“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Hebrews 4: 10

For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Hallelujah 

We, the bride, the church should be as those who bring up our children in the Lord.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that in our soul, the bride, the church only if there are no abominations, we can defeat the deeds of the Philistines and can become holy.

Next, what we are meditating is that 1 Samuel 4: 11 – 22 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 

Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. 

When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. 

Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.

Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, “What happened, my son?”

So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 

And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 

Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 

And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

The fact regarding the above-mentioned verses is that the ark of the Lord was captured from the Israelites by the Philistines. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, who were there with the ark of the covenant of God died. Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, “What happened, my son?”

So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.” Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

My dear people, we must carefully watch the facts regarding the above-mentioned words, and we must safeguard our lives so that God’s anger does not come upon us. Though Eli was a priest because he did not control his sons, the people hated the offering of the Lord. Also, his sons did evil deeds in the door of the church of the Lord and they were there near the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Philistines caught the ark of the covenant of the Lord. The ark of the covenant got caught in the hands of those who were uncircumcised. The reason for this is that those who have lived dirtily were near the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  From this what we must know importantly is that when we are doing the work of the Lord, the children that God has given us should live under the control of God. If not, we must not think that they are our children and we must not give them any part in the work of the Lord. If there are secret sins in them also, God sees them. That is, even though Eli knew this and even though he gave understanding to his children but because he could not control them, the glory of Israel left and went. So God is beating his sons and Eli. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the order of Melchizedek to be a priest in our midst forever, he underwent many tribulations for us, was beaten, died, then on the third day he resurrected and as one who is alive forever more, he comes into our soul and lives within and because he has made us priests and kings we must always carefully be as those who live in Christ. Therefore we must bring up our children according to what Christ wants.

Regarding that 1 Timothy 3: 1 – 11 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 

not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 

one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 

(for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 

not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 

holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 

But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 

Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

We must the above-mentioned facts in our attention and those who lead the family in this manner can lead the church of God. Otherwise the anger of God will burn on us. Not only that the glory of the Lord will move away from us. If that happens, we cannot lead the church. This is because people like that, the children that they give birth to (soul) will be called Ichabod and God is showing this as a pattern and will be a soul without the glory of God.

Therefore, my dear people we must always be as those who do the will of the Lord and let us submit ourselves to be in this manner.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

- To be continued