DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- MISPLACED FAITH

DAD'S RAMBLINGS  –  MISPLACED FAITH 

"Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.  Then the Philistines put themselves into battle against Israel.  And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men in the army in the field.  And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, 'Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?  Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.' "  (I Samuel 4:1-3)

The ark of the covenant had a special place in the hearts of the Israelites.  It was the place where the Presence of God resided here on earth.  The Ark became such a treasured object that the people invested it with mystical properties – that where the Ark was, there was sure to be victory.  

But there was a problem.  Even though the presence of God was there, as was evidenced by the troubles the Philistines had after they captured the Ark (see chapters 5 and 6), it was not a guarantee of special protection for the Israelites, like it had some magical power in and of itself.

We may think that God will bless us just because we have the accouterments of religion like a lovely building, stained glass windows, inspiring liturgy, beautiful music and lovely choirs, a religious symbol hanging on our car's rear view mirror, or a host of other peripheral things. God is a jealous God and will not honor faith that is misplaced.  

The lesson that we need to learn is not to place our faith in the external, visible articles of religion.  God is holy, and He will not be trivialized or manipulated by our outward expressions, no matter how beautiful or traditional they are.  Religious symbols are not meant to be the basis of our faith or used to get God to do something.  He is God and He is greater than that.  He is not bound by our religious paraphernalia.  He is moved by true faith in Him, and Him alone. 

Love, Dad