Relics or Repentance from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Humans have always sought relics like the Holy Grail or the Shroud of Turin, and there are crosses and crucifixes everywhere. We like things we can touch. We handle them, rub them, and kiss them, but things like this are powerless.

God is not dead, or an inanimate object, and He doesn't live on a stick. God is not a tool to be pulled out when needed, and you cannot carry Him around in your pocket.

In 1 Samuel chapter 2, there is a great example: The high priest Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They are an example of religion without God. Eli had grown old, and his sons had taken over the work at the temple of the Lord.

(1 Samuel 2:12 NASB) Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD and the custom of the priests with the people.

Worthless men who did not know the Lord: That is really strong language for the Bible, and these men were the priests serving at the house of God as the representatives for the people. Let me explain what that means:

* A priest stands with their back to the people and faces God. They tell God the issues the people have. They intercede, stand in the gap for them, and plead with God for mercy. Priests comfort the people.

* A prophet stands with their back to God and faces the people. They tell the people the issues that God has with them. Prophets make people uncomfortable.

This was before Israel had Kings, and leadership was primarily provided by the priests and judges. With such ungodly leadership, Israel had largely turned away from God and was worshipping pagan idols like baal and asheroth. This involved large orgies and burning the children it produced in the fire (Jeremiah 19:4-6).

So the priests here, leaders of the nation, representing the people before God, didn't even know Him. These two priests stole the best portions of the offerings that people brought to the temple before they could be given to the Lord, and they slept with the women who worked there. The Lord desired to kill them:

(1 Samuel 2:22-25 NKJV) Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD's people transgress. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them.

The word of the Lord was scarce during those days, for the Lord would not speak to those priests. Then one night, the Lord began to speak to young Samuel at the temple, though the high priest Eli was sleeping down the hall. He revealed what was to come, something that would excite everyone's ears. He would dispose of Eli and his sons on the same day.

Throughout the book of Judges, Israel repeatedly strayed from God, which led to their enemies invading their land. Each time they were invaded, they would repent and cry out to God, and He would deliver them. Then they would serve Him for a while before drifting away again.

(Judges 10:6-7 NKJV) Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon.

(Judges 10:11-16 NASB) The LORD said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? "Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. "Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress." The sons of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day." So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

God told the Israelites to go ask the gods they had been serving for help, but when they kept crying out to Him, He relented and delivered them again. The Israelites did this over and over, but each time they repented and cried out to the Lord in earnest, He would deliver them. God is merciful, loving, and long-suffering. Then, in 1 Samuel chapter 4, they tried a different approach. They opted to use a relic instead of repentance.

The Philistines fought the Israelites and defeated them, killing four thousand of them on the battlefield. Instead of repenting and crying out to God, Hophni and Phinehas, the two worthless priests, brought out the Ark of the Covenant and carried it onto the battlefield.

(1 Samuel 4:3-5 NKJV) And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies." So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.

As in the movie Indiana Jones, they believed that an army carrying the Ark of God was invincible. They were wrong. God allowed the Ark to be captured by the Philistines that day, and Israel was defeated again. They lost 30,000 men that day. The priests, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed, and Eli died when he heard the news.

God would not let them use Him as a tool. They couldn't pull Him out like a spare tire when they needed Him and then ignore Him the rest of the time.

When our spiritual relationship with God weakens, we tend to turn to rituals, objects, idols, rote repetition - religion. We go through the motions, but our hearts are somewhere else.

Each time before this, the delivering power of God had come when they repented and cried out to Him. This time, they tried to carry a relic with them instead of Him, but it was powerless. Today, don't be deceived into thinking that carrying a crucifix will save you or praying to a statue. God is not an object. Even the Bible was given to point us to the Author. The Bible is not God; it is a book that tells us about Him.

When the Israelites were in distress and cried out to God, He delivered them, and this phrase is found throughout the Bible. Our help comes from above, and it will come when we repent and cry out to God like the Israelites did, and not because we carry some spiritual relic. (See Judges 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6, 7; 10:10, 12).

If you want your situation to change, then speak directly to God Almighty, our Father in heaven. You do not need to go to a priest; in fact, the two in this story did not even know God. Don't pray to angels, or dead people, or dead saints, or apostles, or statues, or anyone's mother. Pray to God directly, plus no one else. That is what Jesus taught us to do in Matthew 6:6:

(Matthew 6:6-8 NASB) "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father, and He gave us an example of how to pray and Who to pray to. This will be our closing prayer, as I don't think that we can improve on the words of Jesus Christ:

Pray, then, in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Matthew 6:9-13 NASB.