“When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that He may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:3 NIV)
Sometimes God lets us lose.
*awkward silence*
This is not the feel-good gospel we’ve grown accustomed to. This reads like there is some measure of accountability in Christ-following, like it’s not all grace and abounding goodness. Like we have responsibility to His Word.
Quite frankly, the Israelites needed to lose. They needed to come face to face with the reality of the absence of God’s presence in their story. See, the Israelites had reduced the all-powerful, Most High God to a lucky token to be carried into battle at will. But the presence of Yaweh cannot be wielded so casually. What’s more, He was not there to wield. We know God had gone out of the ark because regular, un-anointed people approached and carried it out of the Tabernacle; these sinful fellows did not die in the face of God’s holiness. God had already gone on without them.
It’s shocking, really, that the Israelites did not notice His holy absence. If they had been practicing Jews, they would have realized it sooner. They would have adhered to the laws surrounding holy things. Instead they manhandled the ark and went into battle without regard for God’s will. And the war-weary people rejoiced at the ark’s arrival at the front.
“When the ark of the Lord covenant came into the camp all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.” (1 Samuel 4:5 NIV)
It turns out we can worship, we can create a great ruckus and still not realize God has left the premises. We can hoot and holler and pretend it’s all about Him, but the ark can be utterly empty. We can be so disconnected from Him that we don’t even miss His felt presence.
“So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great’; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.” (1 Samuel 4:10 NIV)
It seems Israel needed to brandish God as a mere idol in order to realize the sordid state of their union with Him. Like a philandering husband who comes home to his belongings strewn across the front yard, Israel needed to be confronted with the reality of their adulterous ways. God had gone out from them and His people were plunged into a functional hell: the absence of His presence.
Sometimes God lets us lose so we can come to terms with our lack of connection with Him. In His grace, He gives us a weighty glimpse of life apart from His presence. Losing affords us opportunity to see our union accurately, and make adjustments accordingly.
The Israelites proudly paraded the ark through the combat zone and lost anyway. In the course of just one skirmish, they realized they could not win without God on their side.
How may losing battles does it take for us to come to the same conclusion? We know that we can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13) But have we come to terms with the inverse? We can accomplish nothing of Kingdom value apart from Him.
“I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” (Psalm 16:2 NIV)
Lord, let us remain acutely aware of Your presence, fixated on growing and maintaining intimacy with You. May we never wield You as a weapon, but worship You alone as God. We realize today, apart from You, we cannot possibly win at anything that matters in the light of eternity. Solidify this truth in our souls as we seek to honor You in all our ways. Amen.