Rituals, Symbols and battles

Rituals, Symbols and Battles

I am sure you remember the story of Joshua who during the exodus of the Jews, was told by God to follow the Ark of the Covenant to the flooded Jordan River. The priests were to stand in the river with the ark. The water stopped flowing and they were able to cross- the power of God.  Sometime later you will remember at capture of Jericho, Joshua was told to march around the city with the Ark of the Covenant and with 7 priests carrying trumpets, once a day for 6 days, then on the seventh day to march around 7 times with the priests blowing their trumpets.  The walls collapsed and the victory was theirs- the power of God again!

Now let’s pick up the story 300-400 years later (about 1075BC). Israel was fighting the Philistines their major enemy at this time. And the Philistines had the upper hand

 Samuel 4:1-11 The Philistines Capture the Ark

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 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. 3 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.”

4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 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, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has[a] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 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. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

10 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. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Now the ark was kept in the “Most Holy Place” in the tabernacle in Israel, and only the High Priest could access it- not Hophni and Phineas.  And while they understood the holiness of the box, they thought that this box of wood and metal was the source of power, and in fact it was used almost as a “good luck” charm to protect themselves. They had forgotten that God does not reside in a box, and in fact the symbol had become their god! They are almost using the ark as an idol!  Symbols do not guarantee God’s presence. And so when the symbol is lost the people thought that God had deserted them. They thought that’s God’s glory had gone. We too, even today, have symbols or icons or do symbolic things that have as much relevance as taking the ark to the Philistines just as Hophni and Phineas did and we’ll take a look at some of these in a moment.

The second big mistake was that because God had led them to victory in the past in situations where the ark was so prominent and taken them through such difficult circumstances in the past,  that the same formula would work again. But spiritual victories do not come from living off the past. Our walk with God is not a point in time, it is a growing relationship found in the here and now. It is not frozen in time. We serve a living God, not a historic God. So when Isaiah says

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness  and streams in the wasteland.

… this applies to us as even today. Our God is not a God of the past, He is a God of now.

Let’s pick up on some learning points from the errors of Hophni and Phineas, because we too sometimes fall into these traps

1. There is one idol, I would like to bring up straight away, that I see in so many people’s homes, that I see in different places in Bridgetown, and that is, these statues of Buddha. This is nothing short of an abomination. If we have one in our homes or gardens, don’t go to sleep tonight until you have obliterated it! It’s no different to having a statue of Baal in your house.

Now getting back to the more subtle icons and symbols we use. Not all icons are idols, but it can be a fine line

When we think there is power in an icon, for instance if we wear a St Christopher bracelet (the patron saint of travel) in order to protect us on our travels, I would suggest we have crossed the line. When we understand that the power of God does not rest in that icon but reminds us and points us to our saviour, for instance a cross on a necklace, that can be a wonderful thing. The difference is the intention and purpose of our heart in having such a symbol.  

But it goes much further than this doesn’t it? When we try and put God in a box, it never works, or for that matter God in a building – we may even call that building church. Because it is the most beautiful church or the biggest church or the wealthiest church, or the church with the best stained glass windows, do we think that God would favour that place? Of course not. Does God need any physical icon, symbol or building to represent Him- never! How often do we see news bulletins showing people flocking to weeping or bleeding statues, mostly of the Virgin Mary where people bow down and venerate a statue?  Idol worship even in its most fundamental form is rife even in this day and age.

2. What about rituals we do- maybe we say the Lord’s prayer every day when we wake up in the belief that God’s protection will then be over us, without even thinking of the words or the Power behind the words?  It’s like driving a car to a place that you travel to everyday- sometimes you don’t remember the trip at all because your mind is on so many other things. Driving becomes an automatic sub-conscious exercise!  We need to be careful we don’t put our walk with God on auto-pilot. God requires we disengage the auto-pilot in our lives. And so we need to be careful that Church is not a ritual we do, like taking the ark to the battlefront. Instead we need to wash and with humility and awe come into the presence of God and realise what a privilege it is to come into the very presence of the mighty Lord, the Creator of all, who by His very word holds the heavens in stars in place, who makes nations great and brings them down at His will. Hear what Jeremiah says

Jeremiah 10:12-13

12 God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom

  and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;  he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain  and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

This is the God we come to when we come to church. 

3. It’s interesting and instructive to see how this Philistine problem was solved

1 Samuel 7:1-12

Deliverance from the Philistines

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth [goddess of love and war]  from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals [god of thunder and rain] and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

7 Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great [a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were [b]routed before Israel. 11 The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it [c]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

So Samuel gives them and us the solution. It has nothing to do with religious rituals, or trying to copy something that worked in the past but everything to do with sincerely seeking God with all our heart. Nothing to do with rituals or superstitions. The washing ceremony represents their repentance. And so with repentance and humility the people turn to God

“If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

We will look at our “foreign gods” another time, but isn’t it interesting that even as Samuel is sacrificing the burnt offering the Philistines drew near to fight. God uses thunder- a clear message to the Israelites now that they have got rid of their Ashtoreths and routs the Philistines. It was God alone that brought the victory, not the Israelites military might or strategy.

This applies to us today. The battles we face are not ours, but God’s

1 Samuel 17:47- David  47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s….

When our world is being shaken and the forces of this world just seem to mount up, the words “The battle is not yours, but the Lords” are very comforting, but practically “what happens now?” For me the problem is I’m too much like Saul. I see the forces amassing and I don’t like all this shaking so I start to feel I need to do something to counter these Philistines or situations in my life! But what should I be doing? This is what I am learning from Samuel and other great men in the bible.

1. We come before God in prayer and if necessary fasting just as Samuel did, just as Hezekiah did when Sennacherub threatened him. And we lay out the problem before the Lord. Maybe is a financial concern, maybe a work concern, maybe our whole life has been thrown upside down, we lay it before the Lord

2 Kings 19:14-16Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

2. Then we don’t do what Saul did, we do what Habakkuk did , what Samuel did, what David did, what Joseph did- we stand at our watch and station ourselves at the rampart and we wait!

3. But for how long? (That’s the Saul talking in me again!)Well until there is a clear indication to you from God and you know in your heart of hearts its time to do something. At that time the peace of God will be your guide and the necessary doors will open. I love my fishing and there is a very good analogy and lesson to be learnt from fishing.  Often I sit there for a long period of time waiting for the big one.  With the sea there is always movement , the sinker can drag, or the waves can move the bait a bit, and  I often think was that a bite.? I wait awhile-nothing. This happens all the time. Suddenly I get a real bite. When you get a bite, you know it’s a bite. There are no doubts to a bite! If youre in doubt if it’s a bite don’t strike! It’s the same when God speaks into your life- you will know when the time comes! And the path to take will be obvious

4. Sometimes we may even end up in the fire,  remember Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego. Know that God’s hand is still upon you

Isaiah 43:2-3

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,  they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour

 I am often reminded of two situations in  David’s  life

Firstly the words to Zadok the Priest, where David ask Zadok to take back the ark to Jerusalem. David says in 2 Samuel 15:25-26  if God sees fit He will bring him back to Jerusalem and see the ark and Jerusalem again, but if not let God do to David whatever seems good to Him. What a great attitude!

Secondly, when Shimei curses David- look at his response

2 Samuel 16:10

… If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’”

Again total submission to God!

So in conclusion as we go into battle against the Philistines of this world, be they the threat of other nations, the threat to our health, the threats to our wealth,  sometimes threats to our very existence and when vast forces come up against you we need to remember the words in Chronicles to Jehoshaphat

2 Chronicles 20:15  15 This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Take up our positions and stand firm, do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord is with us

Let us put the battles we face into God’s hands, turn to God with all our hearts with all our minds and with all our souls, with sincerity and humility for the Lord says He will deliver us….Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord