Lucky Charm?

1 Samuel 4:1-11

1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.

3 And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.

6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp,

7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

There are all kinds of activities people engage in hoping for a little good luck. Slot machines, lotto cards, rabbit’s feet (I know – that was a very long time ago). If we just hold our mouth the right way, maybe things will go our way. That’s how we see the people of God treating the Ark of the Covenant in today’s story; a lucky charm that they forgot to bring to the battle. They did the right thing for the wrong reason and of course it ended very badly for them.

After being soundly beaten in a battle with the Philistines, the leadership gathers to strategize and think up a new plan. How can we beat our enemies? Some Einstein in the group says “Hey, I know. Let’s get our lucky charm, the Ark of the Covenant. It worked for our ancestors; maybe it will work for us!” What they failed to recognize is that the Ark represented the living God, who they did not know. The Ark itself carried no power alone. That power rested in God and a real relationship with Him.

Have you ever met anyone who wore a cross around their neck but you knew with certainty that Christianity was not their cup of tea? For them it is merely ornamentation or maybe even a lucky charm. The Jesus who died on that cross means nothing to them and they would never want to actually worship Him or recognize their need for a Savior. This is similar. The Israelites didn’t know God, but they were hoping His symbol would magically help them out.

It should come as no surprise that the God of the Universe cannot be treated like a genie in a bottle or like a lucky rabbit’s foot that you rub when you need some help. He is sovereign and deserving of relationship and worship. Then when you call on His name, He will recognize your voice and come to your aid. You don’t need an Ark or a cross on a chain. You just need Him. Set aside all superstitious beliefs and count on Him to take care of you because He loves you.