1 Samuel 4:3

Israel's elders, recognizing the LORD allowed their defeat, decide to fetch the ark to save them rather than repent. They treat the ark as a magic talisman instead of seeking the God who dwells over it.

Cross-references · 28

• 2 Tim 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
• Num 10:35Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, “Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.”
• 1 Cor 10:1–5I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
• Num 31:6And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.
• Deut 31:26“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.
• Amos 5:21–22“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
• Jer 3:16“In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.
• Isa 50:1This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
• 1 Sam 14:18Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.)
• Deut 29:24So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
• Ps 74:11Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!
• Jer 7:8–15But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
• Isa 1:11–15“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
• Ps 74:1A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
• Rom 2:28–29A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
• Josh 4:7you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”
• Isa 58:3“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
• Jude 1:5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
• 2 Sam 15:25Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.
• Matt 3:9–10And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
• 1 Pet 3:21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
• 1 Chr 17:1After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.”
• Num 10:33So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.
• Josh 7:7“O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
• Heb 9:4containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
• Jer 7:4Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
• Josh 6:4–5Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark. Then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.
• Matt 23:25–28Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

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