Eli was the high priest, the judge and head of Israel, yet the glory of Israel was cast down to the ground (1 Sam. 4:11), the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. In verses 18-21, Eli himself died, and his daughter-in-law named the child which was born of her, Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.”
After this, God raised up Samuel, the first of the prophets, and governed Israel by him, but Israel soon rejected him (1 Sam. 8:6-7). “The Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them, according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt even unto this day.” It was then that God “gave them a king in His anger,” and we know what befell the king of their choice. The judgment is pronounced; Samuel says to Saul, “I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel” (1 Sam. 15:26).
David is raised up in the place of Saul: God made this choice in His dealings in grace. David, a type of Christ, as he is the father of Christ according to the flesh, was His gift to Israel. Thus it is solely by the goodness of God that Israel becomes rich and glorious under David and Solomon. But still this people transgressed afresh under these two princes: “The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel” (1 Kings 11:9). However, because of God’s promise to David, a light was preserved in Judah until the time of Zedekiah.
Man’s Distaste for God
It is an unhappy subject to dwell on this constant distaste of man’s heart for God, under every condition in which he is placed; this is the instruction which we ought to draw from the history of the children of Israel. They subsequently divided themselves into two distinct parts, and the ten tribes became altogether unfaithful. It was in the person of Ahaz that the family of David, the last human stay of the hopes of Israel, began to become idolaters (2 Kings 16:10-14). The sin of Manasseh put the finishing stroke to all their misconduct (2 Kings 21:1-16). Such, in a few words, was the behavior of Israel, and even of Judah, until the captivity. The Spirit of God sums up the history of their crimes and of His patience in this impressive language: “The Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chron. 36:15-16).
This was the end of their existence in the land of Canaan, into which they had been introduced by Joshua. The name of Loammi (“not My people”) is at last written upon them.
J. N. Darby (adapted)