Ichabod toward Home : The Journey of God's Glory

Offering a unique entry into Old Testament theology, Walter Brueggemann examines 1 Samuel 4-6, the biblical text in which the ark of God is captured by the Philistines, seen to be a dangerous threat, and finally returned to Israel. In looking anew at what this story reveals about God's glory -- or kabod, from which the name "Ichabod" derives -- Brueggemann builds a powerful new theology of God's sovereignty.

Additionally, Brueggemann demonstrates that this ancient story of the ark has profound relevance today. The three-day story of the ark's capture, detention, and return is transposed, first, into the three-day Christian story of Easter and, second, into the three days of the modern consumer weekend. In a provocative contemporary application of Old Testament theology, Brueggemann shows that the Ark narrative, in its rendering of God's glory, strongly contradicts the dominant narrative of our own culture, with its strident emphasis on self-indulgence, narcissism, and self-sufficiency.