The weight of God’s presence. God’s presence is very real. God’s enemies cannot stand in His presence. The Philistines were desperate to send the ark back to the land of Israel to avert the plague. Together with the ark, they offered to God a guilt offering. In the Bible, people offered a guilt offering to…

God is sovereign over the spiritual realm. Ashdod was one of the 5 cities of the Philistines to the west of Israel. The hebrew name for Ashdod (אַשְׁדּֽוֹדָה) means fortress and it was the spiritual stronghold of the cult of Dagon. In the Ancient Near East, Dagon was worshipped as the god of agriculture and…

The key to victory. The Israelites concluded that they were defeated in the first battle because the Lord was not with them. They decided to bring the ark of the covenant to secure their victory. The ark was a powerful symbol of the presence of God (Exodus 40:21). In Joshua 6, the walls of Jericho…

Do you sometimes struggle to hear God? v1 God desires to speak to us, but we cannot hear Him if our hearts are hardened. The lack of communication from God indicated that Israel was experiencing a time of spiritual decline. The people could not hear God because they were disconnected from Him. Even though the…

The power of prayer. The atmosphere of prayer in the home has a deep impact on children. Because Hannah is a prayerful women, Samuel grows up knowing the Lord. If you want your children to grow in the Lord, learn to pray. Here are 8 things we can learn from Hannah’s prayer. Read 1 Samuel…