Deliver

“Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies”  1 Samuel 4:3

Deliver – Yesterday we saw the reaction to Israel’s defeat.  The elders recognized immediately that the issue was with God, not the Philistines.  It is a moral problem, not a military problem.  But what do they do?  They turn to ritual and symbol instead of repentance.  They go get the Ark of the Covenant.  They use it like a mystical talisman, imagining that the mere appearance of God’s treasure box will insure victory.  They might as well have been playing a role in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

What they wanted was yasha (deliverance).  The word comes from the idea of making a wide and safe place.  It is the root word behind the name Jesus.  They wanted rescue.  They thought that rescue would come from ritual.  They couldn’t have been more mistaken.  Thirty thousand soldiers died before they realized that it was not the presence of a symbol of God that mattered.  It was inward holiness and obedience.  As long as there was sin in the camp, no symbol or ritual would make any difference.

The lesson begins with a change in perspective.  Our victories and defeats are not ours to control.  We are in the moral nexus of God’s story.  But recognizing that God is in charge is only the first step.  Running to the symbols for help makes no difference.  Take communion.  Go to confession.  Make a deal with God.  Read a few passages in the Bible.  Say a quick prayer.  Buy a crucifix.  Write a vow.  Give up coffee.  But don’t expect to see changes.  God is not manipulated by our symbolic religious pretenses.  He is interested in only one thing: holiness.  Israel expected that God would cooperate with their plans because they carried His banner.  But God is not present in the packaging.  If your religion is only wrapping around a life that isn’t sacrificed to Him, what makes you think He is obligated to run to your aid?

This is a very hard lesson for us.  And very costly.  Israel lost 34,000 men before they understood.  I had to lose almost everything before I saw my real problem.  That seems to be how God works.  He takes us to the battlefield.  We lose.  We grab all the religion we can and go fight again.  We lose even more.  Then we wake up.  Rescue does not come from religion.  It comes from Yeshua: relationship.  Brokenness.  Submission.  Emptiness.  Willingness.  Devotion.  So hard to learn.  So simple. 

Why do we make our battles so complicated?