Indiana Jones and the Bad Choices of 1 Samuel 4

"Marian! Don't look at it! Keep your eyes shut!"  Now you might be perplexed at this moment and say to yourself, "Mike what on earth are you quoting?" For some of you who are big fans of Indiana Jones, you likely have this very scene running through your brain (I am there with you). This quote is from the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, a classic movie that everyone should see at least once.  What's happening in this scene is that the Nazi's have found the Ark of the Covenant and are wanting to test it as a super weapon for their use in World War II.  So they decided to open it up, which they find nothing but sand and are left a bit confused.  It's the next part that gets intense, as suddenly spirits are flying out of the Ark and start melting people as well as weird lightning that hops around person to person who is looking at the Ark and zaps them.  Meanwhile, Indie and Marian are strapped to a light as prisoners of the Nazis and Indie yells out our intro quote to help him and his damsel from being zapped and burned to death. That's quick thinking Indie! The scene ends with a huge fire that burns all the badies and puts the lid back on the Ark, making it look like there was nothing to be seen other than a couple and a very shiny box.

I would like to show you a scene that is very similar in 1 Samuel 4 (as you might have guessed). Israel is up against a Philistine army that is kicking their butts and they have no idea how they are going to defeat them.  Some wise guy (not really wise...) suggests bringing out the Ark of the Covenant to the warzone and then they will be able to kick the Philistines' booties. Side Note: the reason why they think this is a good idea is that the Ark of the Covenant is where God would usually meet the High Priest each year and in the past when the Ark was put ahead of the Israelite forces, God would show up in some pretty amazing ways in those battles.  So in their head they are thinking, if we bring the Ark into the fight we are bringing God. Seems reasonable enough; even the Philistine army start freaking out about the Ark showing up because of the stories they heard of God showing up and taking out other nations when the Ark was out. However, this was not the case as the Israelite army gets trounced 7x more than they had before when they brought the Ark and then the Ark itself is taken by the Philistines as a trophy.

So what are we missing here? What I appreciate from Indie's comment is that he knew he needed to respect the Ark, but there is still something missing here in both scenarios.  They were focused on the item as the power and not the God who gives the item power.  Really, the Ark is like God's mini thrown on earth, it was where He would meet the High Priests during the Day of Atonement.  The item had no power or authority for anything if God was not with it. And if it is tried to be used for anything that is not directed from God, then He will use those scenarios to remind people that it's really about Him.

Is there an Ark in your life right now that you have been focusing on through tough times or as your last resort? Are you taking the time to go directly to God, the one where the true power and freedom lies? What is something you can take to Him right now that you need His help and rescue in?

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