1 Samuel 4 Devotional

When God Is Not a Charm

“When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.””1 Samuel 4:3 (BSB)

After a defeat, Israel's elders ask the right question: why has the LORD let this happen (4:3)? But they do not seek his answer. They send for the ark of the covenant, the sacred chest connected with God's presence, so that it may go with them and save them. The camp roars when it arrives. Then Israel is crushed, Eli's two sons die on one day as the LORD had said (2:34), the ark is captured, and Eli falls and dies when he hears of it (4:18).

The ark was holy, but Israel treated it like a lucky charm, as if God could be carried into battle to serve their plans. The LORD will not be used that way. A dying mother names her son Ichabod, saying that the glory is gone from Israel (4:21-22). It is bleak. Yet the next chapter shows that God had not been defeated along with his people. Faith rests on the living God himself, not on objects or rituals we hope will make him act.

To think about: Is there anything you lean on to secure God's help, in place of simply trusting him?