The Ichabod Church Part 1: Eyesalve

Last Updated on January 10, 2026 3:36 AM by herald

The Issue

“The church has failed!” That is the recurrent pronouncement of a wide spectrum of individuals, especially some of the younger generation. The promoters of this viewpoint single out the increasing crime, corruption and injustice in society and somehow imply that “the church” is responsible for such a sordid state of affairs.

But ardent church members refute this by pointing out that the church has always been preaching the gospel  of peace and that it is the world that has turned away from God.

Which of these perspectives is true? Is it possible that both parties are “correct” in some way?

In this article we propose an explanation that can reconcile both sides of the debate. It is an explanation that “the church” needs to hear especially at the beginning 2026, a year which prophetic intelligence is projecting will be a very turbulent one.

Our explanation is deeply rooted in scripture – as it should be- and it revolves around a concept that appears simple at first but is loaded with very deep implications.   Our deep plunge into the scripture begins here at 1 Samuel 4: 17 -22.    

Focus

Our focus is on verse 21.

21. She named the boy “Ichabod”, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

The Ark of God represents the presence of God.  The presence of God brings glory.

But what is “glory”? We use that term very often in church. But I cannot remember anyone ever trying to explain its meaning.  Presumably we are all supposed to know what it means. 

By the way, this voluntary ignorance, as we call it, is one of the reasons why people get disaffected with churchgoing: pastors and leaders use words and phrases but few seldom systematically explain what they mean.  However, that is another discussion for another time.

Glory

The Hebrew word translated as “glory” is “kabad” or “kabed” (Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon).   It literally means “heavy” or “weighty”.   This is quite interesting because the word can be used in completely opposite ways, that is, it can mean “heavy” either in a positive sense or “weighty” in a negative sense.    For example, kabad is used to describe Abraham’s richness (“heaviness”) in cattle (Genesis 13:2).  On the other hand, the same root word is used to describe the seriousness (“weight”) of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20).

In the Bible, glory has a range of positive meanings. We are going to base these meanings on Strong’s Bible Lexicon (a lexicon or concordance is a type of numbered intext dictionary). Strong’s Lexicon,  #3519, lists the following as synonyms for glory:

 (1) honour (2) abundance (3) splendour (4) dignity (5) reputation (6) reverence. Since there is some overlap in meanings we will discuss the first three plus another word which is often associated with glory.  

In the table below, we have listed the basic meaning of each word in terms of a synonym or substitute word as well as the opposite in brackets, where appropriate:   

1. Honour: respect, reverence, awe, reputation (Opp: dishonour | insult)
2. Abundance: wealth, richness, prosperity (Opp: scarcity)
3. Splendour: physical grandeur, luxury, majesty (Opp: drabness, gloominess)
4. Radiance: Warmth, brightness, brilliance, joy (Opp: lukewarmness, coldness, depression, despair)

Proposition and Implications

Our core argument or proposition is this:

“The church” has lost its glory because it has lost the presence of God to one degree or another.  

The clear implications of our proposition that can be extracted from the table of meanings laid out earlier are as follows:

1. When the church becomes “ichabod” it loses its “weight” in terms of respect and reputation and in turn, its influence on the society and the nation as a whole. It ceases to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).
2. When the church becomes “ichabod” it loses its “weight” in terms of abundance and wealth. All things being equal, a church bathing in the presence of God will attract people and the wealth God wants the church to have to carry out His kingdom work. A poor church is obviously limited in what it can do, especially in carrying out the Great Commission. A church should not have to engage in Bingo and fairs to raise money. We make no apologies for that. 
3. All through the scripture, the presence of God is accompanied by some form of radiance, that is, emotional warmth, brightness, brilliance and joy (see Exodus 40:35; 2 Chronicles| Rev 4: 3-5; Rev 15:8 | Psalm 16:11| Psalm 46:4). 

However, as the church becomes “ichabod” it loses the “weight” of that radiance; it loses its joy. It becomes lukewarm and then cold (See Isa 24:11 |Ezekiel 7:7 |Jeremiah 48:33| Rev 2: 1-5 & Rev 3: 14-18)

4. When the church has become deeply “ichabod “it becomes a drab or gloomy place. It becomes “weighty” in a negative sense No one wants to come to such a place. Therefore, church attendance will drop or flatline.

Before we conclude, let us elaborate on what we mean by “the church” to prevent confusion or any root of bitterness from arising. 

1. By “the church” we do not necessarily mean a particular denomination although, for reasons which we will not discuss here, our proposition might apply to some denominations more than others.
2. Neither are we referring to any specific assembly although it might be applicable to some specific assemblies in a denomination, more than others.
3. When we use the term “the church” we are speaking generally and globally. Therefore, it is a question of “who the cap fits should draw the string”

Incidentally, “Ichabod’ can also apply to an individual. In fact, it is the loss of God’s presence in the lives of key individuals in Israel at the time of 1 Samuel 4, that actually led to the ichabod status of the nation of Israel. But we will circle back to that at some point.

Application

The question for us as individuals or as a church is this: does the presence of God saturate our lives? On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents Strongly Agree and 5 represents Strongly Disagree, most of us may have to score ourselves as a 3, 4 or 5, that is, Neutral, Disagree or Strongly Disagree to this question.

But we can’t stop there. What is the next step? That familiar passage – 2 Chronicles 7:1- 4 tells us all we need to do next: (We discuss this verse in great detail in another article right here).

1. Humble ourselves
2. Pray
3. Seek God’s face
4. Repent (Make U-turn from our wicked ways)

This verse is applicable because God will not/cannot heal our land unless he first heals his people.  

The healing of his people comes with His presence: in the lives of individuals, in the life of the church. This is not some new thing; it is consistent with the logic of Matthew 5:13-16. (See also Psalm 51: esp. 7 -12).

Caveat Lector

The Word of God always comes with a caveat: A call to action.  The Apostle James puts it very vividly this way:

22. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:22-25 NIV.

Amen!

Don’t Miss: The Ichabod Church Part 2: the Nicolaitan Pulpit