“The Philistines brought their forces together to fight against Israel…the people of Israel lost the battle…a large number of them were killed. Israel lost 30,000 soldiers who were on foot. THE ARK OF GOD WAS CAPTURED. And Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas died.” (1 Samuel 4:10-11)
“When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon (he was regarded as the “father of gods” as well as a lord of the land, a god of prosperity) and set it by Dagon…the following morning when they got up, the statue of Dagon was, LYING ON THE GROUND AGAIN (it happened the day before as well)! It had fallen on its face in front of the ARK OF THE LORD. Its head and hands had been broken off. Only the body of the statue was left. Its head and hands were lying in the doorway of the temple. The LORD’S POWERFUL HAND punished the people of Ashdod and the settlements that were near it. He destroyed them. HE MADE THEM SUFFER with growths in their bodies.” (1 Samuel 5:2,4,6)
They sent it to Gath then to Ekron and had more outbursts of troubles including tumors in their bodies, “The ARK OF THE LORD had been in Philistine territory for seven months.” (1 Samuel 6:1) There were many outbreaks of tumors and many deaths, The Philistines decided to send the ark back to Israel, “Now then, get a new cart ready. Get two cows that have just had calves. Be sure the cows have never pulled a cart before. Tie the cart to them. But take their calves away and put them in a pen. “Then put the ARK OF THE LORD on the cart. Put gold images of the plagues in a chest beside the ark. Send them back to the LORD as a guilt offering. Send the cart on its way. They placed the ARK OF THE LORD on the cart. They put the chest there along with it. The chest held the gold models of the rats and of the growths. Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road. They were MOOING ALL THE WAY (because they missed their calves). They didn’t turn to the right or the left. The Philistine rulers followed them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.” (1 Samuel 6:7-8, 11-12)
The plan was to return the Ark and to know if the problems they experienced were from THE HAND OF THE LORD or simply coincidence. Using milk cows which had been separated from their calves to pull the cart sets up a natural conflict since by nature, the milk cows will be drawn to their calves; they will not go straight up the road, unless the Lord guides them. This way the Philistines knew that THE LORD GOD WANTED THE ARK RETURNED.
Obeying God means moving aside and allowing God—His Word, His Holy Spirit and His way of operating—to move IN OUR LIVES. It means TRUSTING (having faith) that God will be TRUE TO HIS WORD.
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham