SBN Presents Donnie Swaggart | Galleries

Your Word for Today “and the Ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain (I Sam. 4:11). Israel is now in serious straits, because its spiritual leadership is woefully lacking. The Philistines attack, for Satan sees his opportunity. Israel is defeated, with some 4,000 men dying on that fateful day. As the people of God retreat in order to stem the tide of defeat, they think, “Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.” They were to find that the Ark of God, without the Presence of God, was no more than a piece of furniture; consequently, it contained no power within itself; therefore, the end result would not be what they had hoped, but rather the very opposite.I’m afraid the modern Church is all too often reduced to the same spectacle as Israel of old, i.e., rituals and ceremonies have taken the place of the Spirit of God. As with Israel of old, Satan, of which the Philistines were a type, will play havoc with Believers. As Israel of old, the modern Church has its ornaments; it has become, again as Israel, very adept at shouting (I Sam. 4:5-6); however, their “shouting” was no more than racket in the ears of God, and likewise, Satan. The results were awful: 1. Thirty thousand of the soldiers of Israel were killed in the battle. Coupling that with the 4,000 previously killed constituted 34,000 men dying in that one conflict. 2. The Ark of God was taken by the Philistines. 3. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed. When Eli, who was the Great High Priest, heard that the Ark of God has been taken by the Philistines, the Scripture says, “he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died” (I Sam. 4:18). Along with being High Priest, Eli also served as the Judge of Israel, a role he filled for some 40 years. Had he judged in fellowship with God and in obedience to the Scriptures, the disasters that befell on the day of his death would never have happened; and yet, in his death, he showed that the interests of God’s Kingdom had a true place in his heart. Israel, when confronted by the enemy, tried to use a symbol in place of the Substance. The modern Church does the same when it places its faith in things other than the Cross.” —Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)

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