We’re looking at places in the Bible in which someone, or in this case something, got near to the presence of God.

Whenever a person gets into the presence of God, there’s usually some kind of physical manifestation. In other words, God connects his presence to something visible, something tangible. There’s only one object, however, in all the history of the Bible, that God routinely attached his presence to, and that was the ark of the covenant.

Let’s look at what the ark is and what happens in this incident. Then we’ll look at what it teaches us about getting close to God. It shows us that 1) the presence of God is never permanently connected to any one object or method, but 2) his presence is always attached to several principles.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: 1 Samuel 5:14.

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