Paisleyism Puts Protestantism on a New Cart

Paisleyism Puts Protestantism on ‘A New Cart’

In 1Samuel ch4, with the backsliding of old Eli and the great wickedness of his sons Hophni and Phinehas, the glory of God had departed from Israel and the Philistines had invaded the land; consequently the Ark of God was taken by the victorious Philistine armies. The Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant was the symbol of God’s presence amongst His people; it was where God’s redeemed people could meet with their Redeemer; only on the ground and merits of shed blood. The Ark of God speaks primarily of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ; He is the Mediator of the new covenant, ‘the only mediator between God and men’

The Ark of God had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months; during this time the LORD plagued the ungodly Philistines and so it was in 1Samuel ch6, that the Philistines make ‘A New Cart’, placed the Ark of God upon it, and send it back to Israel. The Ark of God entered the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite; here the Levites remove the Ark of the LORD, cut up the wood of the cart, and offer the animals that pulled the cart, for a burnt offering unto God. The people of Bethshemish were slain of the LORD because they removed the mercy seat of the Ark and looked upon the pure law of Almighty God; they had foolishly exposed themselves to the law of God without a Mediator; consequently the Ark was taken to ‘the house of Abinidab in the hill’; there it remained throughout the long reign of Saul, Israel’s first king.

When the leadership of Israel came into the hands of David, he decided to do things very differently; in 2Samuel ch6 ‘they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinidab’. This new cart is typical of the new image that Paisleyism has been adopting of late; since entering power sharing with unrepentant terrorists, Paisleyism has been undergoing a remarkable change. Separation-ism has been totally abandoned and Secularism has been fully embraced and implemented.

In order for David to implement his new power base, he needed a fresh start, he wanted a new beginning, he was seeking to establish a new order; so he set his team to work on a new image for his radical forward looking proposals; ‘A New Cart’ was needed to carry the work forward.

This is a mirror image of Paisleyism today in Ulster; they have had a long and critical look on their past; it is now time to present their newly found Secular uniform; they have grown out of the robes of the righteousness of Christ; there is a yearning now for the new leadership to stamp its image on the brand name. After a short time of transition, Paisleyism is now rolling out their ‘New Cart’ upon which they vainly imagine to place Protestantism in Ulster.

Next time we are going to examine the Construction of the ‘New Cart’.

Rev Mervyn Cotton (Heb13:6)