God’s Glory – Above the Cherubim

(21) And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

(22) She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”

 

-Woman who stood beside Phinehas’s wife (1 Samuel 4:21-22)

 

Context

These verses were said to Phinehas’s wife after she suddenly gave birth at the news of her husband and father-in-law Eli’s death.

 

It was the day God allowed the Philistines to defeat Israel and kill 30,000 in battle because Eli’s sons (Hophni and Phinehas) brought a curse on themselves and Eli, who was a priest, did not rebuke them (1 Samuel 3:13). Then the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of hosts who sits above the cherubim (1 Samuel 4:4).

 

Thoughts

I think this instance of glory is specifically God’s Presence, sitting above the cherubim on the Ark. The woman standing by names the child what means “no glory” then declares two more times that the glory has left, making clear who is at fault. Today, can anyone cause God’s Presence to leave you? Why or why not?

 

Reference

Strong’s H3519