Ichabod
Robert Meredith
In 1 Samuel 4 one can read of the birth of Ichabod. In the context of this chapter, Israel had lost two battles, thirty-four thousand of their soldiers had been killed, and the Ark of the Covenant had been captured. When a soldier came and told Eli about the death of his two sons (who the Bible says were wicked) and the taking of the Ark, Eli fell over backwards and his neck broke. It is during this sad chain of events that Ichabod was born to one of Eli’s daughters-in-law. In 1 Samuel 4:19-22, one reads, “And 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. And 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. And 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. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the Ark of God is
taken.” Truly the glory had departed from Israel. The loss of the Ark, two defeats in battle, the death of Eli, the judge, and the other events prompted this woman to name her child Ichabod, which means “the glory has departed.”
Today, when certain events take place, we can say, “Ichabod, the glory has departed.” When faithful preaching is not done, the glory has departed, In Ephesians 3:21, Paul penned, “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.” The only place it is said that God is glorified is in His church. When His church fails to faithfully proclaim His word, then the glory has departed. When sermons are filled with secular philosophy, instead of the Bible, the glory has departed (2 Timothy 4:2). When false doctrine is advocated from the pulpit, the glory has departed (1 John 4:1). When the subject of sin is avoided, then the glory has departed (Galatians 2:11). And when the whole counsel of God is not preached, then the glory has departed. Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The gospel demands faithful preaching. “For though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16). See also: 2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Timothy 4:16, Titus 2:1, and 2 Timothy 2:2.
Also, the glory has departed when Christians are not faithful. Peter informs us that we are “built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices” (1 Peter 2:5). When Christians fail to be holy, then the glory has departed. Paul commands us, in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”
Too, the glory has departed when there is a lack of work being done in the Lord’s kingdom. In Matthew 20:1 Jesus is pictured as going out to hire laborers into His vineyard. The church is a place of activity. The Apostle Paul admonishes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” When the church is not involved in the work she is directed to do, then the glory has departed. Jesus warned that those who do not labor will be cast into outer darkness (Matthew 25:30). The Lord’s half-brother, James, informs us, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
Another way that the glory can depart is when there is a lack of love. The Apostle John tells us, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). One must have supreme love for God and love for his neighbor (Matthew 22:35-40). He must have love for the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). He must have love for the lost (Galatians 6:1-2). When one fails to manifest love, he is failing to be like God and therefore the glory has departed.
Ichabod was born during some troubling spiritual times for Israel. His mother knew that God’s glory was departing from Israel, and therefore named him Ichabod. Today, God’s glory can depart from spiritual Israel (Galatians 6:16). When we fail to live and teach as God would have us to do, then it is true that the glory has departed.