1 Samuel 4:1-22

Sin has consequences.  These consequences spread from individuals to families and on to an entire nation.  Eli’s sons were immoral and irreverent, they had taken advantage of the people for years and Eli stood by and let them live their lives without restraint.  Year after year it seemed like sin was without consequence but on this day all of that changed.  The family and nation would suffer the wrath of God and their enemy.  It is important for us to remember that we must always be aware of the consequences of sin.  They are rarely immediate as God almost always allows for time to repent, but when they do come they come with a completeness that should put fear into our hearts and reason into our heads.  It is much better to obey and avoid these consequences.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF DEFEAT: The army of Israel was at war with the Philistines and Israel was soundly defeated and was wondering why they were unable to win their battles.  They came to the conclusion that they needed the Ark to go in the battle with them in order to guarantee the victory.  When the Ark arrived they all cheered and got excited.  The Philistines heard the noise and were filled with fear for the reputation of the God of Israel who had destroyed Egypt and so many other nations.  What both Israel and the Philistines did not realize was that God had turned his back on the sinful nation long ago.  Eli’s sons were carrying the Ark and the result was that they were both killed, the Ark was taken and the nation was soundly defeated.  With or without the Ark, sin in the nation and its leaders doomed Israel to defeat.  Sin will always bring disastrous consequences to our lives no matter how much we pretend to be the people of God, go to church or carry our Bibles.  Religious activity is no substitute for the true fear and obedience of God.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF DEATH: We have already seen that the son’s of Eli were killed in the battle when the Ark was taken.  Things went from bad to worse when the news was given to Eli that his two sons were killed he was fearful that the Ark was taken; when his fears were confirmed he fell backwards and broke his neck because he was so fat.  It looks like he had been eating too much of the prime meat that his sons were taking from the sacrifices.  Eli and both of his sons died on the same day along with thousands of the warriors of Israel.  The wages of sin is death and that is certainly what the consequences of sin were in this case.  No matter how long the delay might be, we must always remember that death is the consequence of all sin and can only avoided through faith in the work of Christ who is the giver of eternal life.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF DESPAIR: On this disastrous day in Israel, one of the wives of Eli’s son gives birth to a son.  When she hears that she has given birth to a son, she names him Ichabod because she realizes that the glory has departed from Israel.  What should have been a great and happy day was a day in which this woman lost her husband, father-in-law and hope all at the same time.  Sin sounds fun, but it will leave us without hope and turn what should be happy events into hopeless ones.  We don’t ever think that sin will lead us to despair but it usually does.  The consequences of sin are always much worse than we ever expect or could even imagine.  Obedience is defiantly the wiser choice.