May God be with and bless us
this morning as together we turn to consider his word. And we'll
turn back to the chapter we read in the first book of Samuel,
chapter four, and I want to read the last verse, verse 22. One Samuel, chapter four, verse
22. And she said, the glory is departed
from Israel. for the Ark of God is taken. The glory is departed from Israel
for the Ark of God is taken. Well, the Ark of God, the Ark
of the Covenant, children, this morning we were thinking about
what the Ark was, weren't we? We were thinking about its size
and what it was made of. and some of the instances that
we read about the Ark in the Bible. And the Ark of the Covenant
was really a central part of the worship of Old Testament
Israel. It was made following the instructions
of God at Mount Sinai. It was the container if you like,
it was where the Ten Commandments were put after they were given
to Moses and it was carried through the wilderness as they journeyed
and it was placed in the most holy place of the tabernacle
when they rested, when they pitched their tents. And we read as we
thought this morning that the ark had that pivotal point in
a number of occasions in the life of Israel. We read that
when Israel journeyed in the wilderness, the ark was found
in the midst of the camp, and the different tribes were in
their formations, and the ark was carried in the midst. But
there were times when it was carried at the front, when Israel
followed behind, and two of those key moments were when they crossed
the River Jordan, and also when they walked around the walls
of Jericho. And the ark reminded the people
that God was in the midst of them. God had said that he would
meet Israel between the two cherubims on the mercy seat of the Ark
of the Covenant. It would be particularly there
that they knew the presence of God. Now God is in every place,
of course. He is not confined to a particular
space, and yet there was a particular awareness of his presence where
the Ark was. And so the Ark reminded, was
a symbol, a picture for Israel that God is with them. The living
God was their God. But the really vitally important
thing to know is that the people worshipped the God of the Ark. They did not worship the Ark
itself. They were not to bow down to
the Ark. They were not to offer sacrifice to the Ark. They were
not to worship the Ark. They honoured and worshipped
the God of the Ark of the Covenant. It was where He met them. It
was a symbol of His presence among them. But it wasn't God
itself. They were not to make any image
of God. They were not to bow down to the workmanship of men's
hands. And so they were not to worship
the Ark. Well, given that background of
the Ark of the Covenant, we come to this account in 1 Samuel chapter
4. And here we read of the Israelites
going to battle against the Philistines. We read, of course, of that happening
a number of times in the history of Israel, and here is one of
them, where the Philistines and the Israelites, they pitch their
battle against one another, and the Philistines kill 4,000 of
the Israelites. And, as a result, the Israelites
have, of course, many questions. Why is it that we have been defeated
in this battle? Why is it that God has allowed
the Philistines to kill so many of the Israelite army? And so
they come to the conclusion that it was because the Ark was not
with them in the battle. They said, let us fetch the ark
of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when
it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. Do you notice the language here?
It will save us. They were putting their hope
of victory on the physical presence of the literal Ark. They thought
that if the Ark was there, then they would win the battle. And
so, in a sense, they were becoming superstitious. They were starting
to rely on just the physical presence of a certain thing in
order to defeat in this battle. You notice what they did not
do was seek the Lord. They did not pray. They did not
acknowledge their weakness without him. They did not confess the
situation that they were in. They did not ask for his help,
for his blessing, for his strength. They simply said, let us bring
the ark and that will save us. Now they bring the ark into the
camp and the result is the Philistines are terrified. Because the Philistines,
in a sense you could say, at this stage were wiser than the
Israelites. Because the Philistines made
the link between the Ark and God. Because they said, the gods
that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness,
the God has come into the camp. So the Philistines realized that
if the Ark was there, the God was there. It was the God of
the Hebrews that they were afraid of. But the Israelites seem to
have forgotten that. They are relying on the literal
presence of the Ark. But the Philistine reaction is
fear, but the way they act in their fear is to fight. And so
they come to battle again. Israel, it seems, will come in
confidently. Israel believes that they are
going to win this battle because they have rectified the mistake
that they made previously. They have now brought the Ark.
Everything is well. They think they're going to win
the battle. Everything will be fine now. We have the Ark of
the Covenant. And so they have this dreadful,
terrifying shock when we read there was a very great slaughter. for their fell of Israel, 30,000
footmen. A greater, a much greater defeat
than what they'd had previously. And so they are defeated. Hophla and Phinehas, along with
thousands of others are killed. The Ark of God is taken by the
Philistines. And this dreadful news is brought
back to Eli. All these men have been slaughtered.
Your two sons are dead. But the worst news, the worst
part of this message to Eli was the ark of God is taken. And it's when he hears that that
Eli falls from his chair and dies. And so it's an incredibly sad
account. It's a very solemn account. And
it's rounded off, really, in this little account of what happens
following this when Phinehas' wife gives birth to this child
she calls Ichabod. And really, this final verse
sums up the chapter. The glory is departed from Israel,
for the ark of God is taken. The ark is gone. And as a result,
the glory of Israel is gone. Now, what was so sad about Israel, particularly in this second battle,
is that they relied on the outward presence of the Ark. And it seems they thought They
could, in a sense, manipulate God. They could control God. They could guarantee victory
by doing a certain thing and bringing the Ark into the battlefield. That God would just do what they
wanted. They didn't have to seek him.
They didn't have to pray to him. They didn't have to repent. They
didn't have to confess. They didn't have to do anything
that required any sense of heart searching. They just had to bring
the literal box into the presence of the camp and then God would
do what they wanted him to do. They could manipulate him. They
could control him. But they couldn't. They couldn't. For though the
literal Ark was there, God was not there. Well, he was in one
sense, and he's in every place, but he was not there on their
side. He was not there to deliver them. He was not there to give
them the victory. And now, having, as it were,
rejected, in a sense, the God of the Ark, having not sought
him, Now the very symbol of his presence in the camp has gone. Now the symbol that God is in
the midst of his people has gone. And Israel's glory has gone. God in the midst of them is their
glory. What makes Israel any different
from any other nation? What makes them any powerful,
any more glorious, any better? Nothing. makes them any better
than any other nation, other than the glory of Israel was
their God. And now the symbol of the presence
of God has gone. And so the glory has departed
from Israel. Could we not say, sadly, tragically,
that that describes much of what would be termed as the church
today. Much that might say, to use the
language of the Old Testament, that they are Israel, they are
God's people. You think firstly of the professing
national church today. And maybe not in totality, but
couldn't you say often, generally, the glory has departed? The glory is gone. The God of
the church doesn't seem to be in the church. The glory has
disappeared. It may still have the right name. Israel was still called Israel.
Israel still had the tabernacle at Shiloh. Israel still had the
other pieces of the furniture. They had the table of showbread.
They had the lampstand. They had the altar of incense. They still had Eli the priest. They still had much, but the
glory had gone. And isn't this true? The church
has much of the furniture. Literally, it's got the buildings.
It's got the pieces. It's got the Bible, even. It's
still there, but the glory's gone. The glory has departed. And that's a very, very serious
and tragic situation for the professing church to find itself
in, as it is and it was for Israel on this day. What is the glory of the church? Not that we're better or wiser,
cleverer, more righteous, richer than anyone else in the world. What makes the church the church
is Christ. That's what makes the church
the church. So what is the glory of the church?
What is the power and the energy of the church? It's Christ. And so, sadly, we often look
around and say, where is Christ in the church, really? Where
is Christ? Where do we hear the church steadfastly,
boldly proclaiming against the tide of everyone else around
them, the perfection of Christ, the righteousness of Christ in
comparison with the sin of the world. Where do we hear the judgments
of Christ? His righteous judgments, how
he will appear the second time and deal with sin. Where do we
hear of judgment and of heaven and of hell, all doctrines of
Christ? Where do we hear of the grace
of Christ, really? Church may like to preach of
a loving, kind Jesus, but to faithfully preach the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, you have to point out the dreadful ruin
of the sinner. For without understanding sin,
you will not appreciate grace. Where is that? Where do we hear
of the sufferings of Christ? Where do we hear of his sin atoning
death? Where do we hear of his glorious
resurrection and victory? Is Christ the center of the church,
really? But you see, we can point the
finger at many places. And we may say, well, that many
of the churches seems to have become more social societies
and just gatherings of like-minded people which do good in society,
push a certain agenda. May say the church has become
a certain morality place where they just tell us what we should
and shouldn't do. Goods for a certain degree, and
we can point the finger and say, but where is the essence of the
gospel? But let's not. look too far without
realizing the danger that any professing church is in. No church
can count itself strong outside of the strength of Christ. No
church can sit and say that we will always stand, and we will
never yield, and we will always faithfully preach, and we will
always know the blessing of the presence of Christ. To do so
is to be like Israel. It's to think that you can guarantee
the goodness and blessing of God.
That just because of who we are, God will be amongst us. And so
we must be on our guard. We must be prayerful. We must
be mindful that we seek God and seek that the Lord Jesus Christ
would be the very center and essence of his people. That it's
his name, his grace, his mercy that's proclaimed in the church,
and it's him that is worshipped in the midst of his people. That
he is the glory in the midst, though many might not like it.
Many may say, well, you should be doing this, or you should
be involved in that, which may or may not be true. But to say the most important
thing is that this is a lively, in the right sense of the word,
a lively Christ-centred church. And we desire, as it were, that
the ark is in the midst, that the glory of the church has not
departed, but that we hold to the wonderful person of Jesus
Christ. May we not be those who become
just an outward traditional display of Christianity, but who show
a living church through the life that Christ gives. And so there's
a challenge here for God's people in general. that we might humbly
seek him and that we might know his power and love and grace
in the presence of his people. But I want to come closer than
this because let's not look at the
church without looking at ourselves. Remembering that any church is
made up of individual believers. And any church is affected by
that individual believer. Someone I heard just the other
week, this very challenging question. What would the church be like
if every member was like you? What would the church be like
if every member was like you? That's very challenging. Would
it be for the better? Or would it be dragged down?
And so, let's consider ourselves. How healthy are we? How healthy in our souls? What is our spiritual health
this morning? Has the glory departed? Has the life gone? How are we coping in our lives?
How are we coping in the world? All of us face temptations. All
of us face doubts. All of us face battles. All of
us have worldly influences around us all day, every day. We all
face it. How are we coping? How are we
getting on fighting these battles? Like Israel fighting the Philistines. How are we getting on? Are we fighting, holding on to
just the outward motion of a religion? And saying that I can hold just
because I continue the outward form of a Christian life. But how are we faring? Surely in temptation we need
the strength of God, not our own strength. Surely when we're
in the midst of doubts about the truth of God's word, we need
the power of God to revive us and to assure us and to give
us this faith again. Surely when we're surrounded
in the worldly influences that our flesh easily goes after,
we need that life of God to withstand the devil, that he might flee
from us. But are we fighting, are we walking
the Christian walk? And you know before God this
morning, the liveliness or lack of it of your soul. Has the glory gone? Has Christ
gone? That yes, no one else can see. It all looks the same as it always
did. But inside, where is the love
that once you knew? Where is the communion that once
you enjoyed? Where is the liveliness in your
prayers that once it was a joy to come to the throne of grace
and now it's a battle? Where is the love and the feeding
from the word of God when once you delighted to hear what God
would speak to you and now It's just a passing of the time. Where is the sorrow for sin and
the repentance that once you showed, but now you dabble with
idols and enjoy the world? Where's the glory gone? Where's Christ gone? Has the
savor gone? Has the life gone? It just doesn't flow anymore. A love that you once showed,
it doesn't flow anymore. And the things of God that once
you delighted in have become stale. There's no life. There's
no life there. The light which once shone brightly
has gone dim. Where is the glory? The glory has departed. The Apostle Paul addresses this
when he wrote to the Colossians and spoke of how that church
at Colossae had become those who really were getting wrapped
up in the outward, in the things that they did. He says, Wherefore,
if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances?
And this is what they were focusing on, touch not, taste not, handle
not, which all perish with the using after the commandments
and doctrines of men. Which things have indeed a show
of wisdom in will, worship, and humility, and neglecting of the
body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. And
he says, he moves them on. He says, this should be your
focus. Not to say that there shouldn't
be touching, not tasting, not handle, not to a certain degree,
if there are things we should be avoiding. But this should
be your focus. This should be your motivation.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth in the right hand of God. Set your affections
on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your
life, shall appear, then shall ye appear with him in glory.
He says, this is your life. Where are you expecting your
spiritual life and liveliness to come from? Here, Christ, who
is our life. And so we need to be directed
time and again because we so easily get pushed under the peripherals
and forget the essence. Your life is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So have we lost our liveliness? Like Israel lost the ark. And
now perhaps we almost treat the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
as this, just this symbol, almost this superstitious talisman.
Oh, he's so much more. He's so much more than just a
name. And the ark, you see, was so
much more to Israel. Yes, it was not God itself. They were not to worship it.
They were to worship the God of the Ark, to trust in the God
of the Ark. And they proved that just the presence of the Ark
did not save them. But the Ark was a beautiful type
of Christ. It was a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, when their hearts were
right, when the Ark was in their midst, it was like Christ was
in their midst. And so what are we to do? If
you this morning can understand something what I'm saying, if
you can say, yes, where is the blessedness I knew when first
I saw the Lord? Where is that liveliness I once
enjoyed? What are we to do? We're to come
back. Come back, you could say in the
Old Testament, come back to what the Ark really is. And in New Testament language,
come back to Christ. Come back to the person that
the ark represents, because the ark is a beautiful type of Christ. We said a little about this in
Sunday School. I hope some of you can remember what we said.
The ark, we said, was made of wood. Its main structure was made of
wood. It was a very strong and durable
wood. It was something of the earth,
it was wood that had grown out of the ground and they prepared
it and cut it and built this ark. And so in this aspect we see
the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the humanity of Christ.
We see here something of the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ
who was a real man, born of a woman, from the earth in that sense,
the son of Adam, like you and me. Come back to Christ the man. Remember that he was a real man.
Remember that he is a man who sympathises and who understands
the path of other men. Remember that he is a God who
has, you could say, who has been there. He understands what it
is to be tempted like unto all men. Knows what it is to face
the attacks of the devil and the temptations and even a temptation
to doubt the very word of God. But come back to the real man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, not just one who is like us, but one who
as man is able to be that right substitute for man. True body
and soul, a full human being, who can suffer in the place of
other human beings. You realise how vital that truth
is. Why were the animal sacrifices
not accepted? Why were they not enough? Why
could we not slay a goat, or heifer, or bullock for our sins?
It's not a right substitute. Isaiah chapter 53 tells us, he
shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. No animal has a soul. An animal
does not suffer spiritually. An animal cannot endure, cannot
even face the wrath of God. It's an animal. It's not body
and soul. That's what a human is. It's
body and soul. So no animal can suffer for the sins of us. No
animal can endure what we should endure in our soul. We need a
substitute, we need a real man. The humanity of Christ is so
vital. Come back to this. As the glory
departed, remember who he is, the real man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, a suitable substitute for you. But the ark was not just made
of wood, it was overlaid with gold. all of it overlaid with
gold. So you didn't see the wood actually,
it was, it shone, it shone, this gold. It was beautiful to look
at, it was royal. And so Christ is not just man,
he is God. The divinity of Christ is also
vitally important. God was in the midst of Israel
and God is in the midst of his people. And so we have a glorious
man who is able to be a substitute, but we have not a sinful man
who suffers for his own sins. We have a glorious God who is
able to save his people. who is able to bear the wrath
that they should endure, who is able to stand in their place
and face the full weight of the law of God on their behalf. For no other real man can suffer
for other men. We need the infinite God who
can come to suffer on their behalf. And so we see the Ark, the glory
of the Ark. It's a picture of Christ, a real
man, and yet truly God. Come back to that truth. That's
your glory. You rest, you hope, you trust
in the person of Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Covenant had the
two tables of stone inside. It had the Ten Commandments written
on. They were placed inside by Moses
and then the lid was put on the top, the mercy seat. There, hid
inside the ark, were the commands of God, the law of God. That
Israel must keep, that apply to them, that apply to us. And
yet it's hid inside Christ, it's hid inside the ark. And so here
we have Christ, our righteous God. And Christ, the righteous
man. who kept the law, never deviated,
never sinned, never stumbled, never fell. Perfectly, honorably
in his life, in his conduct, in his words, in his thoughts,
in his heart, the law of God was hid and was kept perfectly. The glorious departed come back.
Are you trying to walk your Christian life in your own strength? Are
you trying to walk the Christian life to be perfect in your own
abilities? We must strive. We must strive
to be holy. We must strive to honour the
Lord. But what is your motivation? What is your life? Christ. He's righteous. He's lived the
life that you and I cannot live. He's kept the law that you and
I cannot keep. He is fully righteous and He
gives that righteousness to His people. So that they appear perfect
and righteous in Christ. You see that He is your glory.
You would never and you will never be saved outside of Him. On top of the ark was the mercy
seat. The lid that was again solid gold. It had the angel,
the cherubim above it, and God said that he would meet Israel and particularly the high
priest between the cherubims on the mercy seat. God was there. And so the Ark was a place that
God communed with his people. What is your glory? You have
communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You have a
mediator in heaven that you can pray through. You have access
to the almighty through your savior. God is there. You can come to him. You can
come to your glorious high priest in heaven above. Because he is
in the midst of his people. It's a place of communion. You see, what is your glory?
It's him. He's so vital. And then where
was the ark? Well, when they rested and then
when they settled in Israel, it was placed in the Holy of
Holies. Holy of Holies is a perfect cube. It was a picture of heaven, the
center of glory. And so where is this saviour
today? He's in the Holy of Holies. He's
ascended into glory. And he has gone as the first
fruits of the resurrection to assure his people that they will
follow behind and be received into glory too. The presence,
you could say, of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies
assures his people that they will come safely home too. The
presence of Christ in heaven above tells us that those in
him must and surely must persevere. You see how vital he is? A real
man, almighty God, perfect and righteous, a high priest, a way
of communion, a victorious savior in heaven above. We would have
nothing without him, we would be nothing without him. Have
you taken your eyes off Christ and the glory has departed for
the ark of God is taken. Oh, come back. Come back on your
knees. Come back in repentance. Remember
the God who once, I hope once you knew, is there ready and
able and willing receive his repentant people as they seek
that life and liveliness and glory in them again. He is the glory in the midst
of his people. He tells us that in the book of Zechariah, prophecy
of Zechariah, I say the Lord will be a wall of fire round
about her and will be the glory in the midst. He will return. He does return
as His people humbly come, acknowledging what they are without Him, and
acknowledging that He is their life, and He is their glory,
and He is their blessing. Because the lovely thing about
this account is that as you read in into the couple of chapters
later, in 1 Samuel chapter 7, we read that they go into battle
again, but this time, They go into battle
in prayer. They go in repentance. They go
in confession of their need of God. As Samuel said to them,
if you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put
away the strange gods and astral from among you and prepare your
hearts unto the Lord and serve him only. And he will deliver
you out of the hands of the Philistines. And the children of Israel did. put away Balaam and Astaroth
and served the Lord only. And then we read of the great
victory for Israel, and Samuel took a stone and set it up and
said, hitherto hath the Lord helped us. The Lord. The Lord. Note the contrast. He wanted
to take the ark so that it it would deliver them. And now,
hitherto hath the Lord helped us. This morning, come back to
the Lord. Come to trust in him again, for
he is your life and he is your glory. Do not despair if the
glory seems to have departed. because it didn't permanently
depart from Israel. He returned. He was still among
them. And we have that lovely picture
displayed to us that when the Philistines send the ark back,
and we read of the cart coming, and they, with the ark on it,
and they of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in
the field, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark. and rejoiced to see it. What a wonderful day it must
have been, this sad, dejected Israel. And they looked up, and
there it was, shining in the sunlight. There's the ark. It's returned. Oh, look up. Look up. For there he is, this
glorious man. And he returns. And he comes
back to his repentant people, for he has said, I will never
leave you, nor forsake you. The glory of Israel is departed
from Israel, for the ark of God is taken. May the Lord add his
blessing to these thoughts. Amen.