April 10: 1 Samuel 4:12 – 1 Samuel 8:22

The Death of Eli – 1 Samuel 4

• A man from the tribe of Benjamin runs from the battle and into Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. He tells the city of the news and a great cry comes from the people. When Eli asks what has happened, the man tells him that Israel has fled from the Philistines, his sons have been killed, and the ark has been captured. Eli, who is ninety-eight years old and mostly blind, falls over backward in his chair when he hears about the ark, breaking his neck, and dies. He had judged Israel for forty years.
• When the wife of Phinehas, who was about to give birth, hears that the ark has been taken and that her husband and father-in-law are dead. She goes into labor and dies shortly after hearing that she has birthed a son, whom she names Ichabod, which means "the glory has departed from Israel."

The Philistines and the Ark – 1 Samuel 5

• The Philistines bring the ark from Ebenezer to Ashdod, into the temple of Dagon (their god). The next morning the people find Dagon face down in front of the ark. The people put him back in his place, but the next morning they again find him face down in front of the ark. This time, his head and his hands were cut off and lying on the threshold of the temple.
• The Lord afflicts the people of Ashdod with tumors (?bubonic plague, since mice are mentioned in the next chapter). They take the ark to Gath, but the people there are afflicted with tumors, and then when they go on to Ekron, they people there insist that the ark be taken away. The people there are afflicted with a deathly panic, and those who don't die from that are struck with tumors.

The Ark Returned to Israel – 1 Samuel 6

• The Philistines have had the ark for seven months, and they consult their priests about what to do with the ark. The priests tell them to return it with a guilt offering (five golden tumors and five golden mice), then prepare a cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked and place the ark on it. They determine that if the cart goes to the land of the Israelites, it is God's hand that struck them.
• The cows take the ark to Beth-shemesh, and the Israelites working in the fields there rejoice when they see the ark. The cart and cows stop in the field of Joshua. The Israelites split up the wood of the cart and offer the cows as a burnt offering. The Levites come and get the ark and the box of golden items and place them on a large stone. When the five lords of the Philistines who had followed the ark see this, they return to Ekron. (The five golden tumors and mice were offered one for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.)
• Some of the Israelites are gloating at the ark, and God strikes down seventy men. The local people send work to Kiriath-jearim that the ark has been returned. It is brought to the house of Abinidab, and his son Eleazar s given charge over it. For twenty years, Israel laments after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel – 1 Samuel 7

• Samuel tells Israel that if they are returning to the Lord in their hearts, they must put away their foreign gods and serve Him only. He gathers Israel at Mizpah and prays for them. The Philistine hears about the gathering and go to Mizpah, which terrifies Israel. Samuel takes a nursing lamb and offers it as a sacrifice of atonement, then cries out to the Lord. The Lord sends a mighty sound which confuses the Philistines, and Israel defeats them. 
• The Philistines do not enter Israel's territory again, and the hand of the Lord is against them during the days of Samuel. The cities taken from the Israelites are returned to them. There is peace between the Israelites and the Amorites, and Samuel judges Israel for all his days.

Israel Demands a King – 1 Samuel 8

• When Samuel is old, he makes his sons (Joel and Abijah) judges over Israel. They do not walk in the ways of the Lord, taking bribes and perverting justice. The elders come to Samuel in Ramah and tell him to appoint a king to judge them, like all the other nations do. Samuel is displeased by this, but when he prays, God tells him to obey them, for they have not rejected Samuel but God from being King over them. God instructs him to warn them and tell them the ways of the king who will reign over them. 

Samuel's Warning Against Kings

• Samuel informs Israel that a king will take their sons and appoint them to his chariots and horsemen, he will make them plow his ground and reap his harvest, he will make their daughters perfumers and cooks and bakers, and he will take their fields and vineyards and give them to his servants. He will also take a tenth of their grain and vineyards give it to his servants, and will take their best servants, donkeys, and flocks, making them slaves. The people will cry out to God, but He will not answer them.

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

• The people refuse to listen to Samuel, insisting they be given a king. Samuel tells God, and He tells Samuel to give them a king.