1 Samuel 7:3

The strange gods and Ashtaroth. A phrase used to represent the various gods and goddesses that the Israelites served when they forsook the Lord. Ashtoreth (plural, Ashtaroth) was associated with the Phoenician, or Canaanite, Baals; for she was the chief female deity of the Canaanites (see Judges 2:13).

She was believed to represent the reproductive powers of nature. Her worship usually consisted of lewd orgies, fostered many times by leading women who became her devotees and were known as “sacred women,” or temple prostitutes. Figurines of Canaanite gods and goddesses were doubtless in many Israelite homes. Gradually the people of Israel had fallen under the sway and control of the people of the plain, for they had both business (1 Sam. 13:19) and social intercourse (Judges 14) with them. The fact that Israel left the ark in Kirjath-jearim for many years, and made no attempt to restore the temple service or to provide a proper resting place for the ark, shows how far they had departed from the Lord.

History records no deportation of Israelites to the coastal plains similar to the later deportations to Assyria and Babylon, yet Israel must have associated with the Philistines in almost every phase of living, serving them (1 Sam. 4:9), paying yearly tribute with various kinds of produce, and delighting themselves in the orgies of the high places so common throughout the land. The restoration of the ark in nowise signified that the Philistines relinquished their hold on the conquered Israelites.

Samuel now appears in the narrative for the first time since the battle at Aphek, in the role of a reformer attempting to turn a selfish and idolatrous people back to God. Only the imagination can picture what these years had meant to him as he wandered from place to place. Not only did he visit the districts adjoining Philistia; all Israel heard his pleadings, warnings, and prayers, until slowly but surely a sense of their sin and of the need of renewed trust in God took possession of the entire nation. He graphically portrayed their present condition in comparison with what God had planned for them, and promised deliverance from the Philistines if they would only become true Israelites — literally, “governed by God.” Samuel knew that if the people forsook their idolatry and refused to serve the Philistine gods, this would be interpreted as equivalent to rebellion against Philistine supremacy, and of course meant war. But Samuel had confidence in God’s promises and went forward to inspire a forlorn people with hope.