Shiloh: The Place of Peace

When my husband and I lived in Ireland, we had the chance to take a short vacation in Italy. My parents, who had been missionaries in Italy many years before (and could still speak the language reasonably well) flew over to join us (and to act as translators for us, in case we needed it). ;) 

When we visited Rome, we walked around the Roman Forum with one of my parents' friends, a pastor who lived in the city, and he was kind enough to give us a more formal "tour." I soon realized he was at least as much of a history buff as I was, and as he gave details about various structures we saw, I dutifully raised my camera and took forty pictures.

It's funny, I went to look back over my Italy pictures not too long ago, and I have a whole slew of pictures of a single cobblestone. It took me a minute to remember why, but one of the things our pastor friend had mentioned was that these cobblestones were the same ones that had been in existence in Nero's Rome, and that the nearly unnoticeable weathered grooves in the cobblestones were evidence of chariot wheels.

Which blew. my. mind. I may have taken eighty pictures of various cobblestones. ;) But can you blame me? I'll release my inner nerd and give you my reasoning: When we think of old in the United States, we might think of, you know, Colonial America, Liberty Bell, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, etc. It was a whole different experience walking through the ruins of ancient Rome, and realizing -- Paul the Apostle was likely to have been imprisoned in the very prison we were able to take a tour of. Or so many chariot wheels rode up the hill through the Arch of Titus that they left grooves that were visible over 2,000 years later.

Image by: Dnalor-01
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

Anyway, speaking of the Arch of Titus among the ruins, on its interior wall, there was an old, old engraving (pictured to the right). Our pastor friend pointed it out. "Do you recognize that?" he asked.

I walked closer. It was the scene of victory -- many men carrying spoils of conquest over their heads. Two things were immediately recognizable to me: A menorah... and a rectangular-shaped box. The edgings and outlines were no longer super crisp, but it was recognizable. The whole sculpture was an artist's depiction of the Babylonians carrying off the Temple's articles at the fall of Jerusalem. The box itself was the Ark of the Covenant. 

So... back to Joshua.

I got so excited about that arch again, I kind of forgot where I was going. But I'm on it now. 

Back in Joshua 18, we're still dividing up land. Judah's gotten their allotment, and Joseph (split between Ephraim and Manasseh) have gotten theirs. We didn't really spend time on the two and a half tribes that received theirs east of the Jordan, because that happened in Moses' time before the book of Joshua really started. But there are still seven tribes that need to apportion their lands: Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. And Joshua's going to get his own apportionment, too, as Caleb got his, but we'll get to that later.

Anyway, Joshua 18 details Benjamin's apportionment, which -- with lots of descriptions of landforms and cities as boundaries -- is about as interesting as you might suspect. But in 18:1, I got derailed: "The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there."

First things first, y'all know I'm big on name meanings. I think there's a lot of power in the spoken word. James spends a good part of one of his chapters on this very concept: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." He sets up a vivid metaphor for us about how an entire forest can be set on fire by a single spark, or how a huge animal like a horse can be turned with a tiny bit in its mouth, or a huge ship can be turned by a single rudder.

Words have power. That's why, when my husband and I named our kids, we had to love the meanings of their names as much as we loved the names themselves. My oldest daughter's name means: Living water flowing down. May she be a bringer of the Living Water that Jesus gives. My son's name means: Mountain of strength, and Yahweh is God. May he be an unshakeable, immobile source of strength as he declares Yahweh is God. And my youngest daughter's name means: Clear, unfettered, pure light. May she bring the unmitigated, unshaded light of Jesus into people's lives.

So, with that said, I've always loved the name Shiloh. Shiloh means: peace, tranquility. What a great place to convene for the Israelites and to decide their futures, the lands they'll settle in and have their children in and their grandchildren, to lay out their inheritances and move on from their fraught pasts. Right?

So you'd think. Unfortunately, simply because a name is spoken over a place or a person, it doesn't always come to pass that such will be the case. While I pray over my kids every day, and while I bring their name meanings before the Lord and ask Him to intervene in their lives so they reflect those meanings -- they have the choice, the willpower to reject that if they so choose.

The Israelites... so chose. As history and the Scriptures show, they moved away from the God of Israel over the course of time. And we'll get there.

The battle of Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles on the early end of the Civil War -- nearly twice as many men died in that battle than in all the previous battles combined. Not much peace about that one.

Back the Biblical Shiloh: "The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there." What a great place to put the Ark of the Covenant, the resting place of the Lord, the physical symbol of His throne between the cherubim. At a place called "peace."

So, let's take a trip through the upcoming years. The Israelites set up the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh, because Jerusalem, as yet, is not the capital, and Zion, as yet, has not been taken from the Jebusites, who lived there (remember my post: Housecleaning: Give No Quarter from a few days ago?). So Shiloh became the center of Israel, where the Lord dwelled in His Tabernacle. 

Years pass, eventually Joshua dies, and we go through the whole dark, dark book of Judges when, "in those days, Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25). 

Distance. People forgot that the Lord had delivered them from their enemies when they served Him. Priests became figureheads. Eli the high priest grew fat from excessive food and couldn't control his sons. 

Then came the Philistines, enemies of Israel. In 1 Samuel 4, they attack, and there's all sorts of fighting over the course of battle. 4,000 soldiers of Israel are killed, and they pull back to lick their wounds. As they do, the elders of Israel have a brilliant lightbulb moment: "Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the Lord's Covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies" (1 Samuel 4:3). 

So... let's study this brilliant, epic moment of flawed logic. The Israelite elders essentially say: It doesn't matter that we have largely forgotten that we are a chosen people, a royal nation, a people belonging to God (yes, I know that's from 1 Peter 2:9 and addresses both Jews and Gentiles). We've got the Ark of the Covenant. We've got a good luck charm! We can force a victory from God... even though we've shut Him out in the cold.

Land's sakes. Y'all, is any of this recognizable? Lord, we're in trouble, we've got a global pandemic and we've got politicized mask debates, and there's rioting over all these issues, and there's trouble and heartbreak and confusion and people are dying, and China's scary, and Russia is being Russia, and Israel and Hamas are at it again, and and and...

But don't you dare mention that the Word of God is true, or right. Don't you dare suggest that we follow the instructions in its pages. Don't you dare suggest that we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, so that He will hear from heaven and forgive our sins and heal. our. land.

Instead, let's pray good luck prayers, and send "thoughts and good vibes." 

Whew!

What happens in 1 Samuel? "So the people sent men to Shiloh (the place of peace), and they brought back the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord Almighty, Who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's (the high priest of Israel) two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God" (1 Samuel 4:4).

The Israelites get their religious leaders' blessing over their unholy enterprise -- despite the fact that these particular religious leaders don't give glory and honor to God ("Eli's sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord" - 1 Samuel 2:12). And they run back to the Philistines, waving their "good luck charm" in their faces.

So what happens? "The Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost 30,000 foot soldiers. The Ark of God was captured and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died" (1 Samuel 4:10-11).

The Ark of God was captured. The place of peace was no longer a place of peace; it had lost the symbol of Who had first brought the peace of Israel in the Old Covenant -- long before the New Covenant fulfilled the Old.

And here's my thought: I'm so glad that God's symbolic, earthly, man-made "throne" is not equal to God Himself. If it were, what a tragic day when the Philistines capture the Ark. If it were, what a tragic time when the Babylonians destroy Solomon's temple in Jerusalem and carry off the spoils of war -- later depicted on the Arch of Titus.

Jeremiah 3:16-17 says: "'In those days (the Messianic days, the last days), when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,' declares the Lord, 'men will no longer say, 'The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time, they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the Name of the Lord.'"

Jerusalem is a place I've always wanted to visit, but how amazing will it be to visit when it becomes the Throne of the Lord, when all nations gather there to honor the Name of the Lord. Y'all, I don't know the layout of end-time events, but I do know they're coming. I don't know if it'll happen tomorrow or in a thousand years. But I've got the confidence that I will see the Lord with my own eyes.

Job 19:25-27 says: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"

Hear Job's prophetic words of faith! Let them resound in your heart: I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

See... it doesn't matter where the symbolic throne of God's presence ended up -- "it will not be missed," says the Lord, because it's not His actual throne. 

Want a description of His actual throne? Oh boy. Buckle up:

Ezekiel 1:22, 26-28: "Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome... Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a Man. I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up, He looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down He looked like fire, and brilliant light surrounded Him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him."

Daniel 7:9-10: "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened."

Revelation 4:2-3, 6: "At once, I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with Someone sitting on it. And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne... Also, before the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal."

Y'all, someday, every single one of us, those who claim to have a relationship with the One Who sits on the throne, and those who have spent a lifetime denying His existence... are going to stand there by that crystal sea, by that river of fire. I say stand; I'm pretty sure we'll actually be on our faces. And He's going to demand an accounting.

Let me tell you what He's not. He is not a good luck symbol. He's not the crucifix you keep on your mantelpiece. He's not the cross necklace you wear around your neck. He's not the good deeds you do or the causes you take up. Maybe some of those things are evidences of His presence at work in you, but He is not those things.

He is the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Lamb Who was slain, the Prince of Peace. Are you ready for Shiloh? Are you ready for the Prince of Peace?