1 Samuel 4 | Glory Has Departed From Israel

Summary

The story shifts from the temple to the battlefield. Israel is in a losing effort against their enemies and so they call out for the ark to be brought to the battlefield. The reason that they do this is that all through their great victories in the desert and entering Canaan, the ark had gone before them. The problem is that they misunderstood what that meant. They confused the sign with what it signified. Much like Samson and his long hair, Israel thought that the strength of God was contained in something temporal. The presence of the ark does nothing to help their cause, they lose the battle and the ark with it. Hophni and Phineas are killed in the battle to fulfill the judgment that God gave to Eli as well as the prophecy He gave Samuel. In a surprise twist, the news of their death causes Eli to fall off of a chair and break his neck. It also causes the wife of Phineas to go into labor and give birth to a child lovingly named Ichabod, which means: there is no glory. This story reveals to us how far Israel has fallen; how far from God they are. Just like the birth of a son in the midst of death, God is bringing life to Israel even as they are at their lowest.