Desiring God’s Glory: Don’t Let it Slip Away
”As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”
And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 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. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.
Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.””
1 Samuel 4:5–9 ESV Read More
The Philistines were right to have fear. After many victories against the Israelites, something new and different was happening. Israel, after losing 4,000 men in battle, was cheering. They are cheering with a shout of victory and might so loud that it’s echoing off of the nearby hills and canyons. They are cheering like Harrison High School in the fall of 1991 when Calbert Cheaney would be sent into the game in the 4th quarter. The power just showed up and everyone is hyped about it!
The only problem is, in spite of their cheering and passion, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant are corrupt. The Ark of the Covenant was the place of the authority of all mercy, and the men carrying it were profaning God’s name by using their power for sin.
The Ark of the Covenant lead Joshua and the Hebrews across the Jordan river into the promised land. It was sprinkled with the lamb on the day of atonement on the one day a year when Israel’s sins were forgiven. It was the gold box holding the ten commandments, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s almond branch staff that showed he was the high priest of God.
But Israel only though of it as a super-weapon. For all of their cheering, their hearts, lead by Phineas and Hophni, were chasing after their own desires.
God told Samuel (and all of Israel heard about it) something new was about to happen, and this was just part of all of the new things.
The Ark was captured and many Israelites were killed in battle. The glory departed from Israel and all of the people wept and mourned as the survivors fled and hid back in their homes.
The glory had really already left. What happened to the Ark of the Covenant was just an outward expression of the Philistines stealing away the glory from Israel in their hearts. It takes a long time for our sin or rebellion to manifest itself into actions. Sometimes it takes a whole lifetime to discover that we’ve been acting for our selves, or harboring bitterness towards someone, or letting a desire for riches or attention drive our life choices instead of the glory of God.
God had to do something completely new to get Israel’s attention. That attention was turned toward desiring God’s glory to come back. The Covenant God made with Israel was taken from them. Their glory as God’s chosen people was in the hands of the Philistines, and only the miraculous grace of God would bring it back.
7 months later the Ark would return, and Israel would mourn and lament this event for 20 years.
Oh, that our earth-shaking passion for the Lord would go down deep into our hearts! Would that the cheers that echo off of canyons would echo in our souls and that we would so desire the Lord in the darkest times as much as we do when we are cheering together!
Only after the end of the 7 months do we fully understand that the glory of God had departed so that Israel would want it back. It wasn’t a curse, it was to deepen their trust in the Lord.
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