The Philistines and the ark

“Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, ‘What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?’
“When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. ‘A god has come into the camp,’ they said. ‘We’re in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!’” 1 Samuel 4:6-9
In 1 Samuel 4-6 we have the account (which I find rather amusing) of the effect the ark of God had on the Philistines. The Israelites went into battle against the Philistines, and in their first encounter they were defeated. So they decided to call for the ark of the covenant to be brought to the battle. While this motivated the Israelite troops, it motivated the Philistines even more, who became even more determined to win. They defeated Israel soundly and captured the ark. After that they took the ark to the temple of their god, and God sent plagues upon the city. Wherever the ark was taken, the plague followed, until finally the Philistines decided to return it to Israel.
I find it interesting to observe the Philistines’ reaction to the ark coming into the Israelite camp. It would seem that they believed in God’s power more than the Israelites did. They identified the ark as belonging to the God who brought plauges upon Egypt, and were afraid. The Israelites, on the other hand, were using the ark as a kind of good luck charm: “that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies” (1 Sam. 4:3).
There’s a lesson here for us. It’s easy to become complacent concerning God’s power once you are part of His chosen people. Sure, we don’t have to fear anything anymore, but we mustn’t let other people’s zeal against our faith overcome our zeal for the faith.