There is judgment and defeat. Judgment for Israel as they lose the battle, and defeat for the Lord as his ark is captured. Not a real defeat, of course. The Lord remains in control, but in the eyes of his people and the nations, he will be seen as weak. Foolishness according to the world (see 1 Corinthians 1:18–30).

Foolishness and weakness according to the world but a foolishness and weakness that will be used by God to accomplish good. He undergoes a defeat for the sake of his people. A defeat to change their thinking. A defeat to help them realize that they do not have God in their pocket. A defeat that will ultimately be for their good when the ark eventually returns to Israel and the Lord’s justice and power are vindicated.

A final defeat, or at least another apparent defeat will take place on the cross. There we have God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ being crucified and killed. How can it be that the God who made this universe, the King enthroned above the cherubim, would allow himself to suffer and be humiliated by creatures that he has made? A crucified Christ is a stumbling block to the Jew and folly to the Gentile, but to those being saved, it is the power and the wisdom of God, because it was a defeat for the sake of God’s people. There on the cross, the penalty which our sins deserve was being paid for by another. Our Lord Jesus Christ's body was broken, his blood was spilled. Defeat in the eyes of the world, but a defeat that made eternal life in God’s presence possible for all those who believe. A defeat that removed the power of sin. A defeat that ultimately became the greatest victory when Christ was resurrected from the grave. What a wonder that God the Son was willing to be humiliated and defeated for the sake of God’s people.