Scripture: And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 1 Sam 4:5, 10
The ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp….Israel was smitten! What?!?!?!??!
How could the Ark of the Covenant come into the camp, but Israel still go lose this battle? Okay, let’s back up a little to get an understanding of what the Ark of the Covenant really was all about. The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred container made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. The Ark represented the Presence of God and was located in the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctuary of Moses’ tabernacle, which was separated from the Holy Place by a dividing veil. In the previous chapter, it says that the word of the Lord was with Samuel, but there were no open visions or utterances from heaven. At this time, Israel had just lost one battle to the Philistines, 4,000 men were dead and they were trying to figure out a why God had allowed them to lose the battle. God spoke to a young boy named Samuel but no one else, because of their unwillingness to repent and seek God. I wonder why they lost? Things that make you go, hmmm! The Israelites decided to get the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to the battle ground and surely God would be with them to help them win. I am sure they thought to themselves, “If it worked for Joshua at Jericho it would surely work for us.” WRONG!!!!! The Philistines heard the “great shout” and discovered that the Ark had come into the camp, they became fearful AT FIRST!!!! However they “pulled” themselves together and said let us be men about the matter and try this again, so to speak. They fought again Israel and even more of the Israelites were killed. The people had the Ark, they had the shout, but they still lost! WHY??? The answer lies in the covenant, not the Ark. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties to perform some action. In the case of God’s covenant; God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from us in return. We must realize that having a physical observance of God isn’t enough to get you through these end time battles. The devil, like the Philistines, is not going to run away because we shout! He isn’t impressed with our knowledge of the bible or our elegant way of reciting scriptures. We must have a relationship with God in order to win the battles in our life.
If the people had sought God during the times of peace, they would have understood that the ARK was only to represent a place for God; it WASN’T God! Many times we think that if we can just make to the church, reach my prayer partner, or even make contact with my Pastor; we will win our battles. But I am submitting to you that it is possible to have and understand what God can do and still not know WHO God is. The relationship of the covenant reveals WHO God is and when we realize who God is we can say like the 3 Hebrew boys; if he doesn’t deliver me, it’s not because He can’t.
Be Blessed!
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