What Manner of God Could This Be?

The Ark of the Covenant is meant to represent the manifestation of the Lord’s own fealty to his people, Israel. In essence it is a sign that the great Destroyer, ruler of the desert, recognizes the special place of the Jews within creation and has come to dwell with them. So the Hebrews built the Temple of Solomon to house the Ark, thus providing an embodied, literal, sanctuary for their expressed relationship to God.

Turns out, as that great piece of history Raiders of the Lost Ark tells us, history and the (literal and figurative) sands of time, intervene. The Temple of Solomon was sacked, subsequently destroyed, and the Ark of the Covenant was lost. This much history – biblical or Spielburgian – seems to agree upon. That the Ark would be pursued requires no fanciful invention. Thus, it is really only the smallest flight of fancy to suppose a world (even if it is in an already past time) in which said Ark might be found. After many hijinks, brawls, chase-scenes, and devil-may-care, ruggedly handsome camera shots of Harrison Ford, this is exactly what happens. With the help of Karen Allen (whose attractiveness remains undiminished by the intervening years) snakes are avoided, death is cheated and traps are sprung, only to see our heroes shackled helplessly as the Nazis unleash what is certain to be a weapon of ultimate power.

As becomes face-meltingly obvious to the Furher’s henchmen, things don’t turn out so well. Han Solo and Katie (Animal House) escape back to Washington D.C. and, in what appears to be another sign of strange US military intelligence decision making, the Ark is put into storage with a bunch of other boxes (signifying what, exactly? That the US intelligence community has a vast store of divine weapons that it simply couldn’t be bothered to do anything with except properly catalog?).

The question thus posed: what sort of God is this? The evidence stands as such: the Lord is finally tamed to a relationship with Israel. He thus creates a symbol of their union that is so terrible to behold, simply looking upon it leads to an unspeakable death (perhaps worse). The wrath of Jehovah, at least to those not represented in his covenant, defies description. And yet, this same deity allows for his only manifestation on Earth to be buried for ages, uncovered only in a sort-of academic pissing contest, marched through the desert, only to be opened to wreak havoc upon those who gaze upon it. With these seeming unworthies out of the way, it is easily transported to some government storage crypt, where it will most likely be opened by some poor government functionary in years to come. The Lord is apparently unspeakably powerful and terrible, yet, plays no part in securing, moving, influencing, or dealing with his manifestation on Earth. He is at once destructive beyond comprehension and absent beyond question.  Is this the “small, soft voice” or the pillar of fire? If, as has been argued, he is both, then what a strange way to make decisions. What sort of priorities does this Lord/God have? What if his seeming absence is only meant to challenge the faithful? Are those who seek His manifestation thus rewarded with their own assured destruction? Is He suggesting that to seek him in this world is folly? Or, that to seek beyond the everyday for him brings a curse? Once again, oh Lord, your ways are mysterious. Such apparent contradiction seems to demand that we accept your presence/absence unquestionably; that you demand nothing less than fealty. So why does the adventurer and medium by which your manifestation is uncovered get the girl?