Shiloh

Just been reading 1 Samuel 1:3 kjv “And this man (kjv refers to Elkanah as this man) went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh”

I was struck by this place Shiloh and why it was important for ‘this man’ to go up yearly to Shiloh. Shiloh was an important place because this is the place that became the first permanent site of the tabernacle in the promised land of Canaan.

Canaan was the place where God had said “I will bring you unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an heritage: I am the Lord” Exodus 6:8 kjv.

Shiloh, the permanent place of the tabernacle, represents hope for Israel and for all of us because it demonstrates God’s faithfulness to His word, a word that said “I will bring you out.” God brought Israel, His chosen people (the people who He would use to demonstrate and work out His plan of salvation here on earth for all mankind) out from a place of bondage and slavery into a place of freedom. The tabernacle in the wilderness found it’s first permanent resting place at Shiloh.

The tabernacle in the wilderness was the place where God dwelt in the midst of His people, it was always visible, serving the people with a reminder that God was central and that He was faithful and had faithfully brought them out of slavery into freedom. Now that the tabernacle was in the fixed place of Shiloh the people had to choose to make the effort to go and worship and sacrifice to the living God, in essence God had become detached and removed from them. There is a truth here for us in that we all need to make the effort to draw near to God so that we can remind ourselves of His goodness and His faithfulness.

The psalmist says in Psalms 73:28 kjv “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.“

It is good for all of us to draw near to God, it is good for us to put our trust in the Lord so that we can declare the wonderful works He does. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we have “Christ in us the hope of glory” But we still need to draw near to Him if we are ever going to be able to declare His wonderful works.

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