God-in-the-Box

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp.  The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." And they said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.  Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.  Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight."  So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.  And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. (1 Samuel 4:6-11 NASB)

 The movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" depicts the Ark of the Covenant as a powerful object.  Statements were made about it like, "The Bible speaks of it laying waste to entire regions", and shows a supposed wood cut of it destroying enemy soldiers.  Ironically, this chapter in 1 Samuel seems to be the only place it's carried into battle, and not very effectively.  Another quote from the movie is, "an army that carries the Ark before it is invincible."  Obviously not.

Shouldn't it be that powerful though?  This chapter uses four different terms for the Ark.  The first is the "Ark of the Covenant of the LORD" (using the name of God), the second is the "Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of Armies sitting above the Cherubim".  So the idea was that they could bring God into their camp/battle by bringing His "chair".  And since He is the Master of a host of armies, He'll defeat their enemies, again, because they brought His chair with them.  Technically, I suppose what they brought was His footstool, maybe that's why it failed?

The problem was they tried to manipulate God.  The first sentence of this chapter is, "Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel."  So they finally had a prophet, yet even so, with priests, they could inquire of God anyway.  Instead of asking, seeking, or even including the plans of the Master of universe, they simply brought Him along into their plans.  For them at this time, the Ark was their "God-in-the-Box."  Bring the box, and you bring your god.  He even made it easy by providing poles to carry it; very convenient of Him.

This is sad, yet funny to see the foolishness, yet a tragedy.  And it also depicts believers today.  How often have I "included" my Master into my plans?  How often to I inquire of Him only to seek approval for what I've already decided to do?  I have made fairly large decisions in my life, with the expectation that my Master make it work.  It looks like what the prophets do, except mine comes from a life lived from myself rather than from one lived immersed in my Master. 

The other way I do this is by objectifying my Master, or locating Him with an object.  My favorite seems to be a Bible.  When I was still in school, I had a Bible I used to lead Bible studies (which is a really good idea by the way), and I put all my study notes, observations, questions, and so on in this Bible.  I could do a study on the spot on nearly anything, at a moments notice.  It was fantastic, and a lot of time and sweat was put into this tool.  It was so cool, no inspiration from the Spirit was really needed, I could do it myself; very impressive.  So, my Master had it stolen.  Yes, my truck was broken into (they picked the lock rather than broke a window), my glove box was ransacked, but the only thing stolen was my Bible.  I learned that my Master does not like objects taking His place. 

The Bible is good, but when the tool or method replaces the Master, it becomes evil in His sight.  Church attendance and worship styles are all excellent things, but when they replace the Master as our "time with Him", then they become evil in His sight.  He doesn't want my methods or my music, He wants my veneration, my worship, my life.  He wants me on Monday too, not just Sunday.  He wants me to submit to Him, not to "include" Him.  He's not my "buddy" who goes with me everywhere, He's not my "imaginary friend", I'm His; for my Master is more real than I am.  He is more real on more levels to more degrees than I can even imagine.  I am stuck on a lump of molten nickel and iron hurling around a burning hydrogen/helium bonfire.  I know where I am, I cannot be so precise with Him, and not because He's hard to find, but because He's so pervasive.  The question is, "where isn't He?" 

So, the Maker and Sustainer of the glories of the universe and sub-sub-atomic particles doesn't really "fit" into any sort of box, whether made of gold, or created within my imagination.  More to the point though, He doesn't like it when I try to put Him in such a box.  His normal response is to do away with the box.  When the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of Armies enthroned above the Cherubim was captured, Eli and his daughter-in-law both died from hearing the news.  They thought they had lost God; that He had left them and their nation.  Instead, He was waiting for them to realize He had never gone to the battle, but was with His prophet, Samuel.  He was right there with them in Shiloh, and they missed it by focusing on a gold box with angels on the lid.

Attending church, worship, Bible study and prayer are all vital to my life with the Master.  Yet they are never to distract from the One I worship, pray to, read about, and spend time with each day.  I don't come to church to "visit" my Master, I come to visit my fellow followers before His throne; that is what I can't do alone.  I cannot let these things become my "box" to make my Master more convenient for me.  That would be a disaster (imagine the swirling sands and dramatic thunder - very "Spielberg").