Knowing What to do with What God Gives You
“So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, ”What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?“ They answered, ”Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.“ So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, ”They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.“ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, ”Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.“ For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.”
1 Samuel 5:8–11 Read More
The Ark of the Covenant in the hands of the Philistines. This is an Old Testament event of what Jesus talked about when He said: “Don’t cast your pearls before swine.” The Philistines didn’t know what to do with what they had. In some ways, this is why it was taken from Israel too.
The Ark of the Covenant was the box that held the covenant or promise from God to the people of Israel. They lost the Ark in a battle because all of their high priests were corrupted. This gave them a reality check that God’s glory wasn’t blessing their nation anymore.
At the same time, the Philistines took the Ark and didn’t know what they had. They could have opened it up, and assuming no Raiders of the Lost Ark event happened, they could read the stone tablets and learn about Yahweh, God of Israel. They didn’t do that. Either because they were afraid, ignorant, or uninterested, they left the box shut and moved it around from city to city.
When we get a new and amazing thing from God, we have the same choices. We can:
Not appreciate it and let it be given to someone else
Think that it’s something it isn’t and force it to fit into our current life
Not care about it deeply but let it be just another shallow thing
Go deeper and ask God what He is doing in our lives, seek Him through the situation, and grow into being His people
The Philistines were trying to force God into their own lives without repenting from their past. That is only going to cause pain. Trying to force God into an old lifestyle serving idols ruins the relationship with God and the idols. (Read this whole section about what happened to Dagon.)
Pigs don’t know what to do with pearls except walk past them, and the Philistines, uninterested in worshipping Israel’s God, didn’t know what to do with Him when His presence showed up among them. Compare that to reactions to Jesus by the sinners, the Pharisees, and the rest of the people in the Gospels. When people encountered Jesus, they were able to reject Him, ask Him questions to go deeper, or not care enough to make such a decision.
As we carry God’s presence in ourselves, may we be as compassionate as Jesus was for the needy, while as powerful as God’s Mercy Seat to those that may be interested.
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