Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap.

Today Israel goes to war with one of their most well-known enemies, the Philistines.

Israel loses and they attribute the lost to God.

But instead of consulting him to find out where they went wrong, they decide that what

they need is the arc of the covenant.

They think it'll act like a lucky charm for them, so they go to Shiloh to retrieve it.

Hothnian Phineas, Eli's wicked sons, help carry it off to battle.

Then Israel loses this battle too, along with 30,000 men.

Eli's back home at Shiloh when a messenger comes to tell him everything.

We lost the battle, your sons are dead, and the arc has been captured.

Eli knew his sons were going to die on the same day because this was prophesied to him

in what we read yesterday.

So while that's heartbreaking, it comes as no surprise.

However, having the arc stolen was an unexpected tragedy for the entire nation of Israel.

This was, by far, the most significant loss of all.

When Eli heard that bit of news, he fell over, broke his neck, and died.

Meanwhile, Eli's grandson Iqibat is about to be born.

His father has just died in battle and then his mother dies in childbirth.

Back at the battlefield, the Philistines believe they've defeated Yahweh since they've

captured what they think is him.

They've conflated God with the golden box that serves as his earthly throne.

They put the arc in their pagan temple alongside the God they worship, Deagon.

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