Biblical Hebrew Forum

["David Stabnow" <dstabno AT lifeway.com>]

On 5/14/01 at 9:00 CDT Bearpecs AT aol.com wrote, in part:

< I could believe that some people confused G-d's presence (the "Glory")
with G-d, and thought G-d actually manifested upon the Ark, but I do not at
all accept that they confused the Ark, the seat, with G-d and considered
the seat an idol or representation of G-d. >

The reason the "Glory" was lost was that earlier in the same chapter the
people brought the Ark into battle, thinking that it would ensure victory.
This is treating the Ark as if it were a lucky charm -- with superstition
rather than faith.  It is similar to the attitude that Jeremiah was
condemning in Jer 7:4 -- a trust in the physical, tangible object (or even
in the words!) rather than the God to which the object referred.  In Jer
they thought saying "The Temple of the Lord" three times would ensure that
Jerusalem would not fall to the barbarians.  They thought because the
Temple was in Jerusalem, God would protect the city.  But, as Ezekiel
described, the Lord had already departed from the Temple.  Indeed, the Lord
is capable of protecting His city and His people against barbarian
invasion, but at the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, He had decided to pull
out and quit protecting His stiff-necked people who no longer had genuine
faith in Him.  They trusted in the tangible object of faith (the Temple)
and in their own devices (an alliance with Egypt).

Similarly, in 1 Sam 4 Israel was trusting in the tangible object of faith
(the Ark) rather than the intangible, personal Object Who could reward
their faith -- the rightful Object of their trust.  Indeed, God was with
the Ark, and indeed the Ark was a powerful locus of God's power (as the
Philistines found out).  But God cannot be manipulated into action by magic
incantations or superstitious use of His utensils.

Two other examples of worshiping an object instead of using representative
objects to aid the worship of the God behind the objects, one earlier than
1 Sam 4, and one somewhat later: 1. The golden calf that Aaron cast because
the people wanted something to look at and worship rather than this Voice
they could hear but not see.  2. The bronze serpent, which was initially
intended to direct people to trust God for healing, but which became an end
in itself, and hence an idol.

Dave Stabnow