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The Glory of God NOTES
The Glory of God NOTES
In this story Israel lost 30,000 men. But why did that happen when God was protecting Israel?
It was because the presence of God wasn’t in their life. In verse 19 we see the word Ichabod which
means no glory, God’s glory departed from them. In this chapter the ark was taken away and God
departed from Israel therefore Israel lost a great deal.
1 Samuel 4:19-21 –
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. 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. 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.
From the above scripture you will find out that Eli and his sons acted in ways that
led to the loss of the glory of God. Firstly, lack of respect for what belongs to God.
Remember that Jesus said, “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is
God’s.” From the story of Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Prophet Eli, we note that
they took God’s offering and sacrifices and made them theirs. They ate and
desecrated holy things. Secondly, the Bible says that the sons of Eli took advantage
of the people of God and robbed them of their dignity. When we cheat people in
the name of God and deprive them of the dignity and honour that Christ purchased
for them we are heading for trouble and loss of glory. Please do a check up in this
regard. Don’t say “the Lord says” when He has not spoken.
Thirdly, they defiled the temple of God; in our case, our body is the temple of the
living God. We have been bought with a very high price – the blood of Jesus. We
cannot afford to misuse our bodies because God resides inside us. When the
temple of God is defiled the glory is lost.