Some of the best stories have
surprise endings. If I was writing this
story I’d start with “And the word of Samuel came to
all Israel.”[1] That would set the
tone. No longer was the voice of God
silent (3:1b). Happy days ahead! My story would tell of the self-sufficient
failure of Israel’s first attempt at defeating the Philistines (4:2) and their
humble recognition that without God’s Presence (the Ark of the Covenant) they
could never win. But upon retrieval of
the Ark, it brought great fear on the enemy (4:7-9), so much so that they
expressed two “woes” and a “fear not”.
Then I would tell of the battle and the decisive victory of God’s people
over the enemy. God was present. That would be the guarantee.
However that’s not the ending. “So the Philistines
fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And
there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel
fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, died.” (1 Samuel 4:10–11, ESV)
That’s not the way I’d write the
story. What in the world happened?
It seems that Israel treated God
like magic, maybe a good-luck bracelet. The Ark of the Covenant, as special as
it was, was a representation. Like all
of Israel’s ceremonial accoutrements, for there to be redemptive value it had
to be accompanied by faith and obedience. Using symbols is the very heart of
humanistic spirituality. The value of
using good-luck charms is that we get to control them. However, God won’t be controlled or
manipulated by man. God is free.
In the sovereign, free-will of
God he determined to punish Israel and kill Hophni and Phinehas. Manipulation
of God through trinkets and magical trappings will never displace His
will. Manipulation of God through
external, empty-hearted spiritual disciplines will never please God. Manipulation of God through negotiation will
not work. Manipulation of God through
self-mutilation and self-inflicted suffering will not change His mind. Adding “in the name of Jesus” to a
self-centered, unbiblical prayer will not open Heaven’s portals. Putting the Lord’s Prayer on your wall beside
a television that spouts out profanity and immorality will not balance the
equation.
“Now they are made to see their folly in trusting to their external
privileges which they had by their wickedness forfeited them, and fancying that
the ark would save them when God had departed from them.”[2] “And without faith it
is impossible to please him . . .” (Hebrews 11:6a, ESV). “.
. . For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23b, ESV)
There’s
no magic to a true relationship with God.
It’s by faith and the resultant obedience. The Gospel that saves, is a gospel of faith. “For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The
righteous shall live by faith.””
(Romans 1:17,
ESV)
Faith in God and His Word. Not lucky charms.
[2] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew
Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 389). Peabody: Hendrickson.
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