The ark returns to Israel

1 Samuel 6:1-21                  

Key Verse 1 Samuel 6:13

“When they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight”

This passage teaches us how the ark of God returns to Israel.  The ark of God symbolizes the presence of God, which demands awesome reverence or fear of God to the sinful man.

 

1.  Read verses 1-6.  After the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, what did  the Philistine do? (1, 2)  How did the priests and the diviners answer? (3)  What kind of guilt offering did they suggest to send with the ark of the Lord? (4-5)  What did they remind them of from history?(6) 

1-1) Read verses 1-6.  

 When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, ² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”⁴ The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?” They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay honor to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7338a" \o "See footnote a"^a] treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

1-2) After the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, what did the Philistine do? (1, 2)

“When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, ² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

When the Philistines first captured the Ark of the Covenant, they thought it was a great victory. They put it in the temple of their god Dagon as a trophy, with the message that their god was greater than the LORD. But because God glorified Himself in the temple of Dagon by destroying Dago and inflicting the Philistines with plagues in whatever city the ark would come to rest, the Philistines began to regard the ark as a burden, not as a trophy.

Why did they keep it seven months at all? Because they were reluctant to give up such a wonderful “trophy”. They did not want to give us such a clear evidence of their victory over  the God of Israel. It can take a long time before we realize the futility of resisting God!

 

1-3) How did the priests and the diviners answer? (3)

³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

The Philistine priests knew that they have offended the LORD God. Therefore, they knew they should do something to express their sorrow and repentance before the LORD.

1-4) What kind of guilt offering did they suggest to send with the ark of the Lord? (4-5)

  

⁴ The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay honor to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. 

The specific offering recognizes that it was the LORD who brought the plague upon the Philistines. They were saying, “We know these plagues were not accidents. We know the LORD God of Israel has caused them. We are apologizing to the LORD God and asking Him to turn away His anger.”

 

We know the plague involved tumors (1 Samuel 5:6, 9, 12). We had not been told in 1 Samuel 5 that the plague involved rats. Some think the tumors were the result of bubonic plague, carried by rats. Others think the rats were part of another plague or calamity mentioned in 1 Samuel 5:11: For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

Why would they put golden images of their tumors? “In testimony of their humiliation, they might obtain pity from God, and freedom from their disease by leaving this monument of their own shame and misery.” (Poole)

“Verse 4, by linking tumors, rats, and plague, strengthens the theory that the tumors were symptoms of bubonic plague spread by an infestation of rats, which, like human invaders, were capable of destroying a country”

1-5) What did they remind them of from history?(6) 

⁶ Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7338a" \o "See footnote a"^a] treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

The Philistines rightly remembered that no good comes when anyone hardens their heart against the LORD. Even in a purely self-interested sense, it wasn’t smart to harden their or our heart against the LORD.

Even as it was shown in 1 Samuel 4:8, the Philistines were quite aware of the Exodus story. Here, they even know that the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts. Perhaps they had been reading in Exodus 8:15?

The issue of hardening the heart is important, because Exodus also quotes the LORD saying, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 7:3). So, who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? The answer is “both.” God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart against Pharaoh’s own will. It was not as if Pharaoh wished to have a tender heart towards Israel or the Lord, but God would not allow him to do so. Pharaoh hardened his heart, and God confirmed him in his desire to have a hard heart.

Hardness of heart is a terrible place for any Christian. The pagan Philistines had the sense to ask the question, why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Do Christians today have the sense to ask themselves the same question? Hosea 10:12 speaks to our hardened hearts: Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. The Philistines would prevent or cure hardness of heart by acknowledging their sin, God’s righteousness, and doing something to make it right before God.

2.  Read verses 7-12. What was their advice for preparing for returning the ark to Israel? (7-8)  How would the Philistines know whether the disasters among them were caused by God or by chance? (9) Why could this be a test?  What happened to the ark of the Lord when the cart was sent away? (10-12)

 

2-1) Read verses 7-12.

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and 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 and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, ⁹ but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance.”¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

2-2) What was their advice for preparing for returning the ark to Israel? (7-8)  

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and 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 and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way,

2-3) How would the Philistines know whether the disasters among them were caused by God or by chance? (9)

 ⁹ but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance.”

Here, the Philistines are conducting an experiment. They think all the calamity of the plagues has been from the LORD, God of Israel. But they are not 100% sure. So, they devise another test. After all, one never wants to repent unnecessarily!

 

 2-4) Why could this be a test?

 The test was simple, and stacked against God. By nature, two milk cows which have never been yoked should not pull a cart at all, but they should have resisted their yokes. Additionally, they decided to take their calves home, away from them. The “maternal instinct” of the cows would have drawn them not towards the land of Israel, but back home to their own calves. The Philistines devised a test that “forced” the God of Israel to do something miraculous to demonstrate He had really been the cause of the plagues upon them.

 “Such untamed heifers are wanton, and apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to Israel’s land.” (Poole)

 

2-5) What happened to the ark of the Lord when the cart was sent away? (10-12)

¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

Contrary to their natural instincts and against their expectation, the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way to the side of the Israelites.

 

3.  Read verses 13-16. How did the people of Beth Shemesh respond to the ark’s return? (13)  Where did the cart carrying the ark stop? (14a)  What did they do for the Lord? (14b)  What did the Levites do the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects? (15) What did the five rulers of the Philistines do? (16)

 

Read verses 13-16.

ow the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. ¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

3-2) How did the people of Beth Shemesh respond to the ark’s return? (13) 

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight.

When they saw the ark, they were greatly rejoiced. : What a joy! They must have felt great joy, something like the joy disciples must have felt on the day when they saw the resurrected Jesus. They must have felt they had received God back to them from the dead. On this day as they were reaping their wheat harvest (between May and June), they knew the God of Israel was alive.

 

Of course, God had never been dead, and God never left them. But the Israelites felt as though God was dead, and they were as desperate, discouraged, and hopeless as if He really were dead. According to their feelings, it was as if the LORD God of Israel had risen from the dead.

3-3) Where did the cart carrying the ark stop? (14a)  

“The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock.” 

3-4) What did they do for the Lord? (14b)

“ The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.”

They knew this was the right thing to do in order to honor God. Yet, there is cost. Cows and carts were expensive property.

In a strict sense, their offering was against the Mosaic law. First, they offered female animals to the LORD, which was forbidden (Leviticus 1:3; 22:19). Second, they made a burnt offering to the LORD away from the tabernacle, which violated the command in Deuteronomy 12:5-6 (though, since the Ark of the Covenant was there, it might be said that the holy place was “there”). Yet, God knew both their hearts and the remarkable circumstances and he was honored without doubt.

3-5) What did the Levites do the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects? (15)

¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

The Israelites were careful to let the Levites handle the ark, as was commanded by the law (Numbers 4:1-6, 15). Beth Shemesh was a priestly city (Joshua 21:16), so there were priests on hand.

3-6) What did the five rulers of the Philistines do? (16)

¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

They had wondered if all that had happened to them with the ark was an accident. So, they set up an elaborate and difficult test for God to fulfill, and the personally observed, in order to see if God would indeed meet the test. Their reaction isn’t recorded, but they must have been persuaded! The LORD, God of Israel, had glorified Himself before the Philistines!

4.  Read verses 17-21.What were the guilt offerings that the Philistines sent with the ark of the Lord? (17, 18)  Where was the ark of the Lord set? (18)  Why did God strike down some of the men of Beth Shemesh? (19a)  How did they deal with the heavy blow from God? (19b, 20)  Where did they send messengers in order to send the ark away? (21)

 

4-1) Read verses 17-21.

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock, on which^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7350b" \o "See footnote b"^b] they set the ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.¹⁹ But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7351c" \o "See footnote c"^c] of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, ²⁰ and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your place.”

4-2) What were the guilt offerings that the Philistines sent with the ark of the Lord? (17, 18)

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock, on which^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7350b" \o "See footnote b"^b] they set the ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

4-3) Where was the ark of the Lord set? (18)

The large rock, on which^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7350b" \o "See footnote b"^b] they set the ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

4-4) Why did God strike down some of the men of Beth Shemesh? (19a)

¹⁹ But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Sam%206&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7351c" \o "See footnote c"^c] of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD.

The Ark of the Covenant was a box, and box containing sacred things (Exodus 25:16 and 16:33-34, Numbers 17:3-4). It was only to be touched and handled by specific Levites from the family of Kohath. Even they were commanded to not touch the ark itself (Numbers 4:15). But the men of Beth Shemesh sinned by not only touching the ark, but also looking into it probably out of curiosity.

We again notice God is dealing with the Israelites more strictly than He dealt with the Philistines, who just transported the ark by a cart. God does this because the Israelites, who had His law, should have known him better. But they did not. It is sad to see that the Philistines showed more honor to the holiness of God than the Israelites.

“Men are very incompetent judges of these matters, because they do not understand all the reasons and causes of God’s judgments . . . there are many secret sins which escape man’s observation, but are seen by God, before whom many persons may be deeply guilty, whom men esteem innocent and virtuous. And therefore men should take heed of censuring the judgments of God, of which it is most truly said, that they are oft secret, but never unrighteous.” (Poole)

There are things, because of the honor and glory of God, which He has chosen to keep hidden, and it is wrong for men to try to peek into these secrets of God.

 

4-5)  How did they deal with the heavy blow from God? (19b, 20)  

“The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, ²⁰ and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?””

In one sense, the men of Beth Shemesh show a bad heart in asking this question. Their question makes God seem too harsh instead of showing themselves to be too disobedient or ignorant.

 They knew that God had forbidden anyone to touch his ark. But they blamed God, as a Being hard to be pleased, which belonged solely to themselves.” (Clarke)

“Here they seem peevishly to lay the blame of their sufferings upon God, as over-holy and strict: of their sins, the true cause, they say nothing; but take care to rid their hands of the ark, which they should have retained reverently.” (Trapp)

In another sense, the men of Beth Shemesh ask a good question. God is, in fact, holy, and Who is able to stand before the Holy God indeed?

Holiness is not so much achieved through our own efforts, but it is received, as we are new men and women in Jesus. Holiness is part of the new man we are in Jesus (Ephesians 4:24), and we are invited to be partakers - sharers of Jesus’ holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

Though God is holy, though He is apart from us, instead of building a wall around His apartness, God calls us to come to Him and share His apartness. As it says in 1 Peter 1:6, God calls us to Be holy, for I am holy. Holiness is not so much something we have, but God’s holiness has us as we commit ourselves to God through Jesus.  

For the men of Beth Shemesh, the holiness of God was a problem, a problem that could be fixed by putting distance between themselves and God. Their question was not, “How can we be made right with a holy God,” but it was “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?”

 

4-6) Where did they send messengers in order to send the ark away? (21)

²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your place.”

We don’t know why they picked this village. Perhaps they had good relations with these men and thought they would take good care of the ark. Perhaps they had bad relations with them and wanted the LORD to curse them. Whatever the reason, the men of Kirath Jearim indeed received the ark, and the ark stayed there some seventy years until David brings it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).

In conclusion, we learned the holiness of God, who blesses those whom He blesses, and curses those whom He curses.  In His great mercy and grace, He invites us, the sinners, “ Come now, let us reason  together.  Though you sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)”