In Case of Emergency

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June 11th, 2012

“In case of emergency, break glass.” We’ve all seen signs like that posted beside emergency equipment. For the Israelites, their “in case of emergency” resource was the ark of the covenant.

After an initial defeat at the hands of the Philistines, the Israelites brought out the ark of the covenant, believing that with the ark in their presence, they were sure to have victory over their enemies. The Philistines themselves believed in the power of the ark as well, as seen in their fearful response. Both sides were surprised when the Israelites were soundly defeated a second time.

What went wrong? The Israelites knew the ark represented the powerful presence of God and assumed that by having the ark, they had God on their side. What they learned was that they couldn’t simply bring God out whenever they needed to win a war.

Then, and today, God wants to be a part of our lives, not just in case of emergency when things go wrong, but every day and in every situation. He is not there just for emergencies.