Another thing we see is Israel who are generally lacking any experience of God, try to force His presence in the camp by taking the Ark to the battle against the Philistines. God had clearly told them to leave the Ark where He told them to leave it and only move it when instructed, something that Israel had clearly ignored. It also mentions again that the priests are there in the thick of it, no doubt trying to get some glory in front of the people with what was a purely human endeavour. No doubt all the people were sucked into it and thought it was some amazing celebration of God and His presence when God had nothing to do with it.
As is usually the case in these situations, the people took a battering and in this case also had the ark (and therefore the potential presence of God) removed with it.
Is this still possible when we fake God's presence in our services? Is it possible that by treating the presence of God with contempt, we lose the ability to experience it until we repent and have it restored?
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