20240304

lost blessing

1 Samuel 4:12-22 (JDV)

1 Samuel 4:12 That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head.
1 Samuel 4:13 When he arrived, notice, Eli was there sitting on his chair beside the road watching, because he worried about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.
1 Samuel 4:14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli.
1 Samuel 4:15 At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move because he couldn’t see.
1 Samuel 4:16 The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
1 Samuel 4:17 The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
1 Samuel 4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke, and he died. Eli had judged Israel for forty years.
1 Samuel 4:19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.
1 Samuel 4:20 As she was dying, the women caring for her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention.
1 Samuel 4:21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and husband.
1 Samuel 4:22 “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”

lost blessing

The presence of God was a precious thing for Israel, but it departed, along with the glory. The presence of God will not stay where rebellion and wickedness is tolerated — in a nation, or in a church. We should all be warned and take care to follow the God whose presence we enjoy. If we do not, a day such as depicted in this passage awaits us.