II. FOREBODING OF EVIL. The aged Eli sat in his chair of office by the gate of Shiloh, watching the road, eager for early tidings from the army, his heart trembling for the ark of God. The natural fearfulness of old age was aggravated in this case by a reproaching conscience, which told Eli that he ought not to have permitted the ark to be taken without any warrant from the Lord into the turmoil of battle. So he sat foreboding calamity; and when the heavy tidings came to him of the discomfiture of Israel, the death of his sons, and the capture of the ark by the Philistines, Eli fell to the earth without a word, and died. We do not present the pathetic figure of the old priest trembling for the ark as a model for servants of God. The right and noble thing for Eli to have done would have been to resist the desecration of the sacred ark, and to call the people to repentance, that so they might be strong in God before they encountered the Philistines. But he had governed so weakly that he had no moral influence or authority; and his great age, which ought to have brought him reverence, only brought him feebleness; so Eli could but tremble and die. We have seen such feeble saints in our own time; they are always foreboding evil; they are in great alarm about the dangers which beset Christian truth; they sit trembling for the ark. Popery is about to swallow us up! Or, Infidelity is carrying all before it! Alas for the ark of God! So they wail and lament, and spread misgivings among all who listen to them. But they do little else; they have no vigour in counsel or action to prevent or to remedy spiritual disaster. It is a poor spirited, ineffective style of Christian character. We want something much firmer and bolder for the defence and propagation of the gospel. We want repentance insisted on, righteousness preached and practised, wrongs redressed, abuses cast out of the Church, and then we need not fear the Philistines. Granted that the times are perilous; there is cause of anxiety, and there is need of prayer. But prayer itself will not gain any victory for those whose hearts and lives are not right with God. Hophni and Phinehas went to the battle field reeking from their sins. How could God fight by or for them? And the people of Israel, following the bad example in high places, were quite demoralised. Why should they have a victory? Let repentance begin at the house of God. Let iniquity be abhorred and forsaken. So God will be with us, and we need not fear the foe. We shall tremble at his word, but we shall not tremble because of the Philistines. "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear."—F.
1 Samuel 4:12-18. (SHILOH.)
The judgment of God on the judge of Israel.
"And he had judged Israel forty years" (1 Samuel 4:18). The life of Eli was lengthened out to ninety-eight years, during the last forty of which he judged Israel. In him we see that—
1. The highest official position may be held by one who is destitute of the qualities which it demands.
2. Much excellence is sometimes associated with grave defects.
3. Sins of omission have a ruinous effect on others—the family, the Church, the nation.
4. A good man is not spared when he is guilty of disobedience. The judgment of Heaven is impartial. The last hour of his long life has now come, and in it we see the old man—
I. WATCHING WITH ANXIETY FOR THE ARK (1 Samuel 4:13). Why does his heart tremble? He has truly an affectionate regard for it. But—
1. He has been accessory to its exposure in the battle field.
2. He is doubtful about its safety.
3. He dreads the consequences of its loss. Already he experiences the evil effects of his sin.
II. RECEIVING THE TIDINGS OF DISASTER (1 Samuel 4:12, 1 Samuel 4:14-17). "Woe upon woe."
1. The defeat of Israel with a great slaughter.
2. The death of his two sons.
3. The capture of the ark. "With the surrender of the earthly throne of his glory the Lord appeared to have abolished his covenant of grace with Israel; for the ark, with the tables of the law and the Capporeth, was the visible pledge of the covenant of grace which Jehovah had made with Israel" (Keil).
III. SMITTEN WITH THE STROKE or DEATH (1 Samuel 4:18).
1. After long and merciful delay.
2. Directly connected with his sin.
3. "Suddenly, and without remedy." Nevertheless, it was his dismay at the loss of the ark that caused his trembling heart to cease to beat; and his love for the sacred symbol lightens up the gloom of his melancholy end.—D.
1 Samuel 4:19-22. (SHILO.)
Ichabod.
"The glory is departed' (1 Samuel 4:22). Ichabod =
1. Genuine. She called the ark "the glory," and, doubtless, had regard not merely to the symbol, but also and chiefly to the Divine presence which it represented.
2. Peculiar. Living in corrupt times, the wife of an ungodly man, yet truly devout; a pearl among pebbles, a rose among thorns, a grain of wheat in a heap of chaff.
3. Eminent. Her grief at the loss of the ark surpassed her sorrow at the death of her husband and her father-in-law, and swallowed up her joy at the birth of a son.
4. Early perfected by death amidst the righteous judgments of Heaven. From her dying utterance learn that—
I. THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS THE TRUE GLORY OF A PEOPLE. It is the source of—
1. Their real dignity.
2. Their internal prosperity.
3. Their external influence.
In vain do we look elsewhere for these things. "Thy God" (shall be) "thy glory" (Isaiah 60:19; Isaiah 62:2).
II. THE TRUE GLORY OF A PEOPLE MAY DEPART. This takes place when the presence (i.e. the favour and protection) of God is withdrawn.
1. It is caused by human sin of various kinds. He is not desirous of leaving men, but they are unwilling to fulfil the conditions according to which alone he can dwell among them.
2. It is often held out as a warning.
3. It has actually occurred (Ezekiel 10:18). "Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that in the first place they felt a quaking and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, 'Let us depart hence.'" (Joseph; 'Wars,' 1 Samuel 6:5, 1 Samuel 6:3). The warnings given to the seven Churches of Asia (Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22.) were neglected, and the evils predicted came to pass. The candlestick was removed out of its place (Revelation 2:5), and darkness and desolation succeeded. "But though particular Churches may fall, our Lord's promise will never fail the Catholic Church: 'Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world'" ('Sp. Com.').
Conclusion:—
1. The presence of God should be accounted by us the greatest blessing, and his departure dreaded as the greatest calamity.
2. Whatever contributes to his departure must be zealously renounced or corrected (Lamentations 3:40).
3. No condition is altogether hopeless. "If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him," etc. (Deuteronomy 4:29). The glory of Israel, which, it was thought, had gone forever, was restored; and out of the night of sorrow a new day was born.—D.
1 Samuel
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