Bible.com.au: Reading Plan - Glory Box: The Covenantal Chest

Reflection: Lost ‘n Found

‘The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all…Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” …Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him…The Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder…and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out…slaughtering them along the way… Then Samuel took a stone and set it up…saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”’ 1 Samuel 7:2, 5-12 New International Version

After the wilderness wandering, Israel settled.

But, much like their hearts, the Glory Box was unsettled; displaced.

In the care of the Levite priests, it camped in several different towns, that is, until its capture when shockingly, glory was exiled from Israel. (1 Samuel 4:22)

In fact, it’s the covenant-breaking people of Israel who deserved banishment.

But the ark went instead.

While, for his covenant-keeping bride, God’s reserves of blessing and resources of power are abundant; covenant keeping is just not in our blood.

But mercifully and astonishingly it is, in God’s blood. Samuel’s account of old-covenant glory-in-exile is a foretaste of a new covenant in history when:

Embracing alter glory God becomes man

He kisses bride-runaway, blind

Woos her with grace

And she beholds glory face-to-face

For love’s sake he’s bruised and abused

Slaughtered

Rejected

Abandoned

But Glory cannot turn to dust

The Son defeats sin’s lethal curse

And glory-dips his pardoned bride

So that glory is by grace intensified

Prayer: You are not restricted to a box or place, Lord Jesus. So, meet us, your pardoned bride, in our bodies by your living, blessing, powerful Spirit…and in that deluge of glory please use us today to honour you and bless others.

1 Samuel 4:1-22

1And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

4So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”

When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8We’re doomed! 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 wilderness. 9Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

10So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Death of Eli

12That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.

14Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”

The man hurried over to Eli, 15who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 16He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”

Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

17The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

19His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.

21She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

Glory Box: The Covenantal Chest

Day 11 of 14

NIV

1 Samuel 4:21

Days

1 Samuel 4:1-22