Recently, I read an interesting account in the Bible (1 Samuel 5-6) about the theft of the ark of God (a wooden chest coated in pure gold that contained the tablets of the 10 Commandments given to Moses by God) taken into a place of idolatry. The placement of the ark, representing God’s presence, in this evil place, brought about a curse of tumors and death.
The Philistines who were enemies of Israel stole the ark and carried it to Ashdod, into the temple of their god, Dagon, and and set it beside him. When they got up the next day, Dagon had fallen on his face, so they stood him back up again. The next morning they found him fallen over on the ground with his head and hands broken off in the doorway and his torso remaining. Then, the people of Ashdod were afflicted with tumors.
(Image credit: Universal History Archive / Contributor via Getty Images)
Needless to say, the people of Ashdod wanted nothing more to do with the ark and moved it to a city called Gath. However, after they moved it there, the Bible says God afflicted the people of that city, “both young and old” with an outbreak of tumors. So they moved the ark to another city, Ekron, but as it was arriving, the people of Ekron cried out in fear that the ark was brought to kill them. Apparently, death had filled that city and those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors and there was a great cry toward heaven.
The Philistines later called for the priests and diviners to inquire what to do with the ark and they were instructed to return it with a gift, a guilt offering (with special instructions on how this would be done), as this would bring healing. As they moved on, sadly, on the ark’s trip back to the Israelites, God struck down some of the inhabitants of another city, Beth Shemesh, killing 70 of them because they looked inside the ark.
The people marveled asking, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” Messengers were sent to notify the men of a town, Kiriath Jearim, that the Philistines were returning the ark and they brought it to the house of a man named Abinadab. Afterward, the ark remained there for a long time, twenty years.
The ark of the covenant represented the presence of God for His people, the Israelites. But I pondered how it might relate to us, all of God’s people, today. Currently, believers in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, the Bible tells us we are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in us whom we’ve received from God. We are not our own, but bought with a price and as such, we should honor God with our bodies.
Hence, our bodies are a place of holiness, set apart for God’s presence. Isn’t this an awesome thought that this could occur? I had to repent in my heart of any way I might have dishonored or disrespected this holy presence I carry by behaving in some way inappropriate for a child of God.
God is merciful and forgiving toward his children, yet to continually grieve God’s Spirit brings about consequences that would not be advantageous to us. Because we love God, we choose not to involve ourselves in idolatry or other acts of evil that might cause grievance to His Spirit within us.
We can clearly see from this, and other scriptural examples, how God feels about idolatry or the worship of other gods. So, even with Jesus’ atonement made for our sins, He can become saddened by our behavior. However, the good news is that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). We are privileged to carry the person and companionship of the One who created heaven and earth. This is mindboggling and thrilling to me.
Ms. Rita's Minute 