Lessons from Indiana Jones and 1 Samuel

The Ark of the Covenant, as shown in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, which should win the award for Best Use of Nazi Face-Melting in Cinematic History (so far).

One of my favorite movies of all time is Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is, quite simply, a fantastic story. It was rated as the 66th best film of all time, according to American Film Institute. And is there a better lead character than Indiana Jones?


*random note*
My wife personally knows the guy who plays Indiana Jones at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular^TM at DisneyWorld^.TM His name is Kevin.^TM

In case you haven't watched it recently, the premise of the first film is that Indy is attempting to thwart a bunch of Nazis from discovering the Ark of the Covenant.

Why do the Nazis want the Ark? Well, in the story, the Nazis assumed that any army carrying the Ark of the Covenant in front of it would automatically win any battle, which is dubious theology and even worse history.

First of all, the Ark was a curse to any army (except, of course, the Israelites). I was just reading 1 Samuel last night, and I remembered this passage, when the Philistines beat the Israelite army, thereby securing the Ark.

1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

6 The LORD's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. 7 When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god."

This passages shows several things, of course.

1. Not every army that carries the Ark will win.
2. God is not a Genie who is confined to some magic vessel to do the bidding of mankind.

And that's kind of the message you get in not only Indiana Jones (fictitious) but also in 1 Samuel (not fictitious). There's this real sense in reading the narrative in 1 Samuel that you really shouldn't mess with God, and if you are foolish enough to think that you make the rules, then good luck, and watch out for instantaneous death.

The problem, of course, is that that we *think* that we can mess with God and get away with it because the punishment is not instant and is not severe. God rarely throws down thunderbolts anymore. So we think, "Oh, there isn't a God." or "I am more powerful than God because I can break the rules and do what I want."

But whatever happened to this sentiment:



Remember this scene, toward the end of the movie? The Nazis are about to open the Ark, and Indy tells Marion to close her eyes, and not to look. The idea is that God is too powerful, too strong, too mystical, too holy for a mere mortal to be around.

This is the sense you get by reading 1 Samuel. That God is not to be trifled with. Like Dad. He'll spank your butt. Don't think you can throw blackberries at dad while he's roto-tilling the garden and then run away and hide in your tree house because he'll track your ass down and spank it 'til it hurts because you can't pull that stuff. Not on Dad.

In C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the Beavers are describing the great lion, Aslan, to the children.

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”

Here's what I came away with reading 1 Samuel: we're just lucky that Love is Patient, and that God is love. We're just lucky we're all not getting tumors and getting bitten by rats. We're just lucky God is Love.

Because if God wasn't, our faces would be getting melted off.