I invite you to please turn tonight to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 4. 1 Samuel, chapter 4. And if you're visiting, that's found on page 291. This is the darkest scene in the book. The title reflects it tonight. And yet, the answer comes in the midst of it. So this is what we're considering tonight as the Lord fulfills what He spoke against the house of Eli. We'll begin at verse 12 and read through 5.12. This is the word of the Lord, 4 verse 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. 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. when Eli heard the sound of the outcry he said what is this uproar then the man hurried and came and told Eli now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see and the man said to Eli I am he who has come from the battle I fled from the battle today and he said how did it go my son he who brought the news answered and said Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has been a great defeat among the people your two sons also Hophni and Phinehas are dead and the ark of God has been captured 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 40 years 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. And about the time of her death, the woman attending her said to her, do not be afraid for you have born a son. But she did not answer or pay attention. And she named the child Ichabod, saying the glory is departed from Israel because the ark 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 the philistines captured the ark of god they brought it from ebenezer to ashdod then the philistines took the ark of god and brought it into the house of dagon and set it up beside dagon and when the people of ashdod rose early in the next day behold dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the lord so they took Dagon and put him back in his place but when they rose early on the next morning behold Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold only the trunk of Dagon was left to him this is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in ashdod to this day the hand of the lord was heavy against the people of ashdod and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors both ashdod and its territory and when the men of ashdod saw how things were they said the ark of god of israel must not remain with us for his hand is hard against us and against dagon our god so they sent and gathered together all the lords of the philistines and said what shall we do with the ark of the god of israel they answered let the ark of the god of israel be brought around to gath so they brought the ark of the god of israel there but after they had brought it around the hand of the lord was against the city causing a very great panic and he afflicted the men of the city both young and old so that tumors broke out on them so they sent the ark of god to ekron but as soon as the ark of god came to ekron the people of Ekron cried out they brought around to us the ark of God of the God of Israel to kill us and our people they sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place that it may not kill us and our people for there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city the hand of God was very heavy there the men who did not die were struck with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven may the lord bless the hearing of his word well that is um one of the darkest scenes of scripture that i've just read to you one of the saddest scenes uh that you will read uh in the old testament and i want to begin tonight in light of that with the question uh what if god had um abandoned the project and what would it be like um if god left us without a deliver that's a question that's foreign to us that's a question that uh is scary to us for we wouldn't even know how to contemplate life i mean how many of you have been um think of the people going through situations now have have been in the hospitals and and and think of the blessing of being able to call out on the lord who's near to us and always does what was right and is able to help us and and deliver us in all of the hardships and and we take that for granted the people next to us who don't know the lord and don't have any way of crying out for they don't know him we look into a moment of israel's history when the glory of god's presence and favor departs and you have to ask the question at a moment like that well what is what is god teaching us what does he want us to understand by this particular section of scripture what is the main purpose of this and i want to look at this here as we have if you're if you're taking notes tonight i read two scenes together two very different scenes but actually very similar scenes that are linked together by the birth of a son you'll notice and that son naming ichabod as there is declared was an announcement the glory of god has departed from israel so so this this linking section this linking of a birth of a son with two scenes is how i want you to look at this particular passage tonight to see what these scenes are showing us and leading us to ask how has the lord answered us and could this terrible thing ever happen to us as we're working through this i want you to see the connection here between these scenes this is the first scene tonight. The beginning of 1 Samuel presents to us here in 1 Samuel chapter for this great moment in Israel's history where they are having an establishment and battle over the establishment of power and authority in the land. A war has broken out between the two peoples vying for the number one position. And you'll notice this here, the Philistines and Israel have entered into this great conflict and last time we opened that up and we studied that you remember what happened there was a great defeat initially on the field of 4 000 people that's a lot of people israel suffers this defeat and they come up with another grand plan they think well well something has gone wrong we haven't brought our god out on the field our god obviously has chosen not to be with us. Well, we can solve that. So they go, contrary to everything that God had revealed about the ark, about position, about touch, about placement, about veils, they go and they grab the ark of God, remember, and they bring that ark and they thrust it right on out in the battlefield thinking that because God has been brought there by them, they will and have to secure the victory he did it in egypt he's going to do it again for us and we saw the um last time the awful presumption that they really hadn't known the lord as we looked at because the priesthood hadn't ministered his word to them what a sad moment isn't it they had no knowledge of god they thought of god as contained in a box and that was the priesthood's fault they weren't teaching the people they weren't making known the the truth to the people and look at the consequences of this disaster now of what's before us and and the lord was not happy he was being used as we looked at last time like a magic wand throw him out there magically and he'll win the battle for us well this exposed so much and we tried to apply some of that seeing how we like to try to harness the power of god and how christianity works for people in hard times if we can manipulate god and name things and claim things and use god for the personal victories that we have in this life to achieve the lives that we want uh we'll look at that more as we look at david and goliath later. But a roaring service had happened, remember? They were pumped up. God is on the field in the box. And then the worst thing that happens that could have ever happened. 30,000 die. And Hophni and Phinehas, you'll notice there, foot soldiers die. That's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. Hophni and Phinehas the priests die and the ark of God is captured. This is where we are. Here's scene one. Then verse 12, you'll notice, verse 12. Then a man from, a Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. And when he came there, when he arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat by the road watching for his heart trembled for the ark of god this is uh quite um a moment where this man is is running and bringing bad news this is a runner of bad news he's running with it i've got bad news eli hears this terrible outcry going on in the land and all of the people fleeing and and what does eli say he's 98 years old he cannot see he's heavy the text is using words and this is a master literary masterpiece when that's why i'm wanting you to see the two sections together he's giving these this bad news to eli israel has fled before the philistines and there's been a great slaughter among the people your sons are dead eli your sons are dead and the ark of God has been captured i want you to notice what kills eli verse 18 then it happened 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 judged Israel for 40 years what just happened God had judged God had judged his sons God had judged Israel but it was this that took him down as soon as the ark was simply mentioned don't miss that with the next verse where it says when his daughter-in-law heard this She heard the news that the ark of God was captured, that her father-in-law and so and so on. Then the pains came upon her. That's not what Eli heard. As soon as the ark was mentioned, he fell over. And he died. His neck snapped. What a moment in Israel's history. The ark had become a weapon of judgment. The word for seat that Eli is sitting on is throne, often used in the Old Testament for throne. The word for heavy is burdensome. The whole play on words is this. Eli, whole dynasty, was representative of everything that symbolized idolatry in Israel and abuse in the ministry. And God was being used in the worst way as a servant and manipulated for their glory. The whole priesthood had become idolatrous. Eli on his throne, the chief symbol of it, just before the mention of the ark, he falls over and his neck snaps. God, in one sweep, fulfilled what He said He would do. He dethroned idolatry from Israel. That's the symbolism. He dethroned idolatry from Israel. There had been no fear of God, no honor, no worship. The ark was being used, God was being used this way. And this was the end of this scene. Now it's the first scene. Here's the second scene. The scene now moves right away from Israel to the Philistines. In their hands now is the ark of God. If you look at verse 1 of chapter 5, when the Philistines captured the ark of God, They brought it into Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon to set it up beside Dagon. Now, you remember the Philistines last time when they saw the Ark of God in the battlefield, they said, woe to us. These are the gods that destroyed the Egyptians. And they said, man up. We can do this. So they just thought they took down Israel and their God. And now we've got them in the box. We have control of God in the box. So you're getting a sense of what they believed. They had just captured Israel's God. This is quite a moment, isn't it? In knowing our God, in knowing His omnipotence, His immensity. They didn't so much see things that way. They believed that Dagon had defeated Yahweh. And so in this golden box, they set it up in their temple now of worship before Dagon's throne. Dagon was the pagan god of the time who had been worshipped. And he was known as the god of vegetation and fertility and was a military deity. He was the Philistine god. And you can imagine the excitement on the way back to Ashdod, the chief city of Philistia. They are chanting, they're singing, we've won the victory over Israel. We have captured this God who defeated the Egyptians. We are Victorians. So they take the ark and they put it before Dagon in the temple. Dagon seated. Dagon on the throne. The ark in the position of bowing before Dagon. This is not a wise thing to do, by the way. You know that? They are on a spiritual high. They're having wow worship. they're doing everything that they want to do they're excited and i believe the author is having us on the edge of our seats notice that the biggest problem of the text he keeps emphasizing is the ark of god the ark of god the ark of god what happens well the men of ashdod get up early in the morning and they come in to pay all their homage and their worship to dagon and they look and there's Dagon fallen down off his throne face down before the ark who did that who did that here's where the narrative is playing off the last scene isn't it do you see the two scenes now Israel goes they throw the ark in the battle and they think that they're gonna win they had lost and lost the first time with and lost 4,000 men then they threw the ark of God out there and use that as a magic wand. And you remember the problem. You remember what happened. God cast down the 30,000 of Israel fell. Look at this. They took Dagon and they set him up again. Of all we've been studying about idols. They got to pick up their God. They pick up their God. The God who had given them battle over Israel can't pick himself up. They will go back in the next morning. And they look and now this time, Dagon's head is off. His hands are off and his torso is laying there in front of the ark. It's one of those moments in the Old Testament that you sort of enjoy reading, don't you? It's like Elijah on Mount Carmel when he's mocking the Baals and the people of Israel. Where are your gods? Maybe they're out doing number two, right? Going to the bathroom, where are they? It's this kind of moment. Even after, you'll notice here, the lords of the Philistines come together and they send the ark of God away. But you'll notice here what happened, that the Lord was heavy on these people, that He's ravaging them with tumors, bubonic plagues, some have said. They were known so painful to be even, some believe, anal tumors. He's plagued them in the worst sort of way. that they don't even have mobility. So the people say, well, this ark can't stay by us. So the Lord's come together, send it over to Ekron. And in verse 9, the destruction against Ekron was very great. That tumors broke out on them, both small and great. And everyone in Ekron was furious that the ark of God had come to them, so they sent it out of the city. Why do these people want to kill us? get rid of this ark we don't want it send it away for a deadly destruction had come do you see the two scenes the ark was a means of judgment it knocked over eli breaking his neck by just the mention the symbol of their idolatry in that whole corrupt dynasty which the lord said 30,000 of israel had fallen it goes to the philistines it knocks over dagon and breaks his neck the symbol of their idolatry was broken and a mass destruction happens again the darkness of this passage cannot be underestimated notice this here in the midst of this idolatry now is linked together the birth of a son phineas's wife her husband's dead father-in-law's dead the ark of god is captured the sense you get from her is i have nothing to live for she her pains come upon her she's so distraught she gives birth and has no emotion over it hey don't worry a son has been born to you and she says his name is ichabod The glory of God has departed. This is the darkest moment. You have another scene in Ezekiel 1 where the glory chariot and all the glory of God and His movable throne that rides on the heavens picks up from the temple and leaves. I think there's something very powerful in this message. God is Lord over all, isn't He? He's Lord over Israel. He's Lord of the nations. God is never contained by us. God was teaching Israel He could handle Himself just fine. And His presence demands always that we fall before Him and worship Him as He has revealed Himself. As He's told us of Himself. The Psalms talk about this everywhere. You thought I was exactly like you, Psalm 50. But now I arraign you and set my accusations before you. Consider this, you who forget God. I will tear you in pieces with none to rescue. Those who sacrifice, thank offerings, honor me. And to the blameless, I will show my salvation. Think of this marvelous truth showing us the real problem and the awful truth that what we ultimately deserve is God departing from us. But is that what we've known? This is where I think we come tonight and have to understand what the author of Hebrews is telling us when he says that the new covenant is that much better. Think about this. What is so much better about the new covenant? Well, what if every Christmas you celebrated this? Verse 19, she bowed herself and bore a child, and she named him Ichabod. You don't know how good you have it. You don't know how wonderful Christmas is. Because that's not what you're saying, is it? When darkness had come over the land and silence, it seemed that God had departed. But that's not what we celebrate. today that's not what isaiah 60 was saying to us that i read earlier rise the glory of god shall shine upon you who is this what is he talking about well god in the fullness of time in the midst of darkness sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to do what redeem us from its curse so when the time came and the woman conceived and bore a son you shall bear a son and you shall call his name jesus for he will save his people from their sins all this took place to fulfill what the lord had spoken through the prophet behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name emmanuel which is what you guys should say it with me tonight god with us who's with us god himself and the message has been clear when john understood this he said when he saw the backside of the lord pass by which was clearly an allusion back to moses we beheld his glory the only begotten of the son of god full of glory remember when he said that full of grace and truth the glory of god seen in the face of jesus and did he destroy us well you're here has he laid waste his people you're here has he fought and won for you a great battle a great victory and as he told us to take the good news today to the philistines yep actually even further to the ends of the earth he doesn't want you fearing an enemy he is this wonderful this is the time in which you live this is the how best better the new covenant is for you the promise of the new covenant is this i will never leave you nor forsake you let that set in now you tell me tonight what that should produce in us you tell me tonight what our response should be to that you have a knowledge you have a knowledge of god and it ought to be then that your whole bodies are given as a reasonable service of thanksgiving to a king who's loved you this way and promised he'll never leave you never destroy you you don't have to coerce him you don't have to use him it's a deadly thing to do. He's already helped you. He's already answered you. He's already fought and won the battle for you. All other helps are useless, but He wants you. He does indeed want you to cast your cares in trust, as we heard from Heidelberg 21 tonight. Cast your cares in trust upon Him and believing and trusting that He cares for you. You don't have to manipulate Him. You don't have to force His hand. You don't have to use all kinds of words in your prayers, endless repetitions like the pagans do to try to get the attentions of their gods. He's accessible. He's near. He's with you in Christ. And He's given you His Spirit to seal you for the day of redemption. You could summarize both today. That we should really bow our whole lives before a King who's loved us this way. His yoke is light. His burden is easy. His care is abundant. His love is forever. And you know, our witness is the strongest when we're believing these things. When we're trusting Him in this way. I pray all of you this week will go out and present your bodies as a living sacrifice of thanksgiving. Trusting Him and believing Him because He's loved you and He's delivered you from all of your sins. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your wonderful Word and how You have sustained us on this manna from heaven, how You've helped us in this day and not given us as our sins deserve for what would be an awful message tonight if we were talking about Ichabod. But we're not. We're talking about Jesus. The name given above every name that at that name every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that He's Lord to the praise and glory of God the Father. We thank You, Lord, for salvation and thank You for fulfilling Your Word and showing Your goodness. May we worship You in spirit and in truth. May we enjoy You the way that we should and reverence You in the beauty of Your holiness. Thank You indeed for being with us. Thank You for promising, O Lord, that You will never leave us or forsake us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.