The Glory in Exile
Daily Devotional for 23 September 2025
Chapters 1–3 warmed our hearts: Hannah’s answered prayer, the boy Samuel hearing God, fresh hope for Israel. Chapter 4 feels like a cold wind. The narrative races from battlefield to deathbed; no speech from God is recorded, no prophet explains events. The silence itself is a warning: when people harden their ears, heaven may answer with quiet.
Previous devotion (22 Sept.) ended with “The word of the LORD spread through all Israel” (New International Version). Today we discover what happens when that word is ignored.
• Shiloh – Excavations on Tel Shiloh show a long
occupation layer abruptly destroyed around 1050 BC, lining up with the
loss of the ark and, later, Philistine raids (Jeremiah 7:12).
• Aphek & Ebenezer – Two mounds east of modern Rosh
Ha-Ayin hold Late Iron I fortifications; pottery matches Philistine
wares. These sites straddle the narrow pass guarding the coastal plain.
Militarily, Israel had to fight here or be cut off from trade.
Western readers often picture a rolling meadow; in fact the pass is hemmed in by limestone ridges. A routed army had few escape routes—explaining the disastrous body count (4 × 1000, then 30 × 1000).
Israel loses 4,000 men. They ask, “Why did the LORD bring defeat on us?” yet they do not wait for an answer. Reflection: How often do we question God but hurry to fix the problem before listening?
Cross-reference: Joshua 7 (Achan). Wrong response to defeat leads to deeper loss.
The elders fetch “the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim.” The phrase drips with majesty, yet they treat the ark like a talisman.
Hebrew note: ’ārôn hab·bᵊrîṯ YHWH ṣᵊbā’ôṯ yōšēḇ hak·kᵊrûḇîm – every title magnifies God’s sovereignty. The irony is thick: Israel announces His throne, then tries to carry Him around on theirs.
Early church writers (Origen, Chrysostom) used this text to warn against relying on “holy things” apart from holy lives. The Reformers echoed them: Calvin called the ark “an empty piece of wood” when faith is empty.
The Philistines fear—then fight harder. Irony piles upon irony. Israel shouts; the earth quakes; morale is high—and 30,000 fall.
Literary device: The Hebrew narrator uses rapid clauses and the repeated cry “Woe to us!” (Philistine voices!) to heighten suspense. The enemy’s theology is almost correct: “Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods?” Their fear contrasts Israel’s presumption.
The messenger tears his clothes (sign of mourning), dust on head (Near-Eastern lament). Eli falls “backward,” breaks neck—an acted parable. The judge who let worship fall backward dies the same way.
Josephus, Augustine, and modern commentators all note the wordplay: the ark is glory/weight; Eli dies under his own weight (Hebrew kavod also means heaviness).
Eli’s daughter-in-law names her son Ichabod (’î-kāvôd, “no-glory / where is glory?”). The cry anticipates exilic laments (Psalm 74; Lamentations 2). She voices theology Israel would not utter.
The birth scene reverses typical joy: life enters, yet hope exits. A
chiastic structure centers on the ark:
A – Ark captured (v. 11)
B – Eli hears (v. 14)
C – Eli dies (v. 18)
B’– Daughter-in-law hears (v. 19)
A’ – Ark gone / Glory gone (v. 22)
Presence vs. Symbol
God’s presence is relational, not mechanical (Micah 6:6-8; John
4:23-24). The ark, like our sacraments, holds power only as sign, never
as leverage.
Judgment Begins at the House of God
Before judging Philistia (chapters 5–6), the Lord purifies His own
people (1 Peter 4:17).
The Weight of Glory
Kavod implies both radiance and mass. When devotion grows
light, glory departs. Paul echoes the reversal: believers receive an
“eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
God on Mission, Even in Defeat
The ark in Philistine territory will become a missionary—toppling idols,
humbling nations. God is never captive to our disasters.
• Jerome warned clergy not to be “ark-bearers
without fear,” handling mysteries while living carelessly.
• Matthew Henry saw chapter 4 as “a discourse on the
sin of presumption” and urged family worship that matches Sunday
zeal.
• Walter Brueggemann points out the political satire:
Israel’s leaders mimic pagan practice, while the narrator mocks all who
trust hardware over heart.
Questions
1. Where am I tempted to use religious routines to force God’s
hand?
2. What defeats might God be using to invite deeper listening?
3. Do I measure glory by numbers, noise, or by the hidden weight of
holiness?
Suggested Cross-References
• Psalm 78:56-64 – poetic retelling of the ark’s capture
• Jeremiah 7:1-15 – “Do not trust in deceptive words: ‘This is the
temple of the LORD!’”
• Revelation 2:5 – “Remember the height from which you have fallen… or I
will remove your lampstand.”
Hymn to Sing
“God of Grace and God of Glory” (Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1930). Its
refrain, “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this
hour,” answers Israel’s crisis with prayer, not presumption.
Lord of Glory,
We confess that we have paraded your name while silencing your
voice.
Strip from us every empty symbol until only your presence remains.
Teach us to listen before we march, to trust before we shout,
and to bear the weight of holiness with humble hearts.
May our defeats become doors to deeper obedience,
and may your glory return, not to wooden boxes,
but to lives surrendered to Christ, in whose name we pray.
Amen.