Lessons from the Gold Box

By Craig Ashton Jr., June 29, 2024

Louisiana’s recent law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom reminds me of the often overlooked story of the gold box in 1 Samuel 4. When the Israelite’s were fighting the Philistines, they brought the gold box containing the Ten Commandments with them so that God would save them from their enemies (1 Samuel 4:3). They believed this box, a symbol of God’s presence, held power and guaranteed their success, but 30,000 of them nonetheless died. The Israelite’s thought the rules held power but had no idea what the power was. The Israelite’s focus on the gold box was not about God, it had become a mere relic. We may think that historical religious symbols can carry us through the current culture war, but many seem to be placing faith in symbols of a relationship with God that they are not trying to have.

It seems to me that the prevailing concern behind mandating the public display of the Ten Commandments is that America has abandoned biblical morality and is headed for moral collapse. Alarmed by leaders who seek popularity by ridding society of the influence of the commandments and the God they represent, some seek a solution in working harder to legislate the morality of the commandments to earn God’s favor. The story of the Israelite’s using the gold box containing the Ten Commandments to gain national victory seems to have been forgotten.

Oklahoma is also requiring public schools to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in curriculum’s. Nominal Christians tend to worship the Bible and the commandments rather than truly honor the God behind them. Even if the Ten Commandments were legislated throughout the land, we would still not win God’s favor. Legislating morality by mandating the commandments is in fact a denial of the gospel. I do not think we have compromised America by failing to publicly display the commandments; we have compromised ourselves by failing to live them. Many American Christians insist on displaying the commandments that are convenient to impose upon others, rather then undergoing a real change of heart. The fourth commandment presents an image of God that we fail to understand (Exodus 20). The obvious incongruity between the Sabbath commandment and the common practice of Christianity is that Christians do not keep the fourth commandment. The recent attempts to force the Ten Commandments on public school classrooms through legislation weakens the commandments by removing them from the context of God’s covenant and redemptive love. Some American Christians are trying to implement rules based on Exodus 20 without the prerequisite relationship with God.

God never mandated that the list of commandments be posted publicly. Rather, He advocated that we write the words about loving Him with all our hearts on the door frames of our homes, teaching them to our children, and then promises to write them in our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:1–9; Jeremiah 31:33). Jesus’s summary of the Ten Commandments is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:34–40). It is much easier to post the Ten Commandments to get people to not kill, steal, or bear false witness than it is to get them to love their neighbor or their enemy. Should we not be more concerned with living according to the character of God than legislating the commandments? Today’s American Christianity is like a civil religion that worships the Bible and the Ten commandments rather than the God behind them. Such worship leads to formalism, hypocrisy, and idolatry.

I understand the concern about our nation losing the influence of the commandments and the God they represent, but I think the solution posed by Louisiana and Oklahoma lawmakers only makes matters worse. These leaders are mandating a mere symbol that is separated from the love of God and thus trying to save the nation through a mandate He never asked for. The Bible repeatedly states that the commandments are covenant or relationship words. Israel was never commanded to publicly post Ten Commandment posters in surrounding nations. When God redeemed Israel by His grace, He called them to be a nation of priests who would reveal His character to the nations. Christians are to become covenant partners with God by leading others in the example of His love, not by forcing or amplifying public expressions of faith.

Israel’s defeat at the hands of the Philistines demonstrates that divine origins can’t sanctify the commandments when they are being misused. We may think we have a duty to require public posting of the commandments, but God’s commandments invite us to love Him and His law because we agree that it is the right way to live—His way of loving Him supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. Do you see the difference?

Yes, the Ten Commandments deserve recognition. God wants us to heed His words and take them seriously since they reveal who He is, but publicly posting the commandments will not save us any more than the commandments in the gold box saved the Israelite’s from the Philistines. The Israelite’s sought a solution that seemed religious. In former days, the gold box had been associated with miraculous victories. America has a history of Founding Fathers who honored God, and the nation has been blessed. We may know the religious history of our nation, but are we seeking to place our hope and faith in symbols of a relationship we no longer try to have? We are mistaken to think that historical symbols can carry us through this fervent patriotic culture war. We have not lost faith and power because we’ve failed to publicly post the Ten Commandments. According to Jeremiah 31:33, God declared, “I will put My law into their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” May God so fill our hearts with His law of love that we will not desecrate it.

Craig Ashton Jr.