The Lost Ark

The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 1 Samuel 5:6

I grew up in the 80s and clearly remember watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. In particular, the opening-of-the-ark scene left a lasting impression. If you’ve seen the film, you undoubtedly remember the climactic moment when the nazis, who intended to use the ark of the covenant as a military tool, opened it. In doing so, they unleashed the spirit of God which, much to their horror, melted (in gruesome and dramatic fashion) everyone who looked upon it. Though fictional, the story has some basis in Biblical history, taken perhaps from today’s passage.

In today’s passage, the Israelites intended to use the ark as a military tool, but because of the sin of Eli (the priest) and his sons, Israel was defeated, and the ark was carried off by the Philistines. The Philistines celebrated the ark as a symbol of their victory, but they kept it for only seven months. During those seven months, death and destruction accompanied the ark wherever it went. Finally, the Philistines had enough and shipped the ark back to Israel, where many of those who looked up on it died as well. The ark of the covenant, as a symbol of God’s presence, was a deadly reminder that God is God, and that as such, we bend to his will, not the other way around.

This was the error of the Israelites, the Philistines, and the fictional bad guys from Indiana Jones. They all tried to use the ark, thereby attempting to use God, for their own purposes. They saw God as a supernatural tool to be exploited for their own use. And they all paid the price for their gross miscalculation.

Though it doesn’t involve the ark of the covenant or face-melting, it’s natural for most of us to approach God this way. We rightly believe in an all-powerful God, and we rightly believe we’re supposed to take our concerns to him. Where we go wrong however, is that we only go to God when we need him to do something for us. We don’t follow him. We don’t try to do his will. We only ask – and expect – that he accomplish our will. God is God though. As such, he doesn’t bend to our will, rather, if we desire the life for which we were created, we must daily bend to his.