23/10/2020
1 Samuel 4:21
"She named the son Ichabod, saying;The Glory has departed"
We are met with a beautiful passage of scripture that substantiates the fact that with out the presence of God, death is eminent and obvious. I will highlight key points that will guide to the climax of this sharing.
v1: The Israelites camp at Ebenezer in preparation for the battle.
This is way before Samuel putting a stone to celebrate a victory. So Ebenezer is a place of preparation and also a place of victory. They camped at Ebenezer where they lost the battle to the Philistines in preparation for the celebration of the continual presence of God later in the journey.
Lesson: God does not place you in a place where he wont provide you victory. You may lose in the place where you will gain. That is what makes victories sweet. Conquering your failures.
v3-4: The presence of God doesnt always give you victory but gives you comfort in loss.
The Israelites loses the battle but bring the Ark as a sign of the presence of God hoping to find victory.
But when you treat God as a god, he behaves like a god so you may acknowledge he is God.
You cannot use God as and per when you need him to act.
Most of our failures are because we bring God into the mix when we have tried it ourselves and failed. When you are despondent and defeated, God comes to give you comfort.
Lesson: Be careful who carries the presence of God for they may just be the bearer of failure in the context of carrying God. When in our sinful space and we try to lead people to an encounter with God, we dampen and kill their outlook of God. Hophni and Phineas were with the ark, but did not know The Ark!
v8: When we do not regard and recognise what God has done for us, the enemy will.
The enemy does not fight God, but he fight our weakness. The Israelites weakness was believing or trusting the ark would give them victory even with out fighting. Sadly, There are some instances prayer is not called for. We are called to work, think, be responsible, make decisions, choices and be the functional extension of divinity here on earth. The enemy attacks what you think is your strength which he sees as your weakness. This is why the most pious and religious man always falls and we remain broken when one who leads us falls. What was his strength (leadership, humility etc)the enemy will use as his weakness to make him fall.
Lesson: When we belittle God, the enemy up lifts him in an unknown attempt to discredit Him.
v17: Israel fled before the Philistines.
God will not fight a battle for you that you are not willing to be part of.
Many of us have mastered the art of running away and fleeing when we seem to be losing. We are never ready to fight.
Running is deemed as safe because you fear death but at times fighting helps you understand the battle.
v19
The Ark is taken, Israel dies,Eli dies, Hophni and Phineas die, the pregnant woman dies.
When the presence of God departs, something dies.
Nothing can live without the presence of God.
When the mother says Ichabod, she is in pain of child bearing but in her pain is a promise. The child is hope for a new a future though the glory has departed
Lesson: Your pain has a promise.
