The Spread of Corruption (1 Samuel 4)

The Spread of Corruption (1 Samuel 4)

1 Samuel 4.21 Then 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. [nkjv]

Finally it seems that justice has been dealt as Phinehas and Hophni are killed by the Philistine army. I wonder what was going through their minds as they accompanied the Ark of the Covenant into battle? Did they really think that God would fight for them? I wonder if Eli ever repeated Samuel's prophetic word to them? The sad truth is that the ramifications of corruption in the priesthood was not just confined to the individual priests in question but was felt by a whole nation and ultimately by the following generation, which carried the burden of shame by being called 'Ichabod'.

This is still true today.

Lord please help me to never treat Your presence as ordinary or take for granted Your call on my life.

This is what I got from 1 Samuel 4, how about you?