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Bible study · 1 Samuel 4:1-22

1 Samuel 4: The glory has departed

Read 1 Samuel 4:1-22 before you meet.

In a few lines

Eli fell not when he heard his two sons were dead, but "When he made mention of God’s ark" (4:18). And Ichabod's mother, told the ark was taken and her husband dead, gave only one reason in her own words: "The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken" (4:22).

The verse to carry

“She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.””

1 Samuel 4:22

To talk about

  1. 1. The elders asked, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?" (4:3), and then sent for the ark. When something goes wrong for you, what do you reach for first?

  2. 2. Eli sat by the road, "for his heart trembled for God’s ark" (4:13). What do you care about most for God's sake, and what would it do to you to lose it?

  3. 3. "The glory has departed from Israel" (4:22). Have you ever felt that God was far off? What helped, or what would help, you keep going?

Prayer requests