We sang the gospel. Now we get to hear the gospel preached through the Old Testament book of Samuel. So you could turn to Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 4. In 1969, country music legend Johnny Cash performed his number one gold record, A Boy Named Sue. The song was about a young man's quest for revenge against his father, who left him with only a guitar and his name, Sue. Ashamed of his name, Sue ends up bitter, swearing to kill his father in the song, forgiving him that awful name. Now while today's generation would take no issue with the idea of naming a boy Sue, in 1969 to give a common girl's name to a boy subjected him to much ridicule and harassment. I remember in my elementary school there was a boy in my class by the name of Leslie and he was mocked for his name. For decades, in our culture, naming children has been no science. Gender names were clear. Sons and daughters were typically named after their parents or their grandparents. This, however, has not always been the cultural norm, nor is it the norm in many cultures around the world. In India, for example, babies are named based on the constellation of the stars. In Bali, they're named based upon their birth order. In some cultures, they wait a few weeks before naming the baby to see what are the characteristics of the child, who does he look like, or how does he act, and then they name the child. We kind of had this situation with my daughter. She earned a nickname that stuck with her, her whole life, when she was about six years old, and I kid you not, six, I'm sorry, six weeks old. It was a randomly freakish moment, but I was like saying to her, say goo, say goo, say, I kept saying, say goo, say goo. Again, I kid you not, she said Goo at six weeks old and earning her the nickname throughout her childhood of Goo Goo or Googie. I think we called her that more than we actually used her real name. Through the generations, names could come from the day or the birth month or the birthday, current events, weather patterns when the child was born. It seems like today's generation has returned to an old practice of connecting names of their babies to events that were going on or something. One child that is here today, or is he? I think he's, yeah, he's back there, was named after a sermon series that I was doing when he was born. Jonah. Jonah, aren't you glad I wasn't preaching Obadiah at that time? We might have had little Obadiah with us today. I heard about a child that was named Orangelo. This is a true story. Orangelo, because the mother developed a craving for orange jello during her pregnancy. Now, there are some strange names in the Bible as well. Nabal, for instance, means fool. What were their parents thinking? There is Garib, the mighty, one of David's mighty men, which means scabby. How about Babai? What were the parents of Babai? Babai means my cavities. Maybe they were the first dentists. I don't know. And then who could forget the arch nemesis of the good soldier? Remember that, Dave? What is it? Kushan Ramamathin? Kushan Rishithayun. Well, today in our text, we have a story of a mother who named her son Ichabod. When we hear that name, some of our minds go to Ichabod Crane, the headless horseman, the sleepy hollow. It sounds unusual to us, but Ichabod's mom had a reason for naming her son Ichabod. It described the times that they were in well, because the name literally means no glory. or where is the glory? We can imagine the burden this boy carried around during his childhood, at least as bad as a boy named Sue. Let's read about the birth of Ichabod. We'll start in the last few verses of chapter 4, verse 19, 1 Samuel 4, verse 19. And I'll read to 21. Now his, this is Eli's, daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, 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. About the time of her death, the woman attending her said to her, do not be afraid, for you have born a son. But she did not answer or pay attention. She named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory has departed Israel because the ark of God has been captured, and because her father-in-law and her husband. Let us pray. Father, we come before you asking for your Holy Spirit to give us understanding of your Word today. We pray that you would speak to the hearts of your people, that you would change us, conform us to the image of your Son. Enable your people, Lord, unlike the people in this story who relied on superstitions, enable your people today to repent, to have genuine repentance. unto life for some and unto sanctification for others, that we would glorify you with our lives, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. As we open up chapter 4 and hit verse 1, it prompts us to review a little bit. The word, it says, and the word of Samuel came to all Israel. That's actually the last line. It really goes better with chapter 3. It's the last line of Samuel's calling as a prophet, which we covered last time. The curtain is now coming down on Act 1, scene 1 of the book of Samuel, and scene 2 is opening. Scene 2 is comprised of chapters 4 through 7. For a season in 4 through 7, Samuel is going to fade into the background for most of the scene. He's temporarily gone but not forgotten. Samuel will reappear in chapter 7 and ultimately lead people to repentance and renewal. Several years will pass between chapter 3 and chapter 7. Many things happen during this time as Samuel is growing up and learning and his new gifting to be a prophet. The Holy Spirit, though, just relays one narrative in these four chapters. They really all go together, 3 through 7, as one narrative. And the main character is not Samuel, but it's the Ark of the Covenant. Chapters 4 through 7 of 1 Samuel comprise a single story, a lengthy chiasm or chiasm, which is a story that kind of begins and ends in parallel ways. It begins in chapter 4 and is resolved in chapter 7. So the author uses similar phrases in chapter 4 and chapter 7. That's why I encourage you to read chapter 4 and chapter 7 on their own. Because the author introduces the drama in chapter 4, where he describes the loss of the ark. And then he resolves it in chapter 7 with the return of the ark. What's the ark? For those of you who don't know, the ark of the covenant was a chest or a box. It was about 4 and 1 1 feet long, 2 and 1 1 wide, 2 and 1 1 feet high, overlaid with pure gold. And in it contained, among other things, the stone tablets of the law. Over the ark was placed a covering, a hilasterion in Greek, which means mercy seat. And on this mercy seat were two molded golden angels or cherubim, angelic beings, facing each other with their wings over their heads and the wings coming together. It would be between the wings of the cherubim that the kavod, or the glory of God, or the shekinah, glory of God's presence, appeared as the ark was moved through the wilderness. The ark would ultimately become enshrined in Solomon's temple and left in the inner court of what is called the Holy of Holies, behind a long, high, thick curtain. And that holy of holies was only to be approached by one person, the high priest, and only one day out of the year on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. Whenever you hear the ark, I want you to think presence of God. When you hear about the ark, it's God's presence. And when you think about God's presence, think about His glory. That is the light of His countenance, the light of His face. So when you hear ark, think presence of God. And when you think presence of God, think glory. Now, some have said as a title over this entire section of chapters 4-7, from Ichabod to Ebenezer. Because it's a story told of a double defeat at the city of Ebenezer. the birth of Ichabod in chapter 4 that we're going to see today, and then it concludes in chapter 7 as Samuel sets up the stone of Ebenezer, meaning the Lord has been our help. Hither to thy help I come. Chapter 4 describes the loss of the ark linked to the judgment of Eli's house. Chapter 7, the return of the ark, which is a symbol actually for the rise of Samuel. So you have the end of a line and you have the beginning of a line over these chapters. And in between, in chapters 5 and 6, we see the ark in exile in Philistia. This week, though, we're just going to look at chapter four. It breaks down into two points. First, in the first few verses, the loss of the ark, and then corresponding in the second half of the chapter, the fall of the house of Eli. So the loss of the ark and then the fall of the house of Eli. As the curtain rises now on scene two, the nation of Israel is still under the corrupt leadership of Eli the priest and his two wretched sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They continue their corrupt, immoral activity right in the tabernacle at Shiloh. During this time, Israel is at war with the Philistines. Now Philistia was an area that encompassed what is today known as the Gaza Strip, but it extended further northward along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines are believed to have immigrated to that area in the 13th century BC from Greece. They built and inhabited five cities, Gath, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Ashdod. It should be noted that despite the overlap of the land area and them both beginning with a P, the Philistines are not related to the Palestinians of our day. The Philistines as a people were wiped out under Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in the early 7th century BC. In this battle, the Philistines set up their offensive to their north in the city of Aphak, which was in Canaan. And about two miles to the east of where they set up, you had Ebenezer. And that's where Israel's camp was, about two miles apart, right in the center of what is today called Israel. So on one side you have Aphak, on the other side you have Ebenezer. Ebenezer was about 20 miles west of Shiloh, which is where the Ark was. So you get an idea. Let's read the first four verses, Samuel 4, verses 1 through 4. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer and the Philistines encamped at Aphak. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about 4,000 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? So we have a defeat, 4,000 soldiers, the hands of the Philistines. Tragic, but an occasion for an excellent question. See, Israel's relationship with the Philistines was kind of a barometer of their relationship with God. So they understood that God ordained this loss in battle for a reason. So they asked the good question, why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? They understood that defeat implied that the Lord was teaching them some lesson, whether by instruction or by discipline. Now this is written for our example, brothers and sisters, that we too ought to ask why. It's not bad to ask why. We saw a number of months ago when we were studying Psalm 36 that when we go through trials, it would behoove us to ask ourselves soul-searching questions. What? What is God teaching me through this trial? What lesson do I need to learn in this trial? How might my sin have brought on this trial? What needs to change in my practices, the way I live at home or at work or in the church? What is deficient in my worship, my priorities? Is this loss any indication that God is getting my attention for some reason? Now it may not be, but we ought to ask ourselves these good questions. Why has the Lord defeated us today? But alas, the right question does not always lead to the correct answer. In the case of Israel here, the answer they come up with in verse 3 is this. 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 their answer to the question, why has the Lord defeated us today, is let's get the Ark. That's how we'll win. How do they come to that conclusion? Well, they use logic and their understanding of history. In the Torah, in the book of Numbers, the Ark of the Covenant was moved around from one location to the next as God led his people by his presence. In Numbers 10, verses 35 and 36, Moses says, as the ark comes to rest, he says, arise, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it came to rest, he said, return, O Lord, to the ten thousands and thousands of Israel. The ark was also essential in the book of Joshua. It led the people across the Jordan River. It was also used in Joshua chapter 6 in the destruction of Jericho. So it was logical to conclude, well we just lost the battle because God's presence wasn't with us. How can we secure this victory? Go get the ark from Shiloh, bring it to Ebenezer before our next battle. So, verse 3, their answer, Now their logic was logical, but it was presumptuous and superstitious. It certainly does not demonstrate the kind of repentance and faith that we're going to see in chapter 7 next time when we get to it, when Israel truly repents. Now they understood the connection between God's presence and God's power in the Ark of the Covenant. They were not wrong about that. The Ark would indeed bring God's presence into the camp, and God would indeed work Their presumption, however, is that God would work for them. But is this what happens? Look at verse 4 again. sent to Shiloh and brought from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim." You can imagine the scene. Imagine if it was like on the silver screen. There's crowds of people as they say, yes, we're going to go get the Ark, and it's a triumphant moment of the movie. They open up the tent and they seize the Ark in this epic biblical music. Think of Jesus of Nazareth theme or Lawrence of Arabia, some grand epic theme. But not so fast. The next line tells us why this is not such a great idea. As they come into the tent to seize the Ark, what does it say? The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant. Now the epic music turns to the screeches of the violin of the psycho murder scene. Or the ominous opening theme of Jaws. And that's what the author wants us to understand. This is not a moment of triumph. This is a grave situation. Hophni and Phineas were there with the Ark of the Covenant. We already know about those guys. The corruption was right there before God's presence. Now let's look at verse 5 and read about how the Ark arrives at Ebenezer. Verse 5. 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 of the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. I'm sorry, 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 mighty power of these gods. They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Now the Philistines were right to a point. They were right to fear God's presence. They knew their history somewhat, but not exactly. A couple of historical inaccuracies in here. A little bit of fake news. First of all, they believed that this God of Israel were mighty gods, rather than the one true God, Yahweh. They understood the power, but they didn't understand the source. The other thing is, it says that these were the gods who struck down the Egyptians in the wilderness. Now he didn't do that. Yahweh struck down the Egyptians, but it was at the Red Sea. So there are some errors in their understanding. But nevertheless, this is not enough to scare them off. It only emboldens them to fight even harder. Look at verse 9. Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Be men and fight. The Philistines' errant thinking at this moment is only surpassed by the errant understanding of Israel about the ark. They had what has been called a bad archeology, a bad study of the Ark. Their intentions in bringing the Ark was not to seek God, not to worship God, but to use him, to control him. They treated the Ark like a lucky charm. And that only results in greater defeat. This time, 30,000 slaughtered, Israel flees, the Ark captured, Eli's two sons killed. Look at this in verses 10 and 11. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a great slaughter, for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell, and the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died." Tragic. Tragic. From the vantage point of Israel, this was a tragic war. Just to give some context to this in modern day considerations, this attack resulted in more than 10 times the lives that were lost at the World Trade Center in 9-11. 10 times. Almost 30 times the lives lost on October 7th on the Hamas attack on Israel. and almost twice as many of the many lives of the Palestinians who have died over the last two months since October 7. In numbers, it was like our own Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Israel's bringing the Ark into the camp was to them the key to their victory, but for Yahweh, he was carrying out something quite different, something much greater. than just another victory for Israel. Indeed, the ark brought God's presence into the camp. But in this battle, He was not for them. He was against them. Now don't be mistaken here. God was not absent. If you get too wrapped up in the whole tragedy, the bloodshed of the war, the Arcus captured, if you get too much wrapped up in that, you can miss the fact that God was perfectly carrying out His plan at this moment. God was fulfilling prophecy. He had to judge Israel to purify them by removing their ungodly leadership, even if it would mean that the ark of his presence, even God himself, were going outside the camp to be delivered into the hands of sinful men. One era was ending, and a new one was rising, and it required a death for there to be a resurrection. Now, I'm going to leave the story there for now. It's kind of an end of season cliffhanger. I think the gospel implications are clear. If you don't see the gospel here, listen to what I just said again at another time. I'm going to allow that to kind of marinate for the next month. After the new year, we're going to come back to this. Keep studying chapters 5, 6, and 7. We'll pick this up in January. For now, we're going to leave the Ark in exile. Imagine the newspaper headlines if they had them at the time. Israel massacred. Their gods have failed. Yahweh defeated at last. Dagon won. Yahweh nothing. Yahweh sleeps with the fishes. God is dead. Yahweh in exile. And if you want to find out what happens to the Ark today, they only have to come next week, right, Pastor Eli? We're going to know where the Ark is now. So you only have to wait a week for that cliffhanger. The rest of it will pick up next year. For the remainder of our time, I want to look at the second part of the chapter now, which is parallel to the capture of the Ark, the death of Eli and his household, and the birth of his grandson Ichabod. Let's look at the rest of the chapter, verses 12-18. A man of Benjamin ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And 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 him the news, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, what is this uproar? Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now remember, he's coming about 20 miles. He's coming from the battlefield, and he's going out east to Shiloh. And he comes, verse 15. Now Eli was 98 years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 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 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. 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." A pitiful sight. Old, heavy, blind, agitated Eli, staring off into the nothingness of his blindness. The word of God comes, or the word comes from the man, the report, Israel fled, it's a great slaughter, your sons are dead, the ark is captured. Too much for him to take, he falls backward and he snaps his neck. Pitiful indeed, but necessary for a nation that was in darkness. See, in the absence of repentance, Eli the priest had already been told his fate. First by that man of God in chapter 2, which I'll review, and then by Samuel in chapter 3. Let's go back to chapter 2. There was a prophecy about Eli made by this man of God, unnamed, who comes to Eli. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 2, verses 31 to 33. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eyes on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out and grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men." God spoke through this man about the priestly line that would not stay with Eli and his descendants, but would be passed to another line. Now this did not happen immediately, as often God's judgments don't happen immediately. It would take about 60 some odd years. In fact, 60 years later we still find a great-grandson of Eli by the name of Ahimelech serving as high priest under David. Ahimelech was, if you remember, we'll get to this the end of next year, God willing, when Saul goes out and kills all the priests at Nob, Ahimelech is the one who survives. And it would be Ahimelech's son, Abiathar, who also served David as priest, he would be the one during, after David's passing, there was a battle between Solomon and Adonijah as to who would overtake the kingdom. And Abiathar would ultimately side with Adonijah. So when Solomon became the king, he was not in Solomon's good graces. So Abiathar actually became the one and only instance in history where a high priest was overthrown. And he fulfilled then this curse on the house of Eli. as the priesthood passed from Eli to Zadok, who was a relative of Aaron's son Eleazar. So Zadok takes over the line from Abiathar. This is recorded in 1 Kings 2, verse 27. It says, So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. It took almost 100 years after Eli died to fulfill this. Back to 1 Samuel 2, picking up in verse 34, it says, And this shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. This is the prophecy. Again, remember, the man of God bringing Eli the prophecy. This shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be a sign to you. Both of them shall die on the same day. And that was fulfilled here in battle, in the battle with the Philistines. The prophecy continues in verse 35, the good news. God says, 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. How was this fulfilled? Who was the faithful priest? Well, I believe it was actually fulfilled in stages. First with Samuel, who would succeed Eli as the priest judge. Samuel throughout his life did according to the heart and mind of God. Then it would be partially fulfilled in Zadok's priesthood. Remember, he's the priest that took over. I stumbled over my words earlier, but Zadok is the one, the priest that took over for Abiathar, ending Eli's line. He replaced Eli's family line. Zadok was succeeded by a long line of priests, and some say even to the point of the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. But if we look at the promise completely, It goes beyond Samuel, it goes beyond Zadok's line. Look again at verse 35. This one that he's prophesying is coming is what? A faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. God is speaking. And I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. Now I'm going to tell you why I believe that this is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Because I do believe that in Hebrews chapter 7 where he's called a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek is a fulfillment of this prophecy of a coming faithful priest. The difficulty that some have is the language. He shall go in and out, God is speaking here, okay, get this. He shall go in and out before my anointed, my Mashiach, my Messiah, my Christ. He shall go in and out. So it almost seems like the way this is worded is that the priest and God's anointed are two individuals. But there are some Hebrew scholars who point out that just with different vowel marks, This word for before or in the presence of, lipne, in Hebrew, could change the structure of the sentence to be this, my anointed, he shall go in and out before me forever. In other words, one person, the Messiah, my anointed, he shall go in and out before me forever. Now, what gives us the right to even question this? Well, the original Hebrew manuscripts were written without vowel marks. There were only consonants. The vowel strokes were added later to help the reader. And we believe that only the original manuscripts are inspired. So it is within the realm of possibility that these altered vowel strokes are actually what the original author intended when he wrote this text. That this is not one person, I'm sorry, this is not two people, one going in and out before the other, but it's actually one person, God's anointed is the priest forever. And this is fully consistent with the book of Sam, the themes of Samuel, the Old Testament in general, From Genesis, where we learn about this royal priest named Melchizedek, to Psalm 110, where the priest forever is given a royal scepter to rule, same person, priest-king, to the prophecy of Zechariah 6, of a man whose name is Branch, who builds a temple, bears royal armor, and he sits and rules on a throne as both priest and king. He reconciles the two offices into one. And all of this begins to crystallize here, at this moment, in the book of Samuel. The sun is rising on a kingdom here. First with Samuel, who is both priest and judge, and then later on with David, who is a king for sure, but he also does priestly things, as we're going to see when we get to that part. But it all starts here. Here is the changing of the guard. Here is the moving on from the corrupt priesthood of Eli's house. Now, at the same time as Eli's death, his son's wife is pregnant. Look at verse 19. 1 Samuel 4, 19. Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant, about to give birth. 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. And about the time of her death, the woman attending her said, Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son. But she did not answer or pay attention. 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. And she said, the glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured. Now imagine before this day how overjoyed she was. The birth of a son was coming. Maybe this son might even be the Messiah. Maybe this son would right some of the wrongs that were even circulated by her own husband in the midst of the corruption. But he was brought into a world of death. Instead of joy and life, she dies in childbirth, and in her last act, she names her son Ichabod, meaning inglorious, no glory, or where is the glory? And then she explains what it means, the glory is gone. The glory has gone into exile from Israel. Like Israel was wrong when they assumed that the Ark would bring them victory, like the Philistines were wrong when they assessed the power of the Ark to Israel's gods, plural, Phineas' wife is also wrong in her assessment of the glory departing. Oh yes, the Ark of God's presence is now exiled, it's gone. And yes, her father-in-law is dead. And by the way, kavod means heavy or literally weighty. Eli the priest was weighty, he was heavy as he departs the world. So in those ways, Ichabod is true. The kavod is gone. Ichavod, it's gone. But wasn't the kavod, wasn't the glory of God gone long ago? When Phineas and the children, the priests of Eli were in the tabernacle doing their corrupt things in the presence of God. And didn't it have to happen? Didn't God's presence have to depart temporarily in order that His people would repent and learn rightly to seek Him? What if God gave them victory on the battlefield at that moment? Would they have learned the lesson? See, they wanted success, not repentance. And God could not allow this to continue even if it meant His own suffering in exile. Gee, what does that sound like to you? What does that sound like to you? To me it sounds a lot like Hebrews 13 verse 12 where it says Jesus suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Jesus had to go outside the camp in order what? To sanctify the people. And here in 1 Samuel, the ark of God's presence needs to go outside the camp, even into the enemy camp. See, while it was in the camp, while it was in the tent, the ark was sinfully being treated by the people as a rabbit's foot, a lucky charm, or whatever you have in your pocket that you think brings you luck. That little cross you have hanging in your car, thinking that's keeping you from a car accident. That's what it was like. That's what they treated it like. But as we're going to see next time, outside the camp, the Ark is faithful. The Ark faithfully defeats every false god in the enemy camp. And once the Ark returns, the people repent and worship God rightly. So Phineas' wife says the glory has departed, and in one sense it did, but in actuality the glory had to go in order to return rightly. There's another cliffhanger ending here in this section. When Eli dies, Israel has no leadership. So the darkness seems to be getting darker on the kingdom of Israel. What kind of kingdom has no king? But there's hope looming. There's a sunrise coming, but for now it is proverbially true, as we conclude our final exposition of 1 Samuel in 2023, it is true that it is darkest before the dawn. We leave Israel without a leader, the glory departed, at least they think, the ark in enemy control, but as has been said, Sunday's coming. So hang in there. And we'll pick up with this story next year, same time, same channel. I will close with some additional applications for us to consider. First, not mentioned in your outline, I was just thinking about this this morning. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, but it bears repeating. Parents, learn from Eli's poor example. There are plenty of cautions in God's word against making your family into idols. Eli's sons became an idol to him so that he obeyed them rather than God. Brethren, our allegiance must be to Christ first, lest family become an idol. When we join the family of God, our priority becomes one another. And yes, we love our family and we do everything for our family, but we don't allow our family, our blood family, to disrupt our relationship with God. It's common in our day for parents to make soft choices, like Eli did, about church life in order to appease their children. And the sad result is that many in the church today become like Eli the priest. Eli chose sacrifice over obedience, blood over God's word. And as we're going to learn in 1 Samuel, to obey God is better than sacrifice. Secondly, also not in your notes, is that judgment begins in the house of the Lord. God was bringing judgment on Israel because it was necessary. The nation had become so corrupt that the sin was going on right under the nose of God in the tabernacle. And God had to bring judgment to that, had to end that, had to do what was necessary to bring that to an end. I also want you to think about what superstitions you hold on to. You know, it's not just Roman Catholics who are steeped in superstition with the magic holy water or the prayer beads or the Saint Christopher medals. Evangelicals have set up our own superstitions. I think of the superstition of the altar call, the errant belief that by the action of raising a hand or walking an aisle, you're actually accomplishing something spiritual by physical means. That is superstition. Superstition is using any physical easy tool to accomplish something that's invisible and spiritual. Now can God use it? Absolutely. But for many it's a superstition. They're holding on to that thing that they did, signed a card, whatever it is, prayed a prayer. What are some superstitions that individual Christians hold? Well, I said it earlier, hanging a cross on the rear view mirror, thinking that it's going to protect you from a car accident. Needing an image or a picture or something to pray to. The Bible itself can become superstitious. It can become a prop that you hold on to. It's your lucky charm. Remember when Trump held up the Bible? during those George Floyd riots, right? Like the Ark, the Bible is not a prop. The Bible is not your lucky charm. It's the living, active word of God. Its power is in the words, not in the binding and the pages and the leather. Some people treat the holy things of God as if they're magical. False teacher Joseph Prince teaches that by taking the Lord's Supper daily, he's found the fountain of youth. Wow! Is that simple? Like the Ark, the Lord's Supper is not magic. Like the Ark, the Lord's Supper is an exhibition of the Lord's spiritual presence. It is neither physical, it is not hocus-pocus, it is not magic. As God's people, we walk by faith and not by sight. How about your superstitious ideas? If I do my devotions today, everything is going to go well for me. I'm going to make those sales at work. If I pray, things will go well. Well, antithetical to walking by faith, walking by faith, continuing to walk by faith. Many use the name of Jesus at the end of their prayer as a superstitious formula. In the name of Jesus, I am guaranteed an answer. Just like the Ark of the Covenant guaranteed the victory in Israel. Praying in Jesus' name does not mean you pray whatever you want and then tack Jesus' name on the end of it, and you're going to get it. These are superstitions. They're quick and easy ways to avoid an active and ongoing faith and trust in God. See, a rabbit's foot promises you luck without having you to rely daily on the Lord. Holy water promises purity without repentance. Altar calls promise salvation without a steadfast faith. A quick morning prayer in the name of Jesus can do the very same thing if I trust in the formula. instead of a moment-by-moment trust in Christ. Anything, anything, may the Lord show you. I would ask you to earnestly ask the Lord that he would reveal your superstitions, because your superstitions are ultimately going to disappoint you. They're going to cause you to spiral in despair. What is it that you need to see or do where God, in a sense, becomes just a tool for you instead of your father? Instead of relying on superstitions, we need to have our minds renewed that we can rely fully on a sufficient and sovereign God. Renewing your mind will abolish any kind of superstition, but you need to let them go. No matter how much they comfort you, no matter how much you think you need them, let go of them. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, we're not presented with a superstition. We are presented with a person and work of God's Son who saves us from our sinful lives. We have faith in Christ not to make us lucky, not to avoid harm, but we have faith in Christ because he is worthy. Superstitions may make us feel safe for a moment, but only Jesus can provide true and everlasting security. Learn from Israel in our text by example. that God can become an idolatrous superstition if we, like they, deem Him to be merely useful instead of worthy of praise. So ask yourself, how do you use God? Do you use God? Do you use His way as a tool to get what you want? I think of that well-known quote by Hudson Taylor, and I understand the context in which he said it. And he was probably very right when he said it, but it has been so abused. What did he say? Well, he said this, depend on it. God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply. True as that may be, for many it's become a formula. A formula. I want things my way, I need this, so I'm just gonna do things God's way. There was this old radio program many years ago from Redeeming Love Christian Center, Clinton and Sarah Otterbach. I think they were prosperity teachers. But he always ended every show with something about God and his word will work for you. His word will work for me? Who's the slave? God does not merely work. He is worthy. God is not merely useful. He is sovereign. He is worthy of all glory and honor and praise and thanksgiving. And I'll close with this, a commentator, Dale Ralph Davis. And this really cuts to the heart. I'm gonna just close and listen to this. So he's writing about Israel's misuse of the Ark, and he says this. Here was a pressure tactic, a way of trying to twist God's arm that is not faith, but superstition. It is rabbit's foot theology. When we, whether Israelite or Christian, operate this way, our concern is not to seek God, but to control him. Not to submit to God, but to use him. So we prefer religious magic to spiritual holiness. We're interested in success, not repentance. And he goes on and says, the text forces two important implications on us. Listen carefully. Two important implications on us. One, Yahweh will suffer shame rather than allow you to carry on a false relationship with him. And two, Yahweh will allow you to be disappointed with Him if it will awaken you to the sort of God He really is. Let me repeat that in case someone missed it. Two implications for us. One, Yahweh will suffer shame rather than allow you to carry out a false relationship with Him. Two, Yahweh will allow you to be disappointed with Him If it will awaken you to the sort of God He really is. As far as the gospel implications of all of this, I think they're clear in our text. I hinted at them along the way. For those who have ears to hear and were listening, you've seen the shadows in this text. There's an arc in exile. There's purification coming from corruption. There's a death and resurrection. There's hope and darkness, all of which we find ultimately fulfilled in Christ and his gospel. Without me giving everything away, I would encourage you to read chapters four through seven. Bob, you still have more time. Sorry. Or whoever didn't read it. Sorry, Bob. That was terrible of me, wasn't it? I embarrassed the poor man. Anyone who didn't read chapters four through seven, you have a whole month. Read it until you find the gospel message. I've given you enough clues to discover it.