Listen, Jack, here's the deal. God was getting frustrated with the Israelites because they weren't worshipping Him properly. So, He sent a message to them - and it was a doozy. He told them they needed to go and fight the Philistines. Now, the Philistines were no joke - they were literally the toughest fighters around. But the Israelites didn't listen. They were like, "C'mon man, we don't want to go fight them!" So, God sent a plague - and it was a bad one. The Israelites lost thousands of people in a single day. I'm not joking - it was that bad.

So, the Israelites decided to send out a message. They wanted to see if God would be on their side if they did fight the Philistines. So, they sent out a message and asked for a sign. And God answered. He sent them a sign - to the tabernacle - that if they returned the ark, then He would be with them.

So, the Israelites took the ark and set out to fight the Philistines. But they weren't prepared - they didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know how to fight a battle. See here, Jack, they were practically walking into a slaughter. And that's exactly what happened - the Philistines slaughtered them. They killed thirty thousand Israelites in one day. It was a massacre.

Now, the Israelites were so afraid that they took the ark and ran away. But they weren't safe - the Philistines followed them and killed the two sons of Eli, who was the priest. But they didn't get away with it - God punished them for taking the ark. He sent a plague and killed a lot of Philistines. So, the Philistines had to send the ark back.

My father used to say, "You have to respect the Lord's power." And that's exactly what happened here. The Israelites learned a lesson - if you don't worship God, then you'll pay the consequences. Not gonna happen - no malarkey! Excuse me, folks, but that's the way it is.