1 Samuel 6:1-6
The Ark was in Philistine territory for 7 months; these must have been 7 long months for them. What was at first a great war trophy had become the source of death and destruction. They seemed to understand that these afflictions were from God. Once they decided to send it back they were trying to figure out how. They consulted their own priests. The word used is specific to pagan priests. They didn't know much about making peace with the God of Israel but they thought maybe they would know enough. The diviners were also consulted. These were men who used supernatural powers to acquire knowledge. Their hope was in these two groups of people.
The priests knew they had offended God. Because of this they suggested a guilt offering. This was an offering to God that acknowledged their guilt before him. The law said the guilt offering was a lamb or goat; or if the person couldn't afford that they could bring two turtle doves or pigeons. These priests decided on five gold tumors and five gold rats. Again, the Maseritic text says the word tumor is really hemorrhoid. How to you make 5 gold hemorrhoids? Imagine going to a metal smith and asking for this. Since there are 5 it suggests that the ark made it to all five of the Philistine territories even though only 3 are mentioned. They decided to give glory to the God of Israel. They knew there was no value in hardening their hearts against the Lord. These guys had heard about the Israelites in Egypt.
Was God glorified? The answer is yes he is glorified but that doesn't mean the pain was going to stop for the Philistines. The text seems to point how the Jewish law was violated by the Philistines, yet they weren't under the law or aware of it in detail. Were the Philistines any more guilty than Israel? We can think back to how this mess started and wonder if the Philistines have as much or more reverence for the Ark as the Philistines.
Isn't it fascinating how God would use the unbelievers and enemies of God to correct the waywardness of His own children?
1 Samuel 6:7-12
They took two unbroken cows and hitched them to a cart and put the ark on it. The priests are playing both sides. They are sending a new cart with unbroken cows and an offering along with the Ark. But there is at least some thought that this all happened by chance. These cows never pulled a cart; they had never been yoked together before. So pulling a cart was not easy or natural for them to do. Their maternal instincts would want them to go away from Israel to their calves in the Philistine territory, not go to Israel. IF these cows were going to work together under the yoke and pull this cart to Israel away from their instincts, it would have to be by God's hand. They deduced that if the cart returns, it was all by chance that they had this outbreak of hemorrhoids and rats. It takes a lot of faith to believe in chance some times and we, as sinful and fallen mankind, can get quite good at believing in chance.
1 Samuel 6:13-21
We can only imagine the rejoicing of the people of Beth Shemesh when they see the Ark coming down the road. It's interesting that the cows went straight down the road, not stopping, not going to the right or left; they were lowing - a sign they were not happy. It's as if they were being driven against their will to this spot where they come to a stop. The cart was split for firewood and the cows were offered as a burnt offering. While this violated several laws regarding sacrifices and offerings, you have to think their heart was in the right place. This was a sincere offering from the heart. The offering doesn't seem to warrant much attention.
God then strikes down 70 of the people of Beth Shemesh for looking in the Ark. In the Septuagint it reads 50,070. This number is assumed wrong or misread; maybe its suppose to be 70 of the 50,000. Either way, we can see that apparently the Philistines were smart enough not to look in the ark, yet some people of Beth Shemesh couldn't resist.
If the ark were found today, how long would it take for the curiosity to get someone to remove the lid?
The people of Beth Shemesh act very much like the Philistines in shuffling the Ark off to a new location. The holiness of God caused them a problem so they respond by putting distance between them and God. This is the easy way; the broad way that leads to destruction. As God's children, we should seek the Father in regards to what He wants from us and requires of us. Instead, the people send a message to Kirjath Jearim to come get the Ark.
©2015 Doug Ford
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