FEAST OF TABERNACLES - DAY 2

Fred Coulter - September 22, 2002

Well brethren, as we saw yesterday, here is the ark of the covenant. With the depiction by Moshe Levine on how it looked. And this was placed within the holy of holies in the tabernacle. And in this sermon we are going to trace the history and travels of the ark of God.

Now, this is going to be a real interesting sermon as we go along, finding out about the ark of God, because you see this is a depiction of God’s throne in heaven above where the cherubim are overshadowing or over-resting the throne. Very, very important thing, and of course the ark, the ark of the covenant was where God put His presence. And as we saw, the high priest could only go in there once a year, and that was on the Day of Atonement. But the ark of the covenant made some pretty incredible journeys.

Now let’s begin to follow this. Let’s come back here to Numbers 10, and then we’ll follow it through in Deuteronomy, and in Joshua, and 1 and 2 Samuel. Numbers 10:33, “And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.” So the priest would lead with the ark showing that God was going to lead them, the priests were going to follow where God led them with the pillar of cloud and the fire, and so forth at night. Verse 34, “And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel” (Nu. 10:33-36). And so this was showing the power of God in leading the children of Israel to bring them into the holy land, to lead them through the wilderness, and so forth.

Now, as we saw, there was something special that was done to the ark of the covenant. Let’s go to Deuteronomy 31:24. Now it’s a very interesting and most profound thing for us brethren, when we realize that we have the Spirit of God today, and God writes His laws and commandments in our hearts and mind and inward parts. Very profound to understand that, that Israel did not have this blessing. Now let’s read here in verse 24 of Deuteronomy 31. “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law [which then is everything that we have contained here in the five books of Moses], and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deut. 31:24-26). Now you see, the covenant of the ark was there with the presence of God. Now the scrolls that were put in the side of the ark, those scrolls were the original copy of the first five books of Moses. And whenever the priest needed a new copy then the priest would, those who were in charge of the ark could go in there, they could take out the scroll that Moses wrote and they could make a copy of it.

Now we also know the book of the covenant was there. We also know in the ark was an omer of manna. And also the rod of Aaron that had budded, because with that then, God showed and established that it was Aaron who was the priest. Not any of the Levites or anyone else.

Now, it was a witness against them because notice here, notice how God gives them this witness. “For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you [Moses says] this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?” (vs. 27). And so it was a witness, and they were after his death. They were rebellious after his death. And as soon as Joshua and the elders died what did they do? They turned right back to Baalim and Ashtaroth again, as we find in Judges 2, didn’t they? Yes.

Verse 28 now, Moses said, “Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against [you] them.” Now you see, God does a lot of things using heaven and earth, as we saw in the introduction, that Christ said that heaven and earth will pass away before a jot or tittle will pass from the law. We know that as God opens up the book of Jeremiah, he says, “Hear O heavens, and give ear O earth.” And that would be an interesting study. If you want a good concordance study look up heaven and earth, and look up all the places that God calls heaven and earth as a witness. As He did over here in Deuteronomy 30, “I call heaven and earth against you that this day…”, see. So we have it here, the word of God is based upon heaven and earth. So if you don’t think the word of God is not applicable today, then heaven and earth do not exist, do they? But since they do exist that means that it doesn’t lie to us today, does it?

“For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days [and that’s a prophecy for our day today]; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands” (vs. 29). And isn’t that what we have done? And isn’t that what we are doing? So you see, even the ark of God has an application for us today for the lessons that we are to learn.

Now let’s come to Joshua 4, and let’s see where then, right after they crossed over into the promised land, that it was the ark of the covenant and the priest that again, went before the children of Israel. Joshua 4:14, “On that day [that is the day they crossed over into the promised land] the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony [so it’s called the ark of the covenant, and the ark of the testimony], that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD [so here we have ark of testimony, and ark of covenant of the LORD] were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before” (Josh. 4:14-18). And so there we have it. When they came into the promised land the priests led the way with the ark.

Now then in battle, the priests were to lead the way in battle because the children of Israel had to learn this lesson: that whenever there was war, it was God’s war. And we’re going to see a little later on that when they tried to have their own war without God, then something drastic happened to the ark of the covenant, which is a profound lesson and we’ll get there in just a little bit. So here’s a command that God gave them.

Let’s come to Joshua 6:2, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. …And when ye [do] hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with [give] a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat…” (Josh 6:2-5). And that’s how they did it. So, that’s exactly what happened. That’s what the priests did. They got up and they did this all through that time. And this was the lesson so the people would know that God was the one Who commanded the battle. God was the one Who was going to give the victory. And we’re going to see every time they didn’t trust God they ended up in trouble.

Now let’s come here to the book of Judges. Let’s come to Judges 20 please, and we’re going to see when they got into the promised land that they put the ark in Mizpeh. Let’s pick it up here in Judges 20:26. They put the ark in Mizpeh, also later called Shiloh, as we will see. “Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.” Now you see, this is when the tribe of Benjamin came to fight against the children of Israel. And they were sort of stuck, and should we go fight against them, does God want us to fight against a brother or not? So they came before the LORD to understand what God wanted. And this was the time right after they came into the land, though it’s in Judges 20. Because we find that Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, who was the one who was the priest, there at that time. So this happened early on. This was not late. In other words, not all of Judges is written in a chronological from beginning to end. It’s written in sections, depending where the judges were.

Now verse 28, “…And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand.” And so then that was an unfortunate incident in the lives of the children of Israel. They slew so many that there were not enough men for the women left over, so they allowed other men of Israel to marry the women from the tribe of Benjamin so they could balance out the population at that time.

Now let’s come to 1 Samuel. Very interesting. 1 Samuel, and let’s begin in chapter 3. And here we’re going to find, by example, how that whenever it came time where Israel was about to lose everything and turn back on God, that God, in order to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and yes even His promise to the children of Israel, He would raise up a man. And here he raised up a boy. And his name was Samuel. And he was given to the service of the LORD when he was very young. So let’s pick it up here 1 Samuel 3:1. “And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was noopen vision.” The reason there wasn’t was because of the sins of the children of Israel, and the sins of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

“And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and ere [that is, before] the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;…” Now isn’t that interesting? Samuel was right there, right close to the ark. “…That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I: for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for Thy servant heareth.” So Samuel went and did this. And God called him, and he said, “…Speak; for Thy servant heareth” (vs. 2-10).

Now sometimes because old men do not do what God desires, God will raise up a very young man. And in this case, in this case a babe, that out of the mouth of babes the truth would come. So this is quite a lesson here. Well then let’s see God’s message to Samuel. And let’s see that one thing that is very, very profound and important, which is this: if the children of Israel disobey God, and if the priesthood corrupted the way of God at the temple of God, a great penalty would take place.

Now let’s begin right here in verse 11. “And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” Now for the first time, here’s the child Samuel, God is telling him why he’s going to use him, as a child, instead of Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas. Because they have corrupted themselves and made themselves vile. “And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever” (vs. 11-14).

So Samuel went down, and he laid down there. Eli wanted to know what it was, so he told him what it was. And he says, “God has told you.” He says, “Don’t hide it from me.” So he told him. And Eli knew, and he said, “It is the LORD, that’s the message from the LORD, alright. Let Him do what He seems good.” Now you see, rather than repent… And isn’t it interesting, sometimes people come to accept their sin, and their fate so readily that they refuse to repent. Now he could have repented. There’s no reason why he and his sons could not have repented. You look at how God forgave Manassah, and you look how God forgave Ahab, and you look at how God forgave David when he sinned. But here they were so corrupted that they couldn’t repent. Now brethren here’s a lesson for us, and a lesson for all ministers and elders: never, never sear your conscience with sin that you will not hear the voice of God, and that you won’t repent.

Now verse 19, “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of His words fall to the ground.” That is, Samuel is faithful. He didn’t let any of the word of God fall to the ground. “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD” (vs. 19-21).

Now then, chapter 4 is the execution of the punishment against Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Now we’ll just review this a little bit. They had a battle against the Philistines. Now what was the command of God whenever there was a battle? That the priests would take the ark and they would go out before. However, this also shows something very profound. If the priests were corrupt, if they were living in sin they could not use the ark of the LORD, and God would not be constrained to fulfill His promise to those who sin. Now therein again is another big principle for all of us. If we’re living in sin we need to repent, and we cannot expect God to fulfill His promises to us if we are living in sin. It will never happen.

Now, so what happened? Four thousand were slain when the Philistines came against them, verse 2. 1 Samuel 4:3, “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us today before the Philistines?…” Just like today in this nation, “Why has this happened? Well, let’s call on the name of God.” So they have a wonderful ecumenical movement, ecumenical meeting with the President leading it in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.. No repentance, no change, no coming back to God. Just use His name. Now look what happened here. So they said, “…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.” Well, God is not going to save us if we’re living in sin, if we are going against God. See, if you come back to God there better be repentance. When they came back to God there was no repentance. So what they did, they got it, they went out to battle, and the Philistines were just scared to death when that happened, because they knew that God was with them. And whenever the Israelites brought out the ark of the covenant, and the priests led the battle, that they always won the battle, but this time they didn’t. They lost the battle because of the sins of Eli and his two sons.

Verse 10, “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.” Now verse 11 is a very key important verse. “And the ark of God was taken;…” See, if the people of God do not respond to God, He leaves. And that’s what happened. He even let the ark of the covenant, which God said only the Levites should carry, He let the Philistines take it as a spoil of war. And then a messenger ran back. The ark of the covenant was taken, verse 11, “…and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.” Then a messenger went back and brought the news to Eli and he was sitting, and he fell back on a rock and died. So in one day God fulfilled His word that He would take the life of Phinehas, and Hophni, and Eli in the same day. And the glory of the LORD departed from Israel, as it says there in verse 22, “…for the ark of God is taken.”

Now let’s see what happened here, because God is not going to be outdone by any pagan gods, and He’s not going to be outdone by any enemy. He did this to punish Israel. He did this to let Israel know that “You are not going to take My name in vain, and you are not going to rely on Me to fight for you and solve your problems if you are rebelling against Me and sinning against Me, and if the priesthood is corrupt,” and so forth. Now let’s just take that as a lesson for the church of God today.

When I was out on a Bible study in Spokane, Washington this summer, it was a very interesting question that was asked. It was this: is God pleased with all the 300 churches of God, now that Worldwide has been split up? And the answer is: with some of them He may be, but with others, they may fall into the category that we see right here, that they’re living in sin against God. And so, know for sure that correction is going to come. And the correction always comes from the enemy.

Now, just like the Worldwide Church of God forsook God, what happened? God withdrew His presence. Took it away. Scattered the church. Now in being scattered, are we going to learn the lessons? Are we going to come back to God in repentance? Are we going to love God with all our hearts, and mind, and soul, and being? Are we going to keep the word of God? Are we going to keep the feasts of God? Are we going to let God fight our battles for us? Those are all the questions we need to ask.

Now even though the enemy comes and does this, the enemy is punished by God. So here’s what happened with the Philistines. “And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon” (1 Sam. 5:1-2). Now Dagon was their god. Now who’s going to be more powerful? The god of the Philistines, Dagon, or the God of the children of Israel, the LORD?

Now verse 3, “And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD.” [laughing] In other words, God just sent an angel and made it bow down before the true God. [more laughing] So, what did they do? They took Dagon, set him in his place again. So the next morning, verse 4, “And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.” So you see, now God had a lesson for the Philistines. We’re going to see this, you see. Quite a lesson.

“Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.” So whenever this was written, they said even unto this day they don’t even step on that threshold anymore. “But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and He destroyed them, and smote them with emerods [hemorrhoids], even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.” So I tell you, that was really something. Now that’s painful. Not only did He kill them, but He also gave them hemorrhoids. And of course at that time there was no Rite Aid where you could run and buy some Preparation-H or anything to try and relieve your symptoms, you see. “And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for His hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.” So they didn’t know what to do. Not only that, He struck them with mice. So they sent together and said, “What are we going to do? How are we going to get the ark?” They said, “…Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel [over there] about thither. And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and He smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods [hemorrhoids] in their secret parts. Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron.” So they sent it from city to city to try and get rid of the plague. “And… as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods [hemorrhoids]: and the cry of the city went up to heaven” (vs. 5-12).

1 Samuel 6:1, “And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.” They said, “If you send it away, you build a new cart, and you get some goats and you put everything in there, and you send some sacrifices with it. You send a trespass offering.” They said, “What would it be?” And they said, “…Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.” So they went ahead and did that. They put it there, they put it in the ark, they sent it on it’s way, and they said, “Now we’re going to send it off toward Beth-shemesh, and if it goes and it goes on it’s way toward Israel, then we know that it’s going back to God” (1 Sam. 6:1-9) paraphrased.

So it came there, and it arrived. And verse 20 now, “And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up [to help us] from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, the Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you” (vs. 20-21).

“And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark…” (1 Sam. 7:1). Now the ark stayed in Kirjath-jearim for 20 years. So now we have something very profound and unusual, which is this: the tabernacle with the altar of burnt offerings, and with the altar of incense, the golden candlestick, and the holy of holies was now missing the ark of the covenant. It was separated from the rest of the tabernacle of God. And it was separated for 20 years. And God blessed them for the 20 years that it was there.

Now let’s come to chapter 7, and verse 3. “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve Him only: and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” Now verse 4, “Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.” Now you see, in all of this what does God really want? He wants repentance, keeping His commandments, and a true heart to Him, see. So if our prayers come up before God, which they do, and if they come up to the golden altar in heaven above, which they do, and if they come right to God the Father into the holy of holies, which they do, then we also have to have the same kind of attitude here. So what they did, they offered burnt offerings, the Philistines were subdued, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines, and God raised up Samuel in their sight. And after all of that, now after all of that, you would think that the children of Israel would continue to obey God, right? But they didn’t, did they?

After that was all done, after Samuel judged the children of Israel all his days… Now chapter 7, and verse 15. “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD” (1 Sam. 7:15-17).

Now then the children of Israel committed a great sin after that. And even though they did, God continued to work with the children of Israel because of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That’s quite a thing. You see, lots of times God will do things not because the children of Israel deserved it, nor that we necessarily deserve it, but He does things because of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I think we can see that in the land that we live in today, that God has withheld the hand of destruction upon us because of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So likewise when the children of Israel did this. And this fits right into the Feast of Tabernacles theme, because when Christ returns to the earth, He is going to be King, isn’t He? Yes, He is.

Now here the children of Israel desired to have a king. And notice what happens when you put a man between you and God, and you try and have someone else besides Christ and God the Father be your champion and hero, that you put a layer between you and God. And that’s what the children of Israel did, and they, though God went along and let them have a king, He also told them that it was also going to be a penalty. And let’s stop and think for just a minute. You go through and you read the history of the Kings and Chronicles. How many kings were faithful to God? Not very many, were they? And of the kings of the ten northern tribes, there was hardly a faithful king in the 230 year history that occurred after the 10 northern tribes left. And the only faithful ones were in Judah, and very few indeed.

Now let’s begin here 1 Samuel 8:1 and let’s see what happen. Something happens to people when they look and see an old man. Now let’s read it here. Remember Samuel served from the day he was a child, old enough to walk into the, as it were, the tabernacle of God. “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.” Then it gives the names of them. However, he also made a mistake in that. And the mistake was that his sons didn’t follow God as he did. Now that’s a profound thing, brethren. And why is it, and why does it happen that when you have someone who is faithful to God, how many times do his children end up being not faithful.

Ok, now let’s read in verse 3. “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” Now you see, we have the same repeat, don’t we, of Eli and his two sons, now with Samuel and his three sons. So even Samuel had a weakness there. But there’s also another thing involved too. Once your children grow up to be adults, you have very little control over them. And that is true. They have the right to make their choices like anyone else. To choose what is right, to choose what is wrong. And when they choose what is wrong it’s very grievous. And Samuel probably had blinders on his eyes and wasn’t watching. So now then verse 4. “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (vs. 3-5). Let’s set it up the way the world does.

Now we applied that to the church, didn’t we? “Let’s set it up the way the Catholics do with a hierarchy, huh?” And we committed the same sin as Samuel, didn’t we? Now verse 6, “But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:…” Now here’s another condition that God also does. That if you really want your own way, God is going to give it to you. God is not going to come down and constrain you. God is not going to come down and stop you. So if you insist upon your own way long enough, sooner or later God will give it to you. But know, when He gives it to you a penalty comes with it, just like it is here. Now continuing, verse 7, “…for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (vs. 6-7).

Now let’s stop and ask a question here: does Christ rule in your life? Is He your King? Is He your High Priest? Is He your Lord and Master and Savior? Or, are you more willing to follow a man, than follow God? Now you see, anyone who’s a teacher, which I am… I don’t want you following me because I’m a man. And I’ve got to teach you to follow God, don’t I? And if I don’t teach you to follow God, and establish a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, then I am derelict in my duty, and I will have my punishment as well. So you see, we can learn many lessons out of this. Let’s not reject God by putting a man before God, and have the idolatry of a man, as we did in the past, and have the idolatry of an organization, as we did in the past, and say, “Let us become like the world, or accepted of the world”, as we’ve done in the past. No, we’ve been called out of the world. We’ve been called to serve and to love God. That’s the important lesson we can learn here.