Chapter 4

3 And when the people had come into 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 from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:3)

After their defeat in battle, the elders of Israel asked the right question: “Why has the Lord caused us to experience defeat?” But they did not wait for and answer from the Lord. They just went ahead with what they felt was good. This also tells us that they had no personal relationship with the Lord. A personal relationship with the Lord will cause you to hear His voice.  

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. (1 Samuel 4:4)

The word of the Lord was with Samuel, but the nation was not ready to follow the spiritual leadership of this young prophet. They still followed the leadership of Hophni and Phinehas, knowing of their evil ways. 

And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. (1 Samuel 4:5)

They had come to view the ark as a fetish, an amulet, a lucky charm that would, by virtue of its inherent power, give them victory over their enemies.

They wanted to use God for their ends. Sadly, they had no relationship with the Lord. 

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. (1 Samuel 4:10-11)

This contradicts everything that many think about spiritual warfare. They think that if they can get into the house of God and shout praises in the congregation, they will be guaranteed mighty exploits and great kingdom breakthroughs. They had no personal relationship with the Lord. For them, the ark was just like a lucky charm meant to be used for their ends. God cannot be used by man. 

²¹ Then 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.” (1 Samuel 4:21-22)

The ark being captured by the Philistines was not the reason for the glory to depart. The glory had already departed, and this was only an open manifestation of that fact. 

It is possible that this was evident much earlier to the priests in charge of the ark. We read in 1 Kings 8:9 that when the ark was placed in the temple that Solomon had built, there was nothing in the ark except the tablets of stone on which the ten commandments were written. What happened to the pot of manna and Aaron's rod? (Ex.16:33; Numbers 17:10; Hebrews 9:4). It was the glory of God in the ark that was to keep these two items fresh throughout the generations. The manna must have bred worms, and the rod must have withered up as soon as the glory departed; hence, the priests would have discretely disposed of both of these items. But the people of Israel recognised that the glory had departed only when the ark was captured.

This teaches us that God's glory may depart from us at a particular time, but it may not become obvious to those around us until a much later point in time. When worldliness or sin becomes manifest in us as individuals or as churches, it is clear to everyone who has some understanding of God's ways that God has departed. But the fact would be that the decline happened much earlier.