The Ark Is Captured and Israel Defeated

The Israelites had developed a superstitious approach to God, the tabernacle and the ark. They thought that if they brought the ark into battle, they would automatically have God's help. Instead, God teaches them a lesson about thinking this way. The ark is captured, the Israelites are defeated and the sons of Eli are killed as God had prophesied would happen.

When the bad news reaches Shiloh, it results in the deaths of Eli and Phinehas' wife during her grief-induced labor. Although it is not stated here, apparently in connection with the death of the priests and the removal of the ark, Shiloh was abandoned soon after as the place of worship, as we read in Psalm 78:56-69. Samuel, who takes over all duties as judge, is never mentioned in connection with Shiloh again, taking up residence instead in the hometown of his family at Ramah (compare 1 Samuel 7:17).

Shiloh's abandonment is further described in Jeremiah 7:12-15 and 26:4-9, where God uses its example to demonstrate that the presence of the temple and the ark was no guarantee of protection from Israel's enemies. The Israelites would receive God's protection only insofar as their ways pleased Him.