1 Samuel 4:1-22
1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
The Ark of God Captured
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2 Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. 3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. 6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.
16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”
And he said, “What happened, my son?”
17 So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
Ichabod
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ 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. 20 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. 21 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. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
The ark of God held not only His Law on tablets of stone, but was also was the center of the meeting place of the high priest at the mercy seat of sacrificial forgiveness and atonement. When this was captured by the ungodly due to Israel’s continuing unrepentant sins against Him and all written with the finger of God therein, their hope in Him vanished even more as they recognized that the glory had left them with it. All this happened shortly after the word of the LORD had started to come to the people through the prophet servant Samuel. Israel had set up camp to fight the Philistines at Ebenezer, a name later to be used for a stone of remembrance (1 Samuel 7:12) for victory as it meant “stone of help” when they would again look to honor God and rally against the Philistines with the cry, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” Victory in spiritual warfare is no different now than the physical battles then in that a life set in the direction of continuing repentance from sin (1 John 1:9) and drawing near to Him with the confession that help is found in the Lord alone is required. Our ark of these bodies whose hearts contain the Law written there in warm flesh (1 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 3:7, 8) by His nail-scarred hands and read to us by the indwelling Spirit of the Living God for us to worship at His mercy seat (Hebrews 9:12, 4:16, Ephesians 3:11-12) built on Christ Himself where our righteousness and atonement dwell. The Philistines heard and felt the presence of God in the shouts of victorious praise of God’s people when the ark entered the camp of Israel set against them for battle, and they feared facing the LORD there. In that time, Israel ran away from the battle and abandoned the ark as the desperate heathen charged them and drove them away, taking the ark for them as a supposed sour for their own power, not understanding it was the presence of God where that truly lay. When Eli heard the news of the capture of the ark and the death of his sons Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, he himself fell over and died with all hope lost to him. Following this, Eli’s daughter-in-law gave birth to Ichabod (inglorious), saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” when she heard that the Ark of the Covenant was lost. We have a more certain hope (Hebrews 6:19, 1 Peter 1:3, 13) in that the glory of God lives in us and we can falter in battle but never are defeated (Romans 8:37, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 11), for we have the victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57) and not in ourselves (2 Corinthians 1:9, 3:5, 4:7) for His glory to be seen among we the people of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of the Lord will not depart from these temples (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19) in this covenant of grace, but we can diminish others seeing it through us if we continue in unrepentant sin, just as the extreme example of Israel teaches us in their failure to honor their covenant of works. Grace abounds more to we now in Jesus Christ in our covenant of grace. May we therefore honor Him in obedience to the faith (Romans 1:5, 16:26-27) in the holiness of a life founded on the righteousness of Christ that glorifies Him.
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