Ichabod: Daily Thoughts from 1 Samuel (1 Samuel 4:12-22)

It is strange, is it not, that when we depart from true knowledge of God and yet expect Him to be on our side, we experience a great shock and likely disappointment with God. It should move us to question why He is not on our side. Failure to achieve the victory should force us to reflect on why God was not with us, but it sometimes moves us to decide that He is not there at all.

Israel gets a shock, the shock of their lives, when their expectation of victory by God’s blessing goes unfulfilled. Those with true spiritual insight know why it happened.

A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” (1 Samuel 4:12-22, ESV)

How do you interpret life’s events? Both Eli and the wife of Phinehas interpreted them through a theological lens.

Eli was concerned for the ark of God, so much so that his heart trembled. And even when the news of the death of his sons reached his ears, it was the news of the capture of the ark that most shook him. This was a greater cause of mourning to him than his own sons. This was the sign that his family’s position as high priest was coming to an end and that God’s people were not in God’s favor in this battle because they had misused the ark of the covenant and failed to discern their guilt before God as the cause of their defeat.

Phinehas’ wife mourned her husband, her father-in-law and the ark’s capture. And as she lay dying from childbirth she named her son “the glory has departed” because she saw God’s obvious sign of rejection of His people at this moment.

When God is ruling our lives there is glory. His joy, His love, His peace and His purpose reign in our lives and we experience His glory as the most coveted and desirous possession of our lives. But when we lose connection with our Savior we might as well be called Ichabod. Our own glory becomes our goal leading to self-indulgence, poor choices and a pursuit of joy and love that never results in actually attaining them. Interpret your life from a correct theological point of view, as Eli and Phineas’ wife did.

As a side note, it is fascinating to learn from this passage that Eli, the high priest, was also a judge in Israel. As judge his responsibility was to lead the people to Yahweh, and he had failed miserably in this. The glory of God left Israel. When our spiritual leaders fail to lead correctly, and we lose our proper understanding of what it means to follow Him, we too will see a departure of His glory from our community of faith.