HEBREW WORD STUDY – UNTO US – ELINU אלינו  Aleph Lamed Yod Nun Vav

I Samuel 4:3: “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?  Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”

Some translations will render this verse: “Why has the Lord let the Philistines defeat us.”  However, this is more properly rendered: “Why did God defeat us? Then the cohortative is used: “Let us bring the ark.”  Israel was shocked that God had let them down. I am surprised too, the only sin that is mentioned is with the house of Eli the High Priest and his corrupt sons running the worship services.  Is God punishing the whole nation because of the sins of the religious leadership? Perhaps the next move by Israel is a clue as to the heart of the nation which shows they were no better than their leadership.

The elders said: “Let us take the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us.”  The word for take or fetch is lakach which is taking possession or control of something. It is the word used when a man makes deal with father to marry his daughter and when the deal is struck he runs outside and declares to all the people in his village: “I have taken myself a bride.” This is done even before the bride has consented to the arrangement. This passage then adds the word: elinu which is rendered “unto us.” Using this form suggest a play on word elohinu which means our god. This play on words is giving us insight into the hearts of these religious leaders. They were saying they would seize control of the ark of the covenant without consulting God and use the ark to be a god for them. Then they said “that it might save us.” Some translations will say that “he might save us.” Indeed, there is no neuter pronoun in Hebrew, but the syntax does suggest that the elders are saying “it” the ark of the covenant and not “He” or God will save us.   

Think about it. The most sacred object in the land, the object where the very presence of God once rested but had departed became an idol, a god. They knew enough to know that the ark could only be carried by a priest. It seems the corrupt sons of Eli were more than willing to carry out the task and carry the ark into battle. This would be all the more glory for them, particularly if Israel prevailed in battle. However, they were so blinded by their ambition that they did not even realize that God’s presence was not manifesting Himself through the ark. The midrash suggests that the nation of Israel was to consult the ark. Apparently, they did not need to carry the ark into battle, only consult with God through it as to what to do in battle. But the elders only knew that the ark was a sacred item to God and if they actually took it into battle, wow, no telling what victories they would have. 

Many years ago when Nixon was running for President against a socialist candidate Christians rallied around Nixon. They listened to all sorts of rumors about Nixon being a Christian and praying in the White House. Many Christian evangelical leaders had the ear of the President and enjoy great prestige as a result. I remember I was a student at Moody Bible Institute at the time and one of our great Christian leaders spoke in our chapel and used the words; “Yes, as I was telling President Nixon the other day…”  Oh how everyone was so impressed, truly there is a man of God at the helm of our nation.

​I was a Jewish Studies major (one of five students in the major at that time) and one thing I knew was that Nixon and his cabinet were no friends of Israel and could not be counted upon to come to the aid of Israel should another war break out. Particularly with Nixon involved in winding down the Viet Nam War I what was coming out of Watergate. Israel was not a factor for him.  I was also following Watergate and was convinced Nixon was a crook.  When other students at Moody found out I was not supporting Nixon, the were appalled and even started to question my salvation, wondering how I could be a Christian and not support Nixon. Nixon won thanks to the evangelical vote and The Yom Kippur War broke out in his inaugural year in October of 1973 and things started to look bad for Israel. So bad in fact that General Dayan told Israel’s Prime Minster Golda Meir “this is the end of the third temple.” That was the code word for Israel’s nuclear weapons. 

In the meantime, unaware of the Samson option of using nuclear weapons, Nixon met with his security council who all opposed supporting Israel with Nixon in total agreement. Only Kissinger (who is Jewish) spoke in favor of sending aid. The morning of October 9, Golda Meir secretly authorized the assembly of thirteen 20 kiloton tactical nuclear weapons. When Kissinger learned of this he went to President Nixon who did not know Israel was about to go nuclear but something spiritual happened that previous night and he informed Kissenger that he had already authorized, against the advice of his entire council, Operation Nickel Grass that sent supplies to Israel not only assuring Israel of victory, but also preventing all out nuclear war which would have escalated to the super powers of Russia and the United States. God truly intervened. 

 I am not sure how history recorded this but I do remember reading numerous articles at that time of how this was so out of character with Nixon. History, however, doesn’t record just how close to nuclear war we came. 

I think how Christians staked so much political capital in this last election and feeling a sense of doom over the outcome. Perhaps I am wrong, I hope not, but I get the feeling that a Christian president is like the ark of the covenant. You begin to worship the creature or object of the creature and not the creator. Christians have prayed like they have not prayed in many years. I cannot help but believe God heard those prayers, answered and will continue to answer those prayers no matter who sits in the Oval Office or in Congress. Ancient Israel put their faith in a box and faced defeat.  If they put their faith in the power that was in the box the story would have been much different.

No matter what the outcome, our faith must be in the power behind this nation, not an empty box in Washington DC. Should another major crisis arise, God will intervene just as He did in 1973. He is in control and we need to pray for our leaders and leave the results in the hands of the one who places kings on their thrones.

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