TRUSTING IN JESUS ALONE
I Samuel 3:3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
Once again Israel was at war with the Philistines. In fact II Samuel 11:1 tells us that spring was the time that kings went to war. So war and killing was almost like a sport in some ways for people back then. And then too we see where Israel still had idols and worshiped on high places well past King David. Even King David had idols in his house and took idols for plunder. So in some ways it is no wonder that Israel was once again back killing and being killed. What I would like to talk about today is the aspect of the Hebrews putting their trust in the Ark of the Covenant to provide their victory.
The Ark of the Covenant was built at God’s request when Israel came out of Egypt. It was to be 3 ½ feet long and 2 ¼ feet wide and high. It was to be made out of acacia wood and covered inside and out with gold. It was to have a lid that was covered with gold and had two gold cherubim fastened on it. Their wings were spread upward and they were looking down on the mercy seat or cover. Inside the ark was placed the two stone tablets with the law given by God, the staff of Aaron, a jar of manna. (Ex 16:33,34 & Heb 9:4)
Numbers 7:89 tells us that whenever Moses would enter the tent, God would speak to him above the mercy seat, so the ark became associated with the presence of he Lord. When Israel crossed the Jordan River the Lord said that the ark was to go before them. (Joshua 3:7-11) Then the ark was to go before Israel around Jericho. (Joshua 6:4) Once again as the tribes of Israel saw the ark before them they associated it with God as they had the pillar of fire and the cloud.
The Ark of the Covenant was meant to inspire the people to look to the Lord and put their trust in him. Sadly the people began to look to the ark as their source rather than inspiring them to look to the Lord. Sad to say people are still putting their trust in things. This is why God didn’t want Israel having idols or images of him made.
(Ex 20:4-6) The Hebrews put their trust in Moses holding Aaron’s staff up, so they could defeat their enemies. (Ex 17:11) The ephod that Gideon had made to glorify the Lord was turned into a idod of worship. (Judges 8:27) Then later Judges 8:35 tells us that Israel even turned to worship the idols of Baal. Samson trusted in his hair. (Judges 16:17) Deuteronomy 18:9-13 lists many detestable practices that God’s people are to not do. Sad to say many people today and even Christians practice some of them. I think maybe even sadder is how many Christians put their trust in things like repeating scripture or songs making them like charms or incantations. They put their hope in special water, oil or even prayer cloths. We see it in how people put their trust in pastors, evangelists with gifts of healing, signs, and wonders. They put their trust in prayer chains and even crosses.
So is putting our trust in these things really wrong in God’s sight? Yes! Really - Yes! If you can give praise or credit to anything, but Jesus you are trusting in the wrong thing! We can only look to Jesus and not to things! We can thank others for praying and interceding for us to Jesus on our behalf, because what they are doing is a good thing in God’s sight. Only when we see that person as having the power of ability to have Jesus bring the answer to our need does it become wrong. Does this this sound complicated to you? Well, it’s not really. I just probably didn’t explain it very well. Once again if we can give credit to anything or anyone but Jesus for helping us we have trusted in the wrong thing. Why should we trust in anything else when we have the Son of God who loves us so much he came to earth to die on a cruel cross for us? We don’t need to trust in anyone or anything but Jesus!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive us if we have put our hope and trust in anything but you. Please help us to always remember that all of our hope and trust needs to be in you, so all of our love and praise can be given to you! We love you Jesus!
