As you may or may not know, I’m fascinated with the amazing hero’s quest/Shakespearean tragedy/historical-fantastical adventure story called the book of 1 Samuel. In the first third of the book, there is a (seeming) digression called “The Ark Narrative,” where the focus shifts from the characters we’ve been following to the adventures of the Ark of the Covenant among the Philistines … and things get weird.
Why, one asks, is this here? Why not just keep going with the main thread?
I’m happy to report that (big shock) this “digression” is about Christ. I’ve been reading 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart, by Dale Ralph Davis, and he has this to say about the capture of the Ark:
The text forces two important implications on us: Yahweh will suffer shame rather than allow you to carry on a false relationship with him; and Yahweh will allow you to be disappointed with him if it will awaken you to the sort of God he really is.
…On this day that seemed to dishonor Yahweh, Yahweh was in fact beginning to protect his honor and restore it.
This is brilliant stuff. It totally ties the themes of the Ark Narrative into the rest of the book.
Phew.