When Superstition Supersedes Substance - 1 Samuel 4:1b-11
There’s an ancient spear tip, often referred to as the “Holy Lance” in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Roman Catholics contend that it's a piece of the actual spear that pierced Jesus’ side at his crucifixion.
Supposedly it was discovered during the Crusades. In fact, the Holy Lance was believed to grant them victory in battle at the Siege of Antioch.
How does the spear that may or may not have pierced Jesus’ side grant you victory in battle? I couldn’t tell you, because it makes no sense to me. But that’s how the story goes: the lance’s discovery was a sign or promise of victory.
It reminds me of the words of Michael Scott from The Office: “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.”
Because that’s exactly what the Holy Lance is all about, right? Superstition. And what makes superstitious beliefs dangerous is that they encourage you to put your faith in an object rather than living God.
But Christians hold superstitious beliefs to this day.
It takes many forms like a person who walks around with a certain Bible 24/7 because they believe it protects them. Or the special oil that has supernatural healing powers. People can maintain superstitious beliefs even about church buildings.
Which is what we just read in this passage: the Israelites have a superstitious faith in the ark of the covenant rather than God. The ark of the covenant was the Israelites holy lance. If they just carry this thing into battle, they would be guaranteed victory.
When superstition replaces our faith a few things happen: First, our trust is misplaced (vv. 1-3), second God simply becomes a means to an end (vv. 4-10), because lastly, we then deny God’s sovereignty (v. 11).
Recap:
You might look at this passage and think, wow, this is a pretty dramatic transition from the call of Samuel that we looked at last week. However, this passage actually builds upon what we looked at last week. When God called Samuel he instructed him to tell Eli, who was the High Priest, that his two sons Hophni and Phinehas would die on the same day… and what did we just read? Both Hophni and Phinehas died on the same day here in this passage.
The danger of misplaced trust (vv. 1-3)
But as our passage opens up the people of Israel are preparing for battle against the Philistines.
The Philistines were a people who lived in modern day Gaza by the Mediterranean Sea. But as they grew and developed as a people, they began to cause serious problems for the people of Israel.
And the Philistines are one of the persistent enemies of the people of Israel. The Philistines are mentioned in Genesis 10 in the Table of Nations, and then Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech, King of the Philistines in Genesis 21. But the Philistines don’t really begin to cause problems for the people of Israel until the book of Judges. Many of the Judges fought the Philistines, the most famous being Samson.
Later in 1 Samuel, we’ll read about the most famous Philistine of all: Goliath.
But here, the Philistines are gathering troops on one side of the Philistine/Israelite border in Aphek while the Israelites are gathering troops on the other side near Ebenezer.
Eventually a battle takes place and things don’t go very well for the Israelites. That’s to put it mildly, right? We learn everything about the battle from verse 2:
“The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.”
The Philistines absolutely wore out the Israelites in battle. We’re told four thousand Jewish soldiers were killed that day.
As they head back, licking their wounds the elders of Israel pause for a brief moment of self-reflection and they ask a great question: “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?”
As the Westminster Confession reminds us, “God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass…”
God sovereignly controls, dictates, and orders all things according to his perfect will. So this loss in battle was in accordance with the will of God.
And so the elders’ initial question is a great one to ask: “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?”
To their credit, they resist the natural temptation to immediately go back to the drawing board in order to reevaluate what went wrong and what they could have done better. They don’t immediately jump into the woulda, coulda, shoulda. They pause momentarily to reflect on why God would allow something like this to happen.
But the reality is, sometimes when we ask ourselves, why would God allow this to happen, the answer isn’t abundantly clear. The answer really might be, I don’t know or I don’t understand what God is doing here.
There’s another temptation you must resist in these scenarios, and that is assigning inaccurate motives to God and jumping to conclusions.
Because that’s exactly what the Israelites did here isn’t it? They ask a great question: Why did the Lord defeat us today?
But then jump to a poor conclusion. We read about their conclusion at the end of verse 3: “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”
Oh, we know why God defeated us before the Philistines! We forgot to bring the ark of the covenant with us!
The ark of the covenant was a golden box that had poles that ran through it that the priests were responsible for carrying around. Hebrews 9 tells us that inside the ark of the covenant were the two tablets of stone that God had written the ten commandments upon, Aaron’s staff that had miraculously budded, and a pot of manna. Manna was the bread that God miraculously provided for the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.
And on top, on the lid were two golden angelic creatures, cherubims, facing one another, and in between that was the mercy seat. And the mercy seat was the throne of God.
The ark of the covenant was a symbol of God’s presence.
And their inclination wasn’t necessarily wrong, because often the ark of the covenant did lead the people of Israel into battle. We’re told in Numbers 10 that, “whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.”
Additionally, their forefathers had had miraculous episodes with the ark of the covenant. The river Jordan stopped as the ark crossed over it, and the walls of Jericho came crumbling down as the people of God marched around their walls led by the ark of the covenant!
It’s easy to see why they would think that having the ark would be helpful. The ark of the covenant was God’s royal throne.
The ark of the covenant has always been a point of superstitious fascination. It’s basically what Indiana Jones: The Raiders of the Lost Ark is all about.
Indiana Jones was trying to keep Nazis from capturing the ark of the covenant. Because if the Nazis captured the ark of the covenant, do you remember what would have happened? It would have made their army invincible.
It made for a great movie even though the theology and understanding of the ark of the covenant was all wrong!
But in a weird twist, it’s exactly what’s happening in this passage! If the Israelites would have remembered to march the ark of the covenant out to battle with them, then their victory would have been guaranteed. It would have made their army invincible!
But notice what’s said there at the end of verse 3: Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”
That it might save us. They thought the ark was going to save them. The ark was ancient Israel’s holy lance! They were putting their trust in the object instead of God. The ark of the covenant had become a magical golden box.
Superstition points to a deeply flawed underlying belief, which is if you do things in a certain way, if you remember the golden box into battle, if you grab your unique Bible, or wear your special cross necklace, then God has to do what you want him to do.
Superstitious beliefs suggest that there are ways for you and me to control God.
God becomes a means to an end (vv. 4-10)
But the ark was never a secret weapon. The ark was an object that should have pointed the people of Israel to the sovereign creator of the universe. It was never about the ark itself, it was always about what the ark represented.
But the Israelites were totally convinced it was all about the ark itself. Now that the ark had arrived on the battlefield, they were going to be invincible! The ark was going to melt the faces off of the Philistines! Y’all remember that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Because “As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.”
The Isrealites were so confident in the ark!
And their confidence was so overwhelming that it even rattled the Philistines! Which is funny when you consider the fact that the Philistines had just defeated the Israelites in battle about ten minutes ago.
We get all this Philistine dialogue in verses 6-8:
“And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.”
The Philistines had heard the stories about how God had freed the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. And they automatically equated the presence of the ark with the presence of God.
When the ark made it into the Israelite camp, they genuinely thought “A god [had] come into the camp.” Twice they exclaim, “Woe to us!”
Verse 7 says that the Philistines were afraid! They were so afraid they needed a pep talk! “Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”
But despite the confidence of the Israelites and the fear of the Philistines, the Philistines again, defeat the Israelites in battle. In fact, the second defeat was worse than the first!
“So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”
The first time four thousand soldiers were killed, the second time, thirty thousand soldiers were killed! But things get even worse don’t they?
Not only are more Israelites killed in the second battle, they also lost the ark of the covenant!
Not that long ago, I had a conversation with a friend from another denomination who does youth ministry and he told me that he does, I think, 5-6 youth retreats a year.
When he told me that, I said to him, “why do you have so many youth retreats?” And his response has stuck with me. He said, “because they're effective.”
The way I understood that comment was that he believed youth retreats are an effective way to drum up the right amount of emotionalism to generate professions of faith, confessions of sin, and so on.
Which made me wonder: was it about worshiping the living God or achieving a desired outcome? Was it about God or results?
Do we actually believe that if the lights are dimmed just right, with the piano softly playing in the background, and every head is bowed and every eye is closed, that those are the elements that will compel God. Alright God, we’ve done our part, now you have to do your part!
For the record, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with youth retreats. That’s not the problem.
The problem is when God’s worthiness is secondary to achieving results. Then God becomes a means to an end rather than being the end himself.
Which is precisely what’s going on in this passage, right? God, and the religious symbolism are all just means to an end. For the Israelites, it’s all about winning a battle. God was a means to an end.
It’s not really about God at all is it? It’s about winning a battle!
We deny God’s sovereignty (v. 11)
They’re not looking to serve God as much as they’re looking for God to serve them!
Because when your beliefs are governed by superstition, you want to control God. You want God to do your bidding.
But of course, God is sovereign. He’s in control. We’re reminded of that in verse 11.
“11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”
The very object of Israel’s hope was captured by their enemies.
But perhaps more significant to the story is the fact that God made good on his promise: both Hophni and Phinehas are killed on the same day.
And of course, this whole passage demonstrates a dark time in Israel. They’re enemies are defeating them. Their worship has been a farce for years. They’ve strayed from the Lord. And now, the symbol of the Lord’s presence is with their enemies.
The symbol of their hope has become a symbol of God’s judgment. But the Israelites don’t lose in battle because God is weak and unable to save them.
And no doubt it would appear as if God has abandoned his people and left them for dead. But that’s not at all what’s going on. He’s working on making Israel a stronger, more faithful people.
God’s sovereignty is on clear display isn’t it? He’s fulfilling his will, not the will of his people. He’s in control.
And so when we speak of God’s sovereignty some associate an image of an angry God who puts people under mind control to do exactly what he wants them to do. But that’s not how God works.
Too often, God’s sovereignty is presented as God imposing himself on people against their will.
This is addressed in Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 3 paragraph 1.
And of course the reason this is a struggle for people is because the assumption is that our will, our wants, our desires, are better than God’s! That somehow God’s will is going to harm us, but our desires will be for our good.
But the Scriptures are crystal clear on this issue. It’s the exact opposite. God’s sovereign will is for our good.
It’s Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
And so God’s sovereignty isn’t something to feel uncomfortable about, but rather something for us to rest in, to take comfort in, even when circumstances don’t immediately make sense to us, we can still trust that God is good.
We see this in our passage: The Israelites lose multiple battles and have the ark of the covenant captured. But all of this was to fulfill God’s will. He was preparing them for something better.
But the greatest example of this is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, right? After Jesus died on the cross it seemed as if it was over. It seemed as if the Lord had abandoned his people.
He had something better in store for them, but of course, they never knew it!
Because God never abandons his people. In fact, he soon returned to them when he rose from the grave.
If you just read ahead, you’ll know that the ark of the covenant eventually returns to his people. His ways are better than our ways. His plans are better than our plans.
That’s the silver lining of an admittedly dark text.
God is preparing Israel for a brighter future. He’s removed the false shepherds and he’s installing a new faithful shepherd for his people. And he’s removed the ark as an object of hope because he wants his people to trust in him.
The ark has been temporarily removed as an option! Now, they’ll have to look to God himself.
God is preparing Israel for a king.
But it’s hard to trust God when it looks like things aren’t going the way we’d want them to. Sort of like being defeated in battle and having the ark of the covenant captured.
Which is why superstitious beliefs are appealing! We want to feel as if we can control the outcomes and results.
Is there a more superstitious sport than baseball?
They’ll wear rally caps, avoid stepping on foul lines, apparently Joe Dimaggio always stepped on second base as he ran into the outfield, Curt Schilling famously wore a unwashed bloody sock in game 6 of the ALCS championship, there are countless baseball superstitions.
It’s really not about those things: it’s not really about the rally caps, stepping on foul lines, wearing dirty socks, it’s about winning the game, but the underlying belief is that a failure to do those things will determine the outcome of the game.
But what this passage reminds us, is that we don’t determine the outcome of the game! God does!
And so the only appropriate response is for us to worship and praise the living God.
Recently, I was telling someone that one of the lessons I’ve learned from this whole church planting process is just how little control I have over it.
I don’t have any control over who walks through this door each and every week and I certainly don’t have control over why they come through those doors every week.
And that’s because it’s not my story. And it’s not your story either. It’s God’s story and he is fulfilling his will. The clay has no authority over the potter.
We worship God because he is sovereign and he is so, so, so, good. He gave us salvation through Jesus.
Dale Ralph Davis put it in a way that only he can. He said,
“Whenever the church stops confessing “Thou art worthy” and begins chanting “Thou art useful” - well, then you know the ark of God has been captured again.”
Amen. Let’s pray together.
