The Glory Departed

Presented to:

Bethel Chapel Pentecostal Church

Auditorium Sunday School Class

Granite City, IL

26 May 2019

Updated: May 25, 2019

By:

Boyce Belt

The Glory Departed

Opening:

• Happy Memorial Day
• Prayer

Text:

1 Samuel 4 (KJV) And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. 8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. 16 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? 17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. 18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

Introduction:

As we have seen in previous lessons, Israel is in a period of  their history in which everyman did that which was right in his own eyes.  This corruption went far beyond a few who failed to obey the Law of God for it had entered the sanctuary as well.  Those who were suppose to be men of God were selfish and immoral.

Though God had begun to raise up a young man, Samuel, to warn the nation of their sin, they were still living in their sin.  It is in this condition that they go into battle with the Philistines.  The Philistines are a type of the flesh, the carnal side of man that lives to please himself rather than God.  Now Israel is attempting to fight a spiritual battle while spiritually depraved.

1. Seeking A Symbol (vv.1-9)

1. Losing The Battle
2. The True Enemy

1. Not Flesh and Blood—Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
2. Weaponry—2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
3. The Battleground—The Mind

3. A Magic Charm

1. The Israelites were treating the ark as a kind of magic charm instead of the testimony of God’s power and presence.  The mere presence of the ark would not bring victory in the battle.^[1]
2. Sometimes we are more concerned in seeking signs than seeking God
3. The people thought that the ark would unconditionally guarantee God’s favor and power.  They failed to understand that a symbol of spiritual things does not itself assure one of the reality to which it points.^[2]

4. The Expectation of the Enemy—The Philistines Expected to Loose

2. Losing The Symbol (vv. 10-18)

1. Failure to Repent

1. Israel’s solution to God allowing them to lose the battle was to bring in the symbol of God’s presence.  Instead they should have repented of and corrected their sinful ways^[3]
2. The church strives to bring back the shout, healing miracles, manifestations, etc. when the truth is We Must Repent!
3. Daniel’s Prayer—Daniel 9:4-19 (KJV) And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.  16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

2. Misplaced Worship

1. There is a song that says, “We get lifted up, we get lifted up, we get lifted, when we praise Him.”  The problem is that when we praise Him He is the one that should be lifted up.  
2. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (KJV) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
3. When Isaiah (Isaiah 6) came into the presence of the Almighty he fell on his face and cried, “Woe is me.”

3. Blind Men Watching

1. The scene drips with ironic tragedy.  Eli waits by the gate at Shiloh “watching” for a messenger, but “he could not see”—physically or spiritually.^[4]
2. As you know Mother has severe macular degeneration and is extremely limited in her vision.  There have been times in the car that she has tried to help watch for traffic and I have had to tell her to stop because in an effort to look she would block my view.  The same thing happens in the spiritual realm when we have men watching without spiritual vision.  Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
3. We must keep in mind when the Bible speaks of vision it is not speaking of a plan for the future but rather a word from God; more specifically, The Word of God.

3. An Empty Religion (vv. 19-22)

1. A Progressive Departure—The glory of the Lord is pictured as departing in stages.  First, it went up from the cherubim over the ark to the threshold of the temple (Ezekiel 10:4).  Then, it stood over the cherubim (Ezekiel 10:18) as they went to the east gate of the temple (Ezekiel 10:19), and then to the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 11:23).
2. A Holy God

1. Cherubim are angels generally regarded as guardians of God’s Holiness.^[5]
2. The glory of God left the temple because of the people’s sin and idolatry.  God left His house reluctantly and gradually, but because of His holiness, He knew He had to separate Himself from the idolatry in the temple.^[6]

3. A Powerless Church—Revelation 3:1-6 (KJV) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.  6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Conclusion:

In his book, The Attributes of God II, A. W. Tozer writes, “God couldn’t take it any longer, so He pulled out His Majesty, His Shekinah glory, and left the temple.  And I wonder how many gospel churches, by their frivolousness, shallowness, coarseness, and worldliness have grieved the Holy Ghost until He’s withdrawn in hurt silence.  We must see God again; we must feel God again; we must know God again; we must hear God again.  Nothing less than this will save us.”^[7]

Next Week: Sometimes You Get What You Pray For—1 Samuel 8

Prayer