{"id":57027,"date":"2019-06-06T13:37:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T10:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57027"},"modified":"2023-01-01T14:48:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T12:48:01","slug":"the-dangers-of-trying-to-manipulate-holiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-dangers-of-trying-to-manipulate-holiness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dangers Of Trying To Manipulate Holiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[670,395,384],"acf":{"old_id":"57027","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34245,"related_cahpter":"236","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The Ark as talisman, and the lesson of little baby Ichabod","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of Samuel 4, baby Ichabod survives his mother\u2019s death. At the beginning of the same chapter, Eli\u2019s sons seem to assume that the power of the Ark of the Covenant can survive the death of the relationship that birthed it, namely, the covenant between God and Israel. The very men who abused their position so cynically in the previous chapters, and violated God\u2019s laws in His own house, carry His Ark to the field of battle, hoping it will bring them victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the Ark is not a baby: it is God\u2019s tool. It can\u2019t boast of an immanent source of life or power. It is only as effective as God wills it to be; when Eli\u2019s sons try to use despite their many sins, they learn very quickly just how useless the Ark is without God\u2019s active help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The narrative emphasizes this point through the story of Ichabod\u2019s birth. At first glance, this story seems unnecessary. What does it contribute to our understanding of the book\u2019s events? But by framing it in eerily familiar terms, the storyteller draws our attention to the paganism that warped the Israelites\u2019 perception of the Ark. For Ichabod\u2019s mother is not the first biblical woman whose attendants say \u201cDo not be afraid, for you have borne a son\u201d (1 Samuel 4:20). Neither is she the first to name her son for a tragedy as she lies dying. The matriarch Rachel preceded her on both counts, and on another: both died because someone moved a significant object from its original place. Having stolen her father\u2019s household idols, Rachel was unintentionally cursed by Jacob, who told Laban \u201canyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive!\u201d(Genesis 31:32) Rachel paid the price on her deathbed, just as Ichabod\u2019s mother pays the price for her family\u2019s decision to take the Ark into battle. These parallels force us to compare God\u2019s Ark to pagan idols, or more accurately \u2013 compare the way the Ark was perceived to the way people viewed idols. By relying on the Ark without obeying the God that gave it power Eli\u2019s sons reduced the Ark to an idolatrous, magical, and ultimately ineffectual, talisman. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By drawing our attention to this strand of magical thinking, the text is offering a very timely warning. The Israelites will soon request a king. But a king as such won\u2019t be able to protect them: like the Ark, a king will only be as effective as God will choose to make him. Our chapter hints at what Samuel will later say explicitly: follow the covenant, or your king will fail just as the Ark did.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carrying the Ark of the Covenant: gilded bas-relief at Auch Cathedral \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":57028,"id":57028,"title":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","filename":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-dangers-of-trying-to-manipulate-holiness\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":57027,"date":"2019-06-06 10:36:57","modified":"2023-07-10 18:53:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":361,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-300x213.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","home_baner-width":361,"home_baner-height":256}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Dangers Of Trying To Manipulate Holiness","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The Ark as talisman, and the lesson of little baby Ichabod","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":57028,"id":57028,"title":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","filename":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-dangers-of-trying-to-manipulate-holiness\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":57027,"date":"2019-06-06 10:36:57","modified":"2023-07-10 18:53:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":361,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-300x213.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","home_baner-width":361,"home_baner-height":256}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57027"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110830,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57027\/revisions\/110830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}