The Glory Has Departed

1 Samuel 4:19-21 – His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

Jeremiah 2:11 – Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.

Ezekiel 1:28 – Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Jeremiah 3:16-17 – In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

• ·         The glory of Israel was Israel’s God, not the ark, and loss of the ark did not mean that God had abandoned His people—God was not inseparably bound to the ark.
• ·         “Has a nation ever changed its gods?” was a rhetorical question, clearly expecting a negative answer and emphasizing how incredible was Judah’s practice of substituting idolatry for the worship of the Lord.
• ·         When God’s glory was symbolically revealed, it took the form of brilliant light. What is remarkable about Ezekiel’s experience is that God’s glory had for centuries been associated with the temple in Jerusalem. In Ezekiel’s vision of the restored Jerusalem the prophet saw the glory of the Lord returning.
• ·         The ark of the covenant, formerly symbolizing God’s royal presence, became irrelevant when the Messiah came.
• ·         No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV