Read Psalm 78:59-64. 59When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. 60He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, 61and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. 62He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. 63Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. 64Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
Asaph is recalling a time of great corruption and godlessness in Israel’s past. Not just on the fringes of the community but at the center. At Shiloh. At the tent where God dwelt among mankind. We might say at church, or from the pulpit. Eli the High Priest’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, brought immorality and corruption to the house of God (1 Samuel 2). So God left, taking his glory with him. The Philistines attacked Israel, captured the Ark of the Covenant in battle, destroyed the Tabernacle, and killed the priests, including Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 4). God gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.
But here’s what we can be sure of in Christ – God’s glory will never, ever leave this tent, our body. The indwelling Christ is here to stay. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Why? Because we’re not Shiloh. We’re Zion. Better yet, the heavenly Zion. In Christ God will never hand us over to our Foe; our sin will never cause God’s glory to depart. Rather our sin causes God’s glory in us to increase? Not because sin is glorious, far from it, but because God’s grace is glorious, for when we are in Christ, wherever sin abounds, grace abounds much, much more.
To live is Christ is Zion not Shiloh. The ark is missing and that’s OK. The rebellious spirit of Hophni and Phinehas has died and been replaced in us by the spirit of Christ.
Prayer. Jesus, may I never drift into the rebellion of Shiloh, and may your glory never depart my tent. I know it won’t for you have changed my heart. Amen.
To Live is Christ 