Ichabod Toward Home: The Journey of God’s Glory

by Walter Brueggemann

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2011

Overview

In this volume, one of today’s most respected biblical scholars explores the nature of God’s glory, using the engaging story of the ark of the covenant to illuminate the meaning of God’s presence—not only for the ancient Israelites but for the whole world.

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, 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.

Key Features

• Explores the meaning of God’s presence
• Contemporary application of the story of the ark’s capture and return
• Unique entry into Old Testament theology

Contents

Top Highlights

“‘Exile’ is that moment when the glory is gone, when Israel must learn to live without God in the world” (Page 12)

“In the Ark narrative YHWH is weak and overwhelmed, left vulnerable to the greater power of Dagon. Of course that great Calvinist, Ezekiel, could never countenance weakness on the part of YHWH, so that with him, it is YHWH’s initiative to depart, not to be denied glory but to give it up.” (Page 14)

“Ark narrative with attention to the question, what the church does and is to do when it stands before a biblical text” (Page 2)

“Israel is at war, theologically construed, in order to maintain its distinctive identity as YHWH’s people in the land.” (Page 4)

“The Philistines, in this narrative, as David Jobling has shown, are the totally, threatening, unclean ‘other.’⁶ They embody everything that contradicts and negates Israel and the God of Israel. They may be a historical enemy, but we should not miss that they are the paradigmatic enemy that seeks to live life outside the covenantal realities of Israel, an ‘otherness’ signified by a lack of circumcision. In their otherness, they constitute deep challenge and threat to Israel.” (Pages 5–6)

Product Details

• Title: Ichabod toward Home: The Journey of God’s Glory
• Author: Walter Brueggemann
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2011
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 160
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. 1 Samuel › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. 1 Samuel
• ISBNs: 9781597524346, 1597524344
• Resource ID: LLS:ICHABODHOME
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:41:57Z

About Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He is past president of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of numerous books, including David’s Truth: In Israel’s Imagination and Memory, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching Genesis, and The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary.