Lost!

“Lost!” This word is most devastating to one who has lost the most precious of all things. There are all sorts of things that are lost everyday. Why I have a hard time finding my glasses first thing in the morning because I generally lose them. There are times that I have forgotten where I parked my car at the grocery store or a mall. Children in stores will be playing in the racks of clothes and will come out of hiding looking for their mother or father and will begin to cry because they are lost.

“Lost!” The Israelites were fighting against the Philistines when they lost the most precious of things. It was the ark of God. They were overcome by the Philistines and many of the Israelites lost their lives that day. Many others fled for their lives. One of those who made it out of battle alive came to the priest by the name of Eli and told him that the ark of God was lost to the Philistines. Eli, after hearing all of the loud cries from the people of his town was approached by one of the fleeing soldiers. Read what the soldier said: I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line. Eli, being gentle, said, What happened, my son?

Now Eli was already stressed out about the ark of God. First Samuel 4:13 says, Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside 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. Losing the ark of God would be disastrous for Israel. The ark of God represented to the people of Israel His very presence. They knew that they needed God for provision and for protection from the world. This God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and these are His people.

But there seems to be a bad air around Eli. His two sons—Hophni and Phinehas—did not know the Lord (see 1 Samuel 2:12-17). They were corrupt priests and their father, Eli, tried his best to chastise and bring them back to doing the right thing for the Lord and for the people of Israel (2:24-25). But they wouldn’t have any part of it. They continued to do whatever they desired—eating the sacrificial offerings and laying with the women who assembled at the tabernacle of meeting (2:22). Interestingly enough, Samuel records: Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them (2:25).

“Lost!” Eli grieved the loss of his sons and he grieved even more so with the lost ark of God. Samuel writes: 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 was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years (4:18).

But was this the only loss? Was it even the main loss? Phinehas’ wife really came to a deep understanding of how bad the loss really was. “Lost!” You can imagine her saying this—even crying it out loud, “Lost!” The word would have jettisoned out of her mouth, “Lost!” She had just lost her husband and her father-in-law. “Lost!” She knew that the true loss was the lost ark of God. “Lost!” She went into labor and bore a son but paid no attention to him nor did she name him right away. “Lost!” After giving birth to her son Phinehas’ wife was on her deathbed. “Lost!” The women standing by her were trying to console her and told her of the birth of her son. “Lost!” Then she named her son Ichabod, which means the glory has departed. “Lost!” Read what Phinehas’ wife said: The glory has departed from Israel! The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured (4:21-22).

What about where you are? Has the glory of God departed? What needs to change in your life to see His glory return?