Often a mother’s assignment in life is very difficult. Now if anything negative can be said about mothers, it would be about the names they give their children.
I personally think they should pass a law that allows a child that reaches the age of 10 or 12, to have a chance to select the name that they are going to be called for the rest of their life.
It almost seems that some mothers are still under medication when they named their child. For example, a family had the last name of Hogg. They had two daughters and they named them “Ima” and “Ura”
• Can you imagine one of those girls standing up in school and introducing herself saying, “Ima Hogg.”
• The other one probably stayed in fights when she walked up to someone and introduce herself and said, “Ura Hogg”
But in this passage of Scripture, we see where another Mother did a bad job of naming her child. This is the daughter-in-law of Eli the priest. She called her son “Ichabod”.
Illus: Can you imagine this child going to school and telling his class mates his name was “Ichabod”? I guarantee that they gave him the nickname “Icky!”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT ICHABOD” MEANS? It means “The Glory Of The Lord Has Departed.”
This mother named her child “Ichabod” because the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel, and she was sending a message.
Let me suggest THREE reasons why she named her child “Ichabod”.
I. BECAUSE GOD’S PEOPLE WERE NO LONGER VICTORIOUS
God had miraculously given them victory after victory, but when Israel came up against the Philistines, in 1 Samuel 4:1-22, they suffered a tragic defeat.
Look at 1 Samuel 4:1-2, we read, “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 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.”
Defeat was not something that Israel was used to experiencing!
• But the Word of God said in verse 2, …Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.”
Four thousand men were killed because the Glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. And if that was not bad enough-
• Look at verse 10, we read, “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.”
Because God’s people were suffering these tragic defeats, this mother named her child “Ichabod”. (The glory of the Lord hath departed)
Listen Mom, you need God in your life. We have overwhelming proof that in our society, Mothers are trying to live without God, and what a tremendous price they and their children are paying.
James 4:8 teaches us to, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.…”
If a person runs from God, and does not want the presence of God in their life, they and their children will suffer defeat after defeat.
When all these bad things began to happen to them, they can call it BAD LUCK or whatever they want to call it, but the fact is that they are living proof that the GLORY OF GOD HAS DEPARTED FROM THEIR LIVES.
Everyone here today needs God in their life. If He is not there, you might as well go home and write “Ichabod” across your front door, because the Glory of God is not in your life.
She named her child “Ichabod” because they were suffering one defeat after another. Also, she named her child “Ichabod”-
II. BECAUSE GOD WAS NO LONGER SPECIAL TO THEM
• Celebrities want to be SPECIAL TO EVERYONE! That is, they seek fame however they can get it, because they want to be SPECIAL IN THE SIGHT OF EVERYONE!
• Many children play sports and do all kinds of things because they want to be special in the sight of their parents.
• Most of us adults are content with being special in the sight of a husband or a wife.
But God always wanted to be special in the sight of every one of us. He has always wanted to be so special, that every day we would recognize that without Him in our life, our life would be empty. How it must break His heart that lost men will live their lives as if He did not even exist!
Illus: A Christian man took several weeks to help an elderly lady. He spent over five hundred dollars of his own money, and many nights he went home so tired he could hardly drive his truck home. He gave her his time, talent and his money, and a few weeks later she got mad at him and accused him of not caring for her and her family. He said, “How can you say that?” She said, “Oh you mean because you helped me a few weeks ago?” She said, “That’s nothing!” Needless to say, after doing all that he did, to have her consider it to be nothing, broke his heart.
But that is nothing compared to what God has done for mankind. Still there are those who see it as nothing.
• God gives us the sunshine to enjoy
• God gives us oxygen to breathe
• God places strength within our bodies
• God gives us health to enjoy
• God gives us eyes to see with
• God gives us ears to hear with
• God gives us rain showers
And much more!
But why does God do all these things for us? It is because He loves us and He wants us to acknowledge Him and His goodness. He wants to be SPECIAL IN OUR SIGHT! God has always wanted to be SPECIAL in our life.
This is what he wanted to do for Israel. But God, who wanted to be SPECIAL in their life, was reduced to no more than a GOOD LUCK CHARM.
Let me show you what I mean. Look at 1 Samuel 4:1-10, we read, “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”
After they suffered this defeat at the hand of the Philistines, they were all trying to figure out what had caused this tremendous defeat in their life.
One of the elders suggested that the defeat was due to the fact that the “Ark of the Covenant” (The ark was symbolic of God’s presence) was not in their midst. They sent some men into Shiloh to have the ark brought back among them. And when the Ark arrived, you could hear them rejoicing a country mile away.
WHY WERE THEY REJOICING? Because the Ark of the covenant was their lucky charm that would bring them victory. They figured they had already lost four thousand men, but now their luck was about to change.
But when they engaged in another battle with the Philistines, they lost 30,000 men. God never wanted to become a good luck charm in their lives, He loved them, and He wanted them to love Him.
Illus: GOD IS NOT SPECIAL TO MANY PEOPLE TODAY! They do not love the Lord or want to please Him. The only reason they want Him in their life is so He can become their good luck charm.
Illus: Some will wear a cross around their neck as good luck. Some will carry a metal cross in their pocket because they think it is good luck.
They thought that since they had sent to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into their midst, they had their good luck charm and they would certainly now be victorious over the Philistines. But they lost a total of 30,000 men in the battle against the Philistines.
No wonder this mother named her child “Ichabod!” They had the ARK OF THE COVENANT, but they did not have the GLORY OF GOD in their life.
• Many today have their fine church buildings, but they do not have the glory of God in their lives.
• Many today have their Bibles in their hands, but they do not have the glory of God in their lives.
Many have never gotten the message that GOD DOES NOT WANT TO BE A GOOD LUCK CHARM IN OUR LIFE. God loves us and He wants us to love him.
But she named her child Ichabod for another reason.
III. BECAUSE THE MAN OF GOD WAS NOT THE SPIRITUAL LEADER HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN
When you study the life of Eli the priest, you will quickly discover that he was not the man of God he was supposed to be. He was one of these dads that would not take a stand in HIS HOME or in the HOUSE OF GOD.
• HE ALLOWED HIS TWO SONS TO DESECRATE THE HOUSE OF GOD.
Look at 1 Samuel 2:12, we read, “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.”
Look at 1 Samuel 2:17, we read, “Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD….”
Look at 1 Samuel 2:22-24, we read, “Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress.”
What a Wimp for a dad! He said that he had heard what they did and told them they shouldn’t do that. Listen, you do not need to tell a child they shouldn’t do that, they know that already. WHAT A CHILD NEEDS, IS PARENTS THAT MAKE THEM WISH THEY HADN’T DONE THAT!
• HE STOPPED REBUKING THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE.
Because he allowed his two sons to desecrate the House of God, and because he would not rebuke the people for their sins, God said that THE GLORY OF THE LORD DEPARTED FROM ISRAEL.
As we look at the life of ISRAEL, we discover that AS GOES THE PRIEST, SO GO THE PEOPLE.
• In one of the largest churches in South Florida, the minister has a bar in his office. It is no secret, the congregation knows about it. Why do they tolerate having such a preacher? Because ungodly people feel comfortable doing what they do if the man of God is doing the same thing.
• A nationally known television preacher, who preaches to thousands each week in his congregation and millions on television each week, left his wife and married a younger woman in his congregation. Why do they tolerate this man in the pulpit of their church? They tolerate him because when he does what he does, they then can do what they do and not feel bad about it.
If a minister of the gospel expects his people to spiritually jump one foot, he will have to jump three feet.
If a Mom expects her children to grow up and become godly people, she will have to set the example for them to follow.
A great deal is said today about the ungodliness in the youth of this nation. Listen, the only thing wrong with the young people today is they are following the example of Mom and Dad.
And when this mother named her child “Ichabod,” she was only recognizing that you can not live in sin and expect THE GLORY OF GOD to surround your life.
Conclusion:
The world in which we live needs some good, godly mothers. About every good thing that is imaginable can be traced back to a godly mother.
If we want God to bless our children, we need to use the lesson we learn from this mother, who named her child “Ichabod!” It is a tough lesson that must be learned if we are going to have the blessings of God in our life.
She named her child “Ichabod”-
I. BECAUSE GOD’S PEOPLE WERE NO LONGER VICTORIOUS
II. BECAUSE GOD WAS NO LONGER SPECIAL TO THEM
III. BECAUSE THE MAN OF GOD WAS NOT THE SPIRITUAL LEADER HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN
