1 Samuel 6
Sermon Transcript
What does it mean to respect a holy God? How does God respond to disrespect? Join Dr. Marty Baker in 1 Samuel 6 as we take a look at God's interactions with the Philistines and their handling of the Ark of the Covenant.
When you enter a special place, it is customary to expect certain restrictions for the sake of honor and respect. Take, for instance, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The last time Liz and I were there, we lined up on the steps to get a view of the awe-inspiring change of the guard. From the beginning, everyone in attendance was informed that this sacred place and this particular ceremony called for absolute silence. A few young people to our left who stood near the front by the rope did not get the memo. You could hear these teens speaking as the Honor Guard went through their well-timed and seamlessly orchestrated inspection. Once the new guard began walking the line in front of the stone structure holding the body of an unknown U.S. soldier, they talked even louder.
Suddenly, the impeccably dressed soldier left his walkway, lowered his rifle and bayonet, and swiftly approached the disrespectful group while forcefully shouting, “You will show respect. You will be quiet.” It's funny how they immediately complied, but they should never have been speaking in the first place because of where they were.
The respect we expect when we venture to a place like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier pales into insignificance with a holy object like the Ark of God. Since God promised to dwell above the cherubim on what He called the Mercy Seat, honor and respect were given to the holy God, who drew close to the sinful man here. Further, because God’s presence resided here, it is no wonder He warned people never to touch the ark.
When the Philistines, however, seized the Ark of God after a bloody military battle against Israelite forces and hauled it off to Ashdod, where they thoughtlessly placed it in the temple of their stone god, Dagon, the disrespect they showed went far beyond anything the teens did at Arlington that afternoon. God responded more harshly than the soldier did. He not only dismantled their lifeless and powerless god, He sent terrible tumors and a rat infestation to all five cities of their pentapolis. What they initially thought was a prized military trophy became a major life-threatening and idol-destroying problem. So, they, who had disrespected the living God, suddenly started to possess fear and reverence for Him, coupled with a desire to motivate Him somehow to take His heavy disciplinary hand from their people.
Chapter 6 of First Samuel recounts what the humbled and helpless Philistines did to achieve this goal. As with the previous chapter, this chapter has a tension between the humorous and the ominous. On the one hand, we encounter man’s feeble and funny attempt to garner peace with God, while on the other, we see how God does not sit idly by when He is disrespected and when the unholy seeks to contaminate the holy.
All through this chapter, we will also come face to face with this timeless, eternal principle: God, who is holy, must be respected, not disrespected. Did you get that? If not, I challenge you to reread it so it sinks into the soil of your life. Why is this important? Because if you disrespect God, whether you are a sinner or a saint, He will not sit idly by. On the contrary, He will move swifter than an Honor Guard soldier to get you to see the error of your way so you can live a God-honoring, blessed life . . . one free of His discipline.
Are you guilty of disrespecting God? “Oh, I would never do that,” you say. Really? Disrespect can occur when you and your buddies talk it up when Pastor Jeremy is delivering a Bible study, when you surf the net during a worship service, when you speak about a spiritual leader in a disparaging fashion, when you bend and twist His Word to rationalize your sinful behavior, when you fail to offer confession before a holy communion service, when you trail off to sleep during a prayer, when you mock and belittle the Bible, and so on. I pray that by the conclusion of this study, you will not only be convicted of this sinful behavior but will be moved to living a reverential and respectful life.
Come with me as we see how the Holy Spirit develops this essential spiritual motif.
The Concern (1 Sam. 6:1-2)
It took seven long, costly months for the hard hearts of the Philistines to admit the inevitable finally: They had dishonored and angered the living God of the Israelites. God could have instantly vaporized them for their sinful behavior, but He chose to turn up the heat in their lives to force them to a divine decision point. Perhaps you are there right now in your life. What will you do? The Philistines chose not to worship the God who attempted to enlighten them through the plagues. Instead, they sought a way to get Him back off His wrath. Wow. They came so close to salvation, only to let it slip away. Is that what you are doing as God has attempted to arrest your spiritual attention?
Samuel recounts their practical choice with these memorable words:
1 Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we shall send it to its place." (1 Sam. 6)
It took them seven months of pain and suffering from God’s hand to realize they had a spiritual problem. So, what did they do? They consulted the priests of Dagon (oh, that was a great idea) and the diviners (oh, here was another solid idea . . . right), or those men who practiced sorcery. In our day, their action is tantamount to you sensing God is seeking to grab your attention, as a non-Christian, through various events, so you pull into Madam Sophia’s driveway, go inside, pay your money, and then sit down for a reading of the Tarot cards. I would say that is not the wisest course of action; however, it will not thwart what the living God is seeking to do in your life. So, hold on.
Philistine leadership posed two opening questions for their spiritual advisors: what and how. What do we do with this Ark of the LORD that is causing so much trouble, and how do we return it properly so the God of the Ark is placated properly? Interesting. These boil-ridden men want to know how to have peace with Israel’s God. They were, at least, starting to head in the right spiritual direction. The answer they received from their blind spiritual leaders was quite interesting:
The Counsel (1 Sam. 6:3-9)
Watch how this scene unfolds with the clueless Dagon priests and professional sorcerers:
3 And they said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you shall be healed and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."
The spiritual leaders opened with a conditional sentence denoted by the word “if.” They did this because they were not sure if all the political and military leaders were convinced the ark was the source of their national problems. Their counsel was most interesting. They realized that their sinful behavior had offended Israel’s God, and that the only way to placate His harsh wrath was to offer Him a guilt offering of sorts.
Again, their thinking was, at least, headed in the right direction because sin can only be expiated (removed) if there is an appropriate sacrifice. As we read in Hebrews 9: “22And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Levitical law showed how sin can only be dealt with appropriately by a costly blood sacrifice that God prescribes, like that of the Burnt Offering in Leviticus 1. I do, however, give these spiritual leaders a quick hat-tip because they, at least, understood their actions with the Ark were sinful and caused them to be guilty before Israel’s God. To alleviate His wrath, therefore, some type of offering was required.
With this counsel, the political and military leaders asked a third question:
4 Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?"
Translated: We need a specific course of action. What kind of guilt offering do you think would work?
To this query, the priests and diviners offered this precise strategy to hopefully cause Israel’s God to be merciful toward them:
And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 "So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage 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.
By using costly gold, the leaders would demonstrate that Israel’s God was worthy of high honor. Further, by doing all this expensive and intricate metalwork, the leaders would ultimately and ironically give Israel’s God glory. Again, their spiritual leaders understood the importance of respecting the living God, not disrespecting Him. These humble gifts would, therefore, give Him glory and respect and possibly cause Him to be merciful and remove the plagues. Interesting. They were not sure whether this would work, but it sounded logical.
The religious leaders must have dealt with some pushback from the politicians and military leaders because of what they said next:
6 "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?
First, it is most interesting that they were well aware of what happened several hundred years prior when the mighty Pharaoh had tangled with the God of the Israelite slaves. These religious leaders knew their Bible history, as it were, which is ironic in and of itself. God’s miraculous and powerful exploits in freeing His people from slavery were etched into the minds of everyone in the region. Who could forget what had occurred in time and space? Who could forget the turning of the Nile into blood or the unusual timing of the death of the firstborn when Moses said it would occur? Who could forget the cost Pharoah paid for hardening his heart against the will of the living God? This is why the priests and diviners counseled these dissenters from thinking that hardening their hearts against their advice and Israel’s God was a great, logical step. On the contrary, Egyptian history shows this decision did not end well for Pharoah or his people. In the end, Israel’s God got His way.
What about you? Are you hardening your heart against the outright work of God in your life to get you to move from unbelief to belief, from rejecting God and His Christ, to embracing, by faith, God and His Son, Jesus? What has caused you to become hardened? Has a tragedy caused you to become jaded against God? Has a disease become your point of hardness against God? Has the loss of a job moved you far from Him? Has the evil you see in the world caused you to think He is powerless and possibly capricious? Throughout Scripture, God warns us of the danger of developing a hard heart (Psalm 95:8; Prov. 28:14; 29:1; Rom. 2:5). I pray that God softens your heart so you can see why you need Him above all else.
In any event, with this word of warning now given, the priests and diviners spell out how to get the Ark of God back to His chosen people, Israel:
7 "Now therefore take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. 8 "And take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. 9 "And watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance." (1 Sam. 6)
Why a new cart? You wouldn’t want to place God’s holy box on an old one, right? That might upset Him because it could be seen as disrespectful. Why two new female cows who had never pulled anything?
As we learn from verse 9, the Philistines still were not convinced that Israel’s God was behind all of the perfectly timed plagues. So, with a heavy dose of doubt, they devised a test to see whether the toppling of Dagon, the sudden appearance of boils, and vast amounts of filthy, furry rats were divinely ordered or just multiple strokes of bad luck.
The two new cows would naturally be inclined to resist the yoke and walk where they wanted to. Moreover, because they had baby calves, the spiritual leaders knew these new bovine mothers would probably follow their instincts to get to their babies for nursing. By doing this, they set up a profound test. Suppose they turned the cart and oxen loose and went to the closest Israelite town called Beth-shemesh . . . some ten miles away and uphill. In that case, Israel’s God must be associated with the Ark. If not, then all of this mayhem and death would be chalked up as just a series of tragic and jaw-dropping coincidences.
God was about to get their spiritual attention in a significant fashion. God might also be orchestrating uncanny events in your life right now to get you to pause and consider that He is there and is reaching out to you. Will you believe when, not if, He connects a wide array of dots? Watch what happens as the cows are turned loose.
The Course (1 Sam. 6:10-12)
Once again, I wish I could have sat on a hill to watch this unfold. Seeing God work in the lives of two cows must have been exciting.
10 Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched 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 likenesses of their tumors. 12 And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh. (1 Sam. 6)
Ekron stood at the crossroads between roads that went in all four compass directions. This data point is what makes this story so jaw-dropping and humorous. Once the Philistines hooked up the cows, loaded the flatbed with the Ark of God and the box containing their golden gifts for God, and stepped away, they couldn’t believe the cows headed East toward Beth-shemesh. It was as if they were being magnetically drawn there, and as they walked they just mooed away . . . like they were happy and content.
What did the Philistines learn that day? They learned that Israel’s God was the true, living God. He controlled not only the decimation of old Dagon but the explosion of the blistering boils, the unleashing of a wave of rats in all five Philistine cities exactly when the Ark arrived, and the movement of the cows and cart on a ten-mile arduous trek to the mountain town in Israel called Beth-shemesh.
What did they do with this divine revelation? From what we learn in the rest of First Samuel, they remained Israel’s dreaded enemy, which means they failed to respect God by turning to Him in faith. Sad. They came so close to the kingdom of God but then walked away back into their unbelief, idol worship, and superstitious activity.
What will you do with the evidence God has placed in your life, evidence that He exists, loves you, desires to forgive you of your sin , and establish an eternal relationship with you? Will you shrug your shoulders when you see and understand divine activity and head back to Ekron, or will you bow in respectful worship of this great God? Walking away is the most significant sign of disrespect. Do not think God will bless you in this. Far wiser to show respect and bow your knees in faith before the cross of His dear Son, for He is the ultimate guilt offering for your sin.
The Consequence (1 Sam. 6:13-22)
With verse 13, we switch from God dealing with the Philistines to God working with His people.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it.
This was a May day these reapers would never forget. In the distance, someone noticed an unmanned cart heading their way with two cows doing all the work. As it drew closer, no one could believe it. In the cart rested the Ark of God. Ichabod was about to be reversed!
Did the cart just happen to come up the mountain by accident? No. God, who is providential, guided it all the way. Providence is what best describes God. He oversees all things from raising up and putting down political leaders (Dan. 4:25) to controlling earthquakes (Job 9:6), the functioning of the moon, sun, and stars (Jer. 31:35), and who takes care of the land and little animals:
Sing praises to our God on the lyre, 8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. 9 He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens which cry. (Ps. 147)
The God who guides all of these things will undoubtedly guide our nation this week as we vote. Trust in Him. Yes, do your part, but believe He is always working behind the scenes to deal with evil and guide us toward His kingdom ideals. His providence is perfect, and the Israelites, gleaning that day, were quickly reminded of this timeless truth.
Where did the cart stop?
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone, and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
It came to a field of a farmer named Joshua. Talk about divine providence. Joshua, which means Savior in Hebrew, was not only Israel’s former and famous General over their troops in the Conquest, but the name points forward to the final Joshua, or Savior, Jesus, who would come and dwell among His people.
Up to this point, everything seemed fine. However, the last half of verse 14 reveals a spiritual issue. Bethshemesh was a Levitical town, and they alone were divinely appointed to lead in blood sacrifices to cover sin. Here, on the contrary, it appears that the reapers sacrificed the two cows to God as a burnt offering. They were not qualified to do this. Further, a burnt offering did not consist, per God’s command, of female cows but of male bulls, sheep, or goats (Lev. 1:3-10). By doing this, these men disrespected God and His laws. Their emotion and joy were well-founded, but their actions were wholly compromised and carnal. Apparently, they had not learned much from the loss of the Ark seven months prior. They failed to embrace the concept that God is holy and requires for His people to honor Him by following Him and His directives to the letter.
After the reapers finished the sacrificial service, the Levites showed up and joined in the festivities:
15 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD.
All of these animal sacrifices underscored the people's joy at the return of their beloved Ark; however, mixing the sacrifices with unbiblical ones completely undercut the special nature of the day. They thought they were respecting God when, in reality, they disrespected Him by deviating from the clear teaching of God’s holy Word.
When all of the sacrificing and rejoicing concluded, Samuel reminded us of what the Philistines did:
16 And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day. 17 And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for 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 of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
Sad. These men returned to Philistia unchanged by yet another miracle they had witnessed. I must ask you a personal question: What else must God do to get you to come to Him in faith? Or are you just content to head back to Ekron and resume your comfortable, predictable life of unbelief? What about it? Will you disrespect or respect Him? Those who respect Him come to Him in humble, repentant faith.
What happens to those who disrespect Him? He judges them.
19 And He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.
Old Testament scholars recognize there is a textual problem here. Most doubt this many people existed in this town at this time. It also seems logistically impossible for 50,000 people to file by the open Ark for a peek at the contents. Would they not have died instantly? Most likely because, after all, Uzza died instantly for just touching the Ark later. Josephus, the Jewish historian, is probably right in concluding that seventy people broke God’s law and took a peek inside this holy Ark of God. That act of willful defiance met with their untimely deaths at God’s hand. He did not tolerate disrespect in Philistia, and He certainly would not tolerate it among His chosen people. Hence, He removed the perpetrators to teach others the importance of respecting Him and what is holy.
Naturally, the citizens of Beth-shemesh offered this response:
20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?" 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up to you." (1 Sam. 6)
Ironically, they did not want any part of the Ark of God being near them. On the other hand, they wanted it taken to a place where it would be safe and where people who cared for it would be safe. All of this, of course, set up the movement of the Ark of God to Kriath-jearim where it would rest prior to its magnificent entrance into Jerusalem under the rulership of David, a man who did respect God by walking closely with Him.
So, what do we learn from all the ups and downs of this historical story? As I said in the introduction, we learn that our holy God wants us to live to respect Him. When we do not, we must anticipate He will discipline us to move us back to a place of respect and obedience. Take stock, therefore, of your life right now. If there is any disrespect of God and the things of God, waste no time coming clean before Him today. Do this, and His hand of blessing, not judgment and discipline, will rest squarely on your shoulders. What could be greater?
