1 Samuel 6:1-21 | Part 12
1st Samuel Part 12
Matthew 6:9b-13
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Do you hear the standard?
What is the standard??
Intro
1st Samuel 5, God will not be used, or taken advantage of. God’s will is going to be done no matter what
1st Samuel 6
When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory for seven months, 2 the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
Ark was taken to Ashdod
Dagon, their merman god fell in front of the ark
Their idol falls at the feet of the ark, head and hands broken off. This was typical of king’s punishment in wars in that day
The Philistines had thought their god to have the upper hand over Israel’s, but they now find him both headless and handless. And they themselves will soon be feeling in their own bodies the ‘heavy hand’ of Yahweh.” – Phil Long
Men of Ashdod started having tumors
Moved the ark to Gath, men began having tumors (little kids to old men)
Ark was moved to Ekron, 5:11 implies that people were not only getting tumors but dying in each city
Ekron was no different
3 They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering. Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”
4 They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, since there was one plague for both you and your rulers.
The Philistines understood offerings
5 gold tumors, and 5 gold mice (number of rulers)
Tumors were killing people in every town
Mice, which spread sickness and disease mentioned in 1st Samuel 5:6, not added in all translations
5 Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, and perhaps he will stop oppressing you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?
Stop the sin
Confess the sin (quickly)
Give glory to God
How is this Pagan nation’s calling different than ours today? Willful neglect
What is the standard? Culture? Must the truth be adjusted because someone doesn’t know? We will get to see how we lead non-believers in just a moment, but the TRUTH is the Gospel. The TRUTH is a call to
Stop sin
Confess sin
Give glory to God
2nd Chronicles 7:14
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Psalm 38:17-18
For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. 18 I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
Revelation 3:19-20
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
This is the beginning!
When pagans begin to investigate the one true God, most of the time not stopping their own lifestyles, but beginning to be aware…this is good!
How do we treat them? What is the protocol?
Application for those God may be calling:
1.) Be a friend, not a foe
Seekers need a guide, not an opponent
2.) Speak truth, not emotion (this is up to the Holy Spirit, not you)
Christians lean WAY more into emotion instead of the truth
It is possible to agape love, care for others, AND tell them the unadulterated truth of the Gospel
3.) Clarify, don’t calcify
Speak with clarity. Clear, concise, and not a lengthy dissertation of why they should believe what you believe
4.) Explain your struggle
You have not arrived, you are on your way
You do not have all the answers
You are a sinner
Let this be known. As the Holy Spirit for discernment
Don’t emotionally vomit on anyone, speak with care, but share your struggle
7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way. 9 Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
Offering is prepared
Cart is yoked to cows who are not harness trained AND have babies
10 The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11 Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. They stayed on that one highway, lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
Cows walked directly to Israel
Beth-Shemesh was the closest Israeli territory
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
15 The Levites removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
The Philistine rulers walked behind the cows all the way until they saw the Israelites take over
Gath to Ekron was 6 miles
Gath to Beth Shemesh was probably under 2
Immediately the Israelites gave sacrifice to God for the return of the Ark
It had been about 7 months
17 As a guilt offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.
19 God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20 The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord this holy God? To whom should the ark go from here?”
21 They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.”
Life of a Christian
Willful neglect (knowing the truth, but not obeying the truth)
Rejoicing (God’s blessing and presence)
Disobedience (refusing to follow God’s instructions)
Eliminate God, and you eliminate guilt
Establish yourself as God (phrases like my body, abortion is women's health, being trans is just self-expression) and then what you decide is always right
When this happens, communities break, countries die, and judgment ensues
Christian! Lead your family and those around you in Confession of sin, repentance from sin, and worship of the one true God!!