Sacred Objects

 

    Sacred objects come with every religion.  The artifacts themselves hold no value.  We give them value and worth.  However, the ones that God designed hold a particular special place in the hearts of people, even if they never see it.  The Ark of the Covenant is one of those sacred objects.

    The Ark of the Covenant is what held the Bible before it was a Bible.  It was designed by God, laid out by Moses, and put together by craftsmen.  For the Israelites of the time, it was indestructible.  They felt powerful if they had it with them.  To have it stolen was a huge loss for the nation that impacted them more than anything else.

    The Philistines put the ark in a pagan temple, right next to their god Dagon.  The next day they found their idol on the ground, face down,  The day after that it was broken, the head and hands removed from the torso.  God did not appreciate having his Holy possession put in an evil place.  He placed a plague of tumors among the people until the ark was moved.  

    The ark was moved to Gath where God brought great panic.  They were plagued with tumors until the ark was moved once again.  This time it went to Ekron.  The people there were afraid that they would die, so they sent it back to the Israelites.  They may not have had any faith, but they were not playing around with powers that they did not understand.

    God is not playing games, so neither should we.  We only have a small understanding of His world, but it goes so much deeper into life than we can imagine.  Sacred objects don't hold power, but they can hold blessings or curses.  The power itself comes from God.

1 Samuel 5