Ichabod No More (1 Samuel 4)

• Good morning, everyone.
• As always, I’m excited to be up here, looking at God’s word with you, but I know not everyone feels that way. For example, my children are not always excited to see me up here. Because whenever I’m up here, it means that at least one of their names is likely to appear in the sermon and that week. And they’re not wrong.
• Today, I would like to start by telling you about their most embarrassing moment. Just kidding.
• Today, I want to start by telling you a bit about their names. 
• If you have kids, then you know naming a child is no small matter. You don’t just pick them randomly. Almost every name has a story that comes with it. 

Name Meanings

• For example, Brooklynn’s name honors my mother-in-law, whose middle name is “Lynn,” spelled, like Brooklynn, with two n’s. 
• Our second child, Olive, was named after a former student I taught in Korea. The name, like the student, was unique and fun, so we gave it to our second daughter. 
• Then there’s Quincy. People ask about his name, and the truth is, when you’ve worked in schools long enough, every name reminds you of a student. And not always in a good way. And so that baby name list shrinks fast… and eventually, you land on Quincy.

Names in the Bible

• But the point is that names are never arrived at by accident. This is true in life, and it’s true in literature. As an English teacher, I’m always reminding my students that authors never choose names accidentally.
• The same is true in the Bible. Names are often theological statements that help us understand God’s story at a deeper level. For example…
  • Abraham means “father of many nations”
  • Samuel, who we are reading today, means “God has heard”
  • And Jesus, of course, means “The Lord saves”
  • As you can see, these aren’t just random names. In the Bible, names are important. 
• And today, we encounter one of the more interesting names in all of scripture: Ichabod. 

• Ichabod is introduced to us in 1 Samuel 4. And if you have your Bibles, you can begin making your way there. 
• Now, I must warn you, this chapter is pretty dark, and it ends in what seems like utter hopelessness. Lucky for us, “utter hopelessness” is the best place to encounter Jesus. And by the end of our message today, that’s what we aim to do. 

Starting in the second half of v. 1. You can follow along on the screen.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophnee and Phinehas, died.

• Chapter 4 immediately draws us into a battle scene, and within a couple of verses, we learn that Israel is on the losing end: 4,000 dead.
  • News of the defeat travels to the leaders, and they quickly devise a new battle strategy in v3: to bring the ark of the covenant into battle. Surely, it will help us defeat the Philistines, they say. 
  • Except it doesn’t. They lose again in v10. This time it’s a “great slaughter.” 30,000 dead, and the ark—gone. 
  • It doesn’t seem like too long ago when God was delivering Israel from the mighty Egyptian army and bringing down the walls of Jericho. So how does a people set apart for God’s glory go from rescued and redeemed to ruined and disgraced? What happened?
  • Well, the simplest and most obvious answer is sin. 
• Sin happened. And today’s chapter provides a sobering reminder of the consequences of our sin. Just look around the battlefield, and you can see for yourself. Death is everywhere, and it reminds us how seriously God takes sin. 
  • And if God takes sin seriously, then so should we. So the plan is to take a careful look at two sins in particular, one from the first half of our chapter—the passage we just read—and one from the second half. My purpose is not to condemn, but to encourage us, collectively, to bring these sins before God, allow Him to search our hearts, and make us new again. 
  • So here’s our first point.

Point # 1: Don’t Assume God’s Favor; Instead, Seek His Will 

• During this first point, we’re gonna take a close look at the sin of presumption. 
• Presumption is when we assume God’s favor without actually submitting to His will. And it’s as sneaky as it is common.
  • It’s sneaky because it doesn’t outright reject God. In fact, it can sometimes be disguised as radical faith. 
  • But it’s not. 
  • Radical faith says, “God will do great things for His glory.” 
  • But presumption often says, “God will do great things for my glory.” And more often than not, this shift in thinking happens without us noticing.
    • We can see this shift when our prayers begin to look more like a Christmas wish list and less like worship. 
    • We see it when we faithfully serve God, but wonder why he does not seem to be returning any favors.   
• And we can see it, of course, in our passage today. 

• You can almost hear the sense of entitlement in the elders’ voices in V3 when they question the outcome of the battle: “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?” It’s a fair question, but notice what they never do. They never search for an answer. 
  • They don’t go to God with their question. They don’t seek Godly counsel. They certainly don’t search their own hearts or consider that the problem might be themselves.
• Instead, they assume control of the situation and decide to weaponize God for their benefit. Hidden within the decision to bring in the ark is the assumption —“We’re His people; therefore, He has to help us.”
  • At its core, presumption is not just a theological problem—it’s a relational one. Because presumption doesn’t just misunderstand God… itreduces Him.
    • It turns a relationship into a transaction. And when you treat a relationship that way, it stops being a relationship altogether.
• Here’s a thought exercise: Imagine if we treated our spouses the way we treat God? It might sound something like this: 
• Hey honey, I’ve scheduled a 10-minute meeting with you before I get ready for the day. I want to discuss 4 things that I need your help with, including my teenager’s attitude. And also, if you could help me get a promotion in the next month, that would be awesome. If I don’t hear from you today, I’ll just talk to you later tonight when I go to bed. Bye! Love you. 
• That’s not a relationship. And it’s certainly not worship. 

• STORY: I think all of us, if we’re honest, are guilty of this to some extent—of assuming God’s blessings without seeking God’s will. I know I am. The Holy Spirit has convicted me repeatedly of my tendency to make God serve my agenda. 
• The first time was about 16 years ago. 
  • Erin and I were living in Korea when she was pregnant with Olive. After a routine checkup, the doctor told us that one of the tests showed a higher-than-normal risk of serious developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome—a condition where children only live for about a year.
  • At that point in my life, my faith was weak. I wasn’t seriously seeking God’s will. But the diagnosis drove me back to Him. Alone one morning, I got on my knees and pleaded, “God, please fix this baby. Let this baby live a normal and happy life.”
  • But God could see through my prayer. What I really wanted was for my life to be normal and happy. In other words, after neglecting God for years, I was returning to Him and asking him to do my will. 
  • In that moment, the Holy Spirit brought a thought to my heart that made me stop praying, afraid to say another word. The message was something like this: “Whatever baby I give you will be perfect. The only thing broken is you.” 
  • You see, I tried to use God to get the outcome I wanted. And I did it almost unknowingly. I assumed that when things got difficult, like the battle with the Philistines, I could just call on God to fix whatever problem I perceived. But the problem, it turned out, was me. And by God’s grace, he has not given up on me.

That’s not to say that we should never ask for God’s favor. God is a good Father who delights in blessing His children. The point is that we must not assume God’s favor or put our own desires before His will. 

Today, it’s worth considering where presumption may have crept into your own faith. Because when God’s favor becomes more important to us than God’s will, faith has already begun to drift.

Moving on to the second half of Chapter 4. 

12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And Eli said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 And the man who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophnee and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

1. Point # 2: Don’t Settle for Empty Religion, Instead, Seek His Presence 

• If you thought our passage couldn’t get any more depressing, well, you were wrong.
  • By the time Eli falls dead in v.18, the entire spiritual order of Israel has collapsed. The priests are dead, the ark is gone, and Shiloh, the heart of Israel’s worship, is filled with the sound of grief.
  • To me, this seems like a pretty good place to end the story—Israel has rejected God and, as a result, they’ve lost everything. End of story. Except it’s not. 
  • The final 4 verses tell us about the birth of a baby boy. But what should have been a moment of great joy becomes one of the most haunting scenes in all of Samuel.
    • A child is born, but the mother doesn’t even acknowledge him (v.20). Instead, she lies there repeating the same words over and over until she too dies.
    • As for the baby, his name would echo his mother’s dying words —Ichabod, which means “the glory has departed.”
• At first glance, these details seem like a sad footnote to a really sad chapter. But remember, names are important. Ichabod isn’t just a really bad baby name (hopefully, there are no Ichabods in here); it’s also a devastating symbol of judgment.
  • The God who rescued them out of Egypt and established them as His people, has—in judgment—withdrawn His presence and we’re reminded of the other great consequence of our sin: to be separated from God’s presence. You see, as tragic as all the death is in the first half of the chapter, it seems to pale in comparison to the thought of living without His presence. 
  • And so here we are again, wondering how could we have gotten to this point?
    • And this is where we need to connect the dots.
    • Because the glory of God didn’t just suddenly depart—it was pushed out by a people who no longer valued His presence.
    • “Ichabod” isn’t just God’s glory leaving—it’s God revealing what had already happened in their hearts.
  • Somewhere along the way, Israel had grown indifferent. 
  • At its core, indifference is a heart posture that treats what matters to God as if it doesn’t matter.
• It says:
  • Truth matters… but not enough to shape my life.
  • People are hurting… but it’s not really my concern.
  • Sin is bad…but not bad enough to stop doing it. 
• We see indifference all throughout the book of Samuel. 
  • We saw it a couple of weeks ago in Chapter 2 when Eli’s sons were called to account for their “wickedness,” but scripture said, “They would not listen to their father.” 
  • We saw it again when Eli was rebuked by God for favoring his sons over Him. 
  • And we saw it today, when the same sons were allowed to lead the ark into battle. 
  • The overall vibe in Israel seems to be “Who really cares?”
    • It’s important to remember that during this time, Israel still looked the part of devoted followers: they had the ark, they had cool priestly clothes, the tabernacle. At times, they even played the part with sacrifices and passover feasts and really loud shouting in V5. I mean, they nearly had the Philistines fooled in V6. 
  • But it was just religious theatre. 
    • So when it came time to battle with the enemy, their years of playing religion had not prepared them for warfare. And so they fell. And the glory of God departed. 
  • But the tragedy of it all is that it could have been avoided. God’s glory returns when the people of Israel finally shake off their indifference, get serious about sin, and repent in 1 Samuel 7.
    • Remember, repentance isn’t just about saying sorry. It’s about coming into His presence again, laying down your sins and picking up His righteousness, basking in His grace, and walking away transformed. It’s the best way to fall in love over and over and over again with your Savior. 
    • Repentance, you see, is the antidote for indifference. 
    • It is what keeps God’s presence near. 
• And that brings us to the next question: What does this passage mean for us today? Or put it more directly: Can Christians lose the glory of God? 
  • The short answer, I believe, is yes—but we need to be nuanced here. 
  • In 1 Samuel 4, this judgment is spoken over Israel as a whole. God’s glory departs from the nation, even as He remains faithful and near to individuals like Samuel who truly seek Him. 

• The New Testament makes a similar claim. In Revelation, we see God’s presence being removed from churches that suffer from the same heart posture as the people in 1 Samuel. In Revelation 3:16, Jesus says to the church in Laodicea: “Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
  • Just like in Samuel, God is speaking to a collective group of people, and just like in Samuel, He’s passing judgment on their spiritual indifference—a people neither hot nor cold. This warning to the church in Laodicea reminds us that what happened in 1 Samuel 4 is not just ancient history—it’s a warning that still stands.
• So what does this mean for Garden City?
  • It means we must, together, resist spiritual indifference wherever it appears, starting with our own hearts.
  • We must fight against empty religious practices and legalism; 
  • And it means we must learn to see repentance for what it truly is. Not as a moment of shame where we crawl back to a distant God, unsure of what we’ll find—but as a return home to a Father who runs toward us in grace. Repentance is not the lowering of our heads in defeat. It’s the raising of our eyes to mercy. It’s not the end of joy—it is the beginning of it again. 
• Because in the end, our passage today teaches us that the greatest tragedy for any church is not losing influence or seeing numbers decline.
• It’s losing the glory of God. (Amen)

Normally, that’s where you guys would say Amen, but look, I get it. This passage is pretty depressing—just a bunch of death and judgment and bad baby names. Not exactly the feel-good sermon many of you were hoping for…

But it does remind me of another story I recently read.

• Story — Richard Wurmbrand grew up in Romania in the early 1900s. After a serious illness, a carpenter gave him a Bible—and through it, both Richard and his wife came to faith. He eventually became a pastor.
  • Years later, when communists took over Romania, he was arrested for refusing to let his church bow to the state. 
  • He would spend a total of 14 years in prison—years of isolation, torture, and forced labor. At times, he was held in solitary confinement, cut off from all light and sound. From the outside, it looked hopeless—a silenced church; an imprisoned pastor; death and suffering everywhere. 
  • It felt a bit like 1 Samuel 4, like the glory of the Lord had departed Romania. Except that’s not how the story ends. 
• In his memoir, Tortured for Christ, Wurmbrand wrote about the Christians in prison: “Often, after a secret service, Christians were caught and sent to prison. There, Chris­tians wear chains with the gladness with which a bride wears a precious jewel received from her beloved.”
  • Whereas 1 Samuel 4 ends in utter hopelessness, Wurmbrand’s story ends with him founding a ministry, called Voice of the Martyrs, that continues to serve persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries.
  • So it begs the question: how could Wurmbrand find hope when all seemed hopeless and Israel couldn’t? The answer, of course, is Jesus.

III. Point # 3: Ichabod No More: The Glory Returns

• Interestingly, Jesus’ story begins similarly to how today’s passage ends: with an announcement of a baby’s name.
  • Matthew tells us: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
    • If you’ve been in church for some years, you’ve probably heard this verse. But have you ever considered that this verse is essentially the reversal of 1 Samuel 4? It’s the anti-Ichabod moment that changed the world.
    • Whereas the birth of Ichabod represents God’s judgment, God’s glory departing because of man’s constant sin. 
    • The birth of Jesus—Immanuel—represents God’s mercy: God’s glory with us despite man’s constant sin. 
  • But the clearest revelation of God’s mercy and returning glory does not actually come at Jesus’ birth—it comes at the cross.
  • Now, imagine for a second what the cross must have felt like for the disciples; it must have felt like 1 Samuel 4 all over again, another Ichabod moment for sure.
    • Their Messiah—their hope—was hanging lifeless on a Roman cross. Darkness covered the land. Death and suffering were inevitable. 
  • But God, you see, had a plan all along.
    • This was not the glory departing because of man’s sin—this was the glory choosing to take man’s sin upon himself. 
    • Jesus took the punishment that we deserved; the punishment that we see so clearly in 1 Samuel 4: separation from God and death. And because he took our punishment, we were made right with God and received the ultimate gift: God’s presence in our lives. 
    • To say it another way: On the cross, Jesus experienced Ichabod… so that we could experience Immanuel.
• And now? Now, we live on the other side of Immanuel. Now, we live in a promise that the glory of God will never depart. 
  • For the Christian, Immanuel, is the great “yes, but” in our lives. 
  • Yes, life is hard, but God will walk with me through the hard things. 
  • Yes, there is much darkness, but my heavenly Father is the light of the world. 
  • Yes, God can still remove his presence from churches that grow indifferent and comfortable in their sin. Yes, unrepentant sin still grieves the Holy Spirit. And yes, God can still feel far away at times. These are all true. But, so is this:
    • When we seek God, I mean truly, earnestly seek Him, we will find Him. And if you’re new here today and you’re wondering where you can look to find His presence, a great place to start is at the cross. 

At this time, I would like to invite the band back up on stage and ask everyone in here to take a few minutes to consider what the cross means for you.

• To those who would not call themselves Christians—maybe today you feel something like Ichabod: far from God’s presence, like something is missing in your life. The cross invites you to consider a different life. 
• The invitation to follow Jesus is not complicated. Even now, in your seat, you can pray something as simple as this: tell God that you understand that sin keeps you apart from God, tell him that you’re sorry for your sin and that you’re turning from it, and that you trust Jesus alone to forgive you and lead your life. Then, sit in His presence and receive Immanuel—God can be with you today.

• To those who consider themselves Christians but feel like you are in darkness—like Ichabod has been written over your life—the cross is for you too. He does not promise a life without suffering, but He does promise His presence in it, and this changes everything. It changed my story; it changed Wurmbrand’s story; and it can change your story too. God loves you so much that he was willing to experience death, just so you could experience Him. The cross reminds us of this.

• And to the rest of the church—Let’s come to the cross, lay down our sins and repent of our assumptions and our indifference. And let’s receive what we could never earn on our own: His presence. Let’s take a moment to sit in his presence and fall in love with his mercy.