Introduction
Good day to you all! Let us turn to the fourth chapter of 1 Samuel. When reading the Bible, it is crucial to grasp certain principles. What principles, you ask? You must consider who is speaking the words. For instance, Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is recorded in the Bible. Should you believe his words? Or Peter, who denied the Lord three times, if he were to say denying the Lord is a good thing, would you trust his words? Certainly not. Consider the father of a child possessed by a demon, suffering from a manic condition, who said to God, I believe; help my unbelief! Is that something to be believed? Is that God's will? It is not!
After the wife of Eli's son gave birth, with both her husband and father-in-law dead, she named the child Ichabod, meaning the glory has departed from Israel. Can these words be trusted? These are the words of someone who does not know God. Did God kill them, or did the Philistines? It was God who killed them. Who caused the downfall of Israel? It was God. Later, when the temple was destroyed, who destroyed it? God did. Did the glory of God depart from Israel at that time, or did it not? The glory of God was among them, and this was God's work, God's judgment upon unfaithful priests.
We must never think that God's work has ceased; God's work has neither increased nor decreased. Whether you have done something or nothing, whether you are faithful or not, it adds nothing to God, nor does it take anything away. God's glory remains. But God's glory became a judgment towards Phinehas, Old Eli, Eli's two sons and his daughter-in-law and in the end, they all perished.
Brothers and sisters, you should know that if you search the Bible online, you will find a phenomenon. What phenomenon? First, some do not explain or say what God's will is; they simply recite the Bible repeatedly. That is one method of Bible study. Are they wrong? Not exactly, they just read it repeatedly. The second method is to share one's own views, but whether it aligns with God's views is unknown. In my opinion, this second approach includes strange notions like asking God to increase faith or claiming that the glory has departed. In my words, they just do not know how to learn well.
Therefore, I have been diligently trying to solve a problem: everyone must learn and know God. You must understand what God is trying to tell us in the Bible and grasp that. You can listen to one of my Bible studies and then listen to others online. You will either become very confused or not confused at all. You will find many online interpretations quite amusing, and eventually, you will not be able to listen to them anymore. Why? Because you already know how to read the Bible, and you know that what they are saying is not on point. In Northeast China, we call this Er Wu Yan.
Do you know what Er Wu Yan means? For example, music must have rhythm and structure. If you keep making dong, dong, qiang sounds, I am not entirely sure what is going on. But I do know that a person who does things unreliably is called Er Wu Yan. Because in music, there is no such thing as a two-five beat. We have two-four time, three-four time, and four-four time, but no two-five time, so anything arranged as such is unreliable.
God's judgment is upon unfaithful priests. I cannot guarantee that I am a faithful person. I only have one thing: God has set a goal for me, and I strive to pursue it wholeheartedly. I dare not say that I am a faithful priest; I can only say that I am勉勉强强 very diligently doing. But I want to tell you that if one day judgment comes upon me, do not pity me. It is all my own fault. I must have gotten it wrong, not God.
I am speaking about myself now, and others can observe slowly. If God's judgment comes upon us, how should we react? We must recognize that we have not understood correctly, and not insist on our own way, as our own way has already brought severe consequences. If we continue to persist in our own way, the trouble will be enormous. Brothers and sisters, God's judgment had been upon Eli's house for forty years, and Eli had been a judge for forty years.
Bewilderment from Defeats
Often, when I see the Israelites suffer defeat, or the church suffer defeat, we tend to explain it in various ways. But there is only one explanation: unfaithfulness leads to defeat. How does one explain defeat then? Many would say, God, how disgraceful it is that your people are defeated! But it is not God who is disgraced, it is man who is disgraced, because of unfaithfulness. God's people do not fight with swords or spears, but with faithfulness to God and with God's presence. Building the church is not for man, but for God; it is to be in accordance with God's will.
You must gradually understand that building the church must be in accordance with God's will. Defeats bring bewilderment. The Israelites went to war, and four thousand were killed. Bewildering? Very bewildering. They thought they were God's people, God's church, and that the one within them was greater than the one outside. But God was not in them at all. Those who are unfaithful should be grateful that demons are not dwelling within them.
Even today, many traditional churches still propagate this idea, and you often see defeats occurring. One moment, a pastor gets cancer; another moment, another pastor gets cancer. These are all God's judgments. There are many reasons, but the most important one is not knowing God. Do not think you know God. If you knew God, why do you not see God with you? We used to get it wrong, but thankfully, we still have the opportunity to repent. If we continue to be deluded and rush towards error, we will be like Eli's sons, and that is God's judgment. It is not that God has suffered defeat. Don't get it wrong. If God's people are defeated, if the church is defeated, it is they who disgrace themselves, not God.
God's judgment not only came upon Old Eli in the Old Testament, but God's judgment still comes upon God's people and God's church today. God has never changed. We must remove the bewilderment within us; for example, how can a pastor who loves God so much get cancer? Brothers and sisters, listen to my words: if a prolonged and severe illness, or a great and heavy disaster befalls you, it is definitely a curse. If you don't believe it, you can carefully read Deuteronomy chapter 28. God's people have many bewilderments because they do not know God!
I encourage everyone to strive with me to know God. Don't think you already know God. What do you know? Until today, my knowledge of God is only a drop in the ocean. It is far from enough. Let me give you an example. How widespread is the IT industry today? It is growing bigger and bigger. Many well-known companies in the world are IT-related. Others have hundreds of thousands of people working on it, while we only have a handful. How much can we know? Knowing a drop in the ocean is already good.
There is so much knowledge today; don't think that acquiring a drop of the knowledge of Jehovah makes you something special. You will not finish knowing Him even with a lifetime of pursuit. Therefore, Chinese Mingding Destiny encourages everyone to continuously know God, and do not just know a little. One day you see a vision, one day you have a dream, one day your hair stands on end, one day something happens, and you think you are already born again and saved? Stop it. I am not discouraging your faith; I am discouraging your ignorance. If we have any bewilderment within us, it is because we do not know God. You must know that God's judgment begins with God's people.
Unfaithful Priests Will Be Judged
Many years ago, I sat in the audience listening to a pastor preaching on the stage, weeping bitterly about how he had suffered from depression for many years and how he has been sued by members and leaders of the church. As I sat there listening, I felt extremely perplexed. I remember the last time I studied 1 Samuel was in 2013. From 2013 until now, the matter of Old Eli has been deeply imprinted in my mind. At the time, many people felt sorry for the pastor and wanted to pray for him. But for someone like Eli's sons, is it useful to pray for him? It is not. Sacrifices are never useful; only pursuing faithfulness is God's will.
The reason why this pastor became like this is because he did not build the church according to God's word. He would appoint whoever had the most donation as a leader in the church, is such practice allowed in God's church? Appointing whoever had the most donation as a leader is a matter of life and death! Then he messed up on his own. Later, he said that there was a temple not far from where he built the church, but in fact, that temple could not influence him. There is only one reason for this: the absence of God's presence in that place. If there is God's presence, why would you care about the temple? When the Ark of God was brought to the temple of Dagon, some began to worry: isn't God able to protect Himself? We have too much unneeded bewilderment. Therefore, brothers and sisters must be sober! Unfaithful priests will be judged.
There were some pastors whom I personally served. After serving them, I felt really sad, because many things in their minds were not God's words. Let us begin to open our eyes and carefully read the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Many people may wonder why God did things this way. The truth is, God has always done things this way. If you want to, try быть an unfaithful Christian. How many brothers and sisters among us still have strong worldly value systems in their hearts today?
When you ask them to change, they feel that they cannot live without it. As a result, they are exploited in their businesses, beaten in the malls, and hurt in the workplace. Then they think that the God inside them is not that powerful, and they are bewildered! But I would say that they asked for it, they are too stubborn for their own good. Yesterday, during a prayer session, a brother I have known for many years went bankrupt recently. He called it entering the ranks of the poor. When I used to hire employees, I preferred Christians. But suddenly, one day, I stopped wanting to hire Christians. Don't think I am talking nonsense. I hired one who was not good, then I hired another who was not good either. They did not work hard. Later, I hired another one, which reinforced my idea. I wondered, why are all Christians like this? I sighed with emotion! Thank God, those whom I trained turned out to be all right.
God's judgment comes upon unfaithful priests, and they all have reasons for being unfaithful. They may not even know that they are unfaithful. Why? Because they have their own set of ideas in their heads. These people are self-righteous to an outrageous extent. They do not know that they are unfaithful, and they even think that they are very faithful. This is a huge misunderstanding! I encourage everyone, to see oneself with sober judgment. If you do not understand sober judgment, then see yourself as you ought to see. God's judgment will not be wrong. Unfaithful priests have a whole bunch of reasons for their unfaithfulness, but they think that they are all reasonable.
Look, if I were unfaithful, how could I be a pastor for forty years? Look, God has also given me a Samuel. Look, the words spoken by Samuel have all come to pass! Look at what you are saying. Do you think what you are saying is incredible? Do you think that putting Samuel forward makes you faithful? Do you think you are faithful by doing a few things? Do you think you are faithful by healing one person? Do you think you are faithful by delivering one person? Therefore, unfaithful priests will be judged, and God has been waiting a long time for us to repent. Whenever you repent, God will withdraw His judgment. Brothers and sisters, you must know for sure that sometimes God does not withdraw His judgment even when we repent, but most of the time, God does not want us to die, but wants us to live!
God sent a man of God to warn Eli, not only sent a man of God to warn Eli, but also sent a man of God to warn his two sons. In fact, they heard quite a bit, but after listening, they felt that this person was not sent by God, and that the words spoken through him were not from God. Therefore, we must know that sometimes a testimony does not prove anything! Whether I am a man of God or not is not important. Unfaithful priests, do you think that bringing out the Ark of the Covenant will work? Eli, his two sons, and his daughter-in-law died on the same day! Prayer does not work either.
Remember! It is particularly difficult to deal with Christians who are sick. Praying for one year, praying for two years, and still seeing no effect; it is very troublesome. Sometimes it is the brothers and sisters among us, who have been praying for years. It is particularly difficult to deal with Christians who are sick. Why? God had already said in 1 Samuel chapter 2 that it is useless for the house of Eli to offer sacrifices. Offering a bull or a sheep is useless. If our prayers are not working, it has nothing to do with me, and I am not ashamed, and God is not ashamed either.
Unfaithful Priests Have a Wrong Understanding of God
Now the Philistines mustered their forces to fight against Israel. And when the battle broke out, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of their fighting men on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and deliver us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:2-3)
Do you think God cares about these four thousand people? If they died, they died, God does not care much. In the wilderness, God struck down six hundred thousand Israelites, God did not care. The people went back to the camp, very bewildered, why did God defeat us before the Philistines? They thought that they were God's people, the one inside them was greater than the one outside, and God was greater than the Philistines! But they did not know that they were God's enemies, wouldn't that be troublesome? God was not trying to deal with the Philistines, God was trying to deal with the Israelites. Those elders were quite muddleheaded, they were similar to Eli's two sons, unwilling to know God, and did not know God, and then they were full of bewilderment.
Today, in traditional churches, when people get cancer, they think that the one inside them is greater than the one outside. When they get mental illness, they say that the one inside them is greater than the one outside. In fact, the spirit of mental illness inside them is quite big, bewildered right? Very bewildered! Because they do not know God! As a result, they say, “Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and deliver us from the hand of our enemies.” Will this work? It will not work! Even if you bring out the cross, bring out the image of Jesus, it will not work. If you have the problems of Eli's sons, think carefully, even if people pray for you, it will not work.
Bringing this out, bringing that out, or anointing with oil, these will not work. There is only one thing, which is to know God again. They do not know God, they think that the Ark of the Covenant represents God's presence, and that with the Ark of the Covenant, they can surely be victorious? Does the Ark of the Covenant really represent God's presence? Nonsense! If the Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence, that would be great. In fact, the Ark of the Covenant is an idol!
So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. (1 Samuel 4:4)
How the Ark of the Lord came about is not mentioned here. Was it transported by an ox cart or a horse-drawn carriage? We do not know, but it was brought there anyway, and the transport of the Ark did not follow God's instructions. Can the Ark of the Lord be handled this way? It cannot. As a result, when the Israelites saw the Ark of God arriving, they thought they would immediately be victorious, which also shows their ignorance. Some time ago, I mentioned that many people expect to become successful immediately by worshipping masters. I advise you to save your effort; it is not effective. When the Israelites saw the Ark arriving, they shouted loudly, and the ground shook. The Philistines were confused and asked, What is happening? Didn't four thousand people die? Are they mourning for these four thousand people? Someone said, No, it is the Ark of their God arriving. As a result, the Philistines were frightened.
I cite many examples in my sermons, and as a result, everyone regards me as a master. I am not a master; I am not even qualified to be a minor master. You do not need to shout and want to shake hands with me or have me lay hands on you to become smarter. I advise you to forget about it; it is not effective. I often attend Christian gatherings where there is earth-shattering shouting, blowing of trumpets, and waving of flags. After all this, they say, Those who are sick, raise your hands! Everyone raises their hands. I often see this and am very surprised. Do you think God will accept such large and small gatherings? It is better to be faithful to God; this is not knowing God.
As a result, when old Eli saw the Ark being captured, he was worried about the Ark. After being an unfaithful priest for a long time, one's understanding of God becomes very chaotic. To what extent? He was worried about the Ark of God. You should worry about your own life. You do not need to worry about God's church, nor do you need to worry about God's Kingdom. God has His own Kingdom. You also do not need to worry about God's cross or God's Ark. In fact, God does not care at all. God even tears down His own temple; God even tears down His Church; God even personally judges His unfaithful priests. It is terrifying not to know God.
As soon as he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. (1 Samuel 4:18)
Old Eli was worried about the Ark. As soon as he heard that the Ark of God was captured, he fell backward from his seat, and his neck was broken, and he died. How terrifying! Why is this? Why wasn't he shocked to this extent by his own unfaithfulness? If he had been shocked to this extent by his own unfaithfulness earlier, why would he have seen God's judgment coming today? How ignorant! Then his daughter-in-law spoke two ignorant statements, The glory has departed from Israel! Is this the glory departing from Israel? This is the glory of God manifested in Israel, the authority of God manifested in Israel, and God personally judging His unfaithful priests. What glory departing from Israel? The glory of God has never departed; it is just that these unfaithful priests will see the glorious judgment of God.
Brothers and sisters, when you read the Bible, you must pay attention. When Moses built the Tabernacle of the Lord, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle of the Lord. What happened later?
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: “'Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent. (Leviticus 10:1-3)
This is the glory of God. If you read the Bible carefully, the glory of God will execute His judgment. Therefore, we must serve God with fear and trembling, with a heart of reverence for God, until we have worked out our salvation.
She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the Ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. “The Glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the Ark of God has been captured.” (1 Samuel 4:21-22)
Old Eli's daughter-in-law said, God, how could such a thing happen? I tell you, many pastors say, God, how could such a thing happen? after such things happen in their families. Old Eli's daughter-in-law thought, God, haven't my husband and father-in-law served you wholeheartedly and with all their strength? Why did they die like this? If they didn't die like this, how else would they die? She still thought they were serving God wholeheartedly. In fact, this is God's judgment; this is human ignorance. Do people think that serving God is as simple as doing something casually there? Therefore, the people of God perish for lack of knowledge! The priests of God perish for lack of knowledge! The daughters-in-law of God's priests perish for lack of knowledge! What do you mean by the glory of God departing from Israel? The glory of God has never departed! Today, let us remove all these wrong perceptions. If you are not afraid of God, I am afraid of God for you.
The Victory of God's People in Battle Depends on God's Presence
Knowing God and knowing that God gives life and takes life is what Hannah, Samuel's mother, said.
The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. (1 Samuel 2:4)
There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)
The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. (1 Samuel 2:6-7)
If we truly know that everything is in God's hands, that the victory of God's people in battle does not depend on swords, chariots, horses, or weapons, but on God's presence, then we must serve God with a trembling heart. Christians must know for sure that the victory of God's people in battle depends on God's presence. Do you really rely on God's presence? If you rely on God's presence, you will build a glorious church, participate in managing God's church, and work with God. You say, I don't know how to participate. How could you not know? You can serve in the smallest ways. Who have you served today? You are good at empty talk. How have you served? Has your service been effective?
Don't say that I have not arranged for you to serve. You have not even learned from others. How can I arrange it? Can you learn from your small group leader? When will you have a heart to serve? Do our brothers and sisters have that heart to serve? I am very moved. Today, in building a glorious church, if you really have a Mingding Destiny, what have you done? The church is not a place for preaching, nor is it a place for Bible study; the church is a place for pastoring.
But pastoring must depend on the word of God. If we all develop the habit of serving with our lips, it is useless. Do you really know how to serve? If you don't know how to serve, are you really willing to be trained? Don't come up and say, Teacher, no one serves me. Why? If I give you people to serve, how will you serve them? The victory of God's people in battle depends on God's presence! Joseph in Genesis had God's presence, and he still had God's presence when he went to Egypt. How miraculous! Because he had faithfulness to God in his bones.
Among us, I don't know whether to speak deeply or shallowly. If I speak deeply, you will be hurt and discern good and evil with me. If I speak shallowly, it won't work. Even after I finish teaching the Bible, you still argue with me behind my back. Of course, there are also those who don't argue. I am moved that Joseph did not discern good and evil even after being sold into Egypt. Someone wants to build you up, but you still discern good and evil. Isn't that strange? Of course, I am just complaining. The church is the same. There is no need to invent a lot of methods. God just looks at whether you have this Mingding Destiny. Faithfulness is closely linked to Mingding Destiny. Therefore, in Exodus, even though Potiphar's household still worshipped idols, it could not affect God's presence with Joseph.
A person with a Mingding Destiny is someone who closely follows God and desires to be used by God. Idols or no idols, it doesn't matter. Once, when I was ministering to someone, I wanted to throw away their idols. As a result, the person said, Teacher, can you not throw them away? I said, Why? He said, Can you help me send them to the temple? Then I sent the things to the temple, and there was no problem. Brothers and sisters, start to obtain the logical system of Chinese Mingding Destiny. This logical system is that if you are a person with a Mingding Destiny, if you are like Joseph, there is no problem. If you are like Jacob in his uncle Laban's house, what is the problem? There is no problem; don't come up with a lot of methods.
Know that God tests people! Don't think that you have proven yourself faithful just because you raised a little Samuel. It cannot be proven. So I say that only a person with a Mingding Destiny can be faithful! Joseph went to Potiphar's house, and there was no problem. God tests people, causes people to fall, and also causes people to rise up. You must not become a person who falls. God is a stone that causes people to stumble. Be a person who knows God, obtains a Mingding Destiny, and becomes a person who is raised up and used by God. Let's talk a little bit about what you have done in the past week. Were you really faithful to God? What about the past month? What about the past half year? What about the past year?
Determine to Be a Faithful Priest
A person who is faithful to God will definitely act according to the teachings of Jesus Christ and take this as our life. We live for this and die for this, and nothing can stop us. Many people always have reasons, either today or tomorrow. They always have reasons, but they don't know how to be faithful people. The Israelites considered the Ark to be very important, and of course, faithful priests should also consider the Ark to be important. But it is more important to consider God more important than the Ark. The Ark is just a box. To consider the covenant made with God important is called faithfulness. Do not add to or subtract from the word of God, establish a complete theological system, and then view the works of God through this generation. You will find that there is no confusion in you at all.
This is God's judgment! That is also God's judgment! Make up your mind, God, I want to have a heart of reverence before you! Be a faithful priest! Regardless of whether you like to hear some words or not, I will speak them as long as they are beneficial to you. Even if I offend you to the point of leaving, so be it. I will still be a faithful priest. Whether it is timely or untimely, I will serve as long as I have breath. This is my style of serving.
I am very moved that those who imitate me see the effectiveness of serving, while those who do not imitate me do not see the effectiveness of serving. I ask you to imitate me, not to make big talk. Actually, I went astray for a while, and God disciplined me, so I repented properly. There are too many traces of God's discipline on me, which are clearly visible. But they cannot become obstacles to my serving God and being God's faithful priest. Although I have many problems and many shortcomings, I am faithful to God. Everyone, start pondering and figuring out how to be a faithful person. You can go and see, go and understand, and grasp God's heart.
What is God's heart in 1 Samuel chapter 4? God's heart is still that we be faithful priests! Sometimes I serve even when I am sick. Someone asks if I don't take care of myself. Serve until death. I also get sick, and I am not a model of holiness, but I am definitely a model of a faithful priest, which is also my goal. No matter what, we must fear God!
May God bless you all!
1 Samuel Chapter 4 Scripture
4:1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
4:3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? 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.
4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.
4:5 And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
4:6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the Ark of the Lord was come into the camp.
4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
4:11 And the Ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
4:12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.
4:13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
4:14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
4:15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
4:16 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
4:17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the Ark of God is taken.
4:18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the Ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
4:19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself, and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
4:20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
4:21 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.
4:22 And she said, The Glory is departed from Israel: for the Ark of God is taken.