In Joshua, chapter three, verse three, God was more than invisibly present among His people, for the “ark of the covenant” stood as a symbol of His presence in their midst. As they were now in possession of the promised land, the Lord also openly manifested Himself in miracles. Everything carries according to the strictest rules of military discipline. The removal of the ark was the signal for the advance of the whole host. The ark of the covenant is such a misuse of the symbol of God’s Presence that was only possible on days when faith had grown cold. When the Israelites needed supernatural guidance, where they were in circumstances where no use of their unaided powers could guide them, they must repair to the ark of God. There they must seek counsel and set before them their ways. But to regard it as a charm that could atone for their want of faith and their lack of obedience was to profane it. Such temptations as these Jesus Christ resisted in the wilderness: and such temptations Christians must have resistance now. We have no right to seek supernatural aids where natural ones will suffice us – no right to invoke the intervention of God till we have exhausted all the means He has placed at our disposal. Above all, we have no right to expect Him to save us from the consequences of our sin and disobedience except on His condition that we shall repent. We may further remark that the Pillar of the Cloud and the fire, like the manna, had ceased, and even the ark of the covenant only preceded the Israelites on special occasions.
Today, many believers forget the ark of the covenant and the promises in His Word and follow someone else’s word that is not from God. However, there are those few out there who do remember the ark of the covenant.