“When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.”” 1 Samuel 4:3
Today we read of the Captivity of the Ark. The story begins with the tragic tale of Israel’s defeat in battle against the Philistines where about 4,000 Soldiers are killed. As the Army returns to their camp to regroup, we read “the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.””
Now this sounded wise, but that was not God’s purpose for the Ark. It had a Home (the Tabernacle) and the God of that Tabernacle had promised to be with them in battle as long as they feared and obeyed Him. But they had not, and thus, they suffered defeat. Their Trust was not in God, it was in “something else”, even if it was the Ark!
I know I have mentioned this before, but we are told in Romans “whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction”. This Story and its Lesson is an excellent example of this! So, let us learn from their Mistake with this Question:
Is My Trust in God, or in Something Else?