1 Samuel 6 (Philistines Send the Ark to Beth Shemesh / God's Wrath Displayed)

Alright this morning.

We're going to be looking at 1st Samuel chapter 6 so to bring everyone up to speed in

chapter 4 of 1st Samuel Israel went to battle with the Philistines and

Because of the behavior of Eli's sons Eli was the judge and a high

priest.

Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas they had corrupted the ministry.

They had profaned the ark of the testimony and because of that Israel was

defeated in battle by the Philistines and the ark was captured and Then

once the Philistines took the ark They put it in the temple of their

false God Dagon who was a fish God.

You know half fish half man.

So that the imagery is that Dagon could stand victorious over the God of the Hebrews.

Well, that didn't work out very well as you can imagine the

graven image of Dagon was toppled and Then the people were plagued

by tumors.

So they realized that this was From the hand of the Lord, so they sent the ark into a different

Philistine City.

Those people were struck.

They sent it to another Philistine City and on and on it went.

So all of that that we've been reading it really sets forth this truth that the

God of the Israelites He is the true God He

is the Lord and he must be regarded as holy.

Also, this continues the theme That we saw in the books of Moses

Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy that God really the way he is depicted in the Old

Testament the Lord is depicted as being unapproachable.

People are only able to come near and come near to the ark the proper way

through the priesthood and all of this is really a Symbol of how our

God the scripture says is a consuming fire.

He is Unapproachable we are not acceptable Before his sight.

The only way we can be made acceptable is Through the priesthood of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

So those that's the symbolism.

So with those things in mind We see more of the same.

So let's begin reading first Samuel chapter 6 starting in verse 1.

It says now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months in.

The Philistines called for the priests and the diviner 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 away 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.

Why his hand is not removed from you.

Then they said what is this trespass offering?

Which we shall return to him and they answered five golden tumors and five

golden rats.

According to the number of the Lords of the Philistines and I'll explain that in a moment.

But 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 ravaged 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 The Lord has

done this great evil.

That is the Lord has afflicted you with this great plague this disaster.

But if not, if they do not go to their own territory.

Then we will know that it is not his hand that struck us it just

happened to us by chance then verse 10 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 golden rats in 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.

Okay, we'll stop here and you know, this might seem like an odd way of determining things, you know.

Is this a plague from God?

How do we figure out what's going on?

Well, yeah, go get these cows in this cart.

Well well again, we'll explain that in a moment, but.

First the Ark of the Covenant.

How's the chapter start out?

The Ark of the Covenant is in the country of the Philistines and it's been there for how long?

Seven months, you know sometimes we read the Bible from one verse to another or one chapter to

another and we get the idea that Only a day or two has passed.

But really sometimes from one verse to another.

Several weeks may have gone by from one chapter to another.

Several years could have gone by so it's helpful when the Bible clarifies so

over this time period.

Of the Ark being handed off from one city to another this has caused great

harm in the nation of the Philistines.

So here's the thing to mishandle the Ark is to offend God.

So when God is angry, this is the type of thing that happens God is angry and he

strikes the Philistines, you know today many people have lost this concept of the

holiness of God.

And certainly people have lost this concept of the wrath of God.

Mainly because of the soft -soaked churches in ministries that only want to talk about the love

of God now God is a God of love.

God is more loving and compassionate that you more so than you can even imagine.

And.

We.

Consistently talk about the love of God and without God's grace, right?

This is the whole gospel message without the grace of God.

There would be no hope for us.

But some churches like I said the soft -soaked churches, you know, they only want to talk about God's love.

Well, here's the thing God also is a God of justice.

God also has standards and a just God when he is

Offended when people rebel and go against the Lord bad

things happen.

Now that was true back then it's still true right now.

I mean look at our country.

We're we're moving away from God we've been moving away from God for Generations

now and we're seeing the fruit of that bad things are happening.

So this is a universal Principle and there's a danger.

When you talk only, you know one side about God's love, but you don't talk about the other

side.

I.

Understanding person that you know.

Think of the most kind patient understanding person, you know.

Do you have them in mind?

Okay.

Even they have a limit.

Let's say somebody assaulted their child or killed their only son.

You would see their wrath probably and this of course is what mankind has done to

God.

God sent his only son into the world and Mankind did what they despised him.

They mocked him.

They spit in his face and they crucified him.

Oh.

What kind of God would do this the kind of God that doesn't put up with this?

So naturally God has wrath and don't miss this the ark.

How does this tie into the ark the ark is symbolic for the ministry of Jesus?

The blood applied to the mercy seat pictures the blood of Christ the Lamb

of God.

So how people treat the ark like it's no big deal and we can do with it.

Whatever we want this is a picture of how people treated Christ and That his death

and still people today when they hear about Christ's death on the cross.

They don't care.

It's no big deal.

Who cares?

I'm gonna live life my way.

So all of that to say this God's wrath is real and that's why God has

wrath.

Because people have done these great atrocities and when people let's say when somebody goes out and commits

murder.

Not only are they committing that act against the person or when you steal from someone?

You're not just stealing from that person the person that's offended or that's harmed was made in God's

image.

Every sin is a sin against God.

So God's wrath is real.

Also, God's wrath is not arbitrary or capricious.

The Philistines being struck by this plague.

God isn't doing it just because he's having a bad day.

There's real reasons why this is happening.

They are defiling the ark of the testimony.

They're basically spitting in God's face defiling his own son.

I mean, that's that's the connection.

So really it all boils down to this.

Do people fear God.

Do people fear God.

And the answer most of the time is no and to the Philistines fear of the Lord.

No, but they're starting to so the ark.

Being amongst the Philistines.

This has caused a great deal of death and destruction.

At this point they're starting to wake up to all this.

They just want it gone.

So, how do you do that, how do we get rid of it we've been mishandling it up until this point.

We don't want to make another mistake.

So what do they do?

They turn to their own scholars their own religious leaders for advice.

Verse 2 says that 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 these.

Men the priests and the diviners these men were skilled not only in their own religion.

They were also knowledgeable about other religions.

The word diviner you know, I think of someone today who has a divinity degree.

You know and how do they get that?

And this would have been true to you know some degree for the the priests of the Philistines they would have had to have

received several years of Training not only in their own religion, but also taught

about the other faith systems and practices.

So Today if the average person has no idea about Religious

matters and there's someone in your town or someone, you know in the family who has a master's degree

of divinity.

You know, whatever that is.

You know, that's not in the Bible.

But you if somebody didn't have any clue about religious things They would probably turn to the person who has the

degree of divinity, right?

I mean it that makes sense.

But of course that doesn't mean that these people they might know some facts, but it doesn't mean they

believe the truth.

So these priests were false priests the diviners, I mean they were like sorcerers and really.

And a lot of people who come out of seminaries with master's degrees.

I mean if you have you read the faith matters Articles in the Greenfield Recorder yeah, some of these

people are rank pagans and some of them practice palm reading and sorcery and

divination so I mean it's just a mess out there, but Here's here's the point.

Based on how most seminaries today are liberal and woke and unbelieving I wouldn't have

a lot of confidence in what they have to say.

So the priests and the diviners of the Philistines, they don't really know.

I Don't really know what they're doing.

God is using this God God's hand God's sovereign hand is

guiding human history.

So even when people do things that are evil Crucifying Jesus or even when these

priests and diviners, you know, they think they know what they're doing.

They don't but God is using all of this For his glory for his

purposes.

But you get it these were the men of the Philistines the priests and the diviners they would have had the knowledge

about these things.

They would have had some knowledge about the God of Israel.

So it says in verse 3 if you send the ark of the God of Israel do not send it

away empty.

But by all means return it to him with a trespass offering.

Then you will be healed.

So there is this idea of a God here's the basic thing they did understand.

There's this idea that God needs to have his wrath.

Appeased the New Testament word would be propitiation.

That is a biblical term.

So this is just basic.

It's basic in religion.

It's basic in humanity and real life.

The people need to be appeased and God needs to be appeased.

The true God has been sinned against.

So therefore the Philistines did this terrible thing and offending God.

They need to now offer something to show how they realize their guilt.

They make this offering to try to make things right.

The Old Testament sacrifices and offerings Prescribed by Moses are given to Moses by God

Prescribed for the Israelites all of these things we know they pointed ahead to that full and final

sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

And the devil being the great counterfeiter that he is, you know.

If the devil wants confusion you have a true church here if the devil wants to cause

confusion.

For God's people that's the devil just set up his own church across the street.

That'll create mass confusion.

That's the way the devil is he's a counterfeiter.

This is why you hear people Today, they say things like, you know, this isn't really true.

But there's an element of truth to every lie people say how all religion is basically the same,

right?

You've heard this.

All religions are more or less the same.

No, but there are similarities.

Why.

Because in the beginning you had The truth in the beginning you add the one true

faith.

Think about it you had Adam and Eve they sinned they realized their nakedness.

An Animal had to die in order to make clothing.

They tried to do it their own way with vegetation, right?

The fig leaves that wasn't good enough.

So God killed an animal their children Cain and Abel they offered Sacrifices unto

the Lord Cain offered Vegetation vegetables.

It was not good enough Abel.

However offered an animal sacrifice a blood sacrifice.

That was.

Accepted so the truth was there and from there it was corrupted

into all the different false religions We have now.

With their forms of sacrifices and offerings so I Say this is the

true religion.

Or this is true in religion.

And it's true in real life when you offend somebody.

What do you do?

When you offend someone, what do you do?

You apologize now, let's just take married couples for a moment.

You admit you're wrong and then you go and apologize and buy her flowers, right?

I'm not sure what the equivalent is of what women do when they admit they're wrong.

I guess they're just always right.

Maybe I'm kidding.

Of course, but send your angry letters to PO box 42 in Leverett, Massachusetts.

But the leaders of the Philistines understand that to some degree

God the God of Israel has to be appeased.

That's how religion works.

They then recommend this trespass offering five golden tumors

and five golden rats.

Okay.

Now this is strange the number five.

Why five?

Well, it's for the five lords of the Philistines who ruled over the five cities that were affected

the rats.

Spread the plague that caused the tumors so here's the thing by fashioning these

objects the tumors and the rats golden tumors and golden rats.

By fashioning those objects they were recognizing that these things

Were a punishment from the hand of God then they bring

up the Egyptians they bring up the Exodus.

In other words, the priests are saying Have you not learned anything?

Because all the surrounding nations knew the story Pharaoh had let Israel go you need to send away the

ark then God will relent.

So they come up with this plan.

That's like, okay.

Let's learn from The story about the Egyptians, well, let's not just harden our

heart and just get crushed here.

But let's let's be smart.

So they come up with this plan to send the ark Away on a cart pulled by

cows they say take two milk cows that have never been in a yoke and

Separate from their separate them from their calves.

This way.

The reason would be it would be a natural For them to get

hooked up and just walk off in the other direction.

They have cow calves at home.

They've never been Attached to a cart.

They don't know what to do.

So if they just head straight towards the the land of Israel then we'll know that

This was all a plague from the hand of God, but if we hook them up to

this yoke and They just stand there because they don't know what to do and they don't want to

leave their calves if they just stand there.

Okay, we'll realize this is just all a coincidence.

So that's the situation there.

So what happens verse 12?

They they hooked the cat the cows up and it says in verse 12 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.

Okay, so that settles that Now this city Beth Shemesh Meaning

the house of the Sun.

This is one of the cities that belonged to the Levites.

The tribe of Levi this was the priestly tribe.

So this city Seems to be a good place For the ark to go right the Levites

are there.

Make sense two things though.

Number one.

How are they going to treat the ark?

Just because they're Levites doesn't mean they get a free pass to do whatever they want and besides that number two the

ark really It belonged in the tabernacle.

So things went bad.

When the Philistines had the ark just because it's going back to Israel doesn't mean everything's going to work out

fine.

And indeed it doesn't.

So the cows bring the ark to Beth Shemesh.

The Lords of the Philistines followed behind at a distance to see what happened verse 13 that says 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.

This would have been exciting.

Verse 14 then the ark 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.

They had served a sacred purpose.

You couldn't just send them back into the field.

So they sacrificed them.

Verse 15 the Levites then 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.

Okay.

So the Philistines are saying we're gonna wipe our hands of this.

Let's go home.

This is finished.

Okay, so everything's good then right.

Wrong in verse 19 It says the Lord struck the men of Beth Shemesh because they have

looked into the art of the Lord he struck 50 ,000 and

70 men of the people and the people lamented because the Lord had

struck the people with a great slaughter.

50 ,000 and 70 that that's a lot of people that is a great slaughter.

Why did the Lord do this?

To the Israelites.

Well now we're learning something else.

God doesn't show partiality.

It's not like well if the Philistines defile the ark will punish them.

But if Israel breaks the rules will give them a pass.

No God shows no partiality.

The Philistines were punished now the Israelites.

They break the rules they're being punished and there are certain theories about exactly what did

the men of Beth Shemesh.

Do you know some say they set this they set the Ark of the Covenant on this big rock?

So it's like a pedestal and all the people just gazed at it too long.

When it should have been put away or at least covered up others based on the text they think that the Levites may be

celebrated a little too much if you know what I mean, or whatever lapse of

Reason that they had they actually approached the Ark.

Took off the lid the mercy seat and actually looked into it.

That's what it sounds like happened.

They actually went over and they look inside the Ark.

Now those of you who have seen the the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

You know some of you remember that scene when in the movie they opened the Ark and

everyone who looked Died.

I don't know if they based that off this chapter or not.

Maybe and yeah, that's just a movie.

Right.

But that may have been something of like what happened.

It says they looked into the Ark.

That's what we know.

So Whatever happened God was very angry

and it says that 50 ,000 and 70 people were struck in a great

slaughter.

Now.

In passing there's this textual issue if you follow along in your Bible if you have the NIV.

And you're following along right now.

You notice there's a little difference okay, so the King James and I'm just gonna touch on this briefly the

King James version and the New King James version and I think there may be some others.

They say that 50 ,000 and 70 were struck other Translations they use a

different line of manuscripts the Codex Vaticanus Codex Sinaiticus.

Other translations like the NIV ESV.

They say only 70 people died.

So the King James New King James say 50 ,000 and 70 these other translations say no

just 70.

I mean, that's that's a big difference.

They both can't be right, obviously.

Some would say well they chalk this up to a scribal error, maybe others will say that

The 50 ,000 is in line with the comment that it was a great slaughter.

Because in the Bible 70 people if God strikes a city and only 70 died that isn't

that many in comparison?

So you'll find someone find different people who will see this differently.

Depending on the translation you are partial to but I use the New King James

sticking with the 50 ,000 in 70 but the whole subject of textual variants

and the original manuscripts, you know, this is a complicated Subject so I'm not looking to fight

about that leaf and I don't want to get too deep into at least not right now but with all of that said.

And everything that happened with the Ark to the Philistines and now to the men the Israelites in Beth

Shemesh, what's the takeaway?

Well again, remember the Ark in the Old Testament.

It represents the presence of God.

Pointing ahead to the New Testament it represents the gospel ministry of Christ

any rejection or mishandling of the Ark

Resulted in physical death.

Just as any rejection or mishandling or corrupting the gospel results in spiritual

death.

The only way people could come near to God is through the proper channels

through the priesthood the proper way and Today, it's the same.

The only way to God is through the proper Way the

man who is the way the truth and the life the only way to God is through our

great high priest the Lord Jesus Christ, so without faith in Christ and

Belief in the gospel of him crucified and risen.

God is simply not approachable.

Because we are not acceptable.

But thanks be to God that Jesus has died for our sins and by God's grace.

Through faith we have been made acceptable by the blood of

Jesus.

This chapter ends with the men of Beth Shemesh.

Sending the Ark of God away to Kirjath Jerem the place where it would lay.

Until King David would call for it to be brought to Jerusalem.

Some 70 years later and the chapter ends with these words the men of Beth Shemesh

said who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God.

So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jerem saying the Philistines have

brought back the Ark of the Lord.

Come down and take it up with you.