1 Samuel 4: Silver Bullet Slogans, Ichabod's Heathen Heart

Rev. Mark Birkholz, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Samuel 4.

“Then Samuel’s word befell all of Israel, and Israel went out to meet the Philistines on the battlefield.” The Hebrew opens ominously in one of the most tragic chapters of the Bible. 1 Samuel 4, like Judges 20, begins with Israel wanting to make itself great in its own eyes. But God isn’t a magical insurance policy, a useful app, or “on demand” episodes of The Office—and He doesn’t show up. Then a wave of bad news & death spreads all over Israel, Yahweh’s own judgment against the polytheistic heart of Israel. We too act like heathens when we search for spiritual silver bullets in styles & slogans, but not even our own idolized Ichabods can console amidst the chaos of God’s absence. Christ came, not as the king we asked for, but as the king we needed, to repent in us and turn us back to God as king.