Are there Christian songs that you listen to and say, “that’s a great song, but….?” Maybe its doctrine is a little off, or you just don’t know what it’s talking about?
People talk about “7-11” songs. Seven words song eleven times.
One that makes me cringe is “He was there all the time. Waiting patiently in line. “ As if Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe, is codependent on our whims.
Some songs are old and their tunes have been updated. “Before the throne of God above” (words written in 1863, tune more recently) is one of my favorites.
Before the throne of God
above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest
whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name
is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I
know that while in heav'n He stands
No tongue can bid me thence
depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
When Satan tempts
me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I
look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because
the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For
God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To
look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there,
the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless Righteousness
The great
unchangeable I Am
The King of glory and of grace
One with
Himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My
life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
One with Himself, I
cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid
with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With
Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God
Sometimes their words are changed for modern audiences. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” says “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” It does not mean lift it up, but build it up.
So, what does this have to do with the lesson? At the end of this narrative, the prophet Samuel sets up a stone of memorial and calls it Ebenezer: stone of help. This was not the first time a stone was set up as a memorial, Jacob and Joshua did it too, earlier.
A memorial is needed. That’s why I write, to have a written memorial. But they shouldn’t be an idol. Last week we touched on this. The cross we might wear can be a memorial to Jesus’ sacrifice and a sign, “I worship Jesus.” But it can be more, an idol (we don’t worship a piece of wood, but the person who died on it), a talisman (good luck charm), or a sign of pride (big and blingy). This is what happened with the ark of the covenant. Unfortunately today the ark has been conflated with a quest in a movie. When the ark was opened, those who looked at what came out—demons, not the glory of God—had their faces melted. Quite over the top Of course, only Nazis had melted faces.
What was the ark? We have to go back to Exodus 25:10-22 when the tabernacle was set up as the central place for worship and sacrifice. God wanted a central place for this so that everyone didn’t just do their own thing, offering sacrifices. They did any way, but that was not the idea. The ark was in the Holy of Holies and contained the stone tablets of the law; some sources say it contained a pot of manna from when Israel was in the wilderness to remind them of God’s love, provision and care; and the rod of Aaron to symbolize God’s given leadership and priesthood. (Since the manna rotted after a day, I am not sure about that.) Sacrifices were not put on it, but blood from the sacrifices were sprinkled on it on the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, it is mentioned, indirectly. From R. C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries:
The ark of the covenant was the place of presence. While the Lord was present among His people in the exodus (Ex. 13:17–18, 21–22), He localized this presence in the tabernacle for the benefit of His sinful people. The tabernacle was constructed so that the Lord would be among His people: "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst" (Ex. 25:8). But in an even more specific way, the ark served as the place of the presence of God. As we read in Exodus 25:22, "There I will meet with you . . . on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you" (Ex. 25:22; emphasis added).
Here is such a mind-blowing idea about the God of the Bible that we have to pause for a moment. The eternal God who is not constrained by the existence of time, the infinite God who is not bound by the constraints of space, the transcendent God who dwells above and beyond all time and space, and the immense God who fills all time and space condescended to the weakness of His people and became manifest for their benefit in one locale. This God is not bound by time, but He bound Himself to the time-bound experience of His people. This God is not bound by space, but He bound Himself to this box. He is above all creational constraints, but He bound Himself to them. He is everywhere, but He was there.
From Bible Gateway:
Skip ahead to 2 Chronicles 35 where we find the last mention of the Ark of the Covenant’s location. In this chapter, Josiah was celebrating Passover. The priests were prompted to take part in the observance in the Lord’s temple. In verse 3, Josiah instructed the Levites to "Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built.” It’s thought the artifact was demolished afterward when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem. The chest went missing after the destruction of the temple, however, John states in Revelation 11:19 that the Ark will be seen again after the second coming of Christ.
So, we don’t really have to worry about the ark for our Christian experience. But, for this lesson, it tells us of how 1. a holy object can be misassociated with the holiness of the One it symbolizes and turned into an idol or talisman 2. God wants holy things to be treated as he commands 3 the Israelites were not taught or obedient to the teaching of these things.
What does the Ark mean for us today? It is associated with the word propitiation, or hilesterion, in Roman 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5.
Old Testament Context:
In the Old Testament, the mercy seat, or propitiation, was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest that housed the Ten Commandments. It was made of gold and had two cherubim above it, symbolizing God's presence and dwelling place.
All that said, this is an odd narrative based in ancient pagan customs as well as what God wanted for the Israelites.
What happens here?
I Samuel 4:Ark captured by Philistines and they slaughtered 30,000 soldiers; Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas come to death. Phinehas’ wife has the prophecy: 4:22.
Philistines deal with having the ark; Dagon image destroyed in its presence and the people had tumors (hemorrhoids) and are plagued by rats. As pagans would, they made golden images of those things, put them in a case, and put the ark and the case on a cart pulled by two milk cows and send them away, and the cows went to Beth Shemesh. The people there were happy but they looked into the ark and were punished. In Chapter 7, then: Read.
So we are back to Ebenezer.
This is the end of a chapter of Israel’s history. In chapter 8, they want to become ruled by a king. Whole different history now.
It causes us to wonder, why do we read these stories? What do they mean for us? Two reasons:
They provide background to the New Testament.
They reveal God’s character and plan throughout history
But, we are not Israel.
Differences in identity. Genetic/ethnic v. universal, non-ethnic
Differences in purpose: To bring the Messiah and be a beacon to other nations as a nation/to follow Messiah and be a spiritual nation
Grace as defined by law and sacrifices/ grace as defined by cross and indwelling Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit came upon them to do certain work/Holy Spirit lives within us and transforms us; He is part of our being.
Apostasy/physical punishment/repentance of nation v. individual walks within community of churches
Wife of God v. Bride of Christ
Worship in a physical place v. worship God in spirit and truth anywhere
Different view of Scripture, ethics, choices, community, relationship to larger world
Did the church replace Israel to the extent that God does not deal with Israel/Jews separately any longer?
Scholars and theologians differ on this point, but I think it is a problem to say that God has put the church in the place of the Jews. Until about 70 AD, the early church was very Jewish; after that, for lots of historic reasons, it became less and less associated with Jews. The main reason, Roman destruction of temple and the scattering of Jews, and the way localized and generalized persecution treated Jews and Christians differently. Legends from that time say the Christians (whether of Jewish or Gentile background) fled Jerusalem for safety because they knew the Romans would come to put down a Jewish rebellion that caused the destruction of the temple.
I say this to say that we have to be careful how much we think of ourselves as being like the Israelites. In some ways, yes, but in most way, not the same.
The takeaway from this lesson for me is the Ebenezer, the memorial. I like to think that the items in my home remind me of people and grace and love and good memories, not just an aesthetically pleasing item that goes with the décor. Things in my house are rather a mish-mash. That’s just fine with me, because they serve a different purpose.
Comments
Post a Comment