By E. Roger Ammons, Communications Minister.
After wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the Israelites crossed the Jordan and set up the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). Eli was the high priest at Shiloh for forty years (1 Sam. 4:18). His sons were sons of Belial who knew not the Lord (1 Sam. 2:12). Israel went out to battle against the Philistines and was defeated (1 Sam. 4:1, 2). “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said… Let us fetch the ark of the covenant… it may save us out of the hand of our enemies… And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain” (vv. 3, 11). “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… she named the child I-chabod, 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” (vv. 19, 21, 22). The glory had departed “because of her father in law and her husband.”
What were the causes that resulted in the glory of God departing from His people?
1.Lack of Discernment. When Eli was first mentioned in the Bible, Hannah had come to the Tabernacle to pray for God to give her a child. Eli saw her lips move but did not hear her voice. He thought she was drunken and a daughter of Belial (1 Sam. 1:11-16), but he may not have discerned that his sons, who were priests, were sons of Belial (1 Sam. 2:12) until he heard it from others (vv. 22-24, 27-34). Because of a lack of discernment, Eli seemed to think that good was evil and evil was good. A lack of discernment can be a cause for the glory of the Lord to depart.
2. Nepotism. Eli performed the functions of the high priest, but, except for the child Samuel, the only priests mentioned who assisted him were his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Eli heard and expressed his disapproval of their sins, but he allowed them to remain in leadership (1 Sam. 2:23). Eli honored his sons above the Lord (v. 29). When leaders can only appoint members of their family and then not remove them as leaders when they sin, this brings the curse of Ichabod upon The Church of God. Some ministers used to preach against divorce and remarriage, but when their children committed this sin, they changed their message. However, we must remember that God Himself chose Aaron and his sons to be priests (Ex. 28:1). How wonderful it is to see many members of the same family living holy lives and serving as leaders in God’s Church, without partiality or respect of persons that could result in fewer manifestations of the glory and presence of God.
3. Laxity of Discipline. Matthew Poole comments that Eli gave his sons “a cold and gentle reproof, and did not severely rebuke, and punish, and effectually restrain them from their abominable courses, nor use that authority which God had given him, as a father, as a high priest, and as a judge, or chief magistrate, against them, as by the law of God he was obliged to do.” Eli said to his sons, “…Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people… ye make the LORD’S people to transgress… if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father…” (1 Sam. 2:23-25). The Lord told Eli that He would judge his house “for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (1 Sam. 3:13). Notice that Eli said, “Ye make the LORD’S people to transgress.” If sinful leaders in The Church of God are not restrained, it will encourage the members to sin. The needed discipline begins within the family and then extends to The Church of God. “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:5). When a member of The Church of God is living a sinful life and bringing reproach on the Church, every effort should be made to restore him, but if he continues in his sin, he should be disfellowshipped. In order for The Church of God to be glorious, sinful leaders must be restrained.
4. Sons of Belial. “The sons of Eli were sons of Belial…” (1 Sam. 2:12). According to the British Family Bible, “Belial is a Hebrew word implying a wicked worthless man, one resolved to endure no subjection; a rebel; one that cannot be controlled. In later times, Belial means the devil.” Paul wrote to The Church of God at Corinth, “I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (1 Cor. 10:20, 21). “And what concord hath Christ with Belial?… as God hath said… I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:15-17). The glory of God will be manifested in The Church of God more or less to the degree that her members are holy or unholy.
5. Leaders Who Knew Not God. “Now the sons of Eli … knew not the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:12). They knew ABOUT God, but they did not know God. One may have been raised in a pastor’s home, graduated from Bible Training Institute, appointed to a position of authority in the Church, fourthgeneration Church of God, baptized so many times as to know all the tadpoles by name, etc., and still not know God. Knowing God comes by divine revelation. When Peter received a divine revelation of The Church of God in Matthew 16, he also received a divine revelation of the God of the Church. He said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered… flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father… and upon this rock I will build my church…” (Matt. 16:16-18). Sadly, some go from knowing God to a reprobate mind. Paul gave Titus the qualifications of a bishop, but he also mentioned some characteristics of those who did not qualify, one of those being that “they profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Paul wrote to the Romans, “…when they knew God, they glorified him not as God… Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness…God gave them up unto vile affections… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind…” (Rom. 1:21, 24, 26, 28). The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness…” (Jer. 9:23, 24). We glorify God by acknowledging, in a spirit of worship, what a glorious God He is. Thus, we become His glorious people. But if we do not like to retain God in our knowledge by divine revelation and a personal relationship with Him, His glory will depart from us.
6. Greed. “…When any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came… And… all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself…” (1 Sam. 2:13, 14). Adam Clarke comments, “When a peace-offering was brought, the right shoulder and the breast belonged to the priest, the fat was burnt upon the altar… the rest of the flesh belonged to the offerer. Under pretense of taking only their own part, they took the best of all they chose, and as much as they chose.” The prophet Isaiah condemned those who were “greedy dogs which can never have enough” (Isa. 56:11). In all four Gospels, Jesus condemned those who had made His Father’s house a den of thieves (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:45, 46; John 2:16). The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus that the bishops and deacons must not be “greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Tim. 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7, 11). To the Romans, he wrote, “For they that are such serve… their own belly…” (Rom. 16:18) and to the Philippians, “…whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame…” (Phil. 3:19). The Lord asked Eli, “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation…to make yourselves fat…?” (1 Sam. 2:29). The “habitation” of the Lord is now The Church of God. In a General Assembly in the mid-1990s, Eddie Griffith said that the Church should be careful to not adopt a financial system in which the best paid are paid better, and the least paid are paid less. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “But by an equality, that… your abundance may be a supply for their want… that there may be equality” (2 Cor. 8:14). “Equality” is a Bible doctrine, and inequality and greed are spots, wrinkles, or blemishes which will not exist in The Church of God when she has become a glorious Church.
7. Strong-arm Tactics. “And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force” (1 Sam. 2:16). When a peace-offering was brought to Shiloh, Eli’s sons were not satisfied with just their portion of the shoulder and breast, but also took the fat which belonged to God and took the rest which belonged to the worshiper. If some righteous worshiper was bold enough to speak out about the wrongdoing of the priest, not for his own portion, but rather for the fat which belonged to God, the priest would take all of the offering by force. Ezekiel wrote of evil shepherds who had scattered God’s sheep, “…with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them” (Ezek. 34:4). The apostle John wrote to Gaius, “…Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds… neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church” (3 John 1:9, 10). Remember the words of the apostle Peter, “Feed the flock of God…not for filthy lucre… Neither as being lords over God’s heritage…” (1 Peter 5:2, 3). In the Church’s present imperfect state, some leaders may use strong-arm tactics, but when the Church attains her glorious state, the presence of God’s theocratic rule will be in its purest form.
1.Lack of Discernment; 2. Nepotism; 3. Laxity of Discipline; 4. Sons of Belial; 5. Leaders Who Knew not God; 6.Greed; 7. Strong-arm Tactics. But another cause was Sacrilegious Worship. God gave specific instructions in the Old Testament as to how His people were to worship Him. The offering of sacrifices in a specific manner was an integral part of worshipping Jehovah God. But we read of Eli’s sons, “Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw” (1 Sam. 2:15). This transgressed the order appointed in the Law (Lev. 7:31). Adam Clarke comments, “They would serve themselves before God was served.” First, the fat was to be burnt as an offering to God; then the breast and the right shoulder belonged to the priest, and the rest was given to the offerer. God’s view of this is expressed in these words, “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation…” (1 Sam. 2:29). Such self-centered worship by the priests was not only a great sin against God, but it also caused the other worshippers to despise worship. “Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:17).
In our day, sometimes so-called worship is centered around a narcissistic Billy Jo Hollywood wearing a suit that would glow in the dark—his main emphasis placed on appealing for more money for his ministry than on true worship of a holy God. Often the word “appeared” is used in reference to the glory of the Lord (many times in the Old Testament and, yes, on the Day of Pentecost; see Acts 2:3). Akin to this thought is the “manifestation of the Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7). A “manifestation of the Spirit” is an appearance of the glory of the Lord. When one of the nine gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8, 9 is operated by the Spirit, the glory of God has appeared in His House, the Church, which is also His Body. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, each of these gifts is for the purpose of enabling the members of His Body “that the members should have the same care one for another” (v. 25). Chapter 13 presents the most excellent gift of the Spirit as charity. Chapter 14 teaches us that when we gather for worship, these gifts (appearances and manifestations of the glory of God) are for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of all the members of the Church, not just for self-edification. When worship is centered on oneself or some religious leader rather than on God, the gifts of the Spirit will not operate in their fullness, because the glory of the Lord has departed.