"There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt."

                            -I Kings 8:9 

"Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;" 

                            -Hebrews 9:4

In the first verse here, in I Kings, we are told that there was nothing in the Ark of the Covenant except for the two tables of stone, which were the Ten Commandments. However, if we turn over to the book of Hebrews, we read that Aaron's rod, the pot of manna, as well as the tables of stone were all in the ark together.

To some, this may look like a contradiction. Nonetheless, I believe that there is a very simple explanation for this: the Philistines stole Aaron's rod, as well as the pot of manna. Now don't ask me for Scriptures on this, because there aren't any. This is honestly just my own personal assumption and you can agree or disagree with me about it, but when you think about it, it really makes sense.

I Samuel 5:2-7 tells us the story of the Philistines stealing the Ark of the Covenant, taking it back to the temple of their god, Dagon, and placing the Ark next to him. When they returned to their temple the next day, they saw Dagon lying on the ground next to the Ark of God. Surprised, they picked him up, dusted him off, and set him back up again, only to find him the next morning lying on the ground again - this time with his head and hands broken off. Fearful, and probably a little bit angry, they sent the Ark back to the Israelites; but not without first taking Arron's rod that budded (which symbolized God's power), as well as the pot of manna (which symbolized His provision), while leaving the two tables of stone. In other words, they desired God's power and provision, but wanted nothing to do with His commandments. After all, keeping the very first commandment written on those tablets would have required them to get rid of Dagon, and apparently that was too much to ask.

My point behind all of this is that, as Christians, if we intend to experience God's power and provision in our lives, we've got to keep His commandments. We can't do as the Philistines did and pick and choose what we want, because even though they had the symbol of God's power, they didn't really have God's power. Even though they had they symbol of God's provision, they didn't really have His provision.

The Philistines missed their chance with God. Don't miss yours.