1 Sam 4

As I read the next chapter of 1 Samuel, there was one word that jumped out at me!

The Philistines and the Israelites are ready to fight, they have been at war and have set up camp to battle once again. From what we can deduce from scripture, the Philistines are on top, they've been winning, they have the upper hand.

So the Israelites bought the ark of the covenant to their camp....

Upon this realisation the Philistines shook, there response in vs 8 was
Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods

The Philistines feared the presence and power of a higher being. They even recognised the power of Israels God. The word that fascinated me in verse 8 is 'gods'. They recognised something greater, but formed an understanding of God through their cultural and historical understanding. Within the Philistine culture there would not just be one god, but many gods! So when they heard of the God of Israels presence, they saw it through the spectacles of their traditions thinking that there were many gods!

Isn't that so true of the world we live in today. That people want to believe and have some acceptance of a higher being, but they look at God in the constraints of their own understanding. And let's not just limit that to non-Christians. Don't we as Christians also look at God through the limits of our own understanding. We form more that just one God, we each have mini gods that we give worth to.

During that battle, the Philistines won, but we have the gift of history that tells us Israels eventually succeeded, the GOD of Israel won.
We see God through our understanding, lets seek to have the faith of Eli which says God knows best, despite our understanding!