Where is the Glory ?

‘So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.  Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died’ (1 Sam 4:10, 11).

The glory of God is the manifested presence of God. 1 Samuel 4 tells a sad story about the nation of Israel losing the glory of God. They went to war with the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 of their men. After they were defeated they sent for the Ark of the Covenant saying, ‘let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies’ (1 Samuel 4:2). ‘The Ark was taken.... By the Philistines; which was suffered partly as a punishment to the Israelites, for fetching it from the tabernacle without the will of God, and for their vain confidence in it (Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible).

The Ark was symbolic of the presence of God. However, this time around apart from the Ark being captured, the armies of Israel were defeated by the Philistines. 30,000 of them were killed, the priests slain and the supreme magistrate died. Like the nation of Israel we sometimes try to use God for our selfish ambitions, while we are intentionally disobeying His commands and directions for our lives. So in Gal 6:7-8, Paul the apostle told the church in Galatia that, ‘don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit’. 

"If you desire big blessings, you must part ways with sin. Expecting a miracle while holding on to your sins can only fetch you magic. Satan gives people magic without asking for holiness. It is because such a purported blessing is ephemeral, and its recipient will pay dearly for it" (E. A. Adeboye). Today many Christians and local churches are using all the religious formulas and programs they know to no avail. Why? Because of persistent disobedience to the word and guidance of God, the glory has departed. The question to ask yourself today is, ‘where is the Glory of God, has it departed from my life or local church’? Surrender your will to God through His son Jesus Christ who is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, and you will have the fulfillment you need in this life and after, as you allow Him to mold you through His word (Heb 1:3). The next lesson is "Where is the Glory (Lesson 2)".