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| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Song of Adoration: Hymnal #22C “Amid the Thronging Worshipers” Song of Confession: Hymnal #56 “O God, Be Merciful” *Song of Preparation: Hymnal #267 “O Christ, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire” Scripture: I Samuel 6:1-7:2; Revelation 11:15-19 Text: I Samuel 6:1-7:2 Message: The Ark Returns: A Day of Mixed Emotions *Song of Response: Hymnal #283 “Fairest Lord Jesus” *Doxology: Hymnal #254: 1 “Let All Things Now Living” |
Scripture Reading: I Samuel 6-7:2; Revelation 11:15-19
Scripture Text: I Samuel 6-7:2
Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
The Ark of the Lord is finally coming back to Israel after a 7 month hiatus. At the end of I Samuel 4, when Phineas’ son is named Ichabod, because the glory of the Lord had left Israel, things didn’t seem like they could get much worse. Certainly now, a couple of chapters later, after God had waged war on the Philistine god, people, and land, this would be a welcome homecoming. Yet, chapter 6 is a complicated chapter.
As WWII continued to grow in Europe, Churchill urged the Americans to join the war effort. But, after WWI, the US was not too keen on sending their sons to a foreign theatre to fight someone else’s war. But then on December 7, 1941, a day Roosevelt said would live in infamy, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, decimating the Pacific Fleet. Now the US would be drawn into the war on the side of the allies. Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Was that December 7 a good day? No, but it seemed good at the time for the Japanese, the English and the French, but devastating for parents who had to bury their sons and daughters. I Samuel 6 has a bit of a similar feeling.
Our theme this morning is the Ark of the Lord returns to Israel on a memorable day.
I. The Ark Prepared
II. The Ark Returned
III. The Ark Relocated
I. The Ark Prepared
It was a seven long months for the Philistines and their lords. The ark had ravaged their lands. The morale of the people was low and something needed to be done. So, they call together the clergy, those in touch with the gods and magic. What ensues is the longest conversation we see among pagan people in the Bible, 120 words in Hebrew. Some commentators think that the author was likely some type of eyewitness. So, the question is posed in verse 2.
The advice given is that the Philistines cannot send the ark away empty handed, so to speak, but offerings must be included. Interesting that 5 gold tumors and 5 gold mice would be the offerings given. What we will see here is a combination of pagan divination. There were two parts to this. The first part of their divination was to discern the will of the gods. This is called deductive divination. When the cows continue on toward Israel, that would certainly mean that the tumors came from that deity…they would deduce that. The second kind was magic. The role of the offerings would be more in that category. It would remove the plague from their gods, people and land, as verse 5 says. Sorcery of this type was forbidden in Israel, as it still is for God’s people today.
The offerings would have been costly, and this shows respect to Israel’s god. They might not have realized that tumours would have made the Israelites ceremonially unclean and mice/rats were viewed as detestable and unclean animals. Verse 5 is an interesting verse because it seems to imply some type of humility. They weren’t presumptuous at least… “perhaps he will lighten your hand…”
The second part of the advice was to take a cart and put the ark on it with the golden offering to send back to Israel. But also to take two cows who have calves and have them pull the cart. Read vs. 8-9. Here is a test. You don’t have to be a farmer to know that a cow will always turn back to its calf to care for it, that instinct is strong. So, for the cows to continue on would be an omen, a sign that the ark was the culprit of the plague on the land. (On a side note, with a biblical view of God’s sovereignty, we do not believe in luck, chance, omens or karma. It isn’t bad if a black cat walks in front of you. It is not bad luck to walk under a ladder ((might be a dumb move)), we do not knock on wood to make things keep going well, we shouldn’t expect 7 years of bad luck if you break a mirror. We are not superstitious.)
II. The Ark Returned
So, the Philistine lords viewed the advice as favorable. They yoked up the cows that had never been yoked, they took their calves away, they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box of treasures next to it and sent the cows on their way. The cows went in the right direction towards Beth Shemesh. The Philistines kept and eye on them to make sure the plague was going to have left their land. They didn’t want to be foolish like the Egyptians and Pharaoh were in the days of the ten plagues, as is mentioned back in verse 6. They didn’t want to harden their hearts. I think there is a bit of a parallel to the two exoduses. When Israel left Egypt, they plundered the Egyptians and their neighbors willing gave them treasures. Now, not with Moses and Aaron, but by the use of pagan Philistines is plundering the lords of the Philistines as he returns back to the land of promise.
It is interesting that in a way, God is speaking to the Philistines. They have witnessed the power of the Lord. Shouldn’t they have repented? What are they going to do now, take Dagon into the idol shop for repairs. Shouldn’t they have sought greater knowledge of Yahweh? Maybe the majority of the Philistines simply thought, “glad that is over.” And in doing so, they are like so many other sinners. Dale Ralph Davis mentions that people are far quicker to respond to the pain of a situation than they are to respond to the truth of a situation. Once the storm is past, have we grown wiser, have our hearts grown softer? Think of some painful situation you have gone through. Once it is done, do you simply think, “glad that is over” or maybe, what can I learn from this about myself, my God, and how I can serve him more faithfully.
There is good news to this. On the one hand, it is surprising that God would reveal himself to the Philistines. They were non-covenant people. On the other hand, this leaves us with the hope that maybe God will also reach those to the uttermost, as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself (Acts 2:39). Though the Philistines didn’t have the Torah, they learned that Yahweh is not a god to be trifled with.
So, the cows continue to low along and the people of Beth Shemesh, mid-harvest, see them coming with the ark of the covenant. The ark comes to the field of Joshua- of Beth Shemesh and there it stops. Verses 14-16 show the interesting scene. There is a great stone there that the Levites set the ark and the golden treasure upon. They took the cart that carried the ark and used it as the wood for a burnt offering to the Lord. They took the two cows as the sacrifice. When the Philistines saw that, they returned home.
Verses 17-19 explain the nature of the guilt offerings, the treasure for, not only the fortified 5 cities of the Philistines, but even the unwalled villages. The stone in Joshua’s field would be the reminder for days to come. But, then the scene takes a turn.
III. The Ark Relocated
Here is where a few of the questions of the text come into play. Read verse 19. What does it mean that they looked at the ark of the Lord. Some have translated it that they looked into the ark, opening it up. Some translations use the most common Hebrew text which says that 50,070 men died, which is more than would have lived in Beth Shemesh. The Septuagint has an altogether different story of these men not rejoicing in the return of the ark and therefore they were put to death because of their apathy or lack of acceptance of Yahweh. Many questions go beyond this sermon. It seems that the clear reading of the text is correct however.
70 men are struck down because they looked at the ark. No one was permitted to look at the ark according to Numbers 4:20, lest they die. The Levites here are mostly to blame. Their first problem was to sacrifice the cows. God had mandated that only male animals were to be sacrificed to the Lord. The Philistines didn’t have the Torah, Israel did. So, they sacrificed the cows, and then they let the ark become a tourist attraction. Of course people would want to come out to see it. The first thing they should have done would have been to safeguard the ark from view.
The question of verse 20 is a question we have to continue to ask today, not because we don’t have an answer, but rather because we need to continue to praise God for the answer. Who can stand before this holy God? Not sinners. Certainly not an idol like Dagon, he fell literally flat on his face, just like we do when we fail to trust the Lord.
What the Bible teaches us time and again is that God would provide the way to stand before him. If all have sinned, and sinners cannot stand in the presence of God’s holiness, what hope do we have. We have no other hope but Jesus blood and righteousness. What Israel would have to learn, is that the way to stand before the Lord is by faith. He reveals himself.
When those harvesting in their field back in verse 13 realized what was taking place, it says that they rejoiced. That was the proper response. There should be true rejoicing in the presence of the Lord. As we gather in worship, let us rejoice in the God of our salvation. You see, even in law and repentance, there is grace and rejoicing. There is a humbling, to be sure, but there is rejoicing.
Where the people went wrong here in verse 19 was that they failed to have a proper reverence for the Lord. After the 70 men died, they also had an improper response. The solution was not to get rid of the ark, as the Philistines thought, but it was to honor God’s will, his word on how he is to be treated and worshipped. Let this be a reminder to us. How much of modern worship is designed according to human will to appeal to the fashions of men with no reference to biblical principles. It shouldn’t surprise us for a lack of spiritual blessings experience by many Christians.
These 70 did not respect the sacred. How common is that today? Maybe we get too comfortable in worship, maybe too informal. Can you imagine checking the football score while sitting in worship? Scrolling through Instagram or facebook? Walking out to take a phone call? Worship is a reflection of how we view God. It impacts our weekly patterns of life. The people of Beth Shemesh should have responded with reverence.
What we see done well is that of the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim. This neighboring town was willing to take ark into their territory. Read verses 21-7:2. Kiriath Jearim was a Gibeonite city. You might remember that the Gibeonites tricked Joshua so that they were able to dwell in their city without being destroyed. There certainly would have also been Israelites there at this time. But it seems that these non-Jews had become Jews spiritually. We do not know much about Abinidab or his son Eleazar, though Eleazar is a pretty common name for a priest in Israel. But they responded in faith.
Why didn’t the ark get taken back to Shiloh? The house of the Lord at Shiloh was probably destroyed by the Philistines most commentators believed. So, the ark ends up in
Kiriath Jearim. Abinadab and Eleazar did not build a temple to Yahweh there. They didn’t even make a tent to keep the ark in. They didn’t institute the Lord’s feasts there. Why? Because God hadn’t told them to. Our worship must be directed by God. It was a less than ideal situation, there is a reason why our text ends by saying the house of Israel lamented. But those in Kiriath Jearim responded in faith.
Israel lamented because the Lord didn’t have a house. Worship was strained. But, there was a prophet, we will see him again next week. You see, the people of God depend upon the presence of the Lord. How better off are we who are given in a fuller way than Israel of old the Holy Spirit. The holiness, sacredness, justice, and mercy of God direct all of our living. Did Israel mess up? Yes, did God come back to them? Yes, time and time again. God is not identified with the ark, it is rather a symbol of his presence. He is back in the land of promise. Cared for in a Gibeonite town. Israel is longing for and preparing for that which we have. The great office bearer, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our text is one of ups and downs, high and lows, but so is the Christian life. Our call then is to trust. Not only that to trust that he who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion, but also that he who does that glorious work will also be with you, his children. Trust in the Lord, and you will experience the ministry of the Lord in your life. Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Steven Swets, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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