January 7
Latest New Things.
1Sa 6:7 Now therefore make a new cart,…
When they found him, he was dead. He had died of a heart
attack while working in his garden. The next day, his son spent a few minutes in
the garden at the spot where his dad had died. He noticed a half buried
prescription bottle. He picked it up. It was his dads Nitro pills he took for
heart pain. This happened some years back, about the time drug stores were
switching to the new childproof cap. The son noticed the prescription bottle had
a new childproof cap. His dad must have needed his medication but could not get
the new style top open. In his case the old style cap would have been better
than having the latest new thing.
Advertisements for the latest technology often use the
expression, “It’s the new big thing!” Am I the only one who wonders why people
stand in line all night to buy a $500 phone even though they still have the
previous model that works well? Is the latest new thing really that important? Our
consumer driven culture wants you to think so.
In these opening days of the new year we strive to make new
starts, renew our efforts, make this new year better. But we must guard against
the logical fallacy of “new is better”. New may be worse! “New and Improved” is
usually an indicator that a product has changed the shape of the container and
dropped the quantity, or quality, or increased the price or all of the above. The
latest fast food hamburger cannot compare with what real hamburgers used to be.
Dents in fenders used to be repaired. Now they are replaced. The examples are endless. New is not always
better.
For an example of a series of new things with bad results we
only need to read about how the ark of the covenant was lost in battle. 1st
Samuel 4:3 has the first new thing. The Israelites were losing a battle with
the Philistines so the elders of Israel had a new idea.
1Sa 4:3 Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD
out of Shiloh unto
us, that, when it cometh among us,
it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
Moving the ark to a battle scene was a new great idea.
Using one of their most holy items like a rabbits foot for good luck sounded
like a wonderful thing. Everyone was excited and delighted with this new way to
win a battle. But it didn’t work out too well for them.
1Sa 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the
two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
In chapter five the Philistines had an idea that was a
great new thing. They took the ark and added it to their worship of Dagon, a
fish god.
1Sa 5:2 When the Philistines took the ark of God,
they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by
Dagon.
But it didn’t work out too well for them either. Their
fish god kept falling on the ground and was badly damaged. In addition the Philistines
had some horrible disease. After seven months of suffering they decided the
best thing to do was to return the ark to the Israelites.
1Sa 6:8 And take the ark of the LORD,
and lay it upon the
cart;
The Philistines took a new cart, and put the ark on it
with two cows pulling the ark. With no one driving the ark the cows pulled it
down the road until they stopped in a field of an Israelite. The men reaping in
the field near village of Bethshemesh saw the ark was returned and they had a
great new idea. “Let’s look inside the ark.”
1Sa 6:19 ¶ And he smote the men of Bethshemesh,
because they had looked into the ark of the LORD
Finally the ark was taken to a nearby town and
put in the house of Abinadab, where it sat, unused, and absent from the temple,
for 20 years.
All of this happened because the people thought
they had a new great idea. The Israelites thought it was a splendid new idea to
use the Ark of God as a good luck charm. The Philistines thought God would
bless them if they added the Ark to their worship of their fish god. The
reapers in the field were glad to see the ark returned and thought it would be
O.K. to look inside it. All their ideas were new ways to use the ark. They were
also bad ideas that adapted cultural preferences and their own bright ideas and
ignored the clear instructions of God.
The ark could not be touched (Num 4:15), could
only be carried by Levites, (Deut 10:8), was carried by long staves inserted
through 4 golden rings, (Ex 37:3-5) When the tabernacle was moved the ark was
to be covered before it was carried by the Levites (Numb 4:5) and when the
tabernacle was in place it was to be in the Holy of Holy’s.
The old rules were ignored. The new ideas
replaced the old. But God was not amused and struck a lot of people dead
because they ignored how things should be done.
Today there are a multitude of new ways to
worship God. Some are uplifting and agree with the Scripture. Others are
transgressions, should not be tolerated, and are excuses to mix worldly
pleasures with Godly worship. It takes discernment and a clear understanding of
Scripture to know the difference. The Bible requires that we be discerning.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of
full age, even those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.
For our meditation today pause and look at the “Latest
New Things” that have been accepted into your life and worship. Do they all
stand up to the standards of God’s Word?
Perhaps in this new year we should look at some popular methods of
worship and decide if they are better than “that old time religion”. It is
tempting and easy to allow the latest new thing to alter our worship of God.
The question we need to continually ask is if the latest new thing helps us to
be more Christ like or more accepting of the world’s man centered philosophy.
Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
