Welcome to a year in the Bible with daily grace.

From even to eternity, the Bible tells one big story of redemption.

My name is Tiffany, and I want to spend a few minutes with you every day walking through the Bible chronologically.

Together, we will explore God's sovereign plan as the events of Scripture unfold and point to Jesus.

Hey friends! Welcome back to our year in the Bible journey.

Tiffany here, and today we will cover 1 Samuel 4-7 as we encounter Israel's greatest enemy at the time, the Philistines.

We will see God's power on display through the ark of the covenant as it travels to many of the Philistines cities and then back among the Israelites.

God will show his kingship over all nations, not just the Israelites.

Chapter 4 describes the events of the Israelites' battle with the Philistines.

Perhaps the most important thing for us to notice is each nation's response to the ark of the covenant.

When Israel was first defeated by the Philistines, they decided to have the ark of the covenant brought to the battlefield.

And while that might seem like a good idea on a surface level, the Israelites treated the ark like a good luck charm and not the very presence of God.

Their hearts weren't sold out to the Lord, they simply wanted victory.

But in contrast to the Israelites' response to the ark entering the camp, the Philistines were in awe and they feared the presence of the Israelites' God.

They had heard of God's greatness and how he plagued the Egyptians.

Their fear of the Lord was correct, but in the end their decision to battle him would lead to grave consequences.

Even though the ark was among the Israelites' camp, the Lord was not with them in battle and the Israelites were slaughtered severely and the ark was captured by the Philistines.

This wasn't by chance, we will see how God used this to show his might over the Philistine God and how it made the Israelites truly long for the Lord.

But first, news of the lost battle, the capture of the ark, and the deaths of Hoffney and Phineas reach Eli.

Eli knew the demise of his sons was imminent, he had been told by God through Samuel.

Eli's shock, grief, and sudden death comes from the news that the ark of the covenant had been captured.

Eli had many failures in his life, but even he knew this was the greatest failure.

...