Ichabod

“And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.” – 1 Samuel 4v21

When Israel faced a battle against the Philistines they thought they could use the Ark of the Covenant as something of a magic talisman in the battle. At first the Philistines were fearful, for they thought that God would fight for Israel. The battle commenced and to the shock of the Israelites they lost, Eli’s sons were killed, and the Ark was captured.

When Eli heard the news he fell over backward and died as well. Phineas’ wife was pregnant and soon had a son whom she named “Ichabod” which means “no glory.” Her reasoning was that the glory of the Lord, or God Himself, had departed Israel. She, like everyone else, had put her faith in the Ark instead of in the Lord. God was not going to forsake His people, but they were too spiritually blind to sense it.

Most of us have had “Ichabod” times in our lives. These are times when things seem so bad that we think that God has forsaken us, or at least He is not fully aware of our situation. This happens when we walk by sight instead of by faith. When we are thinking “Ichabod” it is because we have adopted a wrong focus. God has not moved, we just are not looking in the right direction. When we have those times, we must remember that God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. In those times let’s redirect our focus and rid ourselves of the spirit of Ichabod.