Presence of God
I’m not addicted to TV but recently I watched the Olympics with interest. It was certainly better than standard TV but that doesn’t say much. I watched the opening ceremony just to see what they looked like and the outfits. Then each night we watched a different event. It took a while but I finally decided the end of the events were the most interesting part. Just to see the look on their faces as they realized their dream had come true. Even the ones that didn’t medal seemed to be happy. Some showed disappointment but all projected that they were glad to represent their country and be a part of a great competition. You would think our highly paid professional athletes would show even more appreciation but I guess money changes things.
There was no doubt about it, the outpouring of emotion by those athletes could be felt through the television. Seems we have the ability to pick up emotions even faster than the flu virus. Many cried, unable to handle the flood of feelings. Many spectators cried for the same reason (especially the parents!). Seems people really like to get emotional about something they can see. Maybe that was why God was so focused on keeping his people from worshiping idols. It was a hard task to keep people from idol worship. It still is.
Long before Indiana Jones I was fascinated by the stories of the Ark of the covenants. It was a box built to hold the stone tablets inscribed by God with the Ten Commandments. Ten rules for his people to live by that would make them different from the rest of the world. The rules have never changed. While we have never lived by them in earnest have you ever wondered what the world would be like if we could?
Incredible wealth- No need for armies, tanks, planes and missiles. No need for Police Departments, FBI, SBI, CIA, Homeland Security, IRS or any enforcement of a law. As a matter of fact if you could follow the 10 you wouldn’t need the millions of laws written by man.
Incredible Health- All STD diseases gone. When a virgin marries a virgin they don’t have STDs! With so much wealth other diseases would be wiped out by fantastic research.
Incredible peace- No locks needed. No alarms. You live without fear of your fellow man. There is nothing to fear, you won’t be hurt by anyone and when you die you will live with God forever.
Incredible happiness- With so much health, wealth and peace it would be hard to not be happy all the time.
These are not vague projections but facts of life. We all know it would work. We all know we can’t do it. What a shame.
The Ark was used as a symbol of the presence of God. The presence of God is a powerful thing and the Ark reflected that. It was so powerful that they never knew how to handle it. Of course when anything has power someone will want to use it as a weapon. It proved to be a double edge sword.
Joshua used it as the Lord instructed and stopped the waters of the river Jordan to cross into the Promised Land. He used it again to defeat Jericho.
Years later the Israelites were in battle with the Philistines. Israel had sinned greatly and lost the favor of God. They were defeated by the Philistines and fear was in their hearts. They didn’t turn to God but went and got the Ark to use in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines killed thousands and captured the Ark. It was a bad time!
When the Philistines carried the Ark home they got a nasty surprise. God sent a plague against them. Those that didn’t die were struck with hemorrhoids. Now I’m sure if almighty God gives you hemorrhoids they are not going to be little! No surgery, no preparation H, no ice cubes. Eventually the Philistines send the Ark back to the Israelites. They even sent it home with an offering attached. The offering was 5 golden hemorrhoids and 5 golden mice. You can’t make up stories that good!
When the Jews receive the Ark from the Philistines they were happy. So happy they opened it and looked inside. 50,000 died for this transgression. Then they took the Ark to the house of Abinadab. It stayed there 20 years.
After King Saul died David became king and wanted the Ark to have a resting place in Jerusalem. He goes with a military detachment to retrieve the Ark. They load it on an ox cart and parade in front of the Ark. When the oxen stumble Uzzah reaches to steady the Ark and is struck dead. Parade over! David is scared to go any farther and decides to leave the Ark and go back till he can decide what to do. He leaves the Ark with Obed Edom the Gittite.
Obed was a Gittite which meant he was from the Philistine city of Gath. It also means he would have known about the Ark. I can only imagine his feeling knowing the same Ark that had killed thousands and plagued his hometown with hemorrhoids was going to be left with him!
Obed means “worships God” and it must have been a name he earned. Our Bible only says Obed and his house were blessed. Sources outside the Bible say all the women of his house gave birth every two weeks for the 3 months he kept the Ark. That would have been a blessing then in a world that ran on child labor. Obed honored the presence of God and worshipped Him.
David hears Obed is being blessed and decides it is safe to go get the Ark. This time he dances his heart out while musicians play as the Ark is moved. They stop every 6 paces and offer sacrifices. The Bible says David was dressed in linen. Linen was underwear and David’s wife was not happy to see her husband dancing in public. She tells David with great sarcasm that he has exposed himself in public and is a disgrace. David is not impressed by her and explains that he was dancing before God and worshipping him.
David stands out as someone who really worshipped God. In the true sense of worship he put aside his life and honored God. His example of worship is still valid. Even though he was flawed he still worshipped. He maintained a wonderful connection to God. A worshiper puts aside the self-centered life and focuses on the true greatness of God.
But what happens when we worship God. It seems counter intuitive but we have improvement in our lives. It would make sense that if we get what we want we will be happy. It also makes sense that the more we get the happier we will be. Only problem is we aren’t wired that way so it doesn’t work. We are designed to connect and that connection we get with God when we worship far outshines anything the world can offer.
Need proof? Look at the most devout Christians you can find. You will have to look because they don’t stand up and wave but they are there. Usually working away in some church program or maybe a soup kitchen. You might find her working in the church nursery. You might find him painting the church or raising money to help someone. They will tell you the source of everything good in their life including their happiness is God. They will take no credit for their success. Their fruit will be abundant.
We don’t have the Ark but we have the Holy Spirit. It is the presence of God in our lives. If we take time to worship we will be blessed. It may not be with childbirth every 2 weeks but if it is from God you know it will be good!