When the Israelites brought the Ark into battle with the Philistines they were expecting to have victory just as in the stories of Joshua but instead they were met with defeat at the hands of the Philistines resulting in the Ark of the Lord being captured. The Israelites replaced their devotion to God with idolatry where they valued the things around them, such as the Ark, in greater standing than God. In 1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6 we are given the details of what happened to the Ark during the 7 months that it was in the possessions of the Philistines and how it was brought back to the Israelites.
The renown of the God of Israel was known far and wide through out the promised land. The Philistines must have had a strong desire to possess the Ark of the Lord as a trophy signifying their victory over the Israelites. The Ark is captured and taken to the Philistine city of Ashdod. The Ark was placed before Dagon, the god of the Ashdodites. While the Ark was in the presence of the statue of Dagon the statue kept falling over eventually breaking. God did not tolerate idolatry in His presence in the land of the Philistines and He doesn’t tolerate it today. What idol are you clinging to within your heart thinking it can coexist with God? It is folly to try and live a life devoted to God when you cannot commit wholly to Him because you are clinging to your idols. The Ark of the Lord was transfered between cities within the land of Philistine but wherever it went peril and dismay for the people followed with tumors and discord in the city.
What do you do when you have the Ark of the Lord which you have taken from the Israelites and wish to return it? This is the dilemma that faced the lords of the Philistines who sought to rid themselves of the curse they were under. The priests and diviners of Philistine were the ones to instruct their lords that the Ark must be returned to the Israelites along with a guilt offering, “So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravaged the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.” 1 Samuel 6:5 These words were spoken by the priests and diviners of the gods of the Philistines. Did the Philistines at this moment have a greater fear of God than the Israelites? It is amazing to hear that these people who didn’t follow God knew they needed to honor and glorify Him if they were to survive. Do you remember to glorify God in the midst of your day?
The Ark of the Lord and the gold guilt offering was placed in a new cart pulled by milch cows which have never been yoked in preparation to send back to Israel. I love how the cart with the Ark is released in a way that would point to the source of the problem for the Philistines; if the cart went to Israel they would know that God was causing their calamity because of their taking of the Ark. The scripture points out that the cart by all human reasoning should never head to Israel. The cows chosen to pull the cart had never been yoked so it would be unlikely that the pair would work in unison. These cows were also giving milk to their calfs which they were separated from.Wouldn’t the natural instinct of these two cows be to stay near their offspring? All doubt left the Philistines when the pair of cows made straight for Israel not turning to the left or the right. It is amazing to see how God works to glorify Himself through the diverse events that encompass the Israelites.
What were the Israelites thinking during the absence of the Ark of the Lord from them? Did they reflect upon their wrong doing? The people of Beth-shemesh were working in the fields when they noticed the Ark coming to them on the cart. The people were at a low point with a deep sadness because of the Ark being taken. How much joy was express at the sight of the Ark coming back to Israel? The men of Beth-shemesh used the wood of the cart and the two cows in a sacrifice to God but even in this moment some people disobeyed God by looking inside the Ark and they died. The Israelites needed to be reminded that the Ark was not just a figure piece to itself be worshiped but a holy item of God that has to be respected and handled just as God told Moses to instruct the Levites. In the end 50,070 men of Beth-shemesh were struck dead because of their lack of respect for God and In what ways do we disrespect god today? Will the death of all these people who disregarded God’s commands be a catalyst for change? In what ways do we trivialize our faith in God as the people of Beth-shemesh did? Do we respect the Bible as the word of God to man or is it just something that we carry to and from church on the weekend? It is absolutely necessary that faith becomes an active and integral part of our lives so that we will inherently cling to God in the midst of the troublesome times of life.
