1 Samuel chapter 6.
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 6
Remember the specific context. Chapters 4 to 6 focus on the Ark of the Covenant. Specifically in chapter 4, the children of Israel lost in battle to the Philistines. As a result, they thought if they just took the Ark of the Covenant out with them to battle, then they would certainly win.
But God brought judgment to bear upon them. They were seeking to manipulate the Lord almost as if it was a magical charm or a lucky charm. Let's just bring out the Ark of the Covenant and we shall win. Of course, God brought judgment, Eli died, the Ark had been captured and taken into the Philistine territory.
Chapter 5 takes up the exploits of the Ark. It's a conquered, or it was captured by the Philistines. Everyone that might have been looking on would have said, wow, the God of Israel had been bested by Dagon, the God of the Philistines, but we see in Ashdod and then in Gath and in Ekron, the Lord God brought judgment to bear upon the Philistines. specifically their land, their lives, and their gods. So much so that as we get to chapter 6, the Philistines are more than ready to return the Ark to Israel.
They don't want it in their possession any longer. It has not been a pleasant experience for them. Tumors and death and all those sorts of things were not something that they wanted to hold on to. So that brings us to chapter 6.
I'll begin reading in verse 1. Now the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners saying, what shall we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.
So they said, if you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. but by all means return it to him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you." Then they said, what is the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.
Therefore, you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from you, from your gods and from your land. Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go that they might depart?
Now, therefore, make a new cart. Take two milk cows which have never been yoked and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home away from them. Then take the Ark of the Lord and set it on the cart and put the articles of gold which you are returning to him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away and let it go. and watch if it goes up the road to its own territory to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil.
But if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us. It happened to us by chance. Then the men did so. They took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart and shut up their calves at home.
And they set the Ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it.
Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stood there. A large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it in which were the articles of gold and put them on the large stone.
Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord. So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord. One for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. and the golden rats according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
Then he struck the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck 50,070 men of the people. And the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth Shemesh said,
Who Can Stand Before God?
who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us? So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-Jerim saying, the Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up with you.
And the men of Kirjath-Jerim came and took the ark of the Lord. and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord. Amen. So thus ends the reading concerning the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Israel's territory.
Introduction
I want to look at three things this evening and then draw out some practical lessons or applications from this particular chapter.
The Plan to Return the Ark
The first is the plan to return the Ark. Secondly, the Ark at Beth Shemesh. And then thirdly, the Ark at Kirjath-Jerom. Remember that the Ark of the Covenant was that visible representation of the invisible God.
However, he was not contained in it. It was not as if wherever the Ark was, there was the Lord. However, there was that sign and signification that the Ark did represent the presence of God Almighty. Certainly we see that it departs, or the glory of the Lord is said to have departed in Chapter 4 when Israel was conquered and when the Ark of the Covenant was captured.
But we see the glory of the Lord manifest in Chapter 5 through His judgment. Notice at Chapter 5 at verse 6, but the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod. Remember, when Dagon fell the second time, his head fell off and his hands fell off. And so what we have in contrast is the hand of the Lord was heavy.
Heavy there has the same idea as glory. So God's glory is manifested in his heavy hand of judgment. upon the people of the Philistines. And that is interesting, that when these priests and diviners give counsel, they say very specifically, or they speak specifically to this, in verse 5 of chapter 6, perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. So they were conscious of the fact that they were under the judgment of God, though there was some that obviously thought that it could have been chance, which we'll see as we move along. the Ark of the Lord is going to be returned to Israel.
We see this plan, we see first his severity or his judgment. Verse 1 tells us the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. Again, it wasn't just sitting there as a decorative item or as something in comparison to Dagon, but rather it brought judgment to bear upon Dagon in his own temple and then it brings judgment upon those cities that we've seen in chapter 5. So certainly we understand why the Philistines want a part with the Ark of the Covenant.
They don't want it in their presence anymore. It's interesting that the men of Beth Shemesh respond in like manner. After God kills many in their particular village or town, they send it off to Kirjath-Jerah. There is this reality that God's judgment is something we want to try and avoid and escape, but incidentally or ironically, we can never escape it.
We can't send it away. We can't just trot it off to another city and think that somehow we're going to be okay. The God of heaven and earth certainly will bring his judgment to bear upon all those who are contrary to his will and way. And you need to see the consistency of God as well.
He's not arbitrary. He's not capricious. He doesn't just pick on a certain people group. When the Philistines sin against God, God brings judgment to bear upon them.
When the men of Beth Shemesh, who are part of the covenant community, sin against God, God brings judgment to bear upon them as well. The hand of justice, the hand of judgment is sure. God is no respecter of persons. Those who by his grace are safely in Christ will indeed pass into glory.
But all those outside of Christ, even if they make a profession, but they do not possess saving faith. They will be cast aside. They will be told by the Lord Jesus to depart from me, for I never knew you. Depart into that place that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
So the Philistines, at least as far as we can tell, are wise in wanting to get rid of the ark, because as far as they're concerned, that has brought mayhem upon their land. But certainly they cannot get rid of the living and the true God. The hand of God was heavy upon Dagon. The hand of God was heavy upon Ashdod.
The hand of God was heavy upon Gath and Ekron. Davis says, this was no tame god the Philistines had conquered. You couldn't just put him in a temple alongside of Dagon and hope that he played well with this idol. Davis says, the ark had fallen into their hands, but they had fallen into Yahweh's hands.
So it was an act of judgment. And again, I think that weakness or that power through weakness motif ought to be appreciated. It looked as if God had been captured. It looked as if his symbol, representative of his presence had been captured and vanquished and brought into enemy territory.
Well, it's in that position of so-called disadvantage that he brings this kind of judgment to bear upon the enemies of the Lord. Notice, they fetch the religious leaders at this particular time. Verse 2, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners saying, what shall we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.
The lords of the Philistines didn't have very good answers. The lords of the Philistines in chapter 5 just said, send it to the next city. Send it to the next city. Send it to the next city.
Well, that was not a successful maneuver. So they step it up now. They go over the heads of the political leaders of the lords of the Philistines. They go to the religious men.
They go to the priests and the diviners. And this, Samora captures what's going on in this situation. If you remember last week, when we saw that the Ark was captured, or two weeks ago, that showed the absolute conquest of a particular people group. When a people were conquered, their gods were captured, it showed the supremacy of that nation that had brought conquest to bear.
Look at what's happening now. They want to get rid of the Ark of the Covenant. This evidence is not their conquest and victory, but it's actually an admission of their defeat. Samara says to send the Ark of Yahweh back would be to acknowledge a religious and political defeat.
You see, they want to preserve themselves, but in so doing, they are making an admission, an honest confession, that they lost to Israel's God. They didn't lose to Israel on the field of battle, but they certainly could not overtake Israel's God. This has now become a concern for the ministers of Philistia. And such a decision would not be made lightly, especially since there were apparently some who did not believe the link between the Ark and the plague was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
But now they admit defeat and ask the priests how to go about sending the Ark back. So they ask, what shall we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place. Now, imagine if this was our call to worship, bring a golden image of your tumor and of your rats, and we shall present them to the living and true God." It seems to be the case that the Philistines had some understanding of Israel's worship.
They understood something about a trespass offering. They understood something of seeking to appease God. It could have been as well a cultural pagan thing. The Philistines' religious practices in Chapter 6 were common Canaanite practices reflecting Eastern Mediterranean religious and cultural traditions.
Again, it seems bizarre to us, but they had a purpose, they had a reason, and this is what the priests and the diviners said.
The Trespass Offering and Pagan Counsel
the necessity to send a trespass offering in the hopes that the God of Israel would stay his hand or would lighten his hand such that they would not suffer under his judgment any longer. This is what the diviners and these priests counsel. Notice, in verse 4 specifically, Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land." If we take the older interpretation that this was indeed Hemorrhoids, that would have certainly been an interesting undertaking, for them to make images of such things.
There's a whole host of stuff written on these rats, and on these tumors, and on all that is going on here. We're just scratching the surface, so to speak. But the bottom line is, send this gift of gold in an attempt to stay in the hand of God Almighty. Perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land.
Now it seems to be the case that not everybody in Philistia was convinced that this was the necessary response. That's verse 6. Notice in verse 6, why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? You could hear it now.
You could hear the rumbling. Here's your instruction. Make these tumors, make these rats, set them on this cart, grab these milk cows, and send them off to Beth Shemesh. Certainly some would say, well, why would we send this gold all the way to Beth Shemesh?
We are Philistines. We don't want to give our gold away. Didn't we just win the battle? Didn't we just conquer their god?
Didn't we just house them alongside of Dagon? Perhaps it was a gust of wind. that happened twice for Dagon. We can't necessarily conclude that this is the God of Israel bringing judgment to bear upon us. There was a reluctance on the part of some, and this is why the priests and the diviners remind them of the event that happened to Egypt.
Very interesting. The nations around Israel understood what was going on. In fact, this was in the Song of Moses in Exodus 15. After the Exodus, Moses composes a song that rehearses the glory of God in the salvation of his people and bringing them out from the land of Egypt.
In Exodus 15, 14, it says specifically, the people will hear and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. You see, the priests and the diviners understand the score. They are trying to rally the entirety of Philistia to say, we need to send these tumors, we need to send these rats, we need to stay the hand of God Almighty.
Because if we don't, we're going to continue to bleed, we're going to continue to die, we're going to continue to see our gods held in contempt. They didn't just have Dagon. Notice specifically in verse 5 they had a plurality of gods. The longer that Yahweh trotted around Philistia, as far as they were concerned, the longer he would do damage and mayhem and wreck everything that the Philistines held near and dear.
So the priests and the diviners here are giving good counsel. They say specifically in verse 6, why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts when he did mighty things among them? Did they not let the people go that they might depart? You need to learn from historical precedence.
You need to see the judgment of God Almighty. you need to understand and realize that if we do not let this ark go back to Israel with this offering, then we will suffer the same fate that they themselves suffer. Now notice the method of transport. Again, there seems to be a little bit of hesitancy among some in Philistia. How do we know it's really God?
How do we know we haven't just fallen into some bad luck? Well, that's what 7 to 9 is given to deal with. Notice verse 7, now therefore make a new cart take two milk cows which have never been yoked and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home away from them then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart and put the articles of gold which you are returning to him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away and let it go.
And watch, if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us, it happened to us by chance." You see, they're trying to determine whether this is of Yahweh or whether this is a chance or fortuitous event, a stroke of bad luck. and they stack the deck against the God of Israel. You understand that? Take two milk cows which have never been yelled.
They had no training whatsoever in this whole scheme. Milk cows want to do what? They want to give suck to their calves. That's what milk cows want to do.
If you take your hand off of a milk cow and its calf is nearby, it will go to the calf so that it can feed the calf. It's quite similar to humans, right? A mother who has a baby who nurses, nurses the baby. They are stacking the deck in such a way to make sure that if indeed these cows trot off to Beth Shemesh, they will in fact conclude that this is the hand of the God of Israel.
The Test: Milk Cows and Providence
Notice, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, hitch the cows to the cart, and take their calves home away from them. The natural tendency of a milk cow is to satisfy her young, not to pull a cart, which she has never done before, loaded with golden tumors and rats about a 15-mile trek up the road. You see what I mean? They're stacking the deck.
They're not making this easy. If, in fact, these two cows trot their way to Beth Shemesh, then even, you know, hard-hearted, hard-headed, Dagon-worshipping Philistines will conclude that this was Yahweh of Israel. Now, the fact that God Almighty does this is an indicator of his kindness, his mercy, his grace, and his desire to reveal his glory to the sons of men, even if they are Philistines. The purpose behind this plan was to see if Yahweh or chance had struck them.
Davis describes the scene this way. Hence, in their view, they have provided the opportunity for God to write his signature across their circumstances, and they made it as difficult as possible for him to do so. Even city boys should know that any cows in their right maternal minds would naturally go back to their sucking calves that had been penned up at home. One certainly wouldn't expect them, contrary to nature, to go walking off toward Israel as if in the grip of an invisible hand.
If the cows did what no normal cows would do, then the Philistines would know unmistakably that Yahweh had in fact struck Philistia. See, again, what appears to us to be an odd request by the priests and the diviners was a means employed by Philistia to determine whether this was of God or whether this was of chance.
God Preaches Through the Cows
So God, of course, evidences. He preaches to them, not through prophets in this instance, but through the lowing of the cattle who wandered their way over to Beth Shemesh, that in fact God the Lord's hand had been heavy upon the Philistines, and that the tumors that they had suffered, the bleeding that they had undergone, the death that they had witnessed, the fall of Dagon, the headlessness of Dagon, the handlessness of Dagon. All of this was, in fact, to be ascribed to the God of heaven and earth. It was a very powerful message that these two milk cows were able to preach under the sovereignty of our great and our glorious God.
So that brings us to the cows, or the ark, rather, at Beth Shemesh.
The Ark at Beth Shemesh
Notice in verses 10 to 19. Verse 10. Then the men did so. They took milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
They set the Ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth-shemesh." This is like glorious. God's preaching to Philistines. Not in the manner that we're doing it here, but the message was as loud and clear.
This just wouldn't happen naturally. It would not be the case that milk cows would go the opposite direction from their calves, and they would just make that trek for 15 miles, and they'd end up in Beth Shemesh to demonstrate, to manifest, and to evidence that the God of Israel is the true and the living God. They set the ark of the Lord on the cart, the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left, they faithfully executed the very commandment of God Most High.
John Gill describes it this way. Lowing as they went on account of their calves, which showed their sense of them and their natural affection for them, and yet went on, did not attempt to go back to them, by which it was plain they were under a supernatural influence. How do you explain this? The men of Philistia got it at this point.
They concluded, with those cows trotting off to Beth Shemesh, we have not been struck by bad luck. He goes on to say, and turn not aside to the right or to the left, when other ways presented, on the right hand or on the left, They kept going straight on in the road that led to the place they were destined for, all which can be reckoned nothing less than a miracle. You see, the same way that God employs the great fish or the whale to swallow Jonah and cough him up on the, or to vomit him up on the seashore, the same way that God uses ravens to feed Elijah, the same way that God is in sovereign control over the entirety of the universe, this is how he displays himself to these hard-headed, hard-hearted Philistines. They thankfully got the message.
They understood at this point that it was indeed the God of Israel. Now, what happened to them after, the account doesn't tell us. Do they return to Dagon? Do they just say, wow, I'm glad that's over?
This business is normal for them from that day on? More than likely that is the case. Men can witness miraculous displays of God Most High. Men can see glorious things and they can be impressed and then all the while say, well, I better go back to my shoe repair business.
Remember in Matthew 11, 20 to 24, Jesus upbraids the cities of his day. He says, woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Why?
Because they saw the mighty miracles of Jesus and they did not repent. We need to understand this reality, brethren. We can't prove to man that they should believe. We give them the information.
We prayerfully ask the Spirit to open their hearts and enable them to receive the truth. We don't have the ability to reason men into the kingdom.
Total Depravity and Evangelism
Men are dead in their trespasses and sins. Men have total depravity and total inability. We do not have the power or the ability to change the heart. Men must be born again.
We cannot show them miraculous things and make them become Christians. There must be the new birth. Men must be born again by the power of the Spirit. from on high." So what happened to these Philistines? They probably did go right back to Dagon, they probably did go right back to their other gods, they probably bowed in their presence and confessed them as Lord, having seen these milk cows preaching to them the sovereignty of the God of heaven and earth.
It truly is an amazing display of God's kindness in revealing himself to even these pagans, but it shows us the hardness of men's heart that they may witness the glorious works of God most high and continually refuse. Remember when the Lord Jesus talked to his disciples, he said, it's easier. for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And what did the disciples say? They say, who then can be saved?
And Jesus says, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Brethren, when you go to evangelize, or you go to witness, or you talk to your friends, or your neighbors, or your relatives, or your children, we give the information, and we give it convincingly, and we give it passionately, and we reason from the scriptures. Apollos was a man who was mighty in the scriptures. He was eloquent.
Acts 14, it tells us that the apostles so spake that a great multitude believed. We need to be faithful. We need to be earnest, but we need to realize that we don't have the power to change a man's heart. We present the information, we pray to God Most High, who not only has the power, but he's full of grace and compassion and love and kindness and a willingness to save sinners.
More so than we. We don't always display that kind of compassion. Remember that instance when Zacchaeus runs up the sycamore tree and Jesus comes along and says, hurry down because I'm going to eat at your house tonight. What was the response of the fellow sinners to Zacchaeus?
They grumbled, they murmured, they complained, they didn't like the fact Or they didn't like the thought that this tax collector was going to have dinner with Jesus. Well, Jesus underscores this entire lesson. He says, the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. In other words, God is a compassionate God.
God is merciful. God has purposed the salvation of a great multitude that no man can number. Our task is to be faithful in presenting the truth of the Scripture. Our task is to be faithful in preaching the truth of the Gospel.
It is God's task, and His alone, to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ. So we don't know what happened to these Philistines. Probably, judging by human nature, they probably went right back to their gods. Now notice, we find the lords of the Philistines at the end of verse 12 went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh just to make sure that the ark arrived and that it stayed there and then the lords hightailed it back to Philistia.
We are Done with that, as far as they were concerned. Now notice its reception in Beth Shemesh. There is joy in Beth Shemesh. Verse 13, why would there be joy?
Because the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by pagans. The Ark of the Covenant had been placed into the Temple of Dagon. The Ark of the Covenant had fallen into enemy hands. When the men of Beth Shemesh saw the Ark of the Covenant being escorted by the lords of the Philistines, it didn't take a military strategist to figure out something.
They figured out that something happened in Philistia that these Philistines wanted to get rid of the Ark. Would be more than happy to receive it back from their hands. So it's the time of wheat harvest in the valley. They lift their eyes, they see the Ark, they rejoice to see it.
Now these two cows, who had faithfully executed their colleague, continued to faithfully execute their colleague by becoming a sacrifice unto Yahweh. That's how the men of Beth Shemesh treated those milk cows. So they preached the Word of God concerning the mighty God of Israel to the Philistines, and then they served as the sacrifice for the God of Israel when it comes back to Beth Shemesh. So if you're an animal rights lover and you feel bad for these cows realized that the Lord God had employed them for his purposes.
And now they were being continually employed for his purposes. So the ark comes to the field of Joshua. They split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was in it, or with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone.
Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord. So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. So as far as everything is concerned, things are right. The lords of the Philistines are happy.
They've gotten rid of the Ark of the Covenant of the God of Israel. It is back safely in Beth Shemesh. This is Israelite territory. They can go back.
They can bow to Dagon. They can do whatever it is they want to do. The Beth Shemeshians, I don't know if that's correct, but they're happy because the Ark of the Covenant is now recovered. It's back in home country.
It's where it ought to be. They've offered up sacrifices. This was a day of great rejoicing. It's time of wheat harvest.
They're receiving from God and they're praising and blessing God. Verses 17 and 18 summarize what has gone on before. These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering. to the Lord. It rehearses the golden tumors and it tells us about these rats.
It seems like there were more rats than there were tumors because it indicates it was for all the cities of the Philistines. Again, there's some textual difficulties in some of this.
Judgment on Beth Shemesh
Now notice what happens in verse 19. We go from joy in Beth Shemesh, sacrifice in Beth Shemesh, the return of the pagans from Beth Shemesh to a summary statement, to a statement concerning the slaughter of men in Beth Shemesh in verse 19. Notice, then he, God, struck the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Does that mean they lifted the top to examine the contents to see if indeed the Philistines had removed anything?
That might be it, or it might just be that it wasn't covered with the veil and they looked upon it. When that ark was taken on journeys, it was to be covered. It was not to be viewed outside the way it was inside. And so the men of Beth Shemesh violate the law of God.
God had commanded, very specifically in Numbers 4, verses 1 to 20, there was a group called the sons of the Kohathites. And these men were tasked with transporting the Ark of the Covenant. But even these men, these Kohathites, Numbers 4, verse 5, when the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the testimony with it. As best I can tell, Aaron and his sons, a specific class of Levites, were tasked with covering the ark.
The Kohathites, then, were the ones who transported the ark. They picked up the poles. You know how it was to be carried? But they were not looking at the ark.
They were not seeing the ark uncovered. The Kohathites as well, according to verse 15, they shall not touch any holy thing lest they die. You see, there were specific rules. When we get to verse 19, we ought not to go, wow, that's severe.
We understand why God would destroy people in Gath and in Ekron and why he would destroy people in Ashdod, but these are the covenant people. The covenant people are held to a higher standard, first and foremost. The covenant people have the written, revealed will of God. The covenant people have detailed legislation on how they are and are not to treat the Ark of the Covenant.
The fact that there are Levites in Beth Shemesh indicates that these Levites ought to know their job. They ought to know their jobs and they ought to function in a capacity that is consistent with the Holy Word of God. What verse 19 underscores for us is that God is not to be trifled with. God is not to be played with.
God is not Dagon. We don't prop him up. We don't put our hands all over him. We don't manipulate him.
We don't massage him. We don't do with him as the Philistines do with Dagon. The God of Israel is a holy God. The God of Israel is a terrifying God.
The God of Israel is a consuming fire. So the Kohathites were not to see it uncovered. The Kohathites were not to touch any holy thing lest they die. Numbers 4.20 summarizes the entirety.
They shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered lest they die. So the Kohathites were sort of like beacons or some moving company. Holy movers, godly movers, sacred movers, but there were rules. There was a protocol.
While one class of Levites were in preparing the ark for transport, the Kohathites weren't supposed to go in and say, how much longer are you going to be? The Kohathites were not supposed to go in and give them any help or assistance. The Kohathites weren't supposed to say, here's some duct tape, make sure you seal that portion. There were a class of Levites charged to cover the ark.
When the ark exited the holy place, that's when the Kohathites went to work. This is akin to what we find later in Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 6, verses 6 and 7. Remember that fellow Uzzah. The Ark is being transported and the oxen start to shift and the Ark of the Covenant looks like it's about to fall onto the ground.
And what does Uzzah do? Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady the Ark of the Covenant. What happens to Uzzah? Does he, as R.C.
Sproul say, is he thinking he's going to hear from heaven? Thank you, Uzzah, for helping me. No, Uzzah is killed because Uzzah violated the law of God. The idea being is that if the ark actually falls into the mud, the mud is doing what mud does.
Uzzah is a wretch. Uzzah is a sinner and Uzzah has not been authorized to touch that piece of holy furniture. You see, when God speaks to Israel and specifies his mind in terms of the worship procedure, he does not give Israel the right or the privilege or the leeway to the innovators to be creative or to specify who will do what. Everybody towed the line the way they were supposed to tow the line or things like this would occur.
Verse 19, he struck the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Now there is a variant in verse 19. He struck 50,000 and 70 men of the people. Some texts just say 70.
Gil deals with all of the issues involved. 50,000 would have been a lot of men present in a small village like Beth Shemesh. So Gil deals with that. Whether it was 50,000, whether it was 50,000 and 70, or whether it was, may I dare say it, just 70, 70 is a lot of men to die because they looked into the art of the covenant of Yahweh. This is what is going on.
So what are we learning here? Whether in pagan country or in Israelite country, God is not to be messed with. The God of heaven and earth is not to be treated like Dagon. The God of heaven and earth is supreme, he is majestic, he is holy.
Now
The Ark at Kirjath-Jearim
notice, look at the Ark at Kirjath-Jerim, verses 20 and following. Verse 20 is a statement that ought to ring in all of our ears. The men of Beth Shemesh said, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? Now, this was not a request for a priest.
This was not a request for a priest. Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? Is there a priest among us? that will be happy to stand before this holy Lord God. Now the question concerns the power of God.
It concerns the majesty of God. It concerns the burning holiness of God. It concerns the sanctity of God. It concerns the reality that our God is not like us.
Our God is not like the idols of men. This is a most important question, and one that I hope you've reckoned with at some time in your life. Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? I mean, isn't that Job's question in the book of Job?
Isn't that the perennial question for anyone who's ever understood that God is holy and we're not? When we understand that angels stand before Him and they have to cover their faces because He's too pure for them to look upon? When all they do day and night is cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. When we understand something of who God is and then we see ourselves, we see man is wicked and we drink iniquity like water.
We see that all we like sheep have gone astray. We see that the Ten Commandments given by God as a command to us on how to live, we have violated and we continually violate each and every one. He was talking to the older people today at the Cascade. You know, if one to nine doesn't get you, if you with the rich young ruler can say, you know, Lord, all these I have kept from my youth, the tenth will find you out.
It's interesting. It was only the second table that the Lord Jesus used with the rich young ruler. Nobody, nobody can actually do those words. That rich young ruler showed some arrogance when he said, all these I've kept from my youth.
What do you mean? You're kidding me, right? You've always loved your neighbor as yourself. 24 hours a day, you know, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This is why Jesus brings that 10th word to bear upon it.
He was a young man who thought he was righteous in and of himself. Jesus says, go, sell everything you have, give the proceeds to the poor and follow me. Jesus is not prescribing to this man or thinking that this man can actually do this. Jesus is bringing that tenth word and screwing it upon the conscience of this young man to show him his waywardness and his sinfulness.
Brethren, anyone who's ever seen the holiness of God and the sinfulness of men will imitate or will echo, at least inwardly, will verbalize who is able to stand before this holy Lord God. Who among us is there one? Again, in the context, they're not looking for a priest. They're making a statement concerning his power.
So notice, the men of Beth Shemesh do what the men of the Philistines did. So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-Jerim saying, the Philistines have brought back the Ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up with you. I wonder, they said, because God just killed all these men in Beth Shemesh, or if they were still laying there bleeding, However it was that they were disposed.
So they want to get rid of it. They want to get rid of the Ark of the Covenant. They've looked upon it, or 70 or 50,000 or 50,070 of their men looked upon that Ark, and God killed them right before the others. So the Philistines, or rather the men of Kirjath, Jerum, came and took the Ark of the Lord, brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar, his son, to keep the Ark of the Lord.
So it's there for 20 years, as we learn, in 7-2.
Application
Well, some lessons, and then we conclude. First, the sovereignty of God. We've sort of weaved these things in and throughout, but it is good to remind ourselves. I like the way Davis refers to chapters 4 to 6.
He calls it archaeology, not archaeology like the study of old stuff, but ARK eology. The study of the Ark teaches us many lessons. Chapters four to six are packed filled with information concerning our God and in some sense concerning ourselves. The sovereignty of God is seen in chapter four.
He cannot be manipulated by Israelites. He will not be manipulated by Israelites. He will suffer you to lose in battle rather than to allow you to think that he can be contained or controlled or used as a holy horseshoe on the field of battle to bring victory to Israel. Our God is sovereign.
We cannot manipulate him. We cannot use him as a magic charm to accomplish our means or our ends. Secondly, he cannot be conquered by Philistines. Put him in the ark or put him in the temple, put the ark of God in the temple with Dagon and what happens?
Dagon loses. Now remember, this isn't really God. This is the Ark of the Covenant. It's a visible representation of the invisible God.
So it's not as if God himself is actually in the temple with Dagon. This is something that represents the God of heaven and earth. That something that represents the God of heaven and earth took Dagon's head and hands off. clean off, this thing that represents the God of heaven and earth, killed Ashtodites, Gathites, and Ekranites in a most unseemly way. I mean, if it was dysentery, if it was emeralds, if it was whatever, they had issues.
And it was difficult. And the Lord God brought judgment to bear upon them. And then as well, Davis points this out. If you look at chapter six in verse 19.
Our Bibles say, then he struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. There's another variant reading that appears in the Septuagint. I don't want to get too far afield at this particular point. But this reading in the Septuagint says, the sons of Jeconiah didn't rejoice.
I'm not saying, I don't have the skill to know what's, you know, I take what's here as what is supposed to be there. But this variant reading is interesting. The sons of Jeconiah didn't rejoice. They see the Ark of the Covenant, and there was a group of people that didn't rejoice about it.
So the Lord killed them. We taught in chapter 4, we can't manipulate God. We can't bring him out to battle in this Ark of the Covenant and make him do our bidding. But on the other hand, we don't minimize that visible representation of our God.
We don't discount the reality that God has chosen to use this particular vehicle to demonstrate his glory in and through and among his people. If it is the case that the sons of Jeconiah were there and they did not rejoice, God's judgment comes upon people not only for trying to manipulate him and use him as a magic charm, but as well as judgment comes upon those who marginalize him or discount him or don't pay any attention to him that he is worthy of as well. We need to understand this is God as he reveals himself. Secondly, the judgment of God.
He brings it upon the Philistines. Again, in a nasty way, their gods, their land, their lives. He brings judgment upon Israel. Chapter four, they want to use him. brings judgment via Philistines.
Chapter 6, the men of Beth Shemesh look upon the Ark of the Covenant and God struck 50,070 of them. And then the folly of idolatry. I know we drew this out a little bit last week, but just look at what these men in Philistia do. Look at the folly of idolatry, bowing to Dagon even after Dagon has been bested.
The attempt to appease the God of heaven and earth with golden tumors and rats. As if we could buy God off with golden tumors and rats. The scripture is clear. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
And the refusal to repent after God confirmed it was him. Davis makes this observation. Perhaps the majority simply sighed, glad that's over. He says, it's so easy for us sinners, Philistine or otherwise, to respond only to the pain and not to the truth of the situation.
Get that? To the pain and not to the truth of the situation. We don't like the pain. Once the pain's gone, well then we'll go back to normal.
We need to make sure we learn the lessons that the pain has brought to us. Our immediate fears are alleviated, but our heads are no wiser, our hearts no softer. Perhaps the Egyptians have no corner on denseness. We need to learn from this.
When we witness the majesty of God, It ought to promote in us a holy fear and a righteous pursuit of those things which are pleasing in His sight. Woe to us if we like the men of Bathshemesh, or we like the men of Philistia, or we like the men of Chorazin and Bethsaida, who witness the power of God Most High, and it doesn't move us to action. We don't pursue those things which are pleasing in His sight. Those manifestations of the glory and the majesty of God ought to move us to serve the living and the true God.
It's not raw displays of power for its own end, but it's displays of power to silence the enemies of God and to promote fear and obedience in the hearts of his servants. Another lesson, we've seen the sanctity of God, the holiness of Yahweh, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God. No one, right? 1 Samuel 2, verse 2, what does Hannah confess in her prayer of exaltation before the Lord? He is holy.
What do people learn in Leviticus chapter 10 after Nadab and Abihu are put to death? God tells them, I am holy. By those who come to me, I must be regarded as holy. The scriptures are clear.
We studied Malachi the prophet several weeks ago in our evening worship. And what do we learn there? God says, if I'm a father, if I'm a master, then where is my honor? In Matthew chapter 10, what does Jesus tell his disciples?
He tells them not to fear those who can only kill the body, but rather fear him who can kill body and soul and throw both into hell. Brethren, the fear of God has fallen on hard times. There's no fear of God before the eyes of those who profess saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If there was a fear of God permeating our churches, They might look a little bit differently.
The fear of God is that which indeed evidences that we have witnessed and seen and have viewed the holiness and the majesty of God. What was the lesson learned in the book of Acts when they were carrying out the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira? So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. Great fear.
Not, wow, that's an interesting turn of events. Wow, I'm going to tweet that. Wow, I'm going to update my Facebook status and say I just saw Ananias and Sapphira's dead body carried out of the house of God because they lied to the Holy Spirit. No, it was fear.
Acts 9, verse 31, the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified in walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They were multiplied. You see,
The Fear of the Lord
the fear of the Lord is the logical, the necessary, the biblical response to having viewed the holiness and the glory and the sovereignty of the Lord. How are believers told to pursue holiness? 2 Corinthians 7. Verse 1, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Hebrews chapter 12 highlights the reality.
We are to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Why? For our God is a consuming fire. These are New Testament passages.
When did the church think it was OK to forget this whole idea of the fear of God? When did we lose sight of the holiness of God that promotes and produces that fear of God? If the angels that praise the Lord day and night, singing, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of us, have to cover their faces and cover their feet, Then what should sinners like us have to do when we come face to face with the living and true God? If the question of Beth Shemesh has never invaded your mind or your heart, let it do so.
Let it have its way in your heart and realize that this God is indeed a consuming fire. What about Revelation chapter 15? Verse 3, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints.
Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? That's right out of the prophet Jeremiah. It's the same thing Jeremiah asked. Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations?
For indeed, it is your due. But in Revelation 15.4, who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name for? You alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested." Davis again. This is a beautiful statement, he says.
God's people today no longer have the Ark of the Covenant, but we can fall into the same Beth Shemesh mode of thinking. We can forget that Yahweh is holy, in a word, different, and that he does not conform to our expectation of an easygoing God. Our culture does not help us to smash our graven image of the casual God. Our culture proclaims that God must be the essence of tolerance.
He is chummy rather than holy, the man upstairs rather than my father for Jesus' sake. So long as our novelty license plates declare that God is my co-pilot, we can be sure that we have not yet seen the King, Yahweh of hosts. As Jonathan Edwards noted, it is the absence of a godly fear that signifies a lack of the knowledge of God. A.W.
Pink said this, he said, the God of this century no more resembles the sovereign of holy writ than does the dim flickering of a candle, the glory of the midday sun. The God who is talked about in the average pulpit. spoken of in the ordinary Sunday school, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is a figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside the pale of Christendom form gods of wood and stone, while millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a god out of their own carnal minds. In reality they are but atheists, For there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God and no God at all.
A God whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to deity, and far from being a fit object of worship, merits nothing but contempt. That is the reality, brethren. The God with whom we have to do has not gone through some sort of a cosmic car wash. It's not as if Yahweh of Israel went through this phase, and now he's come out into the new covenant era as a easygoing deity.
No, He is a consuming fire. That's in Hebrews. That is a New Testament book. We are to serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.
Revelation, the last time I checked, was a New Testament book. Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations? For indeed, it is Your due. God has not changed, brethren.
It is we that have changed. We have lost sight of the holiness of God, the supremacy of God, the sovereignty and the majesty of God. In short, the Godhood of God. When the church loses the Godhood of God, that affects her worship, it affects her life, it affects everything.
The issue that is necessary today is that we recover or return to this reality that God is all in all. I had a personal experience the other day. I don't want to necessarily share my personal experiences, but it's interesting because today in the ARBCA, in the association, it is time for persons in other churches to write their responses concerning this doctrine of impassibility. Well, we were working together as the theology committee recently, and we were going through the position paper, specifically the section on the systematic theology.
If you've not read that yet, I encourage you to do so, because it sets forth the godhood of God. We're reading through that paper, and at one point, one of the brothers, a man I'm well familiar with, said, you know, we should just stop and worship at this point. This isn't putting God under the microscope and just formulating theological doctrine. This is the means to produce and promote worship.
You see, brethren, the reason why in our church we try to preach on theology and doctrine and scripture and all these things is because we understand this basic truth that theology, what we know concerning God, drives doxology, how we praise and worship our God. If we don't know who God is, we are not going to worship Him accordingly. If we do not know this Holy God, we are not going to respond in kind. The last observation before we leave is we ought to see and appreciate the mercy of God in this passage.
You see, He needed to go through no car wash, or no phase change, or no altercation, because God is unchanging and unchanged. He's always been all that He is. And he will continue to be for all eternity. There's grace, there's mercy, there's love, there's kindness.
And we see evidence here. First in the two milk cows. God revealed himself to these pagans. They didn't deserve anything.
They did not deserve any whiff whatsoever of the true knowledge of God. But those cows, lowing their way off to Beth Shemesh on that 15-mile walk, showed these pagans there is a God in Israel. But secondly, we know the answer to verse 20, don't we? Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?
There is one, and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of him, all those who by God's grace believe are in union with him. He gathers up his elect. He brings us into the presence of God.
And so to answer the question to the men of Beth Shemesh, Jesus Christ is his name. He is the mediator of the new covenant, of the better covenant, and all of the elect, by virtue of his saving benefit, have life eternal in him. So praise God for his mercy, revealed through milk cows and revealed in an answer to a perennial question, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? It is Christ.
It is the one who obeyed the law, the one who died as a sacrifice, the one who rose again. And by God's grace, those who are in union with him shall enter in to the presence of God. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for your holiness, and your majesty, and for your glory. And God, I pray that as we witness these things in the pages of scripture, that we would worship you aright, and that we would live aright. God, forgive us that we often wander. Forgive us that we often sin.
We have so much knowledge and so many benefits that you have poured out upon us. Help us to live in a manner that is consistent with that holy gospel, Help us to conduct ourselves in the fear of God and to glorify and honor your great name. We thank you for this time together. We thank you for the lessons in 1 Samuel 4-6.
We thank you that you've not left us in this world of darkness and that you've communicated to us through cows, but as well through prophets and apostles and through the Lord Jesus Christ. How we praise you for your word, for your revelation, and help us to be students of it. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.