An Imperfect Picture
Wednesday (September 10)
An Imperfect Picture
Judges 7:1-2
And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
Don’t you admire the way Almighty God uses real, historical, physical persons, places, and events to paint a vivid picture of deeper spiritual realities? It’s as if all of life is a parable. As if all the commonplace comings and goings have a spiritual pulse to them. When theologians asked Jesus to describe the Kingdom of Heaven, ready with their quills to copy a treatise unlike any the world had ever seen, He instead effectively placed a tiny mustard seed in their hands and told them to go plant it in their gardens and watch it grow. And if they just obeyed, if they just stayed there in that garden long enough, day after day, watering the seed and watching it grow into the largest garden tree, and if they noticed the birds nesting in the branches and the squirrels resting in the shade, they’d get a better picture of what Jesus meant.
For twenty years, the ark has been nestled away in a shed or a cave or an outbuilding on some hill owned by a guy named Abinadab. But at least its here in Israel again, right? At least God’s presence is back among His people. But not fully. This hilltop house isn’t the tabernacle. This grassy pasture isn’t Shiloh. The people wish to rejoice, but how can they? Something’s still off about the whole scene—they can feel it. God’s here, but not front and center. Not towering at the forefront. For twenty years, He’s been in the shadows, in the periphery, effectively sitting by as men continue to do whatever seems right in their own eyes.
Friend, may the picture of the presence of God in our lives today not be a hilltop guesthouse on the outskirts of town but rather a tabernacle at the very center of our lives. May we give Him the full heart that He deserves, not some hut on the fringes of it.