Day 83

Away with Superstition

Read: 1 Samuel 4-7

One of the tragedies of our day is that people are turning from serving the God of the Bible to horoscopes and other forms of superstition. Such superstition is almost as old as the human race. Here the elders of Israel thought that having the physical presence of the ark of the covenant in battle would bring magical results and victory. They were wrong. They lost the battle and they lost the ark.

The Philistines also trusted in magic. They thought their defeat of Israel was a sign of the defeat of Israel’s God. They also were wrong. Placing the ark in the temple of Dagon as though it were a trophy led in the end to the idol Dagon lying face down, decapitated and dismembered. And the presence of the ark among the Philistines resulted in God sending a painful plague upon them. They had not defeated Israel’s God after all.

The Philistines sent the ark back to Israel on an ox cart. There, when the people failed to consider the holiness of God, there were further difficulties. But Samuel called the people to repentance. And repentance, not the physical presence of the ark, brought the victory so that Samuel could say, “Till now the LORD has helped us” (7:12 ESV). God in his mercy has brought us this far. Surely he will help us in the future as we trust and obey. So have nothing to do with horoscopes or any other superstitions. Trust in God alone!

PRAYER
Father, deliver many people who are trapped in superstition and turn them to Christ. In his name. Amen.