1Sa 4:1 ¶ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to
battle, and
pitched beside Ebenezer:
and the
Philistines pitched in Aphek.
1Sa
4:2 And the Philistines put
themselves in
array against
Israel: and
when they
joined battle, Israel
was smitten
before the
Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand
men.
1Sa
4:3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath
the LORD
smitten us
to day before the Philistines? Let
us fetch
the ark
of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa
4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth
between the cherubims:
and the
two sons
of Eli,
Hophni and
Phinehas, were there
with the
ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa
4:5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
1Sa
4:6 And when the Philistines
heard the
noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the
noise of
this great
shout in
the camp
of the Hebrews? And they understood
that the
ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa
4:7 And the Philistines were
afraid, for
they said,
God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa
4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these
are the Gods that smote the Egyptians
with all
the plagues
in the wilderness.
1Sa
4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like
men, O ye Philistines,
that ye
be not servants unto
the Hebrews,
as they
have been
to you:
quit yourselves like
men, and
fight.
1Sa
4:10 ¶ And the Philistines fought,
and Israel
was smitten,
and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for
there fell
of Israel
thirty thousand footmen.
1Sa
4:11 And the ark of God was
taken; and
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were slain.
In this passage we see that Israel is, once again, at war with the Philistines. However, the Israelites are losing because they are not following God. We see, that in a desperate attempt to win the war, Israel takes the Ark of the Covenant and brings it into the battle. Now ,a funny thing happens, they still lose. You'd think that because the Israelites brought the holiest thing that they had access to that God would help them win. Sounds right doesn't it? Well, lets think about this, what do you do with a good luck charm? Do you wear it around your neck in the shape of a rabbits foot? Or do you keep it in your pocket in the form of a button? Or do you not use it until you need it in the form of prayer? To many people use prayer and God as good luck charms. I read in a book about a school who hung this sign in its lobby. "To whom it may concern: In the event of Atomic Attack all rules against praying in this school are indefinitely suspended." This is was rather difficult for me to read without bursting out in laughter. Then I thought , "Why am laughing, this really isn't funny. With America the way it is, this is normal." Prayer is not a tool to be set on the back shelf. God will answer prayer but he will not be our good luck charm. He deserves better than that. Considering everything He has done for you.
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