They were unable to see the irony of those boys beside the symbol of the holiness of God. Inside that ark were the tablets of stone that contained the ten commandments. But that didn't matter to them. They were treating the ark like a good luck charm. In 3100 years nothing has changed.
People still treat sacred things as good luck charms.
They trivialize God, put Him on a shelf along with their other Gods and humour Him with a wee prayer once in a while. Others wear a cross around their neck while they live in open sin. This religious icon gives them warm fuzzy feelings. They love the gold icon but know nothing of the Christ of the cross. There is no sense of the fact that Jesus died for me so that I may live in victory over the sin which I openly flaunt.