God Conversation

Mount Carmel in the Bible is actually a mountain range in northern Israel. It is twenty-four miles long, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea in the north near Haifa southeastward into the heart of Israel.

"When he saw Elijah, he said to him, 'Is that you, you troubler of Israel?'" (1 Kings 18:17)

Elijah had been in hiding for the 3 ½ years of a drought. The Lord now told him to reveal himself to King Ahab. There where 850 priests of the false gods, Baal and Asherah present.  Elijah asked the prophets of Baal to build altars to their “god”. The “god” that made fire appear would be the real and powerful god.

1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

The prophets prayed and chanted all day but they could not get their “god” to send fire down to burn the sacrifices on their altars. Finally, Elijah had his altar doused in water and then prayed to the Lord to send fire. Fire immediately consumed the sacrifice, the wood, stones, soil and even the water that had overflowed into the trenches around the altar. After this miracle rain also came to end the drought.

1 Kings 18:38 When Elijah then prayed to the One True God, God sent down fire that consumed not only the sacrifice, but "the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench

At Mount Carmel, God displayed His power through Elijah, using both a consuming fire and life-giving water in the form of rain. God revealed Himself to be the One True God worthy of all our worship.

The meeting at Mount Carmel wasn’t a circus. The purpose wasn’t to entertain but to demand a choice between Yahweh and Baal. Elijah’s desire is expressed later in his prayer: “So that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God”

Elijah challenged his generation who believed the same thing. They acknowledged Yahweh but believed following Baal was a more practical way for farmers and merchants to live. However, if God is God, then we must submit to Him and surrender every area of our lives to His lordship.

"Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come here to me.' They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins.'" (1 Kings 18:30)

Israel was “hesitating” or “limping” or “wavering” between Baal and Yahweh (v. 21).

God answers prayer

Today the test is the same. The only God who answers prayer is the God of the Bible, and He is the true and living God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT Never stop praying. (pray without ceasing)

In our world, and in most modern countries the altars are broken down and need to be repaired! Revive us again, O Lord!

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The widow of Zarephath plays an important role in Elijah’s story. She feeds Elijah in her home. Soon after, her son dies, and Elijah pleads to God for the power to resurrect him.

While in the widow’s house, Elijah performs the miracle of the jar of flour and the jug of oil. A single spoonful of ground flour that the woman had and the little oil in the jug sufficed, they were not exhausted, and the blessing reigned from within her home.

After this, the woman’s son falls ill and dies. Imagine the suffering of this woman - not only was she grieving the loss of her husband, but she was now forced to face that she and her son would die too.

Resurrection

1 Kings 17:18–23 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

The prophet lays himself on the body of the boy, cries out for God to give life to him, and the boy begins to breathe again so the prophet can deliver this son back to his mother.

Compare the woman’s feelings toward God, with Elijah’s. He prayed,  “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 

Blaming the ones who helped you

John 15:20 NLT Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.

Notice that the woman is blaming Elijah for the death or her son. The prophet however sees beyond the accusation and looks at a broken heart. He did a bold prayer and God answered his request.  Elijah shows true Godly character. He does not blast her. He does not answer her charges. He makes a tender request to her.

There is no precedent for Elijah’s request – no one had ever been raised from the dead before. “The LORD heard Elijah's prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he came back to life!” (17:22)

God cares for you

The woman and her son are not mentioned anymore in the Bible. Their story shows how God cares for ordinary people and does extraordinary miracles.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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In 1 Kings 17 the prophet Elijah had a very peculiar encounter with a widow from Zarephath. 

 There was rampant idolatry, led by the royal couple Ahab and Jezebel. As a punishment God allowed drought to happen across the land. God instructed Elijah to go to Zarephath, a town outside of Israel, where a widow would provide food for him. He obeyed, finding a woman gathering sticks. 

He said to her, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink,” and, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand” (1 Kings 17:11–12).

The widow was in great need herself. She responded, 

“As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die” (verse 13).

Elijah tested her faith

1 Kings 17:14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”

She obeyed the instructions of the prophet and the widow’s food supply was supernaturally extended, as promised. Elijah stayed there for some time, living in an upper room of the widow’s house.

God is able to provide for all your needs

Do you feel like you’re at the end of hope? Don’t see a way through your circumstance? You may be facing big unknowns, but the end of your hope is the middle of God’s story.

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Trust in God and pray

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

The Lord provides. This is one of the central promises of the Christian faith. We know it. 

How do you need God’s provision today? 

When that provision comes, how will you respond?

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1 Kings 13:4 (AMP) When the king heard the words which the man of God cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And his hand which he had put out against him withered, so that he was unable to pull it back to himself.

In 1 Kings 11, we learn about God sending to him the prophet Ahijah, calling him to be king over the northern ten tribes of Israel. Solomon’s reign had fallen into apostasy.

Forgetting God

Psalm 137:4–5 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!

Biblically, to forget God is to abandon him. In essence, to forget God is to break the covenant.

Deuteronomy 4:23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.

1 Kings 13, we find king Jeroboam “standing by the altar to make offerings.” (v1). That altar was at Bethel with one of the golden calves that he made (see the end of chapter 12). In making them, Jeroboam reminds us of Aaron’s golden calf. God shows his displeasure with Jeroboam’s action by causing his hand to dry up.  He made temples on high places and appointed non-levitical priests to serve in those temples.

A man of God went from Judah to Bethel

This anonymous man of God was used in an important way. He demonstrates that one does not need to be famous to be significantly used by God.

His hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself: God confirmed His word of judgment in two ways. First, He judged the disobedient king at the precise point of his most glaring sin (the outstretched hand against the man of God). Second, He fulfilled the immediate word against the altar (the altar also was split apart).

Jeroboam’s plea.

Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before.

As the subsequent chapters will show, Jeroboam didn’t really repent here; or if he did, it was only for a moment. Wanting to receive something from God is not the same as repentance.

Jeroboam had great opportunity, but instead became a great curse to every generation of the northern kingdom after that. Even at the end of the Kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam’s sin was remembered.

Everything Egypt represents is enticing, and we need to be on our guard against following Jeroboam’s footsteps.

Psalm 95:7-9 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.”

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The story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant is found in 2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12. 

The Ark was being transported

As the ark was being transported, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, and a man named Uzzah took hold of the ark. God’s anger burned against Uzzah and He struck him down and he died.

No matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was to result in death. 

God gave very specific instructions regarding the transport of the Ark.

Numbers 4:15 (ESV) And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent

David took men with him to collect the ark, rather than allowing the Levites to bring it to him. That was a great mistake, since it ought never to have been put upon a cart, old or new. It was to be borne upon men’s shoulders, and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath 

Familiarity with the things of God

The ark had stayed for a period of time at Abinadab’s house (2 Samuel 6:3), where his sons, Uzzah and Ahio, may well have become accustomed to its presence.

Uzzah, having been around the ark in his own home, could very likely forget the holiness that it represented.

God’s severity was in reaction to the flippancy with which David chose to transport the Ark.

Why would God kill someone who apparently was just trying to help? Uzzah knew better than to move the ark on a cart. The Israelites knew it was to be carried on two poles by the Levites. God gave very precise instructions on how to handle the ark and Uzzah ignored them - unfortunately, it cost him his life.

Reverence for God

Lack of reverence enfeebles Christians in worship and practice.  In the Old Testament, God taught the Israelites how to show proper reverence by giving them hundreds of laws related to purity, holiness, and worship 

In New Testament Christianity, reverence for God is demonstrated by our willingness to voluntarily die to self and obey His commands 

Modern Christianity has adopted a “Jesus-is-my-buddy” attitude that grossly downplays the holiness, power, and righteous wrath of the Sovereign Creator.

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Once we truly know who God is, we reverence Him in our hearts. Even the thief on the cross, after he realized who Jesus was, rebuked the other thief for his irreverence: “Don’t you fear God?” he said to the other thief; then he turned to Jesus and honored Him as the King (Luke 23:40–42).

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2 Samuel 5:24 And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines

The Philistines had come up in great hosts, and had brought their gods with them, that like Israel, when the ark of the Lord was brought into their midst, they might feel quite sure of victory. However, by the help of God David easily put them to rout, burned their images in the fire, and obtained a glorious victory over them.

But when they came a second time against David, David did not go up to fight them, without enquiring of the Lord.

He had gained one victory by the strength of the Lord; he would not venture upon another, until he had ensured the same.

David went and asked the sacred oracle, "Shall I go up against them?" 

He was then  informed that he was not immediately to march against them, but to encamp so as to surprise them at the mulberry (balsam) trees,

Ask God what to do before your battles

Sometimes we engage in another business, or change our situation in life without involving God in this process. David said, "Let us enquire of the Lord,"

David was not to go to battle, until he heard a sound of a rustling in the leaves on top of the mulberry trees.

Some have said that the footsteps of angels walking along the tops of the mulberry trees make them rustle.

Wait for the sound.  Wait to hear from The Lord.

If God asks you to go up immediately and fight the battle, then go up knowing, that because you are in His will, you cannot lose.

And if God asks you to wait, then be patient and wait… wait for the sound of a going. For He is preparing a mighty army and he will go out before you to face the enemy.

Psalm 126:5-6 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him

Whatever the issue you are facing in your life, I want to encourage you to wait on God. Can you wait until you hear the sound in the top of the mulberry trees?

God never promised us we would understand His will. if God can cause the sound of marching in the tops of mulberry trees, is there anything He can’t do?

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

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1 Samuel 12:17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. 

The Israelites wanted a king, and they got one—a good-looking, tall man who led them in victory over the Ammonites, a nation that was taking over Jabesh Gilead [locate]. When the Lord gave victory to Israel, the people were very excited about that victory and about their new king.  Samuel directed them, saying, “Let us all go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom.” Saul had already been crowned at Mizpeh. Now, however, they sacrificed “peace offerings before the Lord, and there in Gilgal Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly” (1 Samuel 11:15). 

The meaning of the name Gilgal is “rolling.” Gilgal was a place of memorial. There are different places named Gilgal in the Bible. Gilgal is significant in the Bible as serving as a place of memorial for the Israelites, to remind them of what God had done. After miraculously crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the Israelites set up twelve stones taken from the river, representing the twelve tribes, to serve as a reminder to the children of Israel (Joshua 4:19–20). The stones at Gilgal would remind the Israelites and their descendants of the power of God and how He had dried up the Jordan River so they could walk through it, just as He had done to the Red Sea 

Samuel’s speech 

Samuel got up to speak; he said “I listened to you and have made a king over you. He’s walking before you here. “I am old and gray-haired, and my sons are here. I have walked before you since childhood.. “Tell me. Have I taken an ox? a donkey? Have I cheated anyone? Have I made trouble for anyone? Have I received any bribes? If I have, I will give them all back.” The people answered, “No, you haven’t done any of these things.” Samuel verified their answer, “Do you call the Lord to witness what you say?” The people said, “He is witness.” 

The prophet did his own defence before the people and then passed God's judgement because they ignored the Lord and made Saul a king.

Samuel’s challenge 

“Now,” said Samuel, “you are about to see what shall be done because of your great wickedness in asking for a king. It is wheat harvest. You know it never rains during this season. If it did, it would spoil the crop. However, I call upon the Lord to send thunder.”  

How had God defeated the Philistines earlier when Samuel had prayed? With thunder. Now Samuel said, “God will send thunder and rain so that you may understand and see that your wickedness is great in God’s sight by asking for a king.” 

Samuel’s prayer

1 Samuel 12:1 19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

Then Samuel prayed, and God sent thunder and rain that day. The Bible states, “All the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.” In fact, the people cried, “Pray for us that we don’t die! We have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” 

Samuel told the people not to fear. Jesus tells His people many times in the Gospels not to fear. Here is one example: ” 

Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom

Sometimes we do mistakes and without thinking we do radical decisions without consulting God. Though we may pay the consequences we should trust in God's grace and forgiveness.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

No one is perfect. No one is without sin. No one can possibly obey all of God’s commandments (or any set of rules for that matter) perfectly, not even devout Christians. Inevitably we will sin, and as long as we have faith in Him and we ask for forgiveness, honestly repenting, we will be forgiven unconditionally.

Ephesians 1:7 in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

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A thunder destroyed the Philistines.

1 Samuel 7:10  And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

The context of this miracle

 In 1 Samuel 7, during the end of the time of the judges, Israel experiences revival under the leadership of Samuel. The nation repents of their sin, destroys their idols, and begins to seek the Lord (1 Samuel 7:2–4). Samuel gathered the people at Mizpah where they confessed their sin, and Samuel offered a sacrifice on their behalf (verses 5–9).

It was during this time of repentance and renewal that the enemy attacked: “While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle” 

A great victory

Israel’s victory over the Philistines was decisive. Several cities the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, and it was a long time before the Philistines tried to invade Israel again.

To commemorate the divine victory, “Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us’” (verse 12).

Ebenezer means “stone of help.” From then on, every time an Israelite saw the stone erected by Samuel, he would have a tangible reminder of the Lord’s power and protection. The “stone of help” marked the spot where the enemy had been routed and God’s promise to bless His repentant people had been honored. The Lord had helped them, all the way to Ebenezer.

Ebenezer – the Lord is our Help

Throughout the Bible, stones have had great significance.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

The victory was the Lord’s and the people were preserved.  The help that the Lord had given them was memorialized when “… Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12.

 The Lord is our Ebenezer Stone.  He is our ever-present help in times of trouble.

Hebrews 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

What Are Some Modern Examples of "Ebenezers"?

We all have different ways in which we remember God's faithfulness. Although the list below is not comprehensive, they can give some ideas of how Christians memorialize God's good acts in their past.

* Many Christians will keep a prayer journal or a catalog of events that happened within the day.

* Some people use literal stones as Ebenezers.

* Some also may use photobooks as a reminder of how God moved faithfully in the past.

* Other people share memories on Facebook as a way to recall all those Ebenezer moments

There is no one right way to remember God and how he has moved in your life. But today I would like to encourage you on creating a physical reminder of God's victories. 

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1 Samuel 6:19 KJV And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

They had looked into the ark of the Lord

There is a Scripture in the books of Moses that strictly forbids looking into the content of the Ark. This verse states that God killed 50,070 people.

Numbers 4:20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”

As a consequence of this act of cruriosity they profaned the content of the Ark and God smote of the people fifty thousand and seventy men; Most likely , 70 of the elders of the people, and 50,000 of the congregation, or common people, A study on the linguistics suggests the opinion that only seventy men of Bethshemesh were slain, and that the other 50,000 were the Philistines. 

New Living Translation - But the LORD killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the LORD. And the people mourned greatly because of what the LORD had done.

Only the Levites could carry the ark in a very specified way, and that they were not allowed to touch any of the holy things. When David had the ark transported, but not in the prescribed way (compare 1 Chronicles 13:7), Uzzah saw how the ark started to slip, and he “put his hand to the ark” (1 Chronicles 13:9-10) and was killed.

Yesterday we read that the Philistines (non-Levites) took the ark and placed it in the temple of Dagon, and that they sent it later to other cities, as a consequence, they were plagued by God.

The mysterious powers of the Ark

As we have seen in many miracles that happened with the Ark of the Covenant. Here we see a tragedy happening because of disobedience. The reasons why all these men died is unclear but lack of reverence and disobedience to God's instructions doesn't bring anything good.

Does God Punish Christians and others for Disobedience? We know that God’s posture toward sin is forgiveness rather than condemnation. However it's clear in numerous examples from the Old Testament that apparently God was more strict in His judgement before Christ came into this world.

Repentance

Jesus made it clear that repentance and faith are like opposite sides of the same coin. 

Mark 1:15 records the inspired summary of Jesus’ message as He began His ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

Repentance and faith go together because if you believe that Jesus is the Lord Who saves (faith), you have a changed mind about your sin and your self (repentance); and if you repent, it’s because you trust that Jesus is the Lord Who saves.

God wants us to change course and obey Him

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

Repentance would not exist without the fear of punishment. There are severe consequences to a life of disobedience to God.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

God's mercy

The principle is that God can destroy people because of sin but He choses mercy most of the times.

Lamentations 3:22 Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.

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The Ark of the Covenant is a chest for the original engraved tablets of the Ten Commandments, brought down Mount Sinai by Moses.

The ark has a number of different powers, according to the Bible. In one story, the Jordan River stopped flowing and remained still while a group of priests carrying the ark crossed the river. Other stories describe how the Israelites took the Ark with them into battle where the powers of the ark helped the Israelites defeat their enemies.

The first thing that happened is the humiliation of their god Dagon

1 Samuel 5:1-5 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Dagon was represented with a half-man, half-fish figure, and was said to be the father of Baal.

The second thing was an outbreak of tumours and disease in the city of Ashdod

1 Samuel 5:6-8) But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.

After the humiliation of their god, outbreaks of tumours and disease afflicted them, forcing the Philistines to return the ark to the Israelites. Some stories describe how death would come to anyone who touched the ark or looked inside it.

The Ark had been among them for seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the tumours and mice wherewith they had been afflicted.

After they took the Ark to Gath

1 Samuel 5:9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.

The ark of the covenant was now among the Philistines like a “hot potato,” in the children’s game, burning every city where it stayed. The Ekronites were not happy to see the ark but they still wouldn’t submit to the LORD God of Israel.

They finally send back the Ark to Israel 

If The Philistines had repented and turned towards the LORD, could have benefited from the ark. Instead it became a curse and a judgment to them.

The same is true of the presence of God among men today, which can be as a fragrance of life to some and the aroma of death to others (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one [we are] the aroma of death [leading] to death, and to the other the aroma of life [leading] to life. And who [is] sufficient for these things?

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