Immanuel or Ichabod?

We are still considering 1samuel 4; This Bible story ends on a tragic note. But the tragedy is, there was hope, and they missed it. This story ends as desperately as it began, but the issue is, they didn’t see what God, our unlimited God, was doing.

Not only did the thirty thousand fall. Not only did the two sons of the high priest taste the bitter harvest of justice. Not only did the God-box get taken away, and not only did the high priest break his neck. But also a young woman, Eli’s daughter-in-law, gave birth to a child. Before she too died she named him, "Ichabod". It means, "The glory has departed." It’s all over. It’s done. My family is ruined, my life is gone. Israel is finished, God is finished. "Ichabod". The glory has departed.

The trouble is, she missed what God was doing. She missed the answer that God gave her! For God gave new life in the aftermath of death, and she didn’t see it as a sign of hope. The tragedy is not that there was another death, but that when God sent life, she didn’t see what it was. God gave a life full of new possibilities, and she didn’t catch what God was doing. You see, when we define God only by the measure of what we have experienced, it’ll be a sad, sad tale. But God is so much more than that. God is so much greater than that. And God is so much more gracious than that. And if you limit Him only to what you feel in the tummy, you’ll miss out on what God really wants to give you.

A child, a child is a sign of hope. His mother saw only "Ichabod", the glory departed. But a child is a sign of hope. It was only a few centuries later that God spoke to the prophet Isaiah and through him said, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which means, God with us." Immanuel.

You can be Phinehas’ wife and see only Ichabod, the glory departed. But you can also look for Immanuel, God with us. You can be trapped in the past and see only defeats and difficulties, and even when there is a sign of hope, you can say, Ichabod, the glory departed. As for me, I don’t want to go there. I want to be caught up in the future, I want to be captivated by the coming victory of our God. I want to see Immanuel, God with us.

I have bet my very life on Immanuel, not Ichabod. I have bet my life on a God who will not be limited by the defeats I may have suffered in my struggle with myself. I will not say Ichabod, the glory departed; I will say Immanuel, God with us.

I will bet my life on a God who will not be defined by the battles our church may fight and lose, Ichabod battles. I will bet it all, all of it, on the Christ whose church will prevail against the very gates of hell. I will bet it on Immanuel.

There is a huge difference between Immanuel and Ichabod people; Ichabod folks think there will never again be anything to live for. Immanuel people know that the best is yet to come. Ichabod folks squeeze God down into such a small package that they believe that nothing can get better. Immanuel people know that they can never give up on anybody, any time, because you can never rule out what God may do.

Which God will be your God? The Ichabod god you have defined, whose gifts you don’t even see? Or the Immanuel God whose very life is poured out for us, for his church and for his world, poured out toward victory. Immanuel, God with us, the hope of glory. Come on, come on. We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground.

I hope you enjoyed the entire series. Do drop a comment and let me know what lessons you've learnt.