Under the leadership of the two sons of Eli, Israel again became very wicked.  God chose to punish them by sending the Philistines to defeat them.  The children of Israel tried to insure victory by carrying a certain box into battle.  That box was the Ark of the Covenant, which God instructed Moses to build when he built the tabernacle in the wilderness.  It was a little less than four feet long, with a height and width of a little over two feet and was covered inside and out with pure gold.  Two cherubim made of solid gold faced each other on the top of it, and their wings touched in the middle.  A seat called the mercy seat was in the middle of the ark under the wings.  It was on the mercy seat that God sat among His people.  When the children of Israel were traveling, the ark was carried by twelve Levites and when they stopped and erected the tabernacle, it was put in the most holy place of the tabernacle.

This box was precious; it was beautiful; it was the throne of God on earth.  But the children of Israel thought it would bring them victory in battle when they were living in disobedience to God.  They were sadly mistaken. 

During the time of Eli and his sons, God chose to punish Israel with the Philistines.  They invaded Israel in great numbers, and the army of Israel went out to meet them carrying the ark.  God allowed Israel to be totally defeated, and the Philistines captured the ark.

They placed it in the temple of Dagon the fish god, in Ashdod.  Their priests wore head gear which looked like a fish, a robe which looked like scales and a fish tail which swept the ground.  The first morning when the Philistines opened the temple, the idol of Dagon was on the floor with its head and arms broke off, bowing toward the ark.  Even though it was put in place every morning, by the next morning it was back on the floor.  In addition, the people of Ashdod were struck with tumors.  They were ready to get rid of that box, so they sent it to Ekron, another Philistine city.  People there began dying, so they were ready to get rid of it. 

They decided to put it on a cart drawn by two oxen with no driver and point it toward Israel.  It ended up in the Jewish town of Beth Shemesh.  The people decided to look inside the ark, which was strictly forbidden.  50,000 people died as a result.

As powerful as this box was, it could not provide victory for a disobedient people.  There is no substitute for obedience.  Going to church cannot substitute for obedience.  Prayer cannot substitute for obedience.  Even doing good deeds for others cannot substitute for complete obedience.  Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

A sad consequence of disobedience was the mishandling of the ark.  The Old Testament was specific about how it was to be handled.  Many suffered and died becaused they ignored these laws.  Disobedience to the laws of God always brings terrible consequences.  "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)