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sw, good point once again! that's even more cynical than me at times. However i think that uring the perid the Israelites are actively using the Ark in the 2 cneturies prior to the battle of Ebenezer, the Ark is pretty specific and consistent in what it does. It is q cleearly a weapon, a device, a construct, and when utilised properly with the correct "rituals" by the initiated Levites, brings instant victory. When it is not, it's either useless or backfires on whoever's around it. As Israel expands after the Promised Land is reached, there comes a point where conventional military means at Israels disposal is sufficient to carry the day and so the Ark gets left at Shiloh. When it got brought out again after a long period of rest, at the Battle of Ebenezer, it wasn't used as such, the idiots just took it along and expected it to work all by itself!