The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? 7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”
10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron. 17 These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. 19 And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.” Meditation God’s just and holy character awakens us from complacency to see “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God… for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 10:31; 12:29). Humanity has huge need for forgiveness and grace! And God’s provision should humble our hearts. The Philistines captured the ark and experienced the hand of the Lord against them. Their “priests and diviners” responded to God’s authority by compelling the Philistines to give God glory, reminding them of God’s judgement against the Egyptians. Humility marks the return of the ark to Israel because the Philistine’s had encountered the holy and just character of God. The Israelites received the ark with joy, offering multiple sacrifices, but they did not humble themselves before the Lord. Seeing gold offerings from the Philistines, Israel “looked upon the ark of the Lord” for more. Because Israel did not truly humble themselves, the Lord humbled them with discipline of death. The community was shaken from their complacency, asking “Who can stand before the Lord, this Holy God?” The good news of the gospel is this: Jesus humbled Himself to fall into the Father’s justice, satisfying His anger and wrath against sin. Jesus is our propitiation (1 John 2:2) and by His sacrifice we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. We humble ourselves by celebrating faith alone as the way for us to walk in relationship with God. Humility finds a home in our hearts when we see Jesus was consumed by God’s just judgement on our behalf. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from this passage, especially seeing the contrast between the humility of the Philistines and Israel’s lack of humility? -Where do you identify, forgetting the authority of God’s just and holy character because of complacency in your faith? -How does seeing how Jesus fell into the wrath of God to pay the penalty of your sin awaken humility in your heart and grow gratitude for His work on the cross? Key Verse 5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? Comments are closed.
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AuthorPastor Mitchell celebrates twenty-five years of marriage with Lisa & together they have four adventurous children. |