Raiders of the Ark (3)
Series: In Search of a King: The Book of Samuel
Patrick Edwards
1 Samuel 4:1, 1 Samuel 7:17
Introduction
And, thus, the story line of the whole movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. During World War 2 the Nazis are on a quest to find the Jewish Ark of the Covenant, believing it to hold the power of God needed to take over the world. Indy’s mission, thus, becomes finding the ark before the Nazis do in order to save the world. Of course, not to spoil the movie for you, but we find by the end that it doesn’t matter who has the ark; it’s not a power to be manipulated by any earthly entity. It’s a fun and great film; it’s one of the reasons I took a bunch of archaeology classes at the University of Virginia when an undergrad. (I quickly found out, by the way, that real archaeology is nothing like Indiana Jones, which was a huge disappointment) But despite the somewhat outlandish plot and unfolding of events in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the concept itself of trying to manipulate the power of God for selfish gain is pretty realistic. We all find ourselves tempted to do this, to think that maybe if I listen to more Christian music, or I financially give more to the church, or I just attend church more, that something I do will trigger God to ‘‘bless’’ me or give me what I want, whether that be a feeling of security or greater prosperity. It’s easy to treat God as an insurance policy, or back-up in a time of need. In other words, in our self-idolatry God can be viewed as an addendum to our lives, rather than as our main focus and pursuit. And as we see in these four chapters this morning as a good Father, God, at times, disciplines people for their sin and refusal to surrender to Him in faith. But He does this not in a solely punitive way, but to lead us to faith and repentance. We see in our passage today God’s mercy and grace to continue to make Himself known to all peoples that all would call upon His name for salvation. We’re invited to meditat ...
Series: In Search of a King: The Book of Samuel
Patrick Edwards
1 Samuel 4:1, 1 Samuel 7:17
Introduction
And, thus, the story line of the whole movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. During World War 2 the Nazis are on a quest to find the Jewish Ark of the Covenant, believing it to hold the power of God needed to take over the world. Indy’s mission, thus, becomes finding the ark before the Nazis do in order to save the world. Of course, not to spoil the movie for you, but we find by the end that it doesn’t matter who has the ark; it’s not a power to be manipulated by any earthly entity. It’s a fun and great film; it’s one of the reasons I took a bunch of archaeology classes at the University of Virginia when an undergrad. (I quickly found out, by the way, that real archaeology is nothing like Indiana Jones, which was a huge disappointment) But despite the somewhat outlandish plot and unfolding of events in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the concept itself of trying to manipulate the power of God for selfish gain is pretty realistic. We all find ourselves tempted to do this, to think that maybe if I listen to more Christian music, or I financially give more to the church, or I just attend church more, that something I do will trigger God to ‘‘bless’’ me or give me what I want, whether that be a feeling of security or greater prosperity. It’s easy to treat God as an insurance policy, or back-up in a time of need. In other words, in our self-idolatry God can be viewed as an addendum to our lives, rather than as our main focus and pursuit. And as we see in these four chapters this morning as a good Father, God, at times, disciplines people for their sin and refusal to surrender to Him in faith. But He does this not in a solely punitive way, but to lead us to faith and repentance. We see in our passage today God’s mercy and grace to continue to make Himself known to all peoples that all would call upon His name for salvation. We’re invited to meditat ...
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