The Philistines have had the ark in their possession for 7 months. During that time they’ve suffered all sorts of disasters. People have broken out in lumps, some have died. At least one of their idols has been knocked down and destroyed. And eventually they decide it’s time to get rid of this problem. Send the ark back to Israel. But how best to do it? They can’t admit to the Israelites that they’ve made a mistake in capturing the ark. That would be too great an admission of weakness. So they ask their diviners and priests what they should do.
Now remember when the Israelites suffered their first defeat at the hands of the Philistines. They asked why it had happened, but they didn’t wait to get an answer. But here the Philistines not only ask the right question. They go to their religious leaders to find out the answer. And the answer they get appears to be the right one. In fact they say 2 things. First they need to make a peace offering to God appropriate to the disaster they’ve been experiencing. Gold tumors and mice seem the appropriate things. Presumably the mice are seen as the cause of the plague they’ve been experiencing. There may have been a plague of mice that accompanied the outbreak of tumors. In fact it could have been that this plague was something like bubonic plague that we now know is carried by rodents and that shows itself in tumours or boils.
The second thing they say is that the ark needs to be carried by 2 cows that have never borne a yoke. In other words animals that are suitable for carrying the ark of God because they’ve never carried anything else. Of course they have something else in mind in suggesting this idea. They want to check whether in fact it is God who’s behind this disaster. They figure that if it isn’t God who’s done this, then, being milk cows, they’ll simply turn around and go looking for their calves. But if God is behind it then he’ll lead them back to Israel. Well, the cows head straight up the road to Israel leaving their hungry calves behind. The ark is on its way home.
Now notice that the reason the ark is coming home has nothing to do with the Israelites. Throughout this part of the story the factor that’s at the fore is the superstitious attitudes of the Philistines. Yet God can use even those sorts of false beliefs to bring about his will. God can work through all sorts of media to bring his divine will to completion.
We sometimes wonder why people of other religions at times seem to understand the world better than people who have grown up in a Christian culture. Well, perhaps this gives us an idea of the answer to that question. God even uses people’s pagan understanding of the world to teach them truths about his creation.
Anyway, the ark gets to the border of Israel, to the town of Beth-shemesh and there we see a microcosm of what’s the general situation in Israel at the time. There are those living there who are believers in God, who know what the ark represents and what they should do with it. What’s the appropriate thing to do when God is in your midst? It’s to worship him. Here they have the ark and, ironically, the Philistines have even provided the wherewithal for a sacrifice. The cart and the animals having been used for such a sacred purpose are just the thing to be offered up to God in worship. The cart stops next to a large stone which is just what you need for an alter to the Lord. So that’s what they do. They happen to have some Levites living among them so they’re enlisted to carry out the sacrifice. They break up the cart and burn it. They slaughter the cows and offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord. And the Philistine lords having seen this, return home satisfied that they’re in the clear. They’ve done the right thing.
But then we find a sad thing. God has brought the ark back to Israel. It seems that the reason for the disaster they suffered at the hands of the Philistines has been forgiven. The people of Beth-shemesh have made the appropriate response of worship. Yet there are some in Israel who either don’t understand the significance of this day, or simply don’t have any respect for the Lord. The text isn’t quite clear what happens exactly. Some suggest that these 70 men looked inside the ark. Others simply refer to them as not rejoicing when the ark returned. Perhaps they were afraid they might suffer the same illnesses as the Philistines. Perhaps they simply didn’t care that the Lord was back in their midst. But whatever their sin, their lack of respect for the Lord, their lack of piety, was serious enough that 70 of them died.
Again we discover just how dangerous it is to mess with the living God. He has to be taken seriously. You can’t just ignore him and you certainly can’t afford to oppose him.
Well, the ark is then moved to Kireath-jearim. The people of Beth-shemesh have been frightened off by these deaths, so the ark is moved once more, this time to remain where it is for 20 years. And so the comedy of the ark comes to an end.
But then begins a new phase in the history of Israel. God had given the people a law and priests to lead them. But those means had failed. The priesthood had let them down. The law had failed to keep them from the worship of false gods. So now God has sent them a new leadership. He’s raised up Samuel to be his spokesperson, his prophet to lead his people and to bring them back to the true worship of him.
That’s how his leadership begins. He calls the people together and tells them they need to stop worshipping the gods, both foreign and local, that they’ve been worshipping. There is only one true and living God so they should be worshipping him alone. If they’ll do that then God will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. Now notice that this is neither the first, nor the last time that God has sent this message to his people. It seems to happen every few years in the history of the Judges. It continues to happen with more and more urgency as the history of Israel continues, right down to the time when the Babylonians come down to capture Jerusalem. And the response of the people each time echoes the response we noticed in Beth-shemesh. There are those who respond in worship and there are those who ignore the warnings.
In fact this is a call that continues to be needed to be heard by God’s people. It’s a call that’s as relevant today as it was back then. It’s actually a call to cleanse ourselves from the influence of the surrounding culture; to devote ourselves to God rather than seeing him as a way of serving ourselves.
You see the pagan worship of the time was directed to Baal and Astartes or Asherah, the local fertility gods. It was based on the premise that human actions can critically affect what happens in life; that the gods can be bribed in some way into doing something that will aid you in your prosperity. Now you’d have to say that much of our western culture operates like that. We think if we just do the things that the gods of economics and banking tell us that we’ll be secure. That we’ll prosper. We think if we listen carefully to the gods of science that our world will be more fertile, more safe, that we’ll live longer, we’ll be healthier, happier.
And you’d have to say that there are those in the western church at least who think of Christianity a bit like that. If we worship God faithfully then he’ll look after us. Disasters will be avoided. He’ll give us success in business. Our marriages will be better. Our children will grow up as good citizens, even good Christians. And it’s all a bit superstitious when you begin to analyse it. Instead we need to worship God alone, not for what he gives us, but because he alone deserves our worship. We need to commit ourselves to his agenda, not our own.
And that’s what happens here as Samuel calls them to repent. They respond in obedience. They put away the worship of Baal and Astartes and determine to worship the Lord alone. And so Samuel’s leadership of the nation begins on the best possible basis. He calls the whole nation together at Mizpah. They repent, confessing their sins, they fast and they pray.
Now the Philistines haven’t been hiding away during all this. They’ve been keeping a close eye on Israel. They’re a threat to their sovereignty, so they’ve been watching what happens in Israel. So when this national gathering happens the Philistines decide it’s time to act. Forget what they’ve learnt in the incident with the ark. They decide a preemptive strike is in order. "Attack the Israelites before they have time to attack us" seems to be their thinking. And how would you expect the Israelites to react under such a threat? It’s not that long since the defeat that saw the ark captured. So the people are afraid. But this time they choose the right option. Remember in that previous battle, they simply did the first thing that came to mind? They got the ark down from Shiloh, almost like a lucky charm, without a thought to God, with the result that they were tragically defeated? But this time what do they do?
They turn to Samuel for help. They ask him to pray that God would save them from the hands of the Philistines. Samuel offers up a burnt offering to God. Samuel cries out to the Lord and, we’re told, God answers him. What he says we’re not told, but at that very moment the Philistines attack and God’s answer becomes clear.
We read "The LORD thundered with a mighty voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion; and they were routed before Israel." The Philistines rightly fear the Israelites because of the power of their God and so they attack before Israel can get properly organised. But it isn’t the people of Israel they’re fighting, is it? I mean the Israelites get a piece of the action. They have to chase the Philistines down and kill them. But it’s God who wins the victory. If ever they had any doubt as to whether God was with them or whether God was real, this should have dispelled their doubts. This is God’s victory. It’s the thunder from heaven that causes the rout. The Israelites just do the cleaning up.
Now I hope you can see what’s happening as we begin to read through this book of 1 Samuel. God is beginning to reshape his people’s understanding of the world. They, like most of us, began by thinking that the world revolved around them. But slowly and surely God is showing them, and us, that the world in fact revolves around him. He is the starting point. Everything else follows from that. The invisible is more real than the invisible. Our life priorities are set by God, not by the world around us; not by the popular culture nor by the gods of our day. We mustn’t let outsiders tell us what’s real or what’s important. God is greater than all other forces in our world. Both spiritual and material are the result of his creative power and all are subservient to him. That isn’t a popular message in our day, any more than it was in Samuel’s day. But the same Lord who thundered with a mighty voice to throw the Philistines into confusion continues to speak today calling all people to follow him and him alone. The call to us today is the same as it was to the Israelites in Samuel’s day. Put away the foreign gods in your midst. Direct your heart to the LORD, and serve him only.
Well, let me ask you. Will you do that today? Will you put away the gods of our world? Will you direct your heart to the LORD, and serve him only?
If that’s something that you will do today then you might like to join me in this prayer that I’m about to pray to the Lord, the living God who made heaven and earth.
’Lord of heaven and earth, we pray to you today acknowledging that you and you alone are the one true God. We repent of the way we turn so easily to the gods of our world, to those things that offer us security and prosperity and pleasure even though they’re actually unable to provide what they promise. Instead we offer to you all of our lives, all of our being, to be used as you choose in your service. Take us and use us as you will, to your glory. In Jesus name. Amen’
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