Don’t trust in the Ark.

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1 Samuel 4:1-22

¹ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

² And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

³ And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ 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.

⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.

⁸ Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

⁹ Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.

¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴ And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.

¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

¹⁶ And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

¹⁷ And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

¹⁸ And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

²⁰ And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

²¹ And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.

²² And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

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Reflect

In 1 Samuel 4, we see the Israelites were looking to religion to save them, not God. Verse 2 shows us that the Israelites initially tried to battle by themselves. God was not involved from the beginning. Notice that these backslidden Israelites only turn to God after they had been smitten once. This brings about an interesting point. Sometimes, God allows us to be smitten, so that we turn back to him. But what happens if we don’t? Herein lies the mistake that we can make. When we look to the golden box, rather than to the God who created the golden box, we fail. 

Case in point,  after 9/11 happened, churches were filled. People wanted to know the work of God, in hopes that he would heal the land and provide peace for the hurting. But they didn’t want to know the ways of God, because as soon as the shock of the event wore off, they went back to the lives they lived before. 

You see, the Israelites ascribed the power of God to a golden box. It’s interesting that the pagan Philistines had the same thought process in verse 7. The Israelites were thinking exactly like the pagans! Both sides thought God had come into the camp because the ark was there. They took the physical presence of an object and attributed it to the presence of God.

In reality, the ark was a gun with no bullets. It was intimidating, but absolutely useless because God wasn’t there. We often wonder why we don’t win in the battles of this life. We wonder why sin triumphs in situations. Sometimes it’s simply because Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2). As such, God is given him reign and freedom to do as he wishes on the earth. But other times it’s because we come to the battle, armed with a gun with no bullets. We have a form of godliness, but we deny the power thereof. We have a head knowledge of who God is, but we’ve never acted on it with our hearts. 

Many churches are ineffective in ministry because they are in ministry for the wrong reason. Many people don’t bear the fruit in their lives because they haven’t taken the time to water the soil of their souls. Thus, when the battle comes, we fall. When the culture attacks, the church falls. We see that the same thing happened here first in 1 Samuel 4 when the art was brought to the battle. They were slaughtered, the ark was taken, and when Eli heard of it, he died as well. Eli’s grandson was named Ichabod, meaning “the glory of the Lord had been taken”

Remember

We’re in a battle on this Earth. A spiritual one. The unsaved feel the effects of this battle is much as the saved do. They run to the ark. What are some of the “arks” we attempt to take solace in today? Lightshow churches, the prosperity gospel, the Word of Faith movement, the Seeker movement, and others. All of these are arks that men try to bring to the battle because he doesn’t see the need for Jesus. Some who are lost think they can get all the strength they need from some feel-good music and nice words. 

However, believers get caught in the same boat. Think about it. So many churches are stately, beautiful, grandiose buildings, but the glory of God has departed from them because they’re relying on things other than God.  They’re relying on membership numbers, or a thriving youth program, or a widespread music ministry. All of it points back to religious activity. Religion will save no one.

As we discussed earlier, if you try to fight Satan armed with just religion, you will fall just as the Israelites did. The ark was the greatest religious symbol the Israelites had, and it had no effect in the battle with the enemy because God was not present.  This begs the question… are you like Hophni and Phineas, “turning on” your holiness every once in a while while you live a wicked and sinful life? Do you roll out the ark when you’re in need of help, but otherwise the things of God are out of mind and out of the picture? Be warned. God is not pleased with that and God is not in that. The end of that road is spiritual and physical death.  Don’t look to the ark. Don’t look to rote religion. Rather, look to God consistently with fervor, humility, and praise.