1 Samuel 4 | Hardwired for the Glory of God

To be human means to be hardwired for the glory of God. All the beauties and wonders of creation are intended to serve as signposts drawing our gaze Godward. However, sin has caused our hardwiring to go haywire.

We now choose to worship and serve what has been created rather than the Creator; and, in the process, we seek and settle for the types of glory that inevitably self-destruct. Signposts such as nature, sex, ambition and art often become tombstones bearing witness to lives that never looked beyond them.

In 1 Samuel 4, the people of Israel, specifically Eli and his household, learn this lesson the hard way. Rather than drawing everyone’s attention to the glory of God, they treated the Lord as a signpost in service of their own glory. In the end, God handed them over not just to their enemies but to their self-destructing desires. In the sad aftermath, we witness the birth of Ichabod whose presence confirms that the glory of God has departed from Israel. But this will prove to be a temporary measure.

Many years later, the world would witness the birth of another child whose presence confirms that the glory for which we are hardwired has returned.

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