Tuesday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 4:12-22
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
17 “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.”
18 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.
19 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. 20 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.
21 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. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
17 “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.”
18 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.
19 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. 20 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.
21 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. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
Commentary:
4:11 The capture of the ark, which symbolizes God himself, and the death of the priests is a kind of “humiliation” of God’s name, prefiguring the humiliation of Christ in his crucifixion. But it all takes place in accordance with God’s sovereign purpose (2:34–35; Acts 2:23; 4:25–28).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 499.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 499.
Questions:
Sin can feel less and less dangerous when we have lived with it for a long time. If we keep returning to the same sin without repentance, something begins to change in us. When we excuse sin for long enough, what once brought conviction can eventually leave us numb. That is what makes unrepentant sin so dangerous.
Eli and his sons had been warned about their rebellion, yet they continued treating God’s sacrifices with contempt. Their sin had become so familiar that they could dishonor God and still carry on with their religious responsibilities. They had become comfortable living in a way that should have grieved them.
Brandon said, “The weight of our sin blinds us to the weight of His glory.” Sin doesn't just break God's commands; it distorts our ability to see God rightly. The longer we make peace with sin, the easier it becomes to lose sight of the holiness of the God we are sinning against. And that is why repentance can become harder over time. We aren't simply turning away from a behavior. We are admitting that something we have grown comfortable with is actually wrong. We have to stop defending it and bring it honestly before God.
God does not expose our sin to shame us and leave us there. He exposes it so that we will turn back to Him.
Eli and his sons had been warned about their rebellion, yet they continued treating God’s sacrifices with contempt. Their sin had become so familiar that they could dishonor God and still carry on with their religious responsibilities. They had become comfortable living in a way that should have grieved them.
Brandon said, “The weight of our sin blinds us to the weight of His glory.” Sin doesn't just break God's commands; it distorts our ability to see God rightly. The longer we make peace with sin, the easier it becomes to lose sight of the holiness of the God we are sinning against. And that is why repentance can become harder over time. We aren't simply turning away from a behavior. We are admitting that something we have grown comfortable with is actually wrong. We have to stop defending it and bring it honestly before God.
God does not expose our sin to shame us and leave us there. He exposes it so that we will turn back to Him.
- What are some of the ways we convince ourselves that a particular sin “isn’t that bad” or that it’s just part of who we are? What does that kind of reasoning reveal about how we are viewing God’s holiness?
- Think about a sin you have struggled with for a long time. How has repeatedly choosing it affected the way you think about it? Has it become something you fight, something you excuse, or something you barely notice anymore?
- Sometimes we ask God to forgive a sin without actually wanting to let go of it. Why can we want forgiveness without wanting change? What would it look like to respond differently the next time you feel conviction about that sin?
Prayer Topics:
- Ask God to expose areas where you have become numb to your sin.
- Pray for humility to repent without defending, minimizing, or rationalizing what God is asking you to surrender.
- Thank Jesus that conviction is an invitation to return to Him, not a reason to hide from Him.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
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