Today on real life radio. If I just keep this religious thing in my life, I'll be okay. It'll save me. Look, God, I have an ark of the covenant. Look, God, how can I lose in battle?
I have a cross around my neck. That's what they were doing. They were trusting in the religious articles. That God never intended for people to connect with. This is real life.
Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. Daniel Cohen here from Israel. If you love Pastor Jack Hibbs' fearless approach to teaching God's word, you'll love the Real Life Network. It's built for warriors who want the truth.
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Pastor Jack continues his series called 1 Samuel and a message titled Ichabod. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first prophet. Samuel is now warning the Jewish people of the dangers of spiritually departing from God. You see, Ichabod literally means the glory has departed. This is the name a woman gave to her son after hearing of Israel's utter defeat.
capture of the Ark of the Covenant, and the deaths of her husband and father-in-law. She dies shortly thereafter, and all because of sin? This baby is orphaned.
So today Pastor Jack teaches that Ichabod is a name that brings to light the tragic moment when God's presence departs from Israel. It was God's judgment to awaken his people from their trust of outward rituals and symbols. to a sincere devotion of God Himself.
Now with his message called Ichabod, Here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hills.
So Father, we ask in Jesus' name that as we spend this time, Together. That you would change our lives by the power of your Spirit as He uses your Word. For we ask it, Lord, in Jesus' name, and all God's people said. Amen.
So grab your Bibles tonight and turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel 4. 1 Samuel 4 and verses 12 to 22 tonight. 1 Samuel. Israel As the people had slipped into a backslidden state. In fact, they just didn't slip into a backslidden state.
They had quite frankly been led there. They had been led to think of the things of God as being not so important because. Eli's sons, Hafni and Finhas, had led the people into Abhorring the worship of God. Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine being a worship leader and leading people into hating coming to Service?
They were the priests of the Lord, these two boys. Eli was the priest of God to the nation. And his sons, unruly. Undisciplined rebellious men. Wearing the priestly garments.
Going in and out of the temple of God, of the worship of God. And all the while, as we've studied, Going and Prostitute in their office. Saying to people in the fellowship of the community of worshipers in Israel, hey, give me what you're gonna offer to God. Give it to me now first. I want this offering.
Say it was a lamb. I want this lamb before it's boiled because I wanna barbecue it for myself. Instead of giving it as a barbecue to God. Which is what they were supposed to do. And not only were these two boys corrupt, But the servants underneath them.
Became corrupt. That's how it happens, you know, in service. In ministry. If the leaders corrupt, the people around them will be corrupt. And the people around them, if they're corrupt, the people often associated with that ministry become corrupt.
If there was ever a trickle-down. Economic. It is true in religious things. It's a horrible thing or it's a beautiful thing. I betcha, people who hung around Paul were just like Paul.
It's just kind of a thing. Have you noticed in your own life if you've been around someone who really impresses you and pricks your heart to draw you? Either more into that company, or more into that vision, or more into that Christian work, that you wanna be like them, you wanna emulate them. And that is a godly thing. Did you know that?
Did you know it's a godly thing? The Bible, in fact, Paul says, emulate me as I emulate Christ.
Now some people get kind of funky, weird, goofy about it. I've been to certain churches where I had to laugh. Because The assistant pastors dressed just like the senior pastor. They even had the same kind of shoes. They wore the watch the same.
They walked the same. They even, when they talked, they kind of talked the same. It's pretty funny. And now I came from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where you can't do that. Because there's only one pastor, Chuck, in content, in shape.
and inform. And you can't go, oh. You know, and Open your Bible. And pause for 10 minutes. I mean, how many times?
How many times have you been listening to Chuck's tapes and you thought your tape recorder broke or it was at the end of the tape? And you turn it over. I've done that many times. I do it. I still do it.
You can't emulate him that way, but what you can do is say, you know what? I've seen how this guy handles money. I've seen how this guy handles problems. I've seen how this guy handles people. And you emulate The Lord Jesus Christ that shines forth out of Chuck.
And if you have a godly influence in your life, you say, Lord, I want to emulate the you that flows out of that person's life. Are they human? Yep. Do they make mistakes? Yep.
Get away from that stuff. Avoid that part. In fact, I guarantee you, the people that you want to emulate in your life. Because you're encouraged that as they draw you closer to Jesus, God is so good, He will show you faults and failures in their life. Did you know that?
Now, I know this comes as a shock to some of you people that, and listen, I'm not knocking you. It's a very human thing to do, but some people don't like Say a Calvary Chapel setting like this. Uh because uh it's too for them relaxed. Honestly, and I'm not saying this to kid around, but some people would feel more comfortable on a Sunday morning if I had a robot. Not if I changed my attitude or my approach to the scriptures, but if I had a robe on.
It makes them feel better. It makes them feel more like, you know what? This is where I've come from. I can relate to this. This is fine.
And you can emulate the wrong thing. about a person's life. The people of Israel began to emulate the wrong things that were. Of The life of the priesthood in Israel. Frankly, there doesn't seem to be much good coming out of the priesthood.
Thus, God called Samuel. On to the scene. And the Lord had spoken to Samuel. Remember when the Lord said, Samuel, Samuel And he got up, and you can almost hear his little feet with the little plastic feet on him. He's a little guy living with Eli.
He runs in the room. Eli, did you call me? No, I didn't call you. Go lay back down.
Okay, so he lays back down. He lays down and Samuel, Samuel. He gets up and he runs into the Elite's room. Did you call me? I'm sure you called me.
I didn't call you. Lay down, kid. Get away. You're bothering me. He went and lays back down and then Samuel Samuel!
He gets up and he goes into Eli's room again. He says, No, you did call me. Eli, excuse me, went into Eli's room and Eli finally says to him, Listen, I perceive this is God trying to speak to you. The next time you hear your name called, say, yes, Lord, speak, your servant is listening. And God spoke to him, but what a message to receive.
Samuel, go tell Eli. I'm going to do a work that's going to cause the ears of the people to tingle. And it's this: first of all, I'm going to judge his house, I'm going to kill his son. His sons, and one day they're going to be taken away because of what they've done to my people. They have misrepresented me to the people.
They have taken the worship of God and made it a thing that people abhor? And for all that Eli has known about, not what he's done, listen, mom, dad, listen, not what for Eli did. But for what he knew about his sons and he didn't step in to discipline his boys. He knew his boys were doing wrong, but he didn't involve himself in their life. And God says, Eli, I'm going to judge you because you know what your sons are doing.
Implying you didn't do anything about it, Eli. Wow. And so Eli in the morning says, Samuel, what did God say to you? And he knew he was being convicted. He knew in his conscience what was up.
He said, Now, Samuel, don't you hold back anything that God has told you?
Okay. God says he's going to kill Your kids. Your sons And he's going to judge your household, and none of your descendants will ever prosper. And in fact Your offspring They'll be destitute all their lives. And what do you think?
Now, what do you think when a parent is rebuked for the conduct of their children? Not my kids. Blind parents. Not my boys. Eli didn't do that.
Elai says truly this. is from God. Do you hear that, mom and dad? Ouch, do you hear that parent? Oof.
He knew God was going to step in. And so, in our last couple studies together, we paused and looked at 10. steps downward that led To God's glory departing from our lives. And now we conclude this chapter, which the events. that transpired As Israel had gone to war, The Philistines gather together, they go to battle.
And they That is, Israel gets whipped. By the These Philistine forces, these enemies of God, and the people say, What's up? We serve God. How can we lose? We serve the Lord.
What in the world's going on? How could God, and they say, rightfully so, they say, how could God be against us today in battle? Isn't that interesting? How could God be against us in battle? And they said last time together: go and get the Ark of the Covenant of God.
And bring it here that it might save us. F ooh, it? Go get the box that's made out of acacia wood covered with gold. It's going to save us. Let me wear a cross around my neck, it'll save me.
If I just keep this religious thing in my life, I'll be okay. It has saved me. Look, God, I have an ark of the covenant. Look, God, how can I lose in battle? I have a cross around my neck.
That's what they were doing. They were trusting in the religious articles. That God never intended for people To connect with You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. And so, The people are trusting. and the arm of the flesh. And so they bring the ark.
Amongst them, they begin to cheer. Because they know now we're going to win. And the Philistines say, hey, we better get ready for war. What's that cheering in the camp?
So strong did the children of Israel cheer that the ground shook. And The Philistine forces say, man, we better get ready for war because this is the, in fact, they put it this way: these are the gods. That led these people out of Egypt and did marvelous things. We better get ready to fight hard.
So The scriptures tell us that they went to battle, but the Ark of the Covenant was captured. Huh. The Ark of the Covenant was captured, verse 11, and Hofni and Finhas died in one day. They were killed. Just as Samuel prophesied.
Verse 12, then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line. The same day, And came to Shiloh, remember that same day, came to Shiloh. With his clothes torn and dirt on his head, he's mourning. He's rent his clothes because he's grieved at the Loss in the battle. That's a normal custom, by the way, even in that world today, when you receive bad news, you tear your clothes.
And then to show that you're mourning death. You take dirt and sprinkle it on top of your head. They still do this today in Israel. They'll take dirt and they'll put it on the on the uh the grave are the the wrappings of a of their comrade or whoever? Their family?
that has died And then they'll sprinkle that same dirt on top of their heads. Actually, it's kind of an affectionate thing, don't you think? It's very graphic, isn't it? He comes to Eli, this runner. He tears his clothes and he has dirt on his head.
He comes running in grief. Verse 13: Now when he came, there was Eli sitting on a seat by the wayside, by the roadway, watching. For his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. Verse 14, when Eli heard that the noise of the outcry that it was great.
He said, What does the sound of this tumult mean? And the man came hastily and told Eli. And Eli was ninety eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. Then the man said to Eli, I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.
And he said, what happened, my son?
So the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before. The Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also, your two sons. Hafni and Finhas are dead, and the ark of God has been captured. Stop right there.
Look, isn't it interesting that in verse 13, Eli knows that his. Nation is at war. They're battling. He being old and all, he's seated alongside the road. In Shiloh.
And he's waiting. Notice what it says, how tragic it says in verse 13.
Now, when he came, There was Eli sitting on the seat by the roadway there, watching, for his heart trembled for his sons. Look what it says. And look what it doesn't say. It says his heart trembled for the ark. That's what it says.
What's tragic also is what it doesn't say. His heart is not trembling for his sons. Has he given up on his sons? Quite possibly. Remember what they were doing even to the women of Israel?
They were having fornication and adultery with them. And he said to them earlier, this thing that you do, it's not good. Duh?
Now according to the Commandments, those boys should have been stoned, right? And not on drugs. They should have been killed. He hears the news and he's waiting. He sees this man running.
Or maybe he doesn't. I guess he's blind, it says the scripture. Maybe he hears his feet coming. He's anxious. He's sitting there with expectancy about what's happening to the ark.
What's going to happen to the ark? Not lamenting. The life of his sons And so, when the runner comes, he gives the announcement, and his greatest fears are confirmed. It says in verse 19, Oh, excuse me, verse uh. Eighteen, isn't it?
Then it happened when he made mention of the ark of God that Eli fell off the seat backward. by the side of the gate, and his neck broke And he died. for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. Wow.
Hang on. There's a play on words here in the Hebrew. See the word heavy?
Some of your Bibles, doesn't the old King James say fat?
Some scriptures say fat. He was huge. Wow, listen, there's a couple things going on. There's a play on words in the Hebrew with this word heavy. Number one, the word can be, it's an interesting word, because if you wanted to use the word, Just Super obese, fat, and overweight, and all that kind of stuff.
There's a word for that, but it's not used here. It's the word that means Large in scope. Large or big and what He was to be doing But Also. Large in size. He was a big man.
Listen, the play in words is this: He was a very, very overweight man. He was large with. large and very overweight. Commitments to the nation and to God. It's a play on words here.
It's very cool. He was not only big, He was big. And when he heard about the ark, He Obviously, he had a heart attack or something here, and he dies. And the scripture says from verse 12 down: on the same day his sons were killed, the messenger comes to him, listen, and makes the announcement, and he dies. Why was he so overweight?
Scholars speculate on this. Kind of an interesting thing. Remember, his sons had perverted the priesthood by stealing all the meat that was intended for God, and took of the fat. of the meat.
Now, God says, give me the fat. Did you know that in the Bible? God says, give me the fat. I want the fat.
Well, what do we know about the fat?
Well, you might say, well, that's where all the taste is at. That's true. And we Americans, we know that better than anybody on the whole planet. It's true, it's a fact. We love Fatty foods.
But how do you want to or you know If you want to die sooner, do you eat the good part of the meat or you eat the bad part of the meat? You eat the fatty part, you're going to die sooner. according to the rule. You're gonna plug up your Here. you know, cardiovascular lines there.
God says, you know what, when you come and sacrifice to me, give me the fat. Give me the toxins. Give me of the meat that you're going to offer the poison stuff. Did you know that? Give me the stuff that's got all the stuff in it that's not good for you.
And we're so funny about that, but it smells good. Yeah, hi Rock. Go ahead. I've noticed when we barbecue An offering too? That your part smells really good?
And I'm kind of thinking maybe You can share some of that? Rather than trust God that what He said no to you about is really, really good for you. Isn't it? True, that in the garden guts is of all the trees of the garden you can eat of except that one tree. Apparently, it appears that Adam had no problem with that.
Did you know that? And so Abraham, I mean, not Abraham, I got the A right. Adam, Adam says to Eve, hey, you know, everything's cool, but don't touch that tree and don't even go over by that thing. And the next thing you know, you find her not only messing around with the tree, but talking to a snake. About the tree.
We're not supposed to touch that tree. That tree right there, we're not supposed to touch it. You can almost hear Satan. What tree? Huh?
Where? What? This one right here. Which which which one? The one right?
Getting close to the line. Oh, if I can just. You know, do this thing and have this too, it'll be all right. If I can just serve God and worship and all that stuff, but have this thing off to the side, it's okay. Just a little bit of Who's gonna know?
Could it be that Elij became so obese Because he was eating of the meat that his sons had Really? Stole. From God. And partook of what was dedicated to God for Himself. That's a dangerous thing.
When you are a servant of the Lord and all of you are servants of the Lord, That God's attention. God's glory God's affection is directed from man to him and is to be left with him, never to be tampered with, never to be stolen, never to be flirted with. When God says, I will share my glory with nobody, he means nobody. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. here on real life radio and his message called Ichabod.
You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. A series highlighting the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Hey, our featured resource for the month is a great book by Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of yesteryear. Words of warning.
And listen to the subtitle, everyone, for those wavering between belief and unbelief. You need this book. Everyone needs this book. If you're struggling with belief and unbelief, Get it. Maybe you have a friend who's struggling with belief and unbelief and they're wavering.
This book, Words of Warning by Charles Spurgeon, is just the right fit for you. Order yours right now at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
