“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” (I Samuel 4:12-22).

     God created man to bring Him glory (meaning that the visible is to make the invisible known). The Bible records century after century of man’s failure as a visible representative of Who and What God is. This account in I Samuel is another failure in mankind’s long chain of failure in bringing glory to God.

     This text provides a short account of the ministry of a man name Eli. Eli was a man of God. Up to this point in his life, he served the Lord faithfully as Judge and High Priest in Israel. Yet it is upon this one pinnacle point of his life of 40 years of ministry that the Scriptures bring us to focus upon. God does not emphasize his 40 years of faithful ministry. God brings our attention upon the failure of his life. God does so because it is our failures as believers that bring disgrace upon the Name of our Lord and pervert the glory we are intended to bring Him.

Eli’s sons “knew not the LORD” (I Samuel 2:12).

“Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD” (I Samuel 2:12).

     The word “Belial” is a Hebrew word (bel-e-yah'-al) and refers to a wicked, ungodly person. The words “knew not the LORD” mean that these men did not have a personal knowledge of God (apart from and intellectual knowledge) and did not acknowledge Him as the LORD of their lives. (If you know the God of the Bible, you know Him as LORD.)

     Eli’s failure is that he failed to confront his sons with their sin and unbelief and failed to deal with them judicially. Instead, Eli attempts to reason them into obedience. The sins of Eli’s sons were sins unto death.

“22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. 24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress. 25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them” (I Samuel 2:22-25).

     The sins of Eli’s sons went beyond the defilement of themselves before the Lord. They also defiled the sacrifices of the people and caused the people to hate coming to the Tabernacle to worship and offer sacrifice to God.

“13 And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; 14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. 15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. 16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. 17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (I Samuel 2:13-17).

     The failure of Eli to deal with his sons happened because he feared the loss of his heritage. At this point in Israel’s history, Eli held the most prestigious and powerful position in the nation of Israel. If he would have dealt with his sons judicially it meant his family would have lost the position and power they held in Israel. Eli had lost the eternal perspective of his ministry. It had now become a position. However, Eli forgot to enter the God-factor into his equation for his future. Therefore, God enters Himself into Eli’s life equation through the child Samuel, who was miraculously brought into the household of Eli.

 “1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. . . 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever” (I Samuel 3:1 and 10-14).

     The events of I Samuel chapter four are the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Samuel and are the direct result of Eli’s failure to deal with his two sons. Eli had become a “castaway” (I Corinthians 9:27) not because of the sins of his sons, but because of his own failure to deal with two men (his sons) whom God had put under his authority and who had disgraced the Name of God. Eli slapped his son’s hands when they should have been put out of the camp and stoned to death.

     Not loving, you say! Not caring, you say! Then your accusation is against God, because it is God Who condemns Eli’s inaction and brings the death sentence upon every one of them and removes any possibility of any descendent from repeating the same horrendous sin.

     The result of Eli’s failure is recorded in I Samuel chapter four. Israel went to battle against the Philistines and 4,000 Israeli men were killed (I Samuel 4:2). The Israelis begin to question why the Lord would allow such a thing to happen (I Samuel 4:3).

     The fact they question this shows us that although the people of Israel were aware of what was going on in the Tent of the Meeting at Shiloh, they are unaware of the consequences of that situation to them. Knowing that the presence of God is not with them in the battle, in an act of desperation and ignorance, they try to force God to the battlefront (revealing their false belief regarding God in the box) by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the battle with them.

     To them the Ark signified the presence of God’s Shekinah glory and the power that accompanied it. Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the stone tables of the Law, but they failed to remember that it was obedience to those commandments that brought God’s glory and power to the nation of Israel.

     The Ark is lost in the battle and 30,000 more Israeli men are slaughtered. The two wicked sons of Eli (Hophni and Phinehas) are killed with them. Because Eli’s position and heritage were more important to him than being right with God, 34,000 other men, besides his two wicked sons, were dead. God was telling Eli (and all men like him) that this is what happens when you do not deal with sin properly. The lives of innocent people are destroyed. The worst kind of action is inaction. Eli’s response to his son’s sins was little more then inaction.

     The new family name for the descendent of Eli is “Ichabod” (I Samuel 4:21). The name “Ichabod” means “no glory.” The glory of God had long ago departed from Israel and Eli’s sons were directly responsible. The glory of God had departed from Israel because the priesthood was allowed to become defiled. How important is Biblical separation?

     The glory of God had departed from Israel because the worship of God became something abhorred by God��s people because the Priesthood of God, represented in Hophni and Phinehas, has perverted and abused God’s people so badly. How important is obedience? Even if Eli refused to do what was right, why didn’t the people take some action? Why would they allow these perversions to continue?

     When God’s glory is present, God’s power is evident. When God’s power is not evident, all of God people should be asking the question, where is the glory? Every time a message is preached and no one makes a decision, we should ask ourselves, where is the glory? When days, weeks and months go by without people getting saved, we should ask ourselves, where is the glory?

     The first place to look is at our own hearts. What is there that might be keeping God’s glory from becoming evident?

Ø Where is the glory in a Christianity that has lost its will to fight for the cause of righteousness and the souls of lost men?

Ø Where is the glory in a Christianity that sets in its easy chair of complacency and apathy while the lost are going into Hell by the thousands each day?

Ø Where is the glory of a pacifist Christianity that no longer storms the gates of Hell and no longer fights the fight of faith?

Ø Where is the glory in a limp wrested, pantywaist Christianity that is more afraid of breaking a nail then causing a holy God to be offended by their lukewarmness?

     Let me tell you where it is. The glory of God resides in the presence of God. If we want the presence of the glory of God, we must bring our lives into His presence before He can bring His presence into our lives.

     A church dies when succeeding generations are unwilling to push aside the dead bodies of those who have fallen in compromise, pick up the banner of Christ that has fallen in the mud, and continue the battle for truth and the souls of lost men. Unless we are willing to maintain our God-first priorities, God will write “Ichabod” across the doors of our church houses, and even though they may be filled with people, God’s glory will not be present. If God’s glory is not present, everything done in those church houses or by the people meeting there will be an operation in futility.