Ebenezer - A Stone of Help

Eli (1 Sa 1:3; 9; 12; 13; 14; 17; 25; 2:11; 12; 20…)

Hophni (1 Sa 1:3; 2:34; 4:4; 11; 17)

Ichabod (1 Sa 4:21; 14:3)

Phinehas (Ex 6:25; Nu 25:7; 11; 31:6; Jos 22:13; 30; 31; 32; 24:33; Jdg 20:28…)

Phinehas (1 Sa 1:3; 2:34; 4:4; 17; 19; 14:3)

Samuel (1 Sa 1:20; 2:18; 21; 26; 3:1; 3; 4; 6; 7; 8…)

II.     The Attacks (4:1–22): The Israelites engage in war with the Philistines.

A.     The defeats (4:1–11): The Israelites suffer two defeats by the Philistines.

1.     First defeat (4:1–9)

a.     The routing (4:1–2): The Philistines kill 4,000 Israelites in the first encounter.

b.     The rallying (4:3–9): The Ark of the Covenant is carried to the battlefield to encourage Israel and frighten the Philistines. But the Philistines stage a rally!

2.     Second defeat (4:10–11): The Philistines kill 30,000 Israelites, including Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and capture the Ark of the Covenant.

B.     The despair (4:12–22)

1.     Of Eli (4:12–18)

a.     His anxiety (4:12–16): Eli sits near the gate of Shiloh, fearfully awaiting news of the battle and the Ark.

b.     His accident (4:17–18): Hearing of Israel’s defeat, the death of his sons, and the capture of the Ark, Eli falls from his seat, breaks his neck, and dies!

2.     Of Eli’s daughter-in-law (4:19–22)

a.     The tragic news (4:19–20): When Phinehas’s pregnant wife hears that her husband and father-in-law are dead and the Ark has been captured, she goes into labor and dies in childbirth.

b.     The tragic name (4:21–22): Just before her death, Phinehas’s wife names her infant son Ichabod, meaning “Where is the glory?”