When Failure Has A Name

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1 Samuel 4:12 ESV
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.
disheveled soldier… what battle? Here is a big part of your context. See 1 Samuel 4.1-11
1 Samuel 4:1–11 ESV
And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
1 Samuel 4:13 ESV
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.
The messenger first told his story to the townspeople at Shiloh, who “sent up a cry” (v.13) when they learned that the ark had not brought them victory and was no longer with them.
Note, Elis was watching … looking for something. (He couldn’t see, but he was watching.)
See also that his heart trembled for the ark of God. He knew the jeopardy that Israel was in. He had been a priest for 40 years… he had watched the nations decline, their failure to obey God, and his own inability to live by the calling he had and the God he served. He had something to tremble about.
1 Samuel 4:14 ESV
When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli.
Blind to the physical.... insensitive to the spiritual.... and absolutely dishonest about the inevitable- Israel was being judged by God.
1 Samuel 4:15 ESV
Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see.
He was blind.
1 Samuel 4:16 ESV
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?”
He was asking for an answer he didn’t know but a truth he couldn’t deny. God is not mocked… whatever you sow that will you reap.
1 Samuel 4:17 ESV
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.”
Israel fled before their enemies ( with the ark in tow.)… hear that a second time. Israel fled even though God was with them. It is no wonder they were defeated. They were operating on their own strength with God’s presence right beside them , ahead of them, and behind them. They thought the victory was up to themselves.
No real response from Eli about his sons lost. dead.
The greatest phrase, “the ark of God has been captured.”.
1 Samuel 4:18 ESV
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.
In 1:9 he was near an entrance to the Lord’s house; now he simply sits beside the road. Perhaps no longer considering himself to be the priest he once was, Eli nevertheless trembles with fear
Obese.
Unlike the loss of Eli’s sons (unfazed), the loss of the ark really mattered to Eli....
Eli was a priest at shiloh for most of his adult life.... for 40 years he had judged Israel. The battle had not started that day- for Eli it had begun 40 years prior- and he lost it.
1 Samuel 4:19 ESV
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.
1 Samuel 4:20 ESV
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.
Eli’s death did not end the tragedy, even in his own family. The message of Eli’s and Phinehas’s deaths, combined with the report of the ark’s capture (given pride of place in v.19; cf. also v.22), caused Phinehas’s pregnant wife to go into premature labor.
however, the combination was fatal: She died in childbirth
1 Samuel 4:21 ESV
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.
The psalmist said, in Psalm 26.8
Psalm 26:8 ESV
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.
Whereever God is- there His people should be. And if you are in a situation where Godhas left, it might be smart to ask why? What was your involvement?
Psalm 106:20 ESV
They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
How have we bartered away God? Eli traded it by pleasing his sons and in so doing pleasing himself.
Jeremiah 2:11 ESV
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
I’ve never traded in a car. i’ve traded for vehicles, but never traded IN vehicles. trading in God.
1 Samuel 4:22 ESV
And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Verse 21 gives a general reason for the naming, but v.22 is more specific: “The glory has departed [lit., ‘has gone into exile’; so also v.21] from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” After the Exodus the Lord promised to consecrate the tabernacle by his glory (Exod 29:43); after it was set up, his glory filled it and the cloud covered it (Exod 40:34–35). The term “glory” represents the Presence of God dwelling—škn—in the tabernacle
Eli knew all this was going to happen.
SEe 1 Samuel 3.11-14
1 Samuel 3:11–14 ESV
Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
If there ever was an Old Testament parallel to blasphemy of the holy spirit, i think it is right here. Remember Jesus said, all sins that are committed can be forgiven except blasphemy of the holy spirit. see Matthew 12.31
Matthew 12:31 ESV
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Eli knew this was coming because of....
See 1 Samuel 2.34-35
1 Samuel 2:34–35 ESV
And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

Don’t Ask Questions You Can’t Answer When There Are Truths You Can’t Deny

Eli knew the news he would one day hear. The prophecy was that because he never stopped his sons, every male in his lineage ( including himself) would die (except one). Eli knew this truth far enough in advance to have stopped it, sought forgiveness, and reformed Israel- but he didn’t. He just waited for the inevitable result of his own sin.
we wrestle not against flesh and blood. see Eph 6.12-13
Ephesians 6:12–13 ESV
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Eli had taken off all of his armor , in pauline terminoology, when he failed to do what he should have done. His sons stole from the offering, committed sexual sin and blasphemy to God in the proccess. Their entire lives were blasphemy because they wore the robe but didn’t walk the walk.
Jesus said of the pharisees, Matthew 23.25-
Matthew 23:25–28 ESV
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
When Spiritual Failure Has A NameIt’s Because Blasphemy is Your Game.
spiritual failure implies that you know better. Eli did. But his failure to live it meant his relationship to a holy God failed as well. Same for us.
If you know better you SHOULD live better.
Hebrews 6:4–6 ESV
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
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