1 Samuel 4:1-22
We have in these verses of scripture a sad period in the history of the children of Israel. The people go to war against the Philistines. It seems that the children of Israel were in war with these people constantly. They were descendants of the Canaanites who were worshippers of animals especially a molten calf. Devil worshippers do not like to have godly people in their midst. It is interesting to note that the Lord used the Philistines to oppress the children of Israel so they would return to the God of Israel.
In this account, we find the children of Israel ready to fight. In to order to help insure their victory, they had the Ark of the Covenant brought along for “good luck.” As we have already read, the Philistines won against the Israelites and took as a spoil of war the ARK. 30,000 men died in that battle. That is 30,000 souls out into eternity in one day.
When the news or the ARK ‘s captive came unto Eli, the news devastated him and he died of a broken neck at the ripe old age of 98. Even though his children were killed, the loss of the ARK affected him the most.
When a woman is in the last stages of her pregnancy, news of this magnitude will bring on the onset of labor as we see in verse 19. But look at the name that she gave the child- Ichabod. His name means the Hebrew- “no glory” or the glory has departed.
Remember what I have said in previous messages about people in the Bible. Every name has a meaning to it and parents in the Bible times gave their children names that would relate to someone or something. With this in mind, we called Ian; Ian because it is Scottish and Irish for John and we also knew a great preacher in Ireland named Ian Paisley that we respected. Ichabod means the glory is departed or no honor. Honor is an important part of the makeup of the Eastern mind. Here the honor of having an ARK for our Lord has departed with the defeat of the Israelites at the hands of their enemies.
Today I want to examine several questions involved with this passage of scripture. I will try to attempt to give the reasons why I think the glory departed, the results of the departed glory and the return of the glory. I want to try to bring it into focus to our lives and how the glory departs a church.
I. THE REASONS WHY THE GLORY DEPARTED.
A. The people had forgotten the Lord.
1. They do it by forgetting His Holiness - Isaiah 6:1-3
* They were using the ARK as a good luck piece.
2. Forgot His help
Psalm 121 - "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."
3. Forget His hatred of evil
4. Forgot His hearing
* Not one time do you find the mention of prayer before or during the battle.
B. The people had forsaken the Lord.
Jeremiah 2:13 - "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
1. They had forsaken the Word of God.
Matthew 22:29 - "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God."
2. They had forsaken the Wisdom of God.
3. They had forsaken the Work of God.
Nehemiah 13:11 - "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place."
4. They had forsaken the Ways of God.
5. They had forsaken the Walk with God.
"Just Suppose"
Just Suppose the Lord would begin tomorrow to make people as sick as they claim to be on Sunday.
Just Suppose the Lord should take away the child whom the parents use as an excuse from staying away from church.
Just suppose the Lord should make people as poor as they claim to be when asked to help finance His program.
Just Suppose the Lord should have everyone stoned to death for covetousness as was Achan.
Just Suppose the Lord should let parents look into the future and see what their example and lax control did for their children.
Just Suppose - and then, by the help of the Lord, go forth and serve if eternity was soon coming. IT IS. “Behold, I come quickly says the Lord.”
II. THE RESULTS OF THE GLORY DEPARTING
A. Defeat
B. Discouragement
Habakkuk 3:17 - "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:"
C. Delight in serving God
D. Devil rejoicing
E. Duty excluded
F. Death
III. THE RETURN OF THE GLORY OF GOD
Revelation 2:5 - "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
A. Remember
Deuteronomy 5:15 - "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day."
B. Repent
C. Repeat
D. Rejoice
Habakkuk 3:18-19 "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments."
Has the glory seemed to depart from your life? I know that some of you are sitting so miserable in your Christian life it is sickening even to the devil. I know for several reasons.
1. People will tell you that they are miserable.
2. I can tell by people’s halfhearted attempts of serving God. Everything else has become more important to them. Their homes, family, job, cars, friends and recreation are now their god. The Lord is only secondary in their life. If this was not so, then they would not forsake the house of God. If this was not so, they would not make excuses why they cannot give what they know is right. But instead they spend it on your own pleasure.
3. I can also tell by people deliberate disobedience to the light that they know is true in the scriptures.
How to get the glory back should be a paramount question in our mind now? Or is the question that is on our mind: When will this preacher shut up and sit down? Or I wonder what sporting event I watch today? Or what am I going to eat for lunch? Can we get the glory back? Yes, when we totally sell out to the Lord Jesus.
By Mike Walls
We have in these verses of scripture a sad period in the history of the children of Israel. The people go to war against the Philistines. It seems that the children of Israel were in war with these people constantly. They were descendants of the Canaanites who were worshippers of animals especially a molten calf. Devil worshippers do not like to have godly people in their midst. It is interesting to note that the Lord used the Philistines to oppress the children of Israel so they would return to the God of Israel.
In this account, we find the children of Israel ready to fight. In to order to help insure their victory, they had the Ark of the Covenant brought along for “good luck.” As we have already read, the Philistines won against the Israelites and took as a spoil of war the ARK. 30,000 men died in that battle. That is 30,000 souls out into eternity in one day.
When the news or the ARK ‘s captive came unto Eli, the news devastated him and he died of a broken neck at the ripe old age of 98. Even though his children were killed, the loss of the ARK affected him the most.
When a woman is in the last stages of her pregnancy, news of this magnitude will bring on the onset of labor as we see in verse 19. But look at the name that she gave the child- Ichabod. His name means the Hebrew- “no glory” or the glory has departed.
Remember what I have said in previous messages about people in the Bible. Every name has a meaning to it and parents in the Bible times gave their children names that would relate to someone or something. With this in mind, we called Ian; Ian because it is Scottish and Irish for John and we also knew a great preacher in Ireland named Ian Paisley that we respected. Ichabod means the glory is departed or no honor. Honor is an important part of the makeup of the Eastern mind. Here the honor of having an ARK for our Lord has departed with the defeat of the Israelites at the hands of their enemies.
Today I want to examine several questions involved with this passage of scripture. I will try to attempt to give the reasons why I think the glory departed, the results of the departed glory and the return of the glory. I want to try to bring it into focus to our lives and how the glory departs a church.
I. THE REASONS WHY THE GLORY DEPARTED.
A. The people had forgotten the Lord.
1. They do it by forgetting His Holiness - Isaiah 6:1-3
* They were using the ARK as a good luck piece.
2. Forgot His help
Psalm 121 - "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."
3. Forget His hatred of evil
4. Forgot His hearing
* Not one time do you find the mention of prayer before or during the battle.
B. The people had forsaken the Lord.
Jeremiah 2:13 - "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
1. They had forsaken the Word of God.
Matthew 22:29 - "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God."
2. They had forsaken the Wisdom of God.
3. They had forsaken the Work of God.
Nehemiah 13:11 - "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place."
4. They had forsaken the Ways of God.
5. They had forsaken the Walk with God.
"Just Suppose"
Just Suppose the Lord would begin tomorrow to make people as sick as they claim to be on Sunday.
Just Suppose the Lord should take away the child whom the parents use as an excuse from staying away from church.
Just suppose the Lord should make people as poor as they claim to be when asked to help finance His program.
Just Suppose the Lord should have everyone stoned to death for covetousness as was Achan.
Just Suppose the Lord should let parents look into the future and see what their example and lax control did for their children.
Just Suppose - and then, by the help of the Lord, go forth and serve if eternity was soon coming. IT IS. “Behold, I come quickly says the Lord.”
II. THE RESULTS OF THE GLORY DEPARTING
A. Defeat
B. Discouragement
Habakkuk 3:17 - "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:"
C. Delight in serving God
D. Devil rejoicing
E. Duty excluded
F. Death
III. THE RETURN OF THE GLORY OF GOD
Revelation 2:5 - "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
A. Remember
Deuteronomy 5:15 - "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day."
B. Repent
C. Repeat
D. Rejoice
Habakkuk 3:18-19 "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments."
Has the glory seemed to depart from your life? I know that some of you are sitting so miserable in your Christian life it is sickening even to the devil. I know for several reasons.
1. People will tell you that they are miserable.
2. I can tell by people’s halfhearted attempts of serving God. Everything else has become more important to them. Their homes, family, job, cars, friends and recreation are now their god. The Lord is only secondary in their life. If this was not so, then they would not forsake the house of God. If this was not so, they would not make excuses why they cannot give what they know is right. But instead they spend it on your own pleasure.
3. I can also tell by people deliberate disobedience to the light that they know is true in the scriptures.
How to get the glory back should be a paramount question in our mind now? Or is the question that is on our mind: When will this preacher shut up and sit down? Or I wonder what sporting event I watch today? Or what am I going to eat for lunch? Can we get the glory back? Yes, when we totally sell out to the Lord Jesus.
By Mike Walls
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