Philistenes Capture the Ark

The nation of Israel was at an all-time low after the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistenes. They were defeated in battle and the most sacred object of the Tabernacle was being desecrated in a pagan temple. This was a hideous affront to those who truly loved the Lord. Again Eli shows his exemplary character when his dismay over the Ark, not the deaths of his two sons, causes him to fall off his chair and break his neck. Just as we are not to take the name of the Lord in vain, so as not to profane that which is holy, the Ark was to be treated with the utmost care. Many plagues resulted from the Ark being mistreated by the Philistenes and later by the careless Israelites. After Samuel successfully led the Israelites to victory over the Philistenes, they announced that they wanted him to appoint a king to rule over them. God was not necessarily opposed to a king, as he had given guidelines for choosing a king back in Deuteronomy 17. In fact, God had planned for a specially chosen dynasty of kings, through the tribe of Judah, culminating in the Messiah Himself. But that king was to be someone of God's choosing and someone who would bring theocratic rule to Israel.

What the people were asking for, was not such a man. They did not want to be ruled by God, but by man... just as the pagan nations surrounding them were. God was displeased with their motives, as they were seeking to conform to what the world was doing. Even when Samuel explained the negative consequences of living under a monarch, the people said " Even so, we still want a king. We want to be like the nations around us". I'll steer clear of modern-day political parallels, but suffice it to say, this sentiment (" I don't care how badly this decision will turn out, I'm doing it anyway because I want to") is alive and well. We see it everywhere, from the way we take care of our bodies to the skyrocketing divorce rate to the teen pregnancy epidemic. We don't want to be ruled by God. We want to rule ourselves, and that is the very definition of sin.

tomorrow's reading: 1 Samuel 9-12:25