God-in-the-Box
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A Jack-in-the-Box
A Jack-in-the-Box
Who didn’t have a Jack in the box as a kid?
The perfect toy for a toddler.
You can’t find them now unless it’s in a retro toy bin.
They’re all educational now.
Turn the crank, the music, you know what’s coming and the anticipation is gleeful.
Then it scares the stuffing out of the child and he has nightmares about clowns the rest of his life.
Kids learn right away this toy is about control.
Crank it fast, crank it slow, speed up, slow down, stop.
Whoever has the toy gets to turn the crank and get the clown.
If you take the toy from the toddler he no longer has control, you do. There’s only 1 Jack in the house.
A toy like this brings hours of fun until you outgrow it and realize life is just not that simple to control.
Yet, we try, don’t we.
How many ways do we see in our lives that we put God in a box thinking we can control when He pops out, what He does, where He goes, and who gets to play with Him?
God cannot be put in a box; even a box that is important to Him. He is not in the box, the box is not a god, and no one can control God by how they control the box.
Faith in God alone and a close walk w/ Him will result in God treating you well. He respects the relationship. You respect it, too.
No one likes to be manipulated or tried to control. Ask you husband or you wife, parents, or anyone else close to you.
Israel has struggled w/ this over the years and it started early.
If you respect your relationship w/ God, worship Him alone, walk closely, listen well,
.
What Happened?
What Happened?
And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
Good Question!
Good Question!
“Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today?”
God is responsible. It’s part of the promise. But, it’s the conditional part of the promise.
The unconditional promise that goes back to Abraham is the land is theirs and they will be a numerous as the stars.
Both are true today.
The conditional part is if they live faithfully and obediently then they will be able to stay in the land, God will protect them, and the land will produce for them.
They got their tails kicked that day. They are right to ask, “What happened?” God, where are you. Why did you let us lose so bad? Why did you let that happen to us?
Good question! What conclusion did they draw?
Wrong Answer!
Wrong Answer!
Israel was wrong
Israel was wrong
They thought the reason they lost was b/c God wasn’t w/ them. True.
Their conclusion was we need to go get the box (the Ark). B/C, they thought, God was in the box. He goes where the box goes. Since they didn’t have the box, then God wasn’t w/ them.
So, when the box arrived they celebrated like God arrived. They worked themselves into an emotional frenzy
The Philistines hear the noise from Israel and they draw their own wrong conclusions.
The Philistines were wrong
The Philistines were wrong
They had numerous gods. And every god they worshiped had an image made of stone or wood. They were used to the idea of worshiping an object. A god itself.
Their conclusion was a god came to their camp. The box itself was a god. This was the god that brought the plagues on Egypt.
The box is the god. They were afraid.
But, they attacked anyway.
And Israel suffered horrible losses.
Thousands killed. Philistines captured the Ark.
They were so wrong but they still didn’t get it.
Israel mourned as if God had left them, b/c the box was gone.
The Philistines celebrated as if they had captured a god of Israel, b/c they had the box.
They were all wrong.
God is not in the Ark nor is the Ark a god itself. But, the Ark is very important God and should be treated appropriately.
It’s an Important Box
It’s an Important Box
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
1 Samuel 5:1
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Due respect to the Ark
Due respect to the Ark
I don’t want to make too light of the Ark.
It was an ornate box that contained the the stone tablets.
Gold inlays, t/b carried only by priests.
Yes, a box. But, symbolic of so much more.
The 10 commandments but also the circumstances surrounding Israel receiving them. Delivered from Egypt. Fundamental rules to guide them in the PL. God fulfilling His promise to Abraham, through Moses, for the Nation.
The Ark was t/b kept in the inner room of the tabernacle where only the high priest could go only after he had dealt w/ his own sin.
Symbolic of the separation between a holy God and sinful man. God graciously allowed something t/b done thru the priest giving the people the opportunity t/b close to God.
Creator of the universe. Most powerful entity of all.
They were nothing. God was everything. He promised to love them and take care of them if only they would remain faithful and obedient.
And, they didn’t.
The people didn’t see it as the Ark of the covenant. They saw it as a box. A box that contained God. Or, a box that was a god.
The box didn’t do it
The box didn’t do it
The Philistines, symbolic of their military conquest, put the box in the same room of their temple as their main god, Dagon.
In the morning they found their powerful god in his own dwelling w/ his face in the dust in a posture of submission in front of the box.
They had to pick him. He couldn’t put himself back on his stand.
The second day, the same only worse. Dagon’s head and hands were broken off and placed on the threshold.
Military god. This is how the Philistines treated the kings they conquered. They cut their hands and head off.
The box didn’t do it. God did. And set the whole thing up to communicate His superiority to any other god.
They couldn’t have their powerful god losing his head all the time so they moved the box.
And, it didn’t go well for the recipients.
It didn’t belong there
It didn’t belong there
They tried twice. And, both times God brought a plague on the people in the town where they took it.
God’s instructions were clear about where it was supposed to be.
Belief doesn’t determine truth. Just b/c the Philistines didn’t believe didn’t make God’s instruction any less true.
The consequences for disobedience are real.
The Ark is supposed t/b in the tabernacle and if it isn’t then someone is going to pay. And they did.
Before long they realized they had to send it back. They couldn’t keep it. Though it was worth a great deal. The cost to keep it wasn’t worth it.
So, they came up w/ a plan to send it back. If God was really behind their trouble He would lead it back to where it belonged.
This is Un-Natural
This is Un-Natural
1 Samuel 6:
“Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
Mamas wouldn’t leave their babies
Mamas wouldn’t leave their babies
Part of returning the box was a test to see if it really was God who was behind their trouble.
2 mama cows w/ calves they hadn’t weaned yet.
Put the calves in a pen behind them and see where they go.
Naturally, the mama cows would make a bee line straight to their calves whether or not they were yoked to a cart.
But these cows, as if led by God Himself, not the box, walked straight to Israel, complaining the entire way.
That’s not natural.
And, really, what’s the harm in looking inside the box?
What’s the harm looking inside?
What’s the harm looking inside?
This is an important box. And God was clear about His instructions concerning the box. Don’t look inside.
Symbolic of the chasm between a holy God and sinful men. How can we understand w/out a symbol like this and consequences like this.
How can we understand the cost of our sin and the value of Jesus’ life w/out a symbol like this.
And, the gifts the Philistines sent were 5 tumors made of gold modeled after the sores of their plague and 5 rats made of gold.
5 representing the number of Philistine rulers. And, pure gold as a guilt offering for their sin of taking the Ark and trying to keep it.
None of this is natural. It’s supernatural and to be taken seriously.
Finally, under Samuel’s leadership, Israel got serious and made things right w/ God.
Making Things Right
Making Things Right
The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
1 Samuel 7:2-
While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
1 Samuel 7:
The right response
The right response
Had they done this in the first place...
Under Samuel’s leadership for the first time. Hophni and Phineas died when the Ark was taken. Eli died when he heard about his sons.
Samuel led them back to the basics.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Commandments 1 & 2.
On the tablets in the box.
God is a jealous God. Jealous for us, not of us.
He will not tolerate us worshipping anything else.
No hedging your bets.
No tolerance of or for any other religions.
Only God.
We don’t sacrifice animals or burn incense to to a statue.
I will confess the things that I worry about, keep me awake at night, are idols in my life.
I worry more about them than I trust God to take of it.
Materialism is an idol in our culture. We trust in our own ability to buy something to bring us peace more than we trust God to provide us peace.
Adultery is an idol in our culture. Men should not treat women like a sex-object and women should not dress like one.
Men are attracted to what fires in their brain when they see a sex-object and women are attracted to what fires in their brain when they are ogled more that we are attracted to God and what He does for us.
Put away all your idols and worship only God.
God responded
God responded
While they were still worshipping God, Sam had sac’d an animal and was crying out to God for forgiveness.
The Philistines gathered for a battle.
God showed up and won the battle for Israel.
He thundered and it confused them and they turned their swords on each other and ran for their lives.
All Israel had to do was chase them down and finish what God started.
God cannot be controlled or manipulated.
He cannot be put in a box. There is no box that is a god.
We cannot make God show up. We cannot prevent Him from showing up.
But, God promised us He will show up if we respect our relationship w/ Him.
Live faithfully and obediently.
Worship only Him. Confess our sins. Praise Him for Who He is and what He has promised to do.
Applications
Applications
Idols and Boxes
Idols and Boxes
What idols do you have in your life?
What idols do you have in your life?
What are you more worried about trying to fix than you are trusting God to handle?
A cross pendant, an angel pin, something that you expect will help you when God is the only One who helps.
Materialism: Buying something that will bring you peace and satisfaction.
Adultery: Actions or fantasies that you believe will satisfy over the realities of the relationships God has provided you.
What distracted you from worshipping this morning? What did you allow to become a higher priority than God this past hour?
These things by themselves are not all bad. Just don’t let them replace God on the throne of your life.
What boxes do you try to put God in?
What boxes do you try to put God in?
“If I do this, then God will have to do that.” What is it?
One of the biggest boxes we put God in is this building.
There are things we would never do here that we would do somewhere else b/c we believe God is here in a way He is not there.
The Club, the bar, your house, friends’ house.
God is not limited to this box just like He’s not limited to the Ark.
And, like the Ark, this box is important to God. Corporate worship is important. We unite to pray, sing and study together.
Just b/c you’re in the room doesn’t mean you’re worshiping. And, if you’re not in the room then you’re definitely not worshiping w/ us.
God doesn’t take attendance then check out.
He listens to everything you thought you during this past hour. He’s knows if He’s your highest priority and only God.
Respect the relationship. The relationship matters more than anything else. It’s only possible b/c of what Jesus did on the cross.
How many ways do we see in our lives that we put God in a box thinking we can control when He pops out, what He does, where He goes, and who gets to play with Him?
God cannot be put in a box; even a box that is important to Him. He is not in the box, the box is not a god, and no one can control God by how they control the box.
Faith in God alone, faith in what Jesus has done for us, and a close walk w/ Him will result in God treating you well. He respects the relationship. He expects us to, too.