Glory: Symbol and substance - the ark captured

One of the questions the Bible raises is: do we value the right things? The Book of Samuel addresses this question when it records the loss of the Ark of God, and the sense of desolation that produced. When they were defeated in battle they wondered why God had allowed it to happen? Sounds familiar. Their diagnosis was wrong - they assumed God and the ark were one and the same thing, and that the Ark could save them. And when they lost the Ark in battle everyone agreed that the glory had departed. Mistaking symbol for substance is a common mistake. We have reason to value religious privileges just as they valued the Ark, but neither baptism, church, nor a past work of God is the same as his presence today. In fact, the glory had already departed. That is obvious in the corruption evident in the place of worship. Their worship was based on falsehood. They had changed the nature of their relationship with God from an agreed covenant to a casual relationship in which God was merely a convenience and worship was only a cultural event. God does not break the terms of any covenant he makes, and the warnings of Deuteronomy 28 were being fulfilled in their experience. God keeps his word in the punishment of sin, and our only hope is that Christ has become one of us and kept the covenant for us - 'obedient to the point of death on a cross'. So what is the real 'glory'? Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us it is knowing God. That includes an intimate acquaintance with him - 'Enoch walked with God'. That must be a covenant relationship, not a casual one. And we can only have that in Christ our righteousness. Pray for his presence and thank God for what we have - don't grieve his Spirit.