Lost Ark Raiders

In a very interesting and legendary movie about the lost Ark, the Germans were portrayed as going after it because they thought it would make their army invincible. This part of the movie may not be accurate as the Germans may have been smart enough to check the Holy Scriptures to see if that was so as follows:

1 Samuel chapter 4 tells us that the Philistines killed 4,000 men of Israel in the first battle, which prompted them to send men into Shiloh to bring forth the Ark, so that God would protect them. However, Eli the priest had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas who were also priests, and whom he failed to discipline. They didn’t know God and profaned their offerings to the Lord, causing men of Israel to hate the offerings to the Lord. The rest of the story follows:

1 Samuel 4:10-11, “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. (11) And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.”

So here we have a case in which Israel itself was not protected by the Ark in the second battle, due to sin. A foreign army captured the Ark of God, so let’s see what happened.

1 Samuel 5:1-12, “And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. (2) When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. (3) And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. (4) And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. (5) Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. (6) But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. (7) And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. (8) They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. (9) And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. (10) Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. (11) So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. (12) And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.”

Note: “Emerods” is a Greek derivation of bloody tumors or “hemorrhoids.”

We’re assuming that the Germans did their homework and didn’t care for death and destruction to run rampant in Germany along with hemorrhoids!

Therefore, we see in the example illustrated in the Bible that the Ark didn’t even help Israel when they didn’t deserve it and it certainly didn’t help a foreign army!

Many years ago, the Naval Science Research Lab at China Lake, CA made a replica of the Ark, which immediately started discharging lightning bolts and destroying the lab. They eventually had to send in a robot and dismantle it.

Setting all superstitions aside, this perhaps also goes for the “Holy Grail”, “Spear of Destiny” or any other artifact which men have conjured up as being supernatural. Obviously, it’s not the article that brings the power – but God’s evaluation of the holder of it!

Roger Conner
US Navy pilot (retired)

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