“Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so He may go with us ad save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:3 NIV)
The Israelites, after terrible defeat, thought they could force God’s hand to help them. They believed the ark would protect in battle, but they had forgotten God in many other ways. In fact, the wicked sons of Eli were left in charge, they accompanied the ark into the altercation.
“And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.” (1 Samuel 4:4 NIV)
These two sons had no moral compass. The ark was a holy article, meant to be kept in the Holy of Holies, and attended to by righteous men, not traipsed through a battlefield and waved about as a weapon. Hophni and Phinehas were parading God’s most precious and private possession as though it was their personal belonging.
The Israelites were no better, they received the ark into their war camp with a great shout – somehow sure that it’s presence secured their victory. Nevermind that they were violating every instruction on the care and keeping of the ark. The Philistines heard their shout and further committed to destroying the Israelites entirely.
The plan to wield the ark in battle backfired. Thirty thousand Israelites were slaughtered and the ark was captured by the Philistines. The evil sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died during the exchange.
Israel lost on multiple levels that day. They had traded faith in a living God for faith in a created thing. The ark wasn’t meant to be an idol that they could pray to, wave around and extract victory with. The ark was designed to be a symbol of a relationship with a living God. The Israelites had reduced it to a relic, assigning power to the possession but losing perspective of it’s rightful owner; the Creator-Sustainer.
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, they worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:25 NIV)
The Philistines actually demonstrated more fear of God than the Israelites did that day. They believed the Israelite God was with His people and consequently fought as though their lives depended on it. God allowed the Israelites to be overtaken and the ark to be captured because they had long ago given away their worship to lesser gods. They didn’t appropriately value the ark because they were not engaged in regular worship with the One True God. They thought they could manipulate Him to achieve their ends, but they clearly did not know Him anymore.
God is not a genie in a bottle awaiting our next demand, nor is He a good luck token to be taken into battle. He’s a living, breathing Sovereign God who longs to live in ongoing relationship with His people. When we reduce Him to less than He is, we lose. We lose because we miss out on the relationship He offers and we lose because we miss out on the blessing of belonging.
“So you will be my people and I will be your God.” (Jeremiah 30:22 NIV)
Lord, forgive us for reducing You to less than You are. Help us to see You in Your fullness, to pursue relationship with You instead of manipulation. You are not a power to possess, but a Person to engage. May we give our all to the endeavor of knowing You personally. Amen.