Eli had been warned that his sons would die because of their wickedness in disrespecting the sacrifices to God. If Eli passed that information on to his sons, they paid no attention. The next time the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, Hophni and Phinehas grabbed the Ark of the Covenant out of the temple and carried it into their camp. That excited the Israelites, but scared the Philistines to death. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert." - 1 Sam. 4:7-8 NIV
The Philistines knew better than the Israelites that you cannot mess with the Lord God. They had heard of his power and they were afraid, in contrast to the Israelites who thought that God was theirs to use as they saw fit; to drag around whenever and wherever they needed victory.
Boy were they wrong. The Philistines slaughtered thirty thousand Israelites, captured the Ark, and all hell broke loose. Hophni and Phinehas are killed. When he hears the news that the Ark has been captured, Eli falls backwards off his chair and dies. Then his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, gives birth to a son and names him Ichabod which means 'no glory', just before she dies.
There is no glory when God is taken out of the temple, off the throne, and away from his dwelling place. The Philistines discover that immediately, and the Ark is passed from place to place like a hot potato. It went from Ebenezer, to Ashdod, to Gath, to Ekron. Wherever the Ark went, gods were destroyed, people developed tumors, death and panic filled the cities. A power had been loosed in the land and it was too powerful to be consumed.
"Ichabod," Phineas' wife cries, "the Glory has departed." Woe to all, the Israelites and their enemies as well. The Glory has departed.
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