1 Samuel 14.2-3
[With Saul] were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh.
Yesterday we thought about trivial details we are given in the story. Here is another, the descent of Ahijah the priest from Eli; surely we didn’t need to know who Ahijah’s uncle was! But perhaps there is particular significance to this seemingly unimportant detail. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel God told Samuel that the priesthood of Eli’s family would end, and in chapter 4 Eli’s daughter-in-law named her newborn son Ichabod because the glory had departed from Israel (the Philistines had captured the ark). Now the priestly line of Eli is alongside the kingly line of Saul. Both are coming to an end, Saul’s line in 1 Samuel chapter 31 and Eli’s line in 1 Kings chapter 2. The glory has departed from both. A new king will arrive, David, and a new priest, Zadok. Perhaps they both foreshadow the king-priest Jesus who will come in due time.
Thank-you Lord, that you weave together the threads of history to bring about your purposes.
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