Ichabod

The Glory has Departed

Lessons from the wife of Phinehas.

1 Samuel 4


19And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.


20And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.


21And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.


22And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

In the preceding verses, we read of the aged Eli, trembling for the Ark, which his sons had taken to the battle field. On hearing that the Ark had been captured by the Philistines and the Israelite army had been defeated he fell from his seat and died.

He trembled, for the Ark of the Lord, the symbol of the Lord's presence among his people, had been removed from its rightful place. The tablets of His covenant, the mercy seat, the manna. He quaked, for he knew that this was disastrous for Israel and though he grieved the death of his sons, which had been prophesied in the previous chapter, he mourned more greatly the loss of the Ark of God's Covenant.

And then we meet the wife of Phinehas. Phinehas had been described as a son of Belial. He was wicked, without moral integrity, he had lain with the women at the door of the temple and abused his office of the priesthood. What the life of this woman was like we do not know, it does not sound as though she had a devoted husband, but how touching it is to read that she, like Eli, grieved more greatly the loss of the Ark and all it stood for, than for her own husband.

Pastor used this as an occasion to speak to the young women about making Godly choices in marriage.
(I wonder though, in Israel at that time, whether a young girl had any say in whom she married? Abigail comes to mind also.) It is sad that sometimes a believing woman will marry a man of unsuitable character.  Perhaps she is too caught up in the idea of love, or not wise enough to discern bad traits, before they marry. Perhaps she was not saved before her marriage. Many  women live lives to the glory of God in difficult circumstances. His grace is sufficient and we see that even in the evil times in which she lived and what ever her circumstances were, the wife of Phineas gives us a lovely picture of the virtuous woman, who dies with the name of her Lord upon her lips.

God's Word should be precious to us, as the Ark of the Covenant was to the Israelites. Herein lie the words of salvation and instruction to us. Do we value his Word as highly as we should? Do we place God above all others and glorify Him?

Good questions to keep before me this week.