QT 10/21/2022 1 Sam 4:3;4:7, Right concept of God

1 Samuel 4:3 (ESV) —

3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

1 Samuel 4:7 (ESV) —

7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

 

NOTE: The people of Israel have clearly misunderstood the purpose of the tabernacle. They have made the ark into a sort of Talisman. If they also thought as the Philistines did ("A god has come into the camp"), then they have clearly misunderstood God as well as the purpose of the tabernacle. The tabernacle carried God's name, and the Shekinah glory resided above the Ark between the angel wings. God's glory is not the God of the universe. God's name is not the God of the universe. God is far beyond such paltry and human conceptions of him. Israel did not know their God and their treatment of the ark indicates as much. It was not a lucky charm to do their will. Israel had to be defeated to understand how much it had failed God. They needed God, but they also needed to know God.

 

PONDER:

1. Do I believe in talismans, holy things that will make my life better? For some that might even be church attendance or good works in the church. There are no talismans in the Christian life. God gives and God takes away. Do I know God?

 

PRAYER: Father, our relationship with you is internal, unseen, and real. Things that are external, seen, and also real can distract us from the real you. I pray our worship would never be based on objects or through objects or with objects. I pray to know the real you.