THE ARK TRAVELS FROM SHILOH TO PHILISTINE TERRITORY AND BETH SHEMESH

1 SAMUEL 1–7

When Israelite soldiers took the Ark of the Covenant from the tabernacle at Shiloh into battle as though it were a good luck charm, the Lord allowed it to be captured and taken to several Philistine cities. While the ark was in Philistine hands, it was moved throughout their territory until it was returned to the Israelites at Beth Shemesh (1 Sam. 4:1–6:13). And each event along the way happened where it did for a reason.

The first stop on the ark’s itinerary was Aphek. This city was important to Israelite and Philistine alike because it marked the border between the Philistine Plain and Israelite territory. From there the Philistine army could follow the road system into the hill country and attack all the way to Shiloh, the Israelite city that housed the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.1 At Aphek, Israel’s elders exposed their distorted thinking about the Lord. When the Philistines won the initial engagement at that location, the victory created a panic among the Israelites. They brought the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to their camp near Aphek, called Ebenezer, assuming its mere presence would “save us from the hand of our enemies” and force the Lord to provide the victory that eluded them before (1 Sam. 4:1–4).2 At Aphek, however, Israel experienced not victory but defeat, and the ark of God’s covenant was captured. As news of the tragedy reached Shiloh, Eli the priest died and his pregnant daughter-in-law gave birth—naming the child Ichabod, “the glory has departed from Israel” (1 Sam. 4:12–22).

Looking north from Aphek toward the plain of Ebenezer (1 Sam. 4:1).

The Philistines took the captured ark to the second stop, Ashdod, one of five large and imposing Philistine cities. They determined that their victory over Israel meant that Dagon was more powerful than the God of Jacob, and they placed the ark in Dagon’s temple (1 Sam. 5:1–2). The Lord used that place and presumption to demonstrate his sovereignty. Twice the image of Dagon collapsed, breaking into pieces in front of the ark, while the city’s residents suffered an affliction of tumors (1 Sam. 5:1–8). Consequently the Philistines moved the ark from Ashdod to Gath and from Gath to Ekron, and as they did, plague and suffering accompanied the ark as long as it remained among these enemies of God.

The hill of Shiloh. The tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant resided at Shiloh.

Tel Beth Shemesh (view looking east).

After seven months the Philistines had experienced enough. They placed the ark on a new cart pulled by cows that had recently calved. With God-given motive, the cows left their calves and pulled their treasure through the Sorek Valley straight to the third stop, the Israelite town of Beth Shemesh.

Beth Shemesh was no ordinary location because it was one of the Levitical cities set aside for Israel’s priests (Josh. 21:8, 16). If anyone knew how to handle the ark properly, it would surely be the people living there, for they were Kohathites, descendants of Aaron (Josh. 21:4). But just as a pious welcome and appropriate sacrifice seemed to end the lessons God had to teach (1 Sam. 6:13–16), we find another presumption. Some men of the town opened the Ark of the Covenant to look inside. While the Kohathite priests had the right to carry the ark, they were strictly forbidden “to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die” (Num. 4:20). The Lord’s ways had not changed, and his Word was holy; the men were struck down (1 Sam. 6:19).

This hilltop (Tell el-Ful) has been identified as Gibeah of Saul.

There are reasons the ark traveled from Shiloh to Philistine territory and on to Beth Shemesh. The Israelite army mistakenly believed that the presence of God would be with them because they had the ark at the battle at Aphek. The Philistines learned to fear God because their idols fell in front of the ark at the Philistine temple at Ashdod. And the population of Beth Shemesh, a Levitical city of Kohathite priests, was reminded that even the priests were bound by the Lord’s instructions.

The travels of the ark