A L M A C I A S

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

In the Old Testament we find many interesting experiences of the Israelites. One of these is found in 1 Samuel 4. There we read that the Israelites went to fight the Philistines on this particular occasion, and the outcome was not at all as they had expected it to be. The Israelites lost 4,000 men and could not understand why. When the elders of Israel came together, they asked a very important question, "Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today?" They had concluded that they had lost because the "ark of the covenant" was not among them. The elders had the right question but the wrong answer. Somehow they had come to believe that the presence of the ark was also the presence of God Himself. So they decided to bring the ark out of Shiloh, in order that it would save them from their enemies. When they managed to bring the ark into the camp, the Israelites shouted with a great shout which caused the Philistines to wonder what had happened. The right answer to the elders¹ question concerning their loss to the Philistines was that the Lord had forsaken them because they had forsaken the Lord (2 Chron. 24:20).

We might ask ourselves, "Why did the elders of Israel believe that having the ark of the covenant with them would give them victory over their enemies?" It may have been that they remembered how the waters of the Jordan divided before the ark (Josh 3:9-17), or they may have remembered when the walls of Jericho crumbled before the ark (Josh 6:1-16). Whatever the reason might have been, these elders had not understood that things were not exactly the same among the people of God at this time versus the people of God at the time that they went into the promised land, as well as before they went into Jericho. The people back then were more faithful to the Lord than the people at this time. Nevertheless, the Israelites decided to go into battle against the Philistines again, thinking that they would be victorious because the ark of the covenant was among them. We read that the outcome of this battle was even worse than the prior one. This time they lost 30,000 footmen and two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. The Israelites lost because they were not walking according to the commandments of God. They were guilty of idolatry and rebellion. Today we can find ourselves in the same predicament if we think that just as long as we have a Bible in our homes, God will be there. How many people have Bibles that have rarely been opened? I have seen some Bibles in the years I have been preaching that showed that they had been open and studied many, many times. As I talked to the owners of these Bibles, I could tell that they took the Scriptures very seriously. Even by conversation with them and questions they posed to me, it was obvious that they truly walked with God. On the other hand, I have seen Bibles in the hands of other members of the church that had rarely been opened. Interestingly, their conversations, and in some cases their faithfulness to the Lord, coincided with their lack of study of the Scriptures. Some today might ask the same question, "Why are we having so many problems in our lives, so many problems with our families, or problems with our marriages?" The right answer to these questions would be the same as the answer to the Israelites of the Old Testament, that they had forsaken the Lord.