1 Samuel 4:19-22

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at 1 Samuel chapter 4 beginning at verse 19. We'll go through verse 22. The ark of the covenant has been captured by the Philistines. The priest Eli has died. We're going to find out about Ichabod. What is Ichabod? We'll find out. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and get into God's word.
Hot? Nope, too hot. Oh, too hot. Your sister doesn't like it when it's cold. You don't like it when it's too hot. Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word. Please help us as we read it to understand it. Please teach us and let us love you and walk in your ways, we pray in Jesus's name. Amen.
1 Samuel chapter 4, beginning at verse 19. You and me. I'll read. You want to? Okay, go ahead. Now his daughter-in-law Phineas's wife was with child. That means she's pregnant. Due to be delivered and when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband and came up. We're dead. She bowed herself and gave birth for the labor pains came upon her and about the time of her death the woman who stood by her side took her do not fear For you have borne a son, but she did not answer, nor did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod saying in the glory has been has departed from Israel because the ark of the of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory has Departed from Israel for the ark of God has been captured
All right, so we've got three questions to answer. A, what is this? About. B, what's the? Fast Forward to 7 hours. And C, what are we? Called to do.
All right, so what's this about? I think it's about her having a son because the Ark of the Covenant got stolen. Yeah, so sometimes things can become, like with a pregnant woman, if things are really traumatic, even though the baby's not ready to be born, the baby can be born. Yeah, like our cats. Yeah, okay, like our cats. In the tornado. Yeah. And the tornado. Yeah. Yeah. Just like that. And there was a tornado that came near our house. All of a sudden, the cats, even though they weren't ready to give birth, gave birth. Both. Yeah. Yeah. We had two pregnant kittens or cats at that time.
But what's the traumatic thing that's happened? Her husband died and her father-in-law died. Yeah. Her husband died. Her father-in-law died. And the ark of the covenant caps off. Yeah. It's like everything is wrong. But dad has a purpose. Well, yeah, he does. But interestingly, the lady who helps her, the midwife that helps her birth the baby, she says, it's OK, you have a son. And what does she say? She doesn't regard it. Yeah, she doesn't regard it. She won't listen to her, right? Like this isn't good news to her. And so she named, what does she name the boy? Beelzebub. No, not Beelzebub, not the Lord of the Flies. No, she names him Ichabod. Ichabod. Ichabod. They're so weird names. Well, Ichabod is just Hebrew, right? But Ichabod just means without glory, right? And so she's saying there's no happiness here. There's no glory, right? The ark is gone. The priest is gone. My husband is dead. There's no glory left in Israel. So in her grief, she names this child.
So, what do you think is the best verse to summarize this section? What do you remember that you think is like, you know, this really helps summarize this? I think for the ark of God has been Yeah, that's what I have too. Verse 21, then she named the child Ichabod saying the glory has departed from Israel because the ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and her husband. What do you think this calls us to do? Seek calling. What are we called to do or how does this point us to Jesus Christ? I think it points us to him because he has a plan for her child. Okay, so he's got a plan even though this looks ugly and wrong.
Yeah, I think it's interesting that she calls him Ichabod, the glory has departed from Israel and yet I think that makes me think about the birth story of somebody else. Jesus. Who is full of all the divine glory and did Israel lose the glory of God forever? No. Jesus got born in a manger that wasn't so big even though he's the Son of God. Yeah, right. It's pretty inglorious and yet he became the King of Glory, didn't he? Yeah, Psalm 24 is talking about Jesus. Who is this King of Righteousness? Yeah, the king of righteousness, the king of glory, right? Open your gates, O Jerusalem. It's Jesus who is born Ichabod and yet ends up being our great glory. Well, he was before they, the authors even was. Yeah. He never got Mm-hmm. Yeah. So yeah, you're right. God did have a plan all along, didn't he?
So, it's a sad, sad, sad, sad, sad story though, isn't it? Could you imagine Daddy dying? How would Mom respond if Daddy and you and Nathan and Judah, we all died? Probably sad. But she has Debra and Allie. I think she would probably weep and wail. She has Debra and Allie. I think it'd probably mess her up for a long time. She would at least have something to be happy. She would have her daughters, that's true, and she would also have to trust the Lord, wouldn't she? It's the day that the Lord has made me be glad in it. You're right, but it's hard to do that when things are this sad. It's understandable that she would feel this way. Yet, like you said, God does know what he's doing, even in hard providences.
You ready to pray? God, we thank you so much for giving us your Son, Jesus Christ, and we thank you for giving us your Word. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to, in the depths of our despair, not grieve as those who do not have any hope. But Lord, we thank you that you did send us your Son. We do have the hope of the resurrection. We can trust in you. And Lord, we pray that you would make us strong and let us follow after you all the days of our lives. Thank you for your good gifts toward us in Jesus' name. Amen.
May God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.