That's Not Normal!

the following message is made available by truth for life for more information visit us online at truthfortheworld.org and as you're seated I invite you to turn to first Samuel and chapter 4 and follow along as I read from verse 12 for Samuel 4 and verse 12 a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head when he arrived Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching for his heart trembled for the Ark of God and when the man came into the city and told the news all the city cried out when Eli heard the sound of the outcry he said what is this uproar then the man hurried and came and told Eli now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see and the man said to Eli I am he who has come from the battle I fled from the battle today and he said how did it go my son he who brought the news answered and said Israel has fled from the Philistines and there is also been a great defeat among the people your two sons also hophni and Phinehas are dead and the Ark of God has been captured as soon as he mentioned the Ark of God Eli fell over backward from his seat by the sight of the gate and his neck was broken and he died for the man was old and heavy he had judged Israel forty years now his daughter-in-law the wife of Phineas was pregnant about to give birth and when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead she bowed and gave birth for her pains came upon her and about the time of her death the women attending her said to her do not be afraid for you have born a son but she did not answer or pay attention and she named the child Ichabod saying the glory has departed from Israel because the Ark of God has been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured amen father with our Bibles open before us we humbly pray for the help and work of the Holy Spirit so that the page might be a lumen to us that our eyes might be open to see our ears quick to listen and our hearts ready to embrace all that you have for us in and through your word for we pray in Jesus name Amen while the verses to which we have turned are the verses which we consider this morning I found this week in studying this passage as last time greatly challenged by it and I also found that a phrase came to me from out of the dim and distant past I was able to track it down to Edinburgh I think 1976 when Susan and I had attended a play we didn't go to plays very often in those days and so I remember that it was a play I don't remember the name and I don't remember what it was about all that I remember is one line from that play and it was a recurring line because it was poignant and it was at the same time humorous it was delivered by a lady with our kind of accented Glasgow accent and as something would happen in the play she would say that's not normal just like that that's not normal and so for the last 40-plus years of our lives Susan and I have ice things unfold in our marriage and in life we use that phrase that's not normal and the reason it's in my mind is because I think that if you followed carefully when I read or if you've been reading this text during the week you must have come to the place where you said yourself this isn't normal they're surely not normal for this lady to get the news of a son being delivered and yet to pay no regard to it at all because the news of the loss of a box on the battlefield so predominates in her thinking and in the case as we will see this morning of this woman we might not say that's not normal I think we would say though that's not natural and then the only explanation we have is to conclude that in fact it is supernatural now in the telling of the story we the readers because we have read the first half of the chapter we are aware of the disaster on the field of battle we are aware of the fight that the judgment pronounced on the house of Eli has begun we are aware of all of that but the news is only now reaching Shiloh is reaching Shiloh on the lips of a man of Benjamin who has run from the field of battle now I've tried to remind myself in my study and also now in seeking to expound the text that what we're dealing with here is of course a narrative we're dealing with a story it is being told in such a way that we the readers might also enjoy the story and be intrigued by the story and learn from the story it's not given to us in bullet points so we are supposed to get underneath if you like the text itself the various genres of Scripture some prophecy and some epistles in some history in some poetry and so on are there in the vast diversity of the sixty-six books so that for us the enjoyment of the reading of the Bible might simply be that actually the enjoyment of it and even the opening phrase here a man of Benjamin ran ought to make some of us think because we've been reading well that sounds a little bit like how the book began because it's exactly how the book began there was a certain man of Rama themes or phim we also were introduced to another man a man of God in verse 27 and there of chapter 2 and there came a man so there was a man there came a man and here we are again and a man of Benjamin if you know your Bible at all it might force you forward just a page in your Bible to chapter 9 where we find again there was a man of Benjamin and the thought is that the way the writer puts this is to provide just a little hint so that in the same way that when you read something it triggers something in your mind and when you read the beginning of chapter 9 you know that what is described there is actually he who had a son whose name was Saul a handsome young man and it's some Jewish traditions they actually believed that the certain man here of Benjamin in verse 12 was none other than Saul himself how they arrived at that I don't know and you are not to be unsettled by it because as you would tell me it's not a main thing or a plain thing but this man of Benjamin has run from the battle that tells us something because we know that the battlefield was about 20 miles or more away cross country that's quite a run that's almost a marathon runner and he has arrived not wearing Lululemon or Nike as you can see but he has arrived with his clothes torn and dirt on his head unless we understand that this is an expression of mourning we will assume that he's actually fallen or been beset by robbers on the way the very way in which he reveals himself is an indication of the bad news that he brings it would be obvious to anyone who saw him coming that he was a bearer of bad news of course it couldn't be obvious to Eli as we know because Eli was blind the fact that he's blind doesn't stop the writer from saying in verse 13 that Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching so how do you watch when you're blind well presumably you watch with your ears and friends that I've had who are physically unable to see seem to have a perception a grasp of things that is almost uncanny and that they're alert to things that we who look what our eyes may actually miss ourselves there may be something of that there he was watching and he was at the same time we're told trembling and he was trembling for the Ark of God there is more in this than we're going to unpack at the moment but if you think about it you realize that he had been on the receiving end of a request for the ark to be taken to the battlefield back in the earlier part of the chapter their first defeat was significant they figured if we use the ark as a kind of magic box then maybe that will work for us Eli knew better than to respond to that Eli knew better than to dispatch the ark and certainly in the custody of his two worthless sons as we have had them described and he knew that in doing what he had done it was actually contrary to the purposes of God God wanted the ark in a place with the people coming to the ark rather than the people using the ark as if it was a talisman so it's not a surprise that we're told that he was trembling in this way incidentally when you texts like this for yourself on your own when you're seeking to study the Bible one of the ways in which we can understand where the emphasis lies one of the ways in which we can make sure that we don't go wrong in our exposition of the text is to consider where there is repetition and the repetition in these verses is focused entirely on the ark and if you read it out loud you'll be struck by how many times you're saying the ark it's in verse 11 there are 17 verse 19 verse 21 verse 22 so what do we know we know that the writer wants us to think significantly about this matter of the Ark of God what has happened to it what is represented by it and what it means now the arrival of this man the messenger has caused an uproar in the city the uproar in the city has spread out and Eli now who couldn't determine from seeing the man as he ran past what was going on inquires about the uproar and we're told in verse 14 that then the man hurried and came and told Eli as I thought about it I thought well if the uproar was so great and people had found out surely anybody could have told Eli what was going on and that I think would be absolutely accurate but nevertheless he hears it as it were from the horse's mouth and then the man hurried and he came to Eli and he introduced himself but before he introduces himself the narrator the writer tells us that Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see presumably just to remind us in the story as it unfolds that the man coming up to Eli would not steal his own thunder by virtue of his torn clothes and the dirt in his hair because he'll I couldn't see either of that therefore what he was now about to tell him was going to be news and so he introduces himself 4:16 I says I imagine him saying just by way of introduction I am he who has come from the battle in fact I fled from the battle today to achieve I says how did it go my son I guess when you're 98 years old you can call everybody's son right I don't think this is a term of endearment in fact if we put it in more common parlance it goes something like this well just by way of introduction I am the man who was at the battle field I have fled from the battlefield ad to which he liar if I replied get on with it boy tell me what you're here to report now notice that in the telling of the story the pace slows the pace slows this is this is important in telling a story if you do create a writing at school and you're writing a story you can't use your best line in the first paragraph you don't have a story oh you've gots a paragraph therefore if you're seeking to build suspense one of the ways in which you build suspense is by delay now you will notice he who brought the news answered and said well we know it was he who brought the news but the writer is just slowing the pace purposefully if you don't remember anywhere oh she can remember it in in Shakespeare he does it all the time classically with Polonius when Polonius is going to the mother to the Hamlet's mother the Queen he's going to tell her your son is mad right that's his message how does he do it remember he starts my liege and Madam to expostulate what Duty is why day day night night and time is time or nothing but to waste night day and time and since brevity is the soul of wit and tediousness the limbs outward flourishes I will be brief that's right Shakespeare wrote it for that laughs then he says your noble son is mad mad call I it for to define true madness what is but to be anything nothing else than mad - it's the Queen replies more matter with less art get to the point but the writer writes it in such a way that there is an enjoyment in getting to the point and the Bible is not a boring book that people tell me the Bible is so boring I'll tell you one thing you've never read it you've never read it on your knees that's for sure for the Bible is magnificent all inspired for our correction for our reproof for our training and righteousness and we're expected to read the narrative of First Samuel for in a different way than we read for example Ephesians chapter 2 why because it's written differently in order to present this truth so he presented the news and here is how he presented it Israel has fled before the Philistines that's number one there is also been a great defeat among the people it's a slaughter that's number two your two sons also hophni and Phinehas now he's not telling Eli his son's names he's reminding us so that we make sure that we're not talking about any other sons that there might've been still these same two worthless characters your two sons are dead but he's still not add the punchline let's stop there for a moment can there be a greater grief for a father than to be informed that his two impenitent sons are lost that would be enough to induce a heart attack in most fathers look at Eli sit in there squeeze your eyes together and say under your breath that it's not normal because notice that it is the punch line and the arc of God has been captured we see how it builds up to it the pace slows the information is provided what is the significant thing where does the focus lie what is the writer telling us he's telling us that this is the most significant thing of all and the mention of the art which had caused Eli's heart to tremble is now the occasion of his death he's old he's heavy he's blind he's sad he's dead a 40-year career comes to a crashing end in a moment now here's something that ought to give us pause when we read this we have to say I'm not sure I remember many places in the Bible where somebody's weight is mentioned or where their girth is described so therefore it must be a significant thing well you could say yes and shear in terms of the physicality of it that would explain why if he was heavy in that way a fall would be sufficient to bring about his death but actually we know that it's more than that you say we do I hope we do because what was the problem early on with the three-pronged fork and the digging in the meat it was that they despised the place that God had appointed decided that the preoccupations of themselves and their fathers to father took precedence over their own earthly longings over their own needs hey you give us this stuff or we'll take it from you forcibly yeah but you're supposed to allow the fat to burn off as an aroma as a sacrifice of praise to Almighty God don't you worry about Almighty God we are the custodians of Almighty God just do what we're telling you we'll take the fat so what do you have where's the glory in one sense wrapped around Eli's belly for his girth is in itself a physical expression of the spiritual chaos represented in the priestly function of Shiloh and let me tell you why I know this because in Hebrew the word for heavy transliterated is cabot kab edy it is the verbal form of a word which is translated glory which is K a B or D and the writer is making a play on words throughout this saga showing how when those who are fastened on themselves and their own significance seek to rob god of his law they treat him as if he is light and may be manipulated and so they themselves regarding themselves as heavy take precedence in everything this little scene here is a sad scene isn't it the Sun is setting on Eli's life he dies miserably but I wanted to believe that he didn't die eternally the Lord knows these things I see that because even in his death it's actually clear that his deepest concern is not what is happening to him or even what happened to his sons but the news that God had forsaken his dwelling in Shiloh the news that the Ark had now been captured the news that the glory if you like had departed Eli is one of a number of individuals in the Bible particularly in the realm of religious profession and in religious exercise in terms of priestly or pastoral function if you like who stands as a as a huge warning a warning that is encapsulated in Paul's words remember in 1st Corinthians 10 let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls I want to believe that Eli died of a broken heart rather than of a broken neck I want to believe that the former preceded the latter I don't know what his main and plain Eli died second little scenario is probably one of the most touching and one of the loveliest in Old Testament record we don't even know this lady's name simply his daughter-in-law the wife of Phineas I encourage you to read this on your own will you agree with me that it's both touching and tragic that it is quite a drama that unfolds in a matter of just a few words did you ever see somebody just in passing perhaps you're on a bus or something and you look at them and you realize there's a whole life let wrapped up in that person well you look at this now his daughter-in-law what had this lady's life been it must have been peculiar in many ways because we know how it ends you see crisis as in this does not create this response crisis reveals the nature of the person by their response now here she was married to this character as she was married to a priest presumably on the occasion of their marriage there would have been great joy and celebration how wonderful it is this not only is she married to a priest but her brother-in-law as a priest and so she lived her life in the goldfish ball of a priestly home as time went by she became aware of her husband's double standards he went out into the community and he did his priestly stuff but he also slept with women she was aware of his adulterous behavior a behavior that was a matter of public knowledge as we know from the text she would have felt the sting when people said of her as she passed by in the marketplace you know that is phineas his wife and then she would have heard some saying and we all know about Phineas don't we she would have been aware of what the public would now be aware of what went on behind closed doors whether whether Phineas actually saw God in the private place whether there was a growing distance between his function and if you like his fellowship with God she would have been aware if the distancing of himself from that which is sacred produced in his experienced activity that was a job but it was not a joy it had been a joy but it became a job people always ask me when do you leave pastoral ministry when your joy is supplanted by just doing a job it will not suffice but here they obviously still were intimate with one another she was pregnant had they turned over a new leaf had he said you know what I'm done with all that stuff it's going to be a new day we don't know what kind of farewell was it when she embraced him as they left he and Huff knee to take this art to the field of battle especially in light of the fact that she knew because the word of Samuel hadn't fallen to the ground and because the people of Israel knew the word of Samuel which was the word that was the reiteration of the word that had come by the certain man who brought the word of prophecy concerning the demise and destruction of the house of Eli it's hard to imagine that now she heard the news and when she heard the news now notice when the news is given to Eli it goes in ascending order the the the the army has fled there's been a slaughter your sons are dead and the ark he's the punchline you notice in this case the punchline heads the list and when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead she bowed her self and gave birth for the pains had come upon her now here's where I find myself all week I wish you could be with me sometimes during the weeks you'll see what it's like up there in my cave you know surrounded by sheets of paper that I keep crumpling up and throwing in the pen but but this lady's got me stumped throughout the week I find myself saying and sitting again going I snore it normal because think about it under any natural circumstances surely the death of a spouse would head the list surely their real issue would be forget about the box for the time being my man is dead if you've lost a loved one you know that every other consideration in the world falls to the ground in relationship to that reality so what are we discovering here well the cumulative impact of it all induces labor but what we're realizing is that the physical response is outweighed by the spiritual and we know this because of what unfolds when she realizes that she's not going to survive the ordeal the women attending her seeking to rally her and encourage her see to her hey you know the baby is a boy every Hebrew mom wanted a boy the whole story begins with a woman whose thrilled with a boy what possesses somebody even in that extremity to not answer or pay attention that's what he says in verse 20 but she didn't answer or pay attention now my first thought was well that's because she was so physically distressed she was as he couldn't know how do you know because she named the child if she was blotto if she was just out of it then she'd be out of it she didn't answer her pay attention but she said I want you to call the child Ichabod saying the glory has departed from Israel now you notice that sin that's in quotation marks then the commentary of the writer because the Ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said back in two quotes again the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured now Ichabod simply means no glory or where is the glory how can it be how can this be it must be that this lady somehow in a way that is not disclosed to us in holy scripture lived in the presence of God that when her husband led her down when she was aware of the discrepancy between public profession and private reality that somehow or another she must have been saying to herself God is a very present help in trouble he's a refuge for me the name of the Lord is a strong tower into it I can run and be saved she must have been doing that because otherwise you're not going to get a response like this she must somehow or another have had a theology which comes out so clearly in her death in fact as Ralph Davis as she taught more theology in her death then probably our husband did in his entire life and so this lady whose name we do not know who lived faithfully a hidden life will be rate laid to rest in an unvisited tomb don't you want to believe I do but somehow in all of her pain and disappointment and loss somehow deep inside she had laid hold of something that even those closest to her had not grasped if I was and this is another thing that I do that it's just silly but I I hear music when when I'm reading the text it's all imagined of course and some of it I shouldn't mention but I I thought I imagined I could hear her voice and has her as her life ebbs away she singing my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he has planned it out the vintage where The Grapes of Wrath is he see she she she she knew she knew that Hannah when she prayed was on it there is none holy like you or Lord what is God's glory it is the manifestation of His infinite perfection and holiness it is bringing up and out into the public arena all that God is all that he means why all that matters why the psalmist says I'd rather spend a single day within your courts than thousands spend anywhere else what is it that brings that about it must only be that in the in the deep recesses of the human soul there is an engagement with god that's why the psalmist is so much on it some 19 the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork in other words the clouds show to you in the morning shouting out to you the evening sunlight shouts out it dis expresses the glory of God she must have seen this she must have believed this she knew that the glory of God was to be declared among the nations therefore for the ark to be captured for it to be carried away amongst the pagans then God must be in this it must be be exalted or God she might have said before she went to bed exalted above the heavens let your glory be over all the earth you see she knew that God's glory mattered more than Eli's name mattered more than Shiloh mattered more than present victory that's not normal because by nature we cannot see God's glory by nature our eyes are hidden from the glory of God therefore I say to you if it isn't natural it has to be supernatural 2 Corinthians and chapter 4 and even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing and we are all perishing until we find life in Christ it is veiled to those who are perishing now why is this well in their case the god of this world small G has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God so you said in listen to me or my colleagues preach and you say that was very interesting or that was very boring or I just frankly don't get it well of course you don't get it you can't get it your eyes have been blinded by the god of this age you and I we're all tempted to believe that this is it that this matters more than anything else that whatever is up and out and Beyond there somehow or another that's another realm that doesn't matter this is the real realm but you see God opens blind eyes God softens hard hearts for what we proclaim as not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake for God who said let light shine out of darkness which is a reference to the creation has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ do you see this what happened at Shiloh is long remembered you'll be surprised now I hope that as you read through your Bible and you come across a reference for example like Sam 78 verse 60 you'll say oh yeah I get that when God heard he was full of wrath and he utterly rejected Israel he forsook his dwelling at Shiloh the tent where he dwelt among mankind Jeremiah the Prophet speaking at a time in the history of the people of God when they were also tempted to use God to say you are useful rather than you are worthy and in that context the word of warning to them is directly in relationship to Shiloh as this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes behold I myself of seen it declares the Lord go now to my place that was in Shiloh where I made my named well at first and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel go now to my place at Shiloh there is not only a warning here for each to ensure that we do not fall we who believe ourselves to be standing but there is a striking warning here to every Assembly of God's people I could take you throughout Scotland and to shame and sadness stand with you outside boarded up buildings that were once called holy this or the Church of the diet and what is written across the metaphorically is just one word a Chabad where is the glory no glory when we say to one another these things about the next generation and the importance of the passing on of truth and the ensuring that our children and our children's children are are nurtured in the things of Christ we're saying it in light of the fact that we wouldn't be the first church that in a hundred years from now people drove past and said you know I think I think in the early 2000s there was a congregation there that's where they said in Ephesus Candlestick removed how I hate the thought perish the thought the Parkside Church will one day have its name changed to Ichabod Community Church because the leadership will just do in their job but they lost their joy and the congregation was so fixated on the now and the me and the what that any notion of the glory and majesty and transcendence of God was to be lost well let's pray Lord our God look upon us we pray in your mercy thank you that your faithfulness extends from generation to generation we want to heed the warnings even as we trust your promises hear our prayers personally and corporately for your son's sake amen this message was brought to you from truth for life where the learning is for living to learn more about truth for life with alistair beg visit us online at truthfortheworld.org

Channel: Alistair Begg

Views: 27,655

Rating: 4.844749 out of 5

Keywords: Truth For Life, Biblical Figures, Church Life, Faith, Glory of God, Warnings

Id: KMzIPvf1sFI

Length: 43min 0sec (2580 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 26 2019