“And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.” (v.3)
Here in chapter 4 the Israelites had gone to war against the Philistines on their own accord to liberate themselves without seeking God’s will. Upon their defeat, they then blame God for it (v.2). But, Instead of humbling themselves and purging themselves from their sins (the very reason for which God was displeased with them), they put their trust in a ceremonial object, not doubting that the very presence of the ark would give them the victory (v.3). But they were sadly mistaken and were soundly defeated once again (vv.10-11).
There were three reasons for this great defeat. First, the Philistines fought with the courage of desperate men. Second, the Israelites felt the battle would be easy with the ark of the covenant there and did not try as hard. Finally, God did not bless Israel’s superstitious belief in the power of the ark instead of the power of God.
We often make the same mistake; believing that if God is with us, we don’t need to try so hard. We think if God is on our side, the work will be easy. That may not be true at all. As it turned out, not only did Israel lose, they lost far worse than they did before taking the ark into battle. The loss which prompted them to take the ark resulted in the death of about four thousand men of Israel (1 Samuel 4:2). With the ark, more than seven times as many men of Israel were killed.
This should remind us that God wants His people to look to Him. He wants us to give glory to Him, not some object or program. His desire is that we become Spirit-led each and every day, that we might follow His lead, His direction, His victorious plan for our lives. The Israelites had put their trust in a symbol instead of God and were utterly defeated. May we not do the same but trust in Him to guide us to victory.
The Truth: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1)
