Likewise the Ark of the Covenant, which was respected by priests

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





Likewise the Ark of the Covenant, which was respected by priests, people and kings, did not at all represent pagan worship. The Holy Bible tells us that after the Israelites were conquered at Ai, Joshua, the son of Nun and the successor of Moses, together with the elders of Israel, knelt down and prayed to the Lord before the Ark of the Covenant till evening (Josh.7: 6). The Lord did not say to Joshua: “You have broken the second commandments”. But on the contrary, the Lord talked to him, performed a miraculous sign in revealing the sin of Achen, son of Carmit, gave Ai into Joshua's hands and lifted up Joshua's head.
Joshua did not sin by kneeling before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord because he was not worshipping the Ark but he was worshipping the Lord who came and spoke from between the cherubim. Likewise David the Prophet did not sin when he celebrated the return of the Ark, leaping and dancing in front of it (2Sam.6: 12-15).