As a priest Eli had the right to enjoy the top portion of all the good land allotted to the twelve tribes of Israel (Num. 18). However, in his loose disciplining of his two evil sons (1 Sam. 2:28-29), Eli disregarded the priesthood. This caused the tragedy of the ending of his history, the terminating of his enjoyment of the good land, and the fading of the priesthood in the divine revelation, that is, in the speaking for God (1 Sam. 3:1).

Meaning no glory. Glory is God Himself (Acts 7:2). Because the Ark of Jehovah, which bore God’s presence among His people, had been captured, the glory had departed from Israel (Psa. 78:61).

Or, saying.

Lit., he.

At this point the Ark was separated from the tabernacle. This abnormal situation persisted for many years, until a full recovery was realized by the people of Israel. In the first stage of its history, the Ark was in the tabernacle (Exo. 40:21); this is the normal situation. Then, due to Israel’s degradation, the Ark was captured by the Philistines and was separated from the tabernacle (4:11—6:1), leaving the tabernacle an empty vessel without the proper content. Later, the Ark was recovered and brought first to the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim, where it remained for twenty years (1 Sam. 6:2-21; 7:1-2), and then to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, where it stayed for three months (2 Sam. 6:1-11). Still, the Ark was apart from the tabernacle, which was at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:24; Josh. 18:1). David moved the Ark from Obed-edom’s house to a tent that he had prepared for it in his own city, at Mount Zion, the choicest place in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:12-19; 1 Chron. 15:1-29; 16:1). This was an improved situation, but the Ark was still in an improper place; it had not been returned to the tabernacle. Finally, after Solomon finished the building of the temple in Jerusalem, the Ark was moved into the Holy of Holies in the temple (1 Kings 8:1-11). This was a full recovery of the normal situation.

The history of the Ark and the tabernacle prefigures the history of the church. In the first stage of its history, the church was the expression of Christ, and Christ was the content of the church. This is the normal condition. However, in the second stage the church became degraded and lost the reality and presence of Christ (cf. Rev. 3:20). It became an empty vessel, an outward expression without the inward reality. After this, beginning from the second century a number of “Obed-edoms” were raised up, who had the Lord’s presence (the Ark) but did not have the proper church life as the expression of Christ (the tabernacle). Later, other believers who, like David, cared for God’s interests attempted to practice the church life according to their own choice, not according to God’s revelation. These believers had Christ, but they had Him with an improper practice of the church life (David’s tent in Jerusalem). Today in His recovery the Lord is working to restore the normal condition of Christ within the proper church as His expression.

In their degradation Israel was foolish because they did not trust in God directly. Rather, they trusted in the systems ordained by God. In their situation they should have repented, made a thorough confession, and returned to God from their idols, and they should have inquired of God as to what He wanted them to do. Instead, having no heart for God’s desire or for His eternal economy, they exercised their superstition to trust in the Ark based on the past victories they had experienced through the move of the Ark (Num. 10:35; Josh. 6). But this time their situation was not right. In their degradation they offended God to the uttermost, and God left them. Eventually, instead of the Ark saving Israel, the Ark itself was captured (v. 11a).

The Ark typifies Christ as the embodiment of God (see note 10*1 in Exo. 25). It also signifies Christ as the presence of the Triune God with His people for the carrying out of His economy to establish His kingdom on earth. To bring out the Ark was to bring out the presence of God (v. 4). The move of the Ark was a picture of God’s move on the earth in Christ as His embodiment (Num. 10:33-36 see note Psa. 68:1¹). During Israel’s fighting with the Philistines, God did not intend to move. The children of Israel had no thought of or concern for God’s economy, and their bringing out the Ark indicated that they were usurping God, even forcing Him to go out with them for their safety, peace, rest, and profit. In principle, we do the same thing whenever we pray for our prosperity without any consideration of God’s economy. Instead of usurping God, we should pray, live, and be persons according to God’s heart and for His economy.