CALL TO CONFESSION

Matthew 6:5-8

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Holy God, we come before you now to confess to you our sin of hypocrisy. Many of us have loved to hear words come out of our mouths, words that often sound profoundly religious. We pray that your Spirit would awaken us to our great need for you in this, our sin of self-love.

We have viewed our conversations with others as opportunities to show off our knowledge. We love to be seen and heard by others. At other times, we remain sinfully silent when we should be using our words to build up your body and confess to others our weakness and need for you. We have sought the approval of others, and not of you, committing the greatest offenses against your holy law—we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not loved you.

Savior God, we thank you that you have not left us in the state of sin. We look to the cross, and thank you that Jesus never once uttered a prayer that was not perfect in motivation, intent, or content. His conversations were characterized by love for others, and love for you. Yet for the joy that was set before him, Jesus was crucified for our foul tongues, false words, love of self,  and our hypocrisy. Lord, thank you that in his sacrifice we have been set free from the sin that nailed him to the cross.

Father, we ask that you would continually turn our eyes upon the deep love you have displayed to us in Jesus, and then out of gratitude for the amazing grace we see there, our hearts and lives would be changed. Continue to conform us into the image of your Son, so that our relationship would be characterized by love and our prayers be characterized by honesty. In his great name we pray, Amen.

“Take a few moments to personally confess your sins to the Lord.”

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“Hear these words of comfort and assurance.” 

Hebrews 4:14-16

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

• If you’ve ever walked into any antique store, you're likely come across a shelf with a few displays of old, dusty, religious objects.
• They are artifacts of faith that are now reduced to decorations. 
• These artifacts testify that it is entirely possible for people to hold onto the symbols of faith long after the substance of faith has gone.
• There are many churches that look like that: songs are sung with precision, the preaching is eloquent, while the symbols betray the startling reality--God is not there. 

• It is the scene that is before us today in our text in 1 Samuel 4.
• Israel is in one of the darkest periods of her history. That time, characterized by the haunting refrain, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
• The priesthood at Shiloh was corrupt; Eli, the chief priest, was old and passive. His sons were men whom the Scripture calls “worthless men, who did not know the Lord.”
• And into that darkness, God raised up a faithful prophet, Samuel—and Israel ignored him completely. 
• Samuel had been given the devastating prophetic word from the Lord of impending judgment.
• And that judgment would begin in the most unexpected and shocking of ways.

1 Samuel 4:1-11

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to 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 here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

• Our text reveals a fundamental truth that echoes through the ages: God’s glory and power cannot be manipulated; he demands repentance, holiness, and faith. 

• Our text begins with the statement: “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.”
• But interestingly, Samuel is not featured in this story at all. 
• The events that take place are without his involvement. 

• Israel marches out to battle against the Philistines.  The Philistines were Israel’s arch-enemies. 
• The Philistines draw up their battle line against Israel, and as the battle spreads out, Israel experiences a terrible defeat.
• This has been the pattern for the past 200 years during the period of the Judges. 
• Israel had entered the land of Canaan with the promises of God of rest, blessing, and peace. 
• They had witnessed God rescue them from nations far more powerful than the Philistines proving that God had unmistakably given the Israelites the land. 
• And here they are again under threat and soundly defeated. Why? 

• The elders of Israel gather together and ask a profoundly important question, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?”
• They acknowledged that their defeat was not an achievement of the Philistines, it was a sovereign act of the Lord. 
• They ask the right question—but they don’t wait for the right answer. 
• There is no prayer. There is no repentance. There is no fasting. They do not send for Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, to inquire of the Lord and seek his guidance. 
• There was no examination of whether the failure of the corrupt priesthood might account for God’s displeasure. 
• With no counsel from the Lord they come up with their own solution. 
• Not unlike us at times, when in a moment of crisis, we don’t seek the Lord but rather come up with our own plan to get us out of our situation. 
• That's what the elders do, they devise their own plan. 
• “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD

• The ark was the small rectangular chest made from acacia wood and overlaid with gold, with a lid called the mercy seat, that had two golden cherubim with wings outstretched over the place where the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood once a year on the Day of Atonement. 
• In Exodus 25, God’s promise to Moses was that this was where the Lord would meet with him and speak to him. (Ex. 25:22)
• In essence, this would be the throne of God among his people. A symbol of his presence. 
• It was the most sacred object of Israel’s worship. And it was supposed to remain in the tabernacle not be brought out into battle. 

• Notice here it is called the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 
• It was a symbol of the covenant God made with his people. 
• By bringing the ark into the midst of battle they were in a sense, wanting to remind the Lord of his covenant obligations to them. 
• Look at v3 again, it seems like they want to use the ark like a talisman.
• “Let’s bring the ark…so that IT may come among us and save us.”  "IT", not that "HE" may come among us!
• They want the object, not the person.
• They want to harness the power of God by bringing the ark into battle with them. 
• So the ark is fetched from Shiloh. 
• The narrator makes a powerful point of who this ark represents. 
• V4 …they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. 
• This is the ark of the Mighty King, the Lord who commands the armies of heaven, who has enacted a covenant with his people that demanded faith, obedience and holiness. 
• And ones who are carrying the ark and accompanying it from Shiloh to the front lines—the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas.
• The two who had provoked God’s judgment are the ones carrying his throne. 
• Here was the answer to the elders’ question from earlier, “Why has the Lord defeated us?”
• The answer was not God’s failure to keep the promises of his covenant represented in the ark, it was the failure of these two wretched men who are carrying the ark down from Shiloh with unclean hands and impure hearts.  
• They had a form of godliness, they wore the priestly garments, but they had defied the living God by persisting in unrepentant sin. 

• It is a sobering thing to reflect that one can possess the external characteristics of the Christian faith, but without an ongoing life of faith and repentance, all you have is a spiritual relic.
• This is the danger of presumption—that one can possess on the outside what looks like faithfulness. 
• Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, and he said their hearts were far from God. “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)

• That first defeat and loss was God’s merciful sign meant to drive Israel back to the Lord, to repentance and covenant faithfulness. 
• Instead, they chose to manage the crisis themselves. 

• When the ark arrives at the camp Israel gives an earth-shaking battle cry. Their presumption has given them some initial confidence.
• Everyone in the camp who was previously deflated by the loss, now in that moment, believed this was the turning point.
• But this was not a shout of faith. It was a shout of superstition.

• The Philistines heard the shout and they learned that the reason they were shouting was that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp.
• And now they are terrified. 
• Why? It was that they had heard the gospel of the Exodus. 
• They had heard what God had done centuries before rescuing his people out of slavery and what God had done to the Egyptians. 
• They tremble at the thought of going up against this God who had struck the mighty Egyptians. 
• They’re trembling while Israel is cheering. 
• They sense the God of the Hebrews is not to be trifled with. 
• Israel has forgotten what the Philistines remember. 
• However, the Philistines tremble but they don’t surrender. They rally with a cry to muster desperate courage.
• Sadly, they were like Pharaoh, their fear of Israel’s God leads them to harden their hearts and defy the Lord. They believe God is powerful, they tremble, but they do not worship. 

THE OUTCOME

• The battle ensues and it’s a devastating defeat for Israel. 
• The outcome is delivered with stunning brevity. The scale of this disastrous defeat is staggering. 
• Total military collapse. Catastrophic loss of life. And the final blow—the ark of God was captured. 
• The thing that was never supposed to happen has happened. 
• The consequences of the ark’s capture will be played out to the end of chapter 6. 
• The throne of God, the symbol of God’s presence and covenant, is in the hands of the pagan Philistines. 
• And the two sons of Eli are dead. Exactly as God promised. 
• 1 Sam 2:34, this was the sign to Eli that God’s judgment had come, both of his sons shall die on the same day. 
• The word of the Lord through the unnamed prophet came to pass. God’s prophetic declarations are not suggestions. They are certainties.

DID GOD LOSE? 

• Was the capture of the ark a sign that Yahweh had been overpowered? NO!
• As you read ahead, you see that God is taking the fight into enemy territory.
• Israel’s defeat is the discipline of the Lord and the sovereign self-vindication of His holiness and glory. 
• God’s power cannot be manipulated, harnessed, or put at our disposal. 
• God’s power is God’s power alone! 
• God would rather remove the evidence of His presence among his own people than allow them to use it as a cover for sin and manipulation of his power. 
• God is jealous for His glory, his glory is the most important reality in the universe, and we dare not trivialize it. 
• Everything God does he does for his own glory. Everything in creation exists for the grand purpose of glorifying God. 
• God is not here for us! We are here for him! God’s glory must be central to your life. 
• Q&A 1 WSC, What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. 
• The two sons of Eli had dishonored the glory of the Lord by despising the offerings of the Lord. 
• Israel had dishonored the glory of the Lord by presumptuously using the ark of God. 

• Ask yourself: Are there areas of my life where I am presuming upon grace, by continuing in patterns of sin while trusting that God will continue to be patient with me? 
• Romans 2:4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

1 Samuel 4:12-22

A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. 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 and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And 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.”

• A Benjamite runner arrives from the battle line on the same day, his clothes torn and dirt on his head, the ancient signs of mourning and grief. 
• He entered the city, and his appearance spoke volumes.
• Old Eli was sitting on his seat by the road leading through the gate of Shiloh. 
• We are given insight into his emotional state, “his heart trembled for the ark of God.” 
• His heart trembled for the glory, for the presence of God, not for his sons, not for the armies of Israel. 
• Perhaps there was still a flicker of genuine reverence in this old, compromised, failing man. 
• But he also knew that God had promised that his two sons were going to die on the same day. 
• He feared for his sons, who were carrying the ark of the God who had already rendered judgment. 

• Eli heard the mighty outcry and he asked about this uproar? 
• He must have suspected. And the man came and told him. 
• The narrator furnishes us with some details of Eli’s age and infirmity, He was ninety-eight years old and he was blind. That’s why he couldn’t draw the obvious conclusion from the runner’s appearance as he approached the city.
• The news is delivered in agonizing stages. Four descending blows. 
• “Israel has fled before the Philistines”
• “There has also been a great defeat among the people”
• “Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead”
• “And the ark of God has been captured.”
• The fourth blow was too much for old Eli and it kills him. 
• As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat and broke his neck and he died. 
• Eli died because he was old and heavy.
• And a brief obituary follows, “He had judged Israel forty years.”

ICHABOD

• We’re taken to another scene; the private household of the unnamed pregnant wife of Phinehas. 
• She hears the catastrophic news and the shock of it sends her into premature labor. 
• She gives birth to a son but complications from the labor will lead to her death. 
• The attending women try to comfort her, telling her that she had given birth to a son. 
• But she doesn’t even answer them or pay attention to them or her newborn son. 
• With her final breath she names her son, forever memorializing the disturbing reality—she named the child Ichabod. 
• The name means, “Where is the glory?” 
• The answer: “the glory has departed from Israel.” 

• The Hebrew word for “glory” is “kābōd.” Its root meaning is “weightiness” or “heaviness.” 
• When we speak of God’s glory we are speaking of his weightiness, his sheer overwhelming reality. This glory is the outward manifestation of his inward perfection.
• And this unnamed mother with her dying gasps articulates what no else in the story does. 
• She names the real crisis and that is that the glory has departed from Israel. 

• Where is the glory? In one sense the glory had been stolen by Eli’s family. They did not honor God.
• Where is the glory? It’s around Eli’s waistline! He is heavy. Why does the writer tell us this? To draw attention to his weight so that we remember the connection between weight and glory, they have the same root word. 
• Eli had fattened himself the offerings his sons took from the Lord’s people. God tells him that he has fattened himself on the choicest parts of every offering. They had taken what belonged to God. 
• Eli was supposed to steward the weight of God’s glory as Israel’s priest and mediator, instead he consumed it for himself. 
• Where is the glory? Captured and taken by the Philistines. The glory was exiled. But thankfully, the departure of the glory is not permanent because God is faithful even when his people are not. 

CONCLUSION

• But we have to ask: Where is the glory now? 
• Centuries later, Ezekiel prophesied that what happened here at Shiloh would happen again. 
• He had a vision of the glory leaving the temple in Jerusalem. It’s Ichabod again. The temple becomes an empty shell, a relic of Israel’s worship. 
• God will not dwell where he is not honored. 
• But the prophets promised the glory would return. 
• And it did, just not in the way anyone expected. 
• The glory returned not in a golden chest. Not in a rebuilt temple.  It returned in the form of another baby. 
• “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
• The glory of God that departed in Ezekiel arrived in the incarnation, he came not to visit, but to move in.  
• Jesus is not a shadow of glory or a symbol of glory, he is the full, undiminished, blazing glory of the eternal God in human flesh.  
• The glory came to live among us and finally to stretch out his arms on a Roman cross, where the weight of our sin met the weight of God’s glory. 
• Jesus took the full weight of God’s wrath and satisfied the justice of heaven so that we could live forever under the weight of God’s glory. 
• And here is where the story reaches its deepest fulfillment: on that cross, Jesus became our “Ichabod.”
• He bore the departure of the Father’s presence, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 
• The Son of God experienced the departure of the glory so that the glory would not depart from us. 
• He endured the full weight of divine wrath, the judgment our presumption deserved, the devastation our sin had earned, the departure our unfaithfulness invited, and he absorbed it all! 
• So that everyone who trusts in Him would never be forsaken.  

• Through the gospel, God offers us not a religious artifact, he offers us Himself. 
• The Holy Spirit, the very glory of the living God, indwells every person who repents and believes in Christ. 
• 2 Cor 3:18 tells us that as we hold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. 
• In Christ, the glory of God, is at work in you, right now, transforming you, and shaping you into His image. 

• If you have been presuming upon God’s grace, going through the motions of Christianity while your heart has grown cold, repent today. Don’t wait for a catastrophe to wake you up. Come to God honestly today and ask him to expose every presumption and ignite the embers of faith in you again. 
• If you have experienced God’s discipline, maybe a difficult season of life, failure, or the painful consequences of your own choices, receive it as a mercy, not abandonment. God disciplines those he loves. Your season of discipline is not the final chapter. God is at work even in the devastation. 
• If you feel the absence of God’s glory in your life, if you feel distant, if you feel silence—take heart. The glory departed but it returned in Christ. And he promised to never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5). Hold fast to him. 

• Make the pursuit of Christ the organizing principle of your life. 
• He is the glory, He is the treasure hidden in the field that is worth selling everything to possess. 
• Pursue him with everything in you, he is worth it all!

APPLICATION AND REFLECTION

In light of today's message....

• What did I learn about the gospel?
• How can I apply what I learned about the gospel to my life?
• With whom can I share the gospel this week?