Daniel Condurachi’s Blog

As a continuation of my previous post What Happens When Things are Said to be Sacred , please read the following passage:

1 And the word of [the Lord through] Samuel
came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines
and encamped beside Ebenezer;
the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

2 The Philistines drew up against Israel,
and when the battle spread,
Israel was smitten by the Philistines,
who slew about 4,000 men on the battlefield.

3 When the troops had come into the camp,
the elders of Israel said,
Why has the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?
Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh,
that He may come among us
and save us from the power of our enemies.

4 So the people sent to Shiloh
and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells above the cherubim.
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp,
all Israel shouted with a great shout,
so that the earth resounded.

6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said,
What does this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?
When they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp,

7 The Philistines were afraid,
for they said,
God has come into the camp.
And they said,
Woe to us!
For such a thing has not happened before.

8 Woe to us!
Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that smote the Egyptians
with every kind of plague in the wilderness.

9 Be strong, and acquit yourselves like men,
O you Philistines,
that you may not become servants to the Hebrews,
as they have been to you;
behave yourselves like men, and fight!

10 And the Philistines fought;
Israel was smitten
and they fled every man to his own home.
There was a very great slaughter;
for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell.

11 And the ark of God was taken,
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were slain.
[Foretold in 1 Samuel 2:34.]

1 Samuel 4:1-11

The Israel people thought that if they bring the covenant at the battle site, they would win. They should have asked God to go or not to go to fight with the philistines. But they skipped this step. They associated the greatness of God and His mighty hand with the covenant. Not the presence of a priest or any other ’sanctified’ object does wonders, but God does.

People tend to think that objects can save us. If not this, we tend to think that if we have a talisman, a cross or another object, God has to help us. God loves us and wants us to be happy, but He is not our servant. We are His servants.

Invite God to work with you. Ask God what you should work. Do not start anything by your own ideas. God is better than any consultancy firm.