1The word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. When they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. 3When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.”
4So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. 6When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” They understood that Yahweh’s ark had come into the camp. 7The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. 8Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!” 10The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter; for thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell. 11God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
As they prepared for battle the Israelites were very aware of previous defeats, they had just lost 4000 men. God had warned them that the further they moved away from him the more defeats they would suffer, but still they did not return their hearts to him. The elders asked ‘why did the Lord allow us to be defeated?’ They did not ask God for the answer, nor did they take any responsibility for their actions, but instead had a conversation among themselves. Someone then had a bright idea to bring the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ to the battle field in that way God would secure their victory, the next time they fought.
They wanted God as a mascot, a symbolic trophy or charm to give them victory in battle. They were willing to let him lead them in war, but they were not willing to let him lead them in life. They wanted the title of the people of God, what they did not want was God himself. They could not see that surrendering to God would lead to victory. Unsurprisingly they were defeated again and to make matters worse the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines.
God is not a token or a symbol, he is God. As God his expectation is to be sovereign in every aspect of our lives. Of course, we can call on him when in crisis, but that shouldn’t be the only time he hears from us.
He wants to be present with us every day, not just when it is convenient or when he is our last resort.