In ‘Leap over the wall’ by Eugene Peterson there is fabulous quote on the personal nature of God as seen through the lens of the Old Testament:
“the Ark didn’t have magical properties. When the Hebrews treated it (and later the Temple) that way–as a source of power or good luck–the prophets did their best to confront them and face them with the reality of a personal God, as over against an impersonal relic. Later Jeremy ah and Ezekiel were especially eloquent in such confrontations. Superstition was encouraged in Israel. The people were never taught that the Ark was a source of power they could plug into. The Hebrews were a historical people. They believed that God in their lives, did things. God wasn’t a blurred glow or sentiment. God wasn’t an abstract concept. God wasn’t a remote legislator passing laws on gravity and adultery. God wasn’t a bearded judge, austere and exacting. God was personal in history: creating, directing, saving, blessing. God entered the affairs of men and women; and when he did, he judged and saved, called to account and blessed. Most of all he loved. He entered into covenants with his people, giving them dignity of sharing his work, living by faith and in love. “
