This chapter presents, not only the ruin of the priesthood, but also the ruin of the entire people; therefore judgment comes upon the one as well as upon the other. “And what Samuel had said happened to all Israel” (1 Sam. 4:1). Samuel’s word, the prophetic word, had an infallible character. The judgment it pronounced would certainly come to pass.
“And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer” (1 Sam. 4:1). Eben-ezer is mentioned here only in order to indicate to us the place where Israel pitched their camp, for it did not receive this name until later (1 Sam. 7:12). This place was at Mizpah (1 Sam. 7:6), a fact which is of great importance for appreciating the moral condition of the people. For Israel, the place of meeting before God was Gilgal under Joshua and Mizpah under the judges. At this time the name of Mizpah meant nothing to the affections of the people and was not even pronounced (cf. Judg. 11:11; 20:1; 21:1, 5). The natural consequence of forgetting God’s presence is that the people do not consult Him. The immediate result of this is that “Israel was smitten before the Philistines” (1 Sam. 4:2).
They ask: “Why has Jehovah smitten us today before the Philistines?” They do not understand the cause of their defeat, having no conscience of their condition. In order to rise again after the blow that had leveled them, they attempt to associate the ark, God’s throne, with their ruined state, as it had been associated with them at the beginning of their history. They do not dream of presenting themselves before God in order to learn from Him the reason why He had abandoned His people. They pull God to themselves, so to speak. The same thing may be seen today. Two Christianized nations fight against one another and each side says: God must be with us.
The God who sits between the cherubim allows Himself to be led by Israel, but as Judge rather than Deliverer. He judges everything; first the priesthood, then the people, and finally their adversaries after His glory has departed from Israel.
The people appear to highly acknowledge God’s power; when the ark comes into the camp they raise such a great shout that “the earth shook.” In the same way Christendom uses Christ’s name in order to exalt itself in the midst of unjudged iniquity. The outward sign of God’s presence is sufficient for this system which boasts: We have the ark. Israel thinks that God cannot abandon them without exposing Himself to shame. But God does exactly this: He exposes Himself to shame; He allows the world seemingly to become His conqueror. In reality, this scene is the accomplishment of God’s word through Samuel, but God, delivered into the hands of enemies, is the One who judges. As it was with the ark, so it is with Christ. He who is rejected, despised, He to whom men did all that they would, is established by God as Judge of the living and of the dead.
What became of the triumphal shout in 1 Samuel 4:5? A “noise of... tumult” replaces it. Israel is smitten, the priesthood is destroyed, shame and powerlessness are evident, and God’s glory is delivered into the hands of the enemy!
The piety of poor, guilty Eli shines out in this disaster. The end of his career speaks to us of something yet besides God’s judgment, however real and terrible His judgment may have been. With a self-judged heart he had humbly accepted God’s judgment on himself and his sons (1 Sam. 3:18); now his thought is only for the ark of the Lord. “His heart trembled for the ark of God.” (1 Sam. 4:13). When the messenger speaks of it, Eli falls from his seat and dies (1 Sam. 4:18). It is not the judgment on his family that leads to his death, but the dishonor inflicted on the Lord and His departure from the midst of His people.
Phinehas’s wife’s last moments also shine with a similar consoling light! The catastrophe brings her pregnancy to a premature end and causes her death, but in dying she calls her son Ichabod: “The glory is departed.” In the person of her own son, she proclaims Israel’s ruin and its consequences. The witnesses of the times of the end may be recognized by this feature. The dishonor done to God through our own unfaithfulness humbles us, and, instead of attempting to remedy the state of things this has provoked, we bow our heads under the judgment, for there we perceive the holiness of the Lord.