Reverence, Not Ritual

Alright, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Yes, we are in 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 4. We'll do the first 11 verses together this morning. Let me bring that down. 1 Samuel chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. We'll work through verse 11. So, it's fine. So, 1 Samuel chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. We'll read the first 11 verses. Something really sad happens. So let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll find out what happens with the Ark of the Covenant. Let's have some coffee and we'll pray. Someday, son, someday. No, it's never. All right, let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing of being able to read your word. And we pray that as we do read it, you would help us to understand it and that we would take it to heart, learn how to live and walk in your ways. In Jesus's name. Amen.
All right. 1 Samuel, chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. You can start, Bob.
Now, Israel went out to the battle against the Philistines and encamped beside, I want to say Ebenezer. It's good. And the Philistines camped in Ephek. Then the Philistines put themselves in battle against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men of 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 out the Ark of the Covenant, of the Lord from Shiloh to us, and when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies.
So the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherub, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
When the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Now the Philistines heard the noise of the shout. They said, what does the sound mean? Or what does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean? Then they understood that the Ark of Jehovah had come into the camp.
So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. And they said, woe to us, for such a thing has never happened before. Woe to us. Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men and fight.
So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a great, there was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers. Also, the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas died.
Okay. Alright, so we've got our three questions to ask. What is this? A, what is this? About. B, what's the? S plus. And C, what are we? Called to do.
Alright, so what's this about? Ebenezer. No, they camp at Ebenezer. That's where the Israels are camping and then the, who are they fighting against? Philistines. Philistines. Now, what's this whole section about? What's going on here? The Ark of the Covenant is kind of like, gets captured. It's this big thing. Okay, so the Israelites want to rally the troops, right? They want to fight well, and so what do they do? They bring the Ark of the Covenant. Okay, and why would they do that? It's God. Let's just bring God here. God's not going to help us. Maybe He's too far away. We'll bring Him here.
okay yeah so okay it's like the god sits between the cherubim right so there's two cherubim uh on top of the ark the top of the ark of the covenant their wings are touching us it's it's the throne of god right and so it's like his litter so they're like oh we're going to bring god out here
okay yeah uh and how do the philistines respond They're kind of like, oh, I don't know what that means. And then they figure out, oh, shoot, this is, they brought the gods there. Actually, I think they call it gods. Yeah, they call it the gods. They brought the gods here, like, oh, shoot, these are the guys who beat, these are the gods that beat Egypt. And Egypt was way bigger than us. Like, oh, boy.
So what happens? They're kind of like, well, we'll die. It's fine. We'll fight to the death. I think it's different than we'll die. I think it's, rally the troops. We're going to kill them. And who wins? The Philistines.
But I thought they had the Ark of the Covenant. I don't think that's the point of the Ark of the Covenant. What's the point of the Ark of the Covenant? The Covenant. Did God ever tell them to take the Ark into battle like this? No. Does it say who's carrying the ark and how it's being carried? Has the whole tabernacle been brought down and all the sheets and everything put on top of the tabernacle? Or were the acacia wood poles overlaid with gold on their shoulders? And were they doing it with all the pomp and ceremony that the law had told them to do? No, they kind of just used it as a... I don't know. What would it be like? Almost like a mascot. Like a mascot or a totem or something like that, right? There are a lot of religions that still do this today. They'll carry around idols on people's shoulders and act as if they'll draw it on a cart. It's like, our gods are going with us. Our gods are going to protect us. Our gods are going to bless us.
They're treating God like an idol. Do you get to just play around with God like He's your personal toy? Yeah. That's kind of the whole point of the whole worship of God that He had given them, right? You're not going to treat me vainly, small, like idol gods. And so, the last thing that happens here, there's a very final line. What was the very last verse here? Hophni and Phineas die.
Yeah, I got it actually prophesied against Hophni and Phineas. They're called the sons of Belial, right? They had like pitchforks, like three-pronged pitchforks, and when people would come to the sacrifice, they'd be offering their sacrifices, and these are the Eli's sons, and take out the best of the meat. Literally a picture of like Satan with his... Have you seen those pictures before? Like the devils with the... The Titan. Yeah, yeah. That's where this idea comes from, right? They're sons of the devil. And God had prophesied that they were going to die. And once again, the words don't fail. My God's not played for a fool. They're treating God like nothing. Hophni and Phineas treat God like nothing all the time. Women come to the tabernacle and what do Hophni and Phineas do? Sleep with him. Treating the tabernacle like it's a brothel. Like a place for prostitutes to come. God doesn't play around like that. He's not going to be mocked.
Alright, so give me a summary of this. What's this about? the Ark of the Covenant being captured because it wasn't treated properly. I would say because God isn't treated with reverence. Yeah, God wasn't treated because I don't think he really I don't think God really cared about the ox so much. Well, he cares deeply about the ark, but the ark represents what? Himself. Him and his rule. Yeah. So I don't think he really cares as much about it, but it was just God told him, this represents where I am. Yeah, exactly.
But just because the ark is there, does that mean God's blessing and presence is there? No. No, he's not. That's a simplistic view, right? That's why I think it's so beautiful what Solomon says, right? When he dedicates a temple, and we'll get there in a little while, but he says, you know, that he has built this great temple, but who is God? He doesn't dwell in temple is made by human hands. The heavens of heavens can't contain him, nonetheless a temple." God's not just at the bidding of people, right? That's why we can't treat God like some type of cosmic Santa Claus who just gives us whatever we want.
What would you underline as the best verse to summarize this? I'm going to go with 10 and a half. Okay, good. Yeah, so every man fled to his tent, great slaughter, Israel died, 30,000 foot soldiers are captured, two sons of Eli die. All right, good. I actually have verse 4 underlined. Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. The it's there is why I have the underline.
Let's go ahead and talk about seek calling. What does this call us to do? How does this lead us to Jesus Christ? I think it we could put it in today's perspective. We don't have the Archdiocese government today, but I think... No, they're not allowed to get captured. Hmm? It was destroyed. Yeah, no, we don't have the Archdiocese government, but I think today this is why, like, Presbyterian churches, we normally don't have, like, a cross or something at the front, because sometimes we can start treating it as, like, this is the cross, and, like, It means Jesus is here and we have his blessing and we have to have a cross.
And I think that we can start, it's not that the cross is wrong, but it's just, we can start falling into this, like, where the cross or the word becomes more than actually what it is and basically turn it into an idol. Yeah, I mean, people would do this even just with churches period. We'll act like the church is the holy or sacred place but it's only holy or sacred because God's people meet there. Like I know people who won't even call it a sanctuary they'll just call it a worship hall because it's just a hall it's just where we get together to worship. because they actually want to strip it of like sanctimonious type language.
Now, I'm somewhat indifferent about those things, right? If somebody has a cross because it's a reminder, that's fine, but I know a lot of people who use the cross and they're praying to the cross and then it's like the God behind them like, you're getting kind of close there, right? So, I think there is a reality that like we need to be really careful with our hearts. Even with the holy things that God has given us, people do this with the Lord's Supper. People do this with the holy waters of baptism or with anointing oil, right? And they'll start treating even good things that God has given, right? If anyone is sick, let them to go off and call together elders that they may anoint you with oil and pray over you, right? The oil is just oil. And if people will like put all sorts of magical significance and okay, give it a break. Yeah, right. Because what is our hope and our trust in? Christ. Specifically in Christ, right? So, we don't get stuck in the trappings. It doesn't mean we shed all the trappings all together, right? Well, we don't baptize then because people have messed that up or we don't have any communion, right? Because it's a spiritual thing and so we No, no, there are physical things in this life. But we ought to be careful that our hearts naturally want to make idols of things. And we need a hope in Christ.
Hey, good job, man. Welcome to the minority weird club. Not very many people like that idea. Yep. So, maybe you'll change your mind someday when you're out of the house and you go to an orthodox church or something. I don't know. But at least you'll know this is This is where this type of thing comes from. It's not the first time we've had these conversations.
Hey, you ready to pray? Yep. You want to pray or you want me to? You pray.
Okay. God, we can debate all day long about crosses and different religious imagery and all sorts of things, but Lord, we We thank You that You have given us Your Son, Jesus Christ, that You are nobody's, no one's plaything. You cannot be manipulated or used for some end. You will not let something come between You and Your glory, but You are the God of Your people directly, and You deserve all reverence. And so, Father, we pray that we would trust in You, that we would love You, and we thank You for sending us Your Son, Jesus Christ. I pray that we would worship you in spirit and truth. In Jesus's name, Amen.
May God bless you and He watch over you and care for you. We'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.