Making sense of scripture. Thursday 22 01 2015 The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, symbol of God’s presence, but it had become a hot potato. Wherever the Ark went among the Philistine towns trouble seemed to follow. Instead of turning to the true God the Philistines tried shoving the Ark off somewhere else. Many people who hear about Jesus will still go to extraordinary lengths to harden their hearts and not respond to the invitation of Jesus to let Him be their Saviour from sin and become the Lord of their life. * * * I Samuel 5:8 Then they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumours, and there was a great panic. 10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumours; and the cry from the town rose to heaven. * * The Philistines worshipped Dagon because they thought he brought them prosperity and victory. The Canaanites worshipped Baal and Asherah because they were supposed to bring fertility. Some of the Israelites thought it was good to have Jehovah on their side because victory in battle would be guaranteed. Had the Philistines repented and turned to God the presence of the Ark would have become a source of blessing to them. Instead its presence brought judgment. Today Christian people have exactly the same affect as the Ark ! Among those being saved, followers of Jesus are like the fragrance of life, but to those who are perishing they stink. (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). Do we worship God because we hope for heaven or we want God to look after us when trouble comes? Is our discipleship dependent on God bringing us prosperity? Or do we worship God in the person of Jesus because when He speaks things happen and when He’s present all other gods fall down before him? The God Christians worship is untameable. He won’t do our bidding but God will do what He has promised. The Bible teaches that God has great plans for Israel and will establish them in the land promised to Abraham and Moses. As followers of Jesus we too can rely on God’s promises. It’s good that God offers us the reward of heaven but the reason we worship Him is not because of the reward to come, it is firstly because He is the one true God and before Him other gods and other religions must one day bow down. In this chapter the statue of Dagon was smashed but the apostle Paul assures us of a day to come when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(Philippians 2 10-11) * * * Today let me offer a prayer …. “Dear Lord Jesus be especially close to us today, especially to those who are struggling with health issues and find it difficult to get out. Help us all make choices today which draw us closer to you. We thank you for the Bible. Help us to help us to receive something from You whenever we read from it. Amen https://youtube/watch?v=du0il6d-DAk
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 00:01:01 +0000
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