What possessed the two priests to bring the ark of the
covenant to the battle? When you treat
the Lord with disdain and use the holiest possession you have as an amulet or
charm, you can expect to feel His wrath.
The ark was never intended to be carried about except for as the pillar
of cloud and pillar of fire moved and led the people. It was to remain in the holy of holies and it
had nothing to do with bringing good luck to the troops in battle. This was literally the idea of "God in a
box" and the nation was surely disabused of the notion that God was in the
box when 30,000 men died in battle this day and the ark was captured. It would be hard to imagine fully the sense
of defeat and despair this day to know that the ark of the covenant was now in
enemy hands. (By the way, we don't know
where the ark is now, the Ethiopians claim to have it but we have no
idea.) The word of the Lord concerning
Eli's sons was fulfilled in their deaths on the same day but the nation mourned
the greater loss of the ark which was lost due to their failure as priests.
Jesus prophesies the overthrow of Jerusalem. They had rejected the word of the Lord
against them through prophets and would soon crucify the Messiah. They were self-satisfied and while there was
veneration for the Temple it had more to do with religion than relationship. While the phrase may be trite, the one thing
God has consistently said He wanted from His people was to be known by them and
be made known by them. They had become idolatrous
with respect to the temple and the things of God. The church faces the same issue today, is the
building more important than the mission and even the worship that occurs
inside the building? Do we have a class
of people who are venerated more than He is?
Is there knowledge of, love of and relationship with Him or simply
knowledge about God? I see much in the
church that is either superstition or belief in methodology rather than
reliance on God's Spirit. Are we looking
and praying for the coming of the kingdom of God because we want Him to rule
and reign?
Ananias and Sapphira had one eye on God's kingdom and one on
an earthly kingdom. They believed that
heavenly kingdom was coming but it had been delayed a bit longer than everyone
thought so they hedged their bets and kept something for the day if Jesus
didn't return. They had every right to
do so, no one was obliged to give all to the community but they wanted the
praise for having done so without actually giving up quite so much. The problem was the lie they told about the
gift. Can we lie to God? Peter had discernment about the gift that
made him question them and he is clear that the lie is the issue. Motives matter, they tell the difference between
faith and superstition, worship and idolatry.
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