Exodus 36-39
The Ark of the Covenant

I'm ashamed to admit it, but the first time I was blown away by the Ark of God was when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark as a child. When Indiana Jones found it and pulled it out of its case, its gold practically glowing, I felt chills down my spine. When the Ark destroyed the Nazis, and the lid, which had been blown into the air, landed perfectly back on top, I found myself saying, "Woooww, no wonder the Nazis wanted it!"

In the movie, Marcus Brody said the Bible spoke of it "leveling mountains." He showed Indy a drawing of rays coming from it. Well, I began to read that was nonsense; the Bible never said such things. When it along with all the other items was brought into the tabernacle, a cloud rested on the tabernacle, showing God's approval (Exodus 40). The same thing happened with the temple. When the Israelites came to the Jordan and the feet of those carrying the ark touched the water, the river split and they walked into the land (Joshua 3). When the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho, the people carried the ark of God. Those are about the only places that link the ark with definite actions. It seems that the Jews came to view the ark as some kind of talisman or good luck charm; if they had it, then God must be with them and they would always be victorious. Such was not the case. In 1 Samuel 4, the sinful and foolish sons of Eli took it into battle and lost it to the Philistines. Still, this great trophy of war became a bane to the Philistines (1 Samuel 4), as God showed them that while they had captured the ark, they should not think they had overcome Him.

The power of the ark was not it itself. Therein laid the mistake of Hophni and Phinehas, who viewed the ark as a cultish item that brought fortune simply for what it was. Its power was in what it represented: the presence of God. It was called the "ark of the covenant" (Deuteronomy 10:8) and the "ark of the testimony" (Exodus 25:22) for a reason: it was a physical reminder to God's people of His presence as a result of their covenant with Him. God said in Exodus 25:22, "And there (the mercy seat on the top of the ark) I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel." When the ark was lost due to Eli's sons, the wife of one of them, on her deathbed, named her newborn son Ichabod, because "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured" (1 Samuel 4:22). She was right, but for the wrong reason. God's glory was no longer with Israel; but not because they had lost the ark; but because they had sinned.

I suppose our lesson today is similar to yesterday's, but nuanced. The power or presence of God was never it the ark itself. It is always in God, who does not dwell in temples made with hands, or even arks. So, while such ideas make a pretty fun movie, they are bad theology. We don't need an ark today, or cross, or shard of the cross, a rosary or a statue to know God and His power are with us. He resides with those who are His (1 Corinthians 6:19), and that, with all respect to George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, is a powerful and comforting thought.