Stealing the Ark of the Covenant---most unsuccessful robbery in the history of mankind?

Question

As shortsighted as the Isrealites were for bringing the Ark into battle as a good luck charm, the Philistines really jammed themselves up by taking it. An article in the Jewish Bible Quarterly approximates the total weight of the Ark at 183 pounds. So we're saying that the Philistines had to carry it 40 miles to Ashdod, then maybe 20 more to Gath and Ekron, leaving all three towns ravaged by plague (I've read somewhere that it might have been syphilis?) and destroying Dagan before finally begging the Levites to take it back at Beth-shemesh. By today's standards, that does not sound like a fruitful crime. I'd be interested in your thoughts about how God was working here. Was he teaching both sides a lesson about the value of the Ark, and the dangers of idolatry? Was this a roundabout way to get the Ark out of Shiloh? What are your thoughts.... Also please correct me if I'm dead wrong about any of this. Thanks

Answer 1

"To the victor belongs the spoils." I wouldn't categorize this as a robbery but as a prize which they won by being victorious in battle. "Those who fail to study history will always repeat the same mistakes." One lesson that can perhaps be gleaned from this is the failure of syncretism. The Philistines were punished because they wanted to have "it both ways" i.e. whatever the Israelites had combined with their own paganism. Today we see this conflict play out, e.g., that some Christians want to be part of a dominant secular culture but hold on to their "Christian identity."