He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.” “What happened, my son?” Eli demanded. “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.” When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years. Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them. She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
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5 Days
Eli was a judge and a high priest, yet because he "failed to plug the leak" in his home, he faced the judgment of God. In this 5-day devotional, learn lessons from Eli’s life that will convict you to plug the leaks in your life.
The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to grow believers in their faith and increase their passion for Jesus. Break down the book of 1 Samuel into the “Big Picture” of the passage, then “Digging Deeper” into that section, and then move into “Living Out” the lessons that are taught in the passage in this 5-day reading plan.
7 Days
This week, we will explore the book of 1 Samuel, engaging the transition of Israel from the age of judges to the age of kings. We will spend two days with each of the main characters—Samuel, Saul, and David—seeing both things to emulate and things to avoid as men of God.
12 Days
This reading plan will introduce you to the book of Samuel, including why and under what circumstances the book was written and how it applies to Christians today.
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