1 Samuel 4:19-22 The Glory has Departed!

 ”Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was with child, due to be delivered; 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 herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. Then 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.”“ ‭‭

I Samuel‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When she heard the news: Poor wife of Phinehas! Pregnant, she heard of the death of her husband, her brother-in-law, her father-in-law, a slaughter among the soldiers of Israel, a lost battle, and the capture of the ark of the covenant all on one day. The anguish was too great, and labor pains came upon her.

b. Then she named the child Ichabod: For a Jewish woman, the birth of a son was wonderful news – but not for the wife of Phinehas on this day. To reflect her anguish and the national tragedy upon Israel she named the child Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel.”

i. But she did not answer, nor did she regard it: Her grief was so great, it overcame her maternal joy at the birth of her son. To her, the loss was total, and she even lost the desire to live.

c. The glory has departed: The glory of God, displayed by the ark of the covenant, had departed from Israel. The Philistines now held it.

i. The glory of God had departed in one sense. But the glory left when Israel stopped repenting and trusting God and started superstitiously trusting in the ark itself. “The glory of God had indeed departed, but not because the ark of God had been captured; the ark had been captured because the glory had already departed.” (Ellison)

ii. How could God allow something so terrible to happen? Firstly, He allowed it as a righteous judgment upon Israel as a nation and the family of Eli. They simply received what they deserved. Secondly, God allowed it as a correction to the nation, so they would not trust in the ark of God, instead of trusting in the God of the ark. Finally, though it seemed so terrible to man, was it all that terrible to God? At that moment, did God wring His hands in heaven, worried about how things would turn out? Worried about His reputation? Worried about the Philistines and their gods? Looking at it this way, the glory had not departed at all. Instead, God was just beginning to show His glory.

iii. Many circumstances that we regard as a calamity, God uses in a marvelous way to glorify Himself. Israel was right to be sad at the loss of life and the ark on that day. But they should have been confident, knowing God was well able to take care of Himself.

iv. “Thus as God was no loser by this event, so the Philistines were no gainers by it; and Israel, all things considered, received more good than hurt by it, as we shall see.” (Poole)

(Guzik)

There are times when we sin and the Lord brings discipline like a good Father, that we can feel like the glory has departed us!  But we need to consider that moment as a teaching lesson and ask ourselves, what is the Lord trying to teach me?

We have a sin nature so we can’t be sinless, but as Christian’s we are supposed to sin less.

So when we sin, repent, apologize and learn from the moment.

Blessings