The Glory Departed From Israel. She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.” 1Sa 4:22
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY
INTRODUCTION
The authorship of these books cannot be determined, but there is abundant evidence that they embody the report of eye-witnesses. Some of the more prominent characters in the scenes described are name as writers in 1Ch_29:29.
The First Book of Samuel records the rise of a new political and spiritual order represented by the kings and the prophets. The establishment of the monarchy, with Saul as the first king, is an epochal event in the development of Israel’s national life.
Of no less importance is the appearance of the “schools of the prophets” under the leadership of Samuel. In these institutions we see the beginning of the movement which made Israel spiritually supreme among the nations.
I. FROM THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL TO THE ANOINTING OF SAUL, I Samuel 1-8
5. The Death of Eli and His Sons; the Capture of the Ark, 1Sa_4:1-22
9. What did the capture of the Ark mean to Israel?
THE DEATH OF ELI
Now a man [from the tribe] of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as signs of mourning over the disaster].
When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. When the man arrived to report [the news] in the city, everyone in the city cried out [to God, for help].
When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he asked, “What is the noise of this uproar?” And the man came hurriedly and told Eli.
Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; his eyes were dim so that he could not see.
The man said to Eli, “I have come from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” Eli said, “How did things go, my son?”
The messenger replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.”
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the [city] gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant, and was about to give birth; so when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her [labor] pains began.
And about the time of her death [following the sudden birth] the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay any attention.
And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has left Israel,” because the ark of God had been taken and because of [the deaths of] her father-in-law and her husband.
She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.”
THE GLORY DEPARTED FROM ISRAEL
Notwithstanding their high hopes, disaster again overtook the hosts of Israel. No symbols of God will help us, until we have put away our idols and laid our hearts bare before Him.
The bad news traveled quickly over the land and everywhere brought dismay. The death of Eli and that of his daughter-in-law were tragedies, but in each ease there was a beautiful touch of true devotion to God’s holy cause. The old man succumbed only when the messenger told of the capture of the Ark; while the mother could not be rallied from her death-swoon, even by the cry of her child, because, with the Ark, the glory of her people had passed away. May we not all pray to be equally devoted to the cause of Jesus Christ, so that its victories or its delays may touch us to the quick? The glory of our lives, as of the Church, should ever consist in the possession, not of the symbol, but of the real presence of our Lord, recognized, revered, loved and enshrined in our tenderest emotions.
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