1 Samuel 4:12-22 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 4:12-22. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 4:12-22 (NIV)
12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.
13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?” The man hurried over to Eli,
15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see.
16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains.
20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”–because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
On verses 12-22: An unnamed Benjamite returns from the Israelites’ battle against the Philistines with a report for the priest Eli. He reports that (1) the Philistines inflicted heavy losses on the Israelites, (2) his sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed in battle, and (3) the ark of God has been captured. It’s when Eli hears the news about the ark’s capture that Eli’s response is the most dramatic, and fatal: he falls back off his chair, breaks his neck and dies. Phinehas’ wife also hears the news and tragically passes while giving birth to her son. Before dying, she names her son Ichabod, which means “no glory”, saying that with the ark’s capture the glory has departed from Israel.
Why were Eli and Phinehas’ wife seemingly more disturbed and disheartened by the capture of the ark than the death of Phinehas and Hophni? Perhaps it’s because both Eli and his daughter-in-law knew that Phinehas and Hophni had acted wickedly and deserved to die, whereas the ark of God was a symbol of national significance and represented the presence of God. Both Eli and Eli’s daughter-in-law feared losing God’s presence even more than they feared losing their son, husband or brother-in-law.
Indeed, the worst thing we could ever lose is God’s presence. But praise God for Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection gave us permanent, eternal access to God’s presence, and whose His promise for us is that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He will remain faithful, even when we are faithless.
God, nothing compares to Your presence. Though I lose other people and things, thank You that I can never lose Your presence in my life. Thank You that no matter how difficult things can get, You are always with me, faithful to the end. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
