Would anyone notice if God left?

 Read 1 Samuel 4. 

This chapter tells a tragic story in the history of Israel.  There was plenty of blame to go around.  Eli served as the High Priest and Judge of the nation for 40 years.  His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, used the privileges of their position to feed their own lusts.  Israel needed strong spiritual and judicial leadership.  Instead, they were led by sinful, evil men and no one held them accountable, except God.      

Throughout the Old Testament, when God disciplined or punished a nation of people, He used an opposing nation to do His work.  In this case He raised up the Philistines.  When Israel lost the first battle, they acknowledged that something was wrong spiritually.  However, they did not repent and take action against the sin among them.  No, they just wanted to do something religious.  God is not a good luck charm! 

They sent for the Ark of Covenant in Shiloh.  In the Tabernacle, the Ark was set behind a thick curtain.  The very presence of God hovered over the Ark.  Even the High Priest could only enter that holy place once a year and that with the annual blood of atonement.  So, unless God's presence moved they would have died on the spot.  They did not die because God was no longer there.  To be sure, the LORD would have protected the contents of the Ark with all His power, but the nation entered a life and death battle with their trust only in a gilded box. 

Success would not be the result of going through the motions of ritual, but personal and national dependence on the presence and power of God. 

What went wrong?

1. When the sin of the two in leadership became known, Eli should have relieved them of their positions immediately.

2. When Eli did nothing, the Elders should have stepped in and dealt with the issues.

3. When the Elders did nothing, the people should have kept up their protest (2:16) until the sinful men and practices had been removed, instead of accepting the evil and allowing it to continue. 

As a result, everyone suffered.  34,000 men of Israel died in the war.  Hophni and Phinehas were killed by the Philistines.  Eli died.  Phinehas' wife died. 

The summation is found in verse 21: Ichabod, "The glory has departed."  The real tragedy of this story is that because of the unchecked sin God's glory departed a long time ago and no one noticed.  It took God's intervention to shame and embarrass the people into submission and to replace the national leadership. 

Two leadership models.

Godly leadership has purpose and clear direction.  It is characterized by self-sacrifice, strength, and willingness to say to "no" to what is wrong in order to say "yes" to what God wants done.  This creates a people with an attitude of service. 

Corrupt leadership is characterized by the leader's self-indulgences and pride.  Therefore, they willingly give into whatever the people want.  This creates a people with an attitude of selfish entitlement.