Never Name Your Child Ichabod
1 Samuel 4:12–22 (ESV)
12 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.”
The Life of Eli
“Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God.”
Hebrews 4:15
“For Eli does not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with his weaknesses, but one, who in every respect has been tempted as Eli, yet without sin.”
Ichabod = The Glory has departed from Israel
Why does everybody care about the Glory of God?
The thing that mattered to them the most didn’t matter to them the most, until the thing that mattered to them the most was taken away.
Glory = Weight, Value, Matter, Identity, Something big enough to hold us together.
To have everything that we want to have, and even spiritual protection and leadership, but not have God Himself, would just be a different kind of Hell.
2 Corinthians 3:16–18 (ESV)
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
GROUP QUESTIONS
1) Read I Samuel 4:12-22. This is the story of the response to the Ark “going into exile.”
How does the author show us that the worst news of the day was the loss of the Ark, and not the loss of 30,000 men, or Eli’s sons?
2) What is your view of Eli? What has the Bible story thus far shown us both the good and the bad of Eli? Can you explain your view of Eli from scripture?
3) The last scene is of a woman who gives birth to a baby boy right before she dies. She names him Ichabod. How does the author use just a few sentences to give us a picture of her pain and suffering? What does she care about the most?
4) We need words that help us to explain “Glory.” The literal translation is “weight.” What gives your life weight? Some say it is impossible to live at all without living for something bigger than ourselves (more weighty). What are some things to which we ascribe glory?
Do you think it is impossible to be truly healed until the Glory of God is the thing we live for?
Why or why not? And what does that journey look like?
5) Prayer and praise