where I'm going to park myself because if God is going to speak, I'm going to make it as easy for him to speak. If God is going to speak and I want to hear, I'm going to make it as easy for me to hear as possible. And that's one of the reasons why, again, we're doing this Bible in here, but also we're purifying some of the areas of our lives, right? So many of our lives have so much noise and we go wherever we want to go. And yet, if we eliminated some of the excess noise and placed ourselves where we knew we were called to be, then what would change?

What would transform? What would transform is we'd be able to hear the Lord better. And that's what Samuel had done. But also here's Eli who says, Samuel, the next time you hear the voice of God, say, speak, Lord, your servant hears. And the thing that he hears is a prophecy, a word of the word of God, basically saying everything that that anonymous prophet from yesterday had said, yesterday for us, had said, it's going to be true now. That the light is going to be taken from your family. The glory

is going to be taken from your family. Hophni and Phinehas will die in one day. And then you, Eli, will also die. And that's exactly what we see happen as the ark of God is captured. Why is the ark of God captured? Because the people of Israel, at least at this point, the people of Israel were treating it like a weapon. They were basically treating the ark of God captured? Because the people of Israel, at least at this point, the people of Israel were treating it like a weapon, basically treating the ark not as it truly is, which is the presence of God himself, but as a toy. Basically, one of the things that we typically are tempted to do when it comes to God is we're tempted to use God.

And God reveals to us that he's beyond use. He's beyond our manipulation. And yet here are the Israelites having been defeated by the Philistines saying, you know, the story was that when the ark of God went into battle, the Israelites always would win. Like, for example, the story of Jericho, walking around the city of Jericho and the walls came a tumbling down. Let's just do that. Basically willing to say, let's use God and

we'll win. And yet that is not how God is treated, right? God is not our toy. He's not our trinket. He's not our weapon. He's not our idol. God is God. And the people of Israel, at least in these people, in treating God like this, they lost the very Ark of the Covenant. Now, it's fascinating that then the Philistines placed the Ark of God, the Ark of the Covenant, in the same temple as their God. And one of the things that's revealed is that God doesn't need any defending because that night, the statue of Dagon falls on its face.

The next day, it falls on its face. The next day, it falls on his face again and the head's cut off, hands are cut off. And not only that, but there's a lot of uncomfortable situations going on around Ashdod and people are dying and boils and all these kinds of things. So they go from Ashdod and say, well, we'll send the Ark of the Covenant to Gath. And the same thing happens in Gath. And they go to Ekron, same thing happens in Ekron. And what it reveals to us is God can fight his own battles. It turns out that God is pretty tough and that God has the ability to fight his own battles. And yet, and yet the battle that God fights today is he fights for you and for me. The battle that God

fights today is he continues to say, come into my presence like Samuel did. Come into my presence and park yourself there. Come into my presence and don't run away. Come to my presence and abide there and let me fight for you. You know, the Lord God has revealed that he hears the cries of the poor. And so if your heart is wounded or hurt, if you are poor or have a poverty of spirit, know that the Lord fights for you. If you've been wounded by life, wounded by others, the Lord God fights for you. He reveals that he loves you. He also calls us to repentance. If Eli would have changed and corrected his sons,

Hophni and Phinehas, the story could have been different. And same is true for us. Same is true for the church. We have priests who have abused like Hophni and Phinehas. We have bishops who didn't pay attention like Eli. And what happens there is there are consequences to that. And so we need to, as a church, whether that's just the Catholic church or as Christians throughout the world, we need to be very, very aware of this, is that those who minister

among us are called to a high standard and those who oversee them are called to an even higher standard. And because of that, we need prayers. Every one of us needs prayers. My gosh, we're all so broken that we need God's grace. He wants to fight for us, but we have to also be willing to be fought for. He wants to fight for us, but we have to be willing to be won and to let the Lord have victory over us.

And so that's why we pray for each other. And that's why I'm praying for you. Please, that's why you should be praying for me because we need each other. And those prayers are making a difference. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.