Sin and "Holy Things"

In the third year of the Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the LORD gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God; which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. -- Dan 1:1, 2

Judah and Israel were two halves of God's chosen nation, but when they rebelled, God Himself had them practically... eliminated. For Israel He sent the Assyrians. For Judah He sent the Babylonians. Many died in those attacks, and others were carried off into captivity.

That's how serious God is about sin. He gives over those who defy Him for destruction. So when folks claim, "God won't punish me", the god they speak of really isn't the God of the Bible. No, He is impeccably holy, and does not partner with sin to the point of even abandoning the vessels of His tabernacle to the wicked.

This makes the idea of recovering things the Ark of the Covenant, the "Holy Grail", etc. rather foolish in my opinion. I realize that the hope is these things have power unto themselves. If that were true, though, He would never have allowed barbarians to have them. We know this from the story of Dagon in 1 Samuel 5.

My point here is two-fold:

1. Sin is a serious thing with God. So, serious that He will not look the other way even for "special" people. That's exactly who the Jews of this time thought they were, too special for God to punish.

2. Looking for things like the "holy grail", the "spear of destiny" . . . even the ark is not just unnecessary, but likely very foolish. Though the ark would have historical value, they are all just things. The power is in Him, not those man-made things. In addition, many of the items associated with Christ were likely created after His death in an effort to lay claim to His legacy.

Consider the grail. Christ lived the life of a common man. He didn't regale Himself in finery, or have a castle, wear jewels, etc. So, why would He drink from a bejeweled goblet? No, His cup would have been common, and the same would be true of everything else except the ark.

The ark is different because it was God's resting place in the temple. It was incredibly holy and incredibly dangerous. People died just for touching it. The Philistines died for daring to take it in battle. But's that the point. It's His. It was built specifically for Him. There's a disrespect inherent in deciding you'll just go look for it, and disrespecting the Holy God of Heaven can get you very dead. So, while I don't believe there's any power in the artifact itself, God still might take offense.

The bottom line is that none of these things are necessary for salvation. They don't need to be kissed, or adored, or any of that nonsense. That is idolatry. We need to focus on God, and put our time and effort into pleasing Him with our obedience.