The Return of the Ark | 1 Samuel 5-6

[music] >> We're going to begin here in 1 Samuel chapter 5. I'll read the first five verses and you're going to see that I'm going to condense and and you know in order to travel through two two chapters, you're going to notice that I have adapted my teaching style to this particular book because the new the New Testament is filled with doctrine and all and the Old Testament has a different form of communicating to us God's God's truth and so I have a different style when I teach the Old Testament especially books like 1 Samuel. And some of you who have been with us for a while, you'll see that it's an entirely different way of teaching and for me I have to actually adapt to a new style because I'm so used to what I normally do and so it's actually difficult for me to condense, but I'm doing my best and hopefully tonight we'll we'll have a study that makes some sense. So beginning at verse 1 in chapter 5 of 1 Samuel reading to verse verse 5. We read the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again and when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. They had Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold, only Dagon's torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who came who came or come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. So, what's taking place here? The ark, as we saw last time we were together, the ark of God had been taken by force by the Philistines, by the enemies. And the army of Israel had removed it from Shiloh, and they had taken it to the battlefield. 30,000 soldiers had died, and the ark had been captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of the priest, were killed. Now, this event, by the way, is forever etched in the memory of the nation of Israel. It's something that is actually mentioned 400 years later. In Jeremiah 7:12, it reads, "But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel." This is something that was remembered centuries later. And so, when there was a taking place in all of this, a messenger had brought news to Eli what was taking place. And he took the news of of his sons' death, which they had died. He took the news of his sons' deaths calmly, as we read and noticed that, but when he was told that the ark of the Lord was taken, he actually died. Now, his daughter-in-law, who was married to Phinehas, his daughter-in-law died giving birth to a son, and as she was dying, she named him Ichabod. And the word Ichabod simply means the glory or the glory of the Lord. The glory has departed. And so, because of the unrepentant sin and neglect of worship, God has removed his presence. And so, what we're picking up here in verse 1 of chapter 5 is a continuation of what had taken place, because it says in verse 1, "The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod." So, they captured this ark, the ark of the Lord. And if we had a map, and I intended to and forgot to have some pictures so you can kind of geographically see what's taking place. But after they captured the ark, they took it 35 miles to the south onto the coast area, which is where the five major cities of the Philistines were. And so that's what they've done. They've taken it down to Ashdod. So in verse two, when the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And the people of Ashdod rose early in the morning, there was Dagon fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord, and they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And they arose early the next morning, same thing had taken place, but this time the uh head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were broken off on the threshold, and only his torso was left behind. And so what had happened is they had uh taken the ark and they had placed it in this this temple that was dedicated to a false god, and God is demonstrating his sovereignty over all false gods. Now, when you see this, all scholars will say that the name and worship of Dagon originated in ancient Babylon. He was represented this false god was represented with a face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish. He was half human and half fish. And Dagon was the chief deity in their worship system, their polytheistic system, they believed that he uh that uh Dagon was the father of Baal, who was the nature god. And so he was worshipped with the expectation that he would guarantee good harvest. And so they brought the ark, verse two tells us, into the temple of their fish god, and they set it next to the statue of Dagon. And what they were doing there is you need to know this in a cultural and religious way is they were They're saying that Dagon is superior to the God of Israel. That's what they were representing by doing that. So, they said it next to the statue of Dagon because they're saying God is subject to their false God. Now, that would have been in response to something that had happened around 50 years earlier in the history because the judge of Israel by the name of Samson, we all know that name. Samson is the one who had destroyed the temple of Dagon in Gaza. And Samson, we know was a judge in Israel, and he's the one who had dealt very harshly with Philistines. And the last act that you see of of Samson is him destroying the temple of Dagon in Gaza. Remember that in that story, Samson had been set apart as a judge, but he hadn't been living a righteous life. And ultimately, the Lord had allowed him God had allowed him to be captured. And so, these these Philistines had captured him. When you read the story, he he was blinded, and then they had set him in a prison grinding grain. And so, as they did that, they were humiliating this judge Samson. And what had happened later is they had gathered to offer sacrifices to Dagon, and they brought Samson out for entertainment. It says in Judges 16:25, "While they were in high spirits, they shouted, 'Bring out Samson to entertain us.'" So, they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. Well, when this is taking place, Samson told the servant who was there next to him, he said, "Put me to where where I can feel the support pillars." And Judges chapter 16 tells us in verses 25 through 30 that he then prayed, "God, remember me. Strengthen me just once more. And let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes because they had blinded him. So, what happened is he was placed between the support pillars and then he said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And scripture says, "Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived." Judges 16:27 tells us that there were around 3,000 men and women watching, and all of them died. And so, what they're doing here is they're avenging the death of the 3,000 that Samson slew. And so, that's why they're putting the ark before Dagon. But, what's happening? Well, verse 3 tells us when the people of Ashdod, which was the chief city of the Philistines, when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So, they took Dagon and set it in its place again. God had forced the image of Dagon to appear to be giving worship and homage to him. That's because there's only one God. And he does not put up with any false gods. He alone is to be worshipped. Isaiah says it like this in the book of Isaiah chapter 44:6, "Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first, I am the last. Besides me, there is no God." Isaiah 44:8 goes on to say, "Do not fear, do not be afraid. Have I not told you from that time and declared it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is no other rock. I know not one." And so, this is a a a presentation [snorts] of God as the God of all gods, and these are false gods. And so, it just shows that he's superior. Well, the priests came in to worship early, and they find this image on the ground. So, they think, "Well, you know, he accidentally fell." And so, they set him up again. But that gives us insight once again into idolatry because the idol in and of itself is powerless. We need to remember that. In Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 1 through 6, listen to what the Lord says to you people of Israel. This is what the Lord says, "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. For the practices of the peoples are worthless. They cut a tree out of the forest. The craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold. They fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them. They can do no harm, nor can they do any good. No one is like you, Lord. You are great. Your name is great and powerful. Idols have no life in them, one of the Psalms says, and those that make them become like them. And so these people were idol worshipers, but God is demonstrating himself to be the God of all gods. And so there is there's this this idol, this statue on the ground before God. So what happens? Well, verse 4, when they rose early the next morning, there was Dagon fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were broken off on the threshold. Only Dagon's torso was left of it. And so they returned, and once again they find this idol on the ground. Notice this time its head and hands are broken off because this is a symbol of judgment. God is judging the idol. Enemies during that day would have their heads and hands removed because that was evidence that they were dead. In 2 Samuel chapter 4, verse 12, you'll see this how it says David commanded his young men they executed them, cut off their hands and feet and hanged them by the pool of pool in Hebron. They took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron. And so they would do that to show that this is a dead lifeless idol. Well, in verse 5 therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. So they learned a lesson that the because its hands and feet were on the threshold people thought this is cursed. So the pagan priests began to jump over the threshold with after they came into it. And one commentator made a very simple point. They did this instead of repenting. They did this instead of turning to the God of Israel. They just continued in their idolatry and they just made exceptions and speak began to do that kind of thing. So that's what's taking place. So in verse 6 the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He ravaged them and struck them with tumors. But Ashdod and both Ashdod and its territory and when the men of Ashdod saw how it was they said the ark of God of Israel must not remain with us for his hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our God. Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines and said what shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? They answered let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath. So they carried the ark of God to God the ark of the God of Israel away. So it was after they had carried it away that the hand of the Lord was against the city with great destruction. He struck the men [snorts] the city both small and great. Tumors broke out on them. It's interesting that the word that is being used here, tumors, is a delicate word because the actual word itself speaks of hemorrhoids. And they didn't have Preparation H. >> [laughter] >> And so, just a little biblical insight. What's going on here? Well, verses 6 through 10 tells us that the hand of the Lord is heavy. Dagon's hands were cut off, but God's hand moved in judgment against them, and they were struck with tumors as well as rats. You see that in chapter 6. And there are commentators who believe that things that were taking place could have possibly been a plague. What it represents, so what we see here is very very simple. They're unwilling to release the ark because the ark symbolized their victory. So, instead of sending it back to Israel, they began to move it around. And by the moving it around, and they're moving it into various cities, they just keep moving. It's revealing their hardness because everywhere the ark went, God's judgment follows. They were hardened against God, and they don't see why this is happening. And so, instead of seeking an answer, they move the ark from place to place. This represents to us a hardness of heart. It's so hard that they're resisting the obvious message. So, from Ashdod it goes to a place called Gath, Gath, Ekron. It went through the five major cities, and so this is what's taking place. They're so they're saying, "Well, it's it's it's hurting us here. We'll just send it someplace else." And so, they're sending it from place to place, but verse 10 says, "They sent the ark of God to Ekron." And so it was as the ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people." So, they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send [snorts] away the ark of God of the God of Israel. Let it go back to its own place so that it does not kill us and our people for there was a deadly destruction through all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there. And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven. In Ekron, God's hand was the most severe. His judgment is escalating. It's like what Job 31:3 says, "Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?" Now, I want to note something here by way of application. It's interesting how the Lord repeated his process five times and everywhere the ark went, plague and pain broke out, but they would not send it back. They could have sent it back when they first found their idol on his face and it happened twice. They could have done that. When the When the first city was hit by a plague, they could have sent it back, but they would not. What they did is they convened a council and they're in a panic and they're gathering the council and they're begging, "Send this ark away." And so they're making plans to somehow get rid of it. Why? Because verse 11 says the hand of God was very heavy there. It's interesting how when we can become under a Maybe as Christians we can be chastened by the Lord, but it's interesting how when people in the world are actually going through things that should cause them to turn to the Lord and there are many things that should wake them up. That instead of turning to the Lord, they harden against him. They just constantly harden their hearts against him. And so instead of saying, "You know, we've sinned against him. We need to No, they just say, 'Get him out of here. Get this God out of here.'" And so they're trying to get the ark out. And it says again, "The men in verse 12 who did not die were stricken with the tumors. The cry of the city went up to heaven. Verse 1 of chapter 6. The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines 7 months. That shows a hardness of the human heart. God gave them 7 months and several location changes. I was in a meeting years ago. >> [clears throat] >> And I had been invited as along with various other pastors in the area to meet with our our assemblywoman. And there were certain things that were there was certain law that was being debated whether or not it would be passed. And so some of the churches had been invited to meet with our assemblywoman. And so I went to that particular meeting. And it related to um homosexuality and a bill that was related to that. And I was part of a group of and I'm trying to be accurate. I was part of a group of maybe 25 to 35 pastors and leaders in this particular in our area. And I I went and and I have a tendency of just listening and I want to hear what they're talking about and I don't just raise my hand and try to talk. I I'm not that guy. I'm the guy who listens. And so we were together for probably close to 2 hours and the debate debate was going on. Actually, the presentation was going on and it was a meeting that was held in in a a building that is um the home of a particular cult. It was a cult. And but that's where the meeting was. So at a certain point I I I I opened my mouth. And I said um that homosexuality is a sin. And that as Christians, we believe in redemption. We believe that God forgives all sins. And well, I believe the assistant {quote} {unquote} pastor of this particular cult was a lesbian. And she wasn't enjoying what I had to say when I was speaking. But I said, "Homosexuality is a sin. It But it is not the unforgivable sin. God forgives all sin." And And I shared, "You need to repent. You need to turn away from your sin. You need to come to faith in Christ." And um you know, I shared and you could feel the tension that was building up. And at a certain point, one of the {quote} {unquote} pastors in the area from here in Chino, raised his hand and he said, "Homosexuality is not a big deal." He said, "It's only mentioned" This is his words. He's inaccurate, but he said, "It's only mentioned five times in the scriptures." And I turned to him and I looked at him and I said, "How many times does God have to say something until you listen? And how many times? See, when when I was a kid, if my dad spoke one time, I better listen. He spoke five times. Well, he wouldn't get to five. We'll just put it that way. You got to listen the first time. You see, but the church even to this day is still hardened in that way. Even to this day. God can say it in his word. You can read it, but you still reject it. We do that by nature. We do that because we we we we don't allow the conviction of God to fall upon us. And And And the result is always going to be painful. It's always wise to respond quickly when the Holy Spirit convicts. But these Philistines are not doing that. They'll just move the ark from this place to another place to another place and it took 7 months until they finally said, "We can't take this anymore. We're afraid we're all going to die." And that's what's taking place. So So God gave them 7 months and he gave them location changes and and it reveals his willingness to give them opportunity to get the message. So basically, by way of application, God doesn't ignore sin. In fact, he does move and he does deal with it. And sometimes sinners refuse to repent and it lengthens the time of their misery. You see, there are some people who realize that the Lord is doing something and what they do is they repent and when they repent, they can be restored. That That's what happened with King David with this beautiful woman by the name of Bathsheba. He had had a relationship with her and we all know the story. I won't go into the details of it, but he went he had a relationship with her. She had become pregnant. He He was informed of that. Uh he put her husband into the heat of a battle. The husband was killed in battle. David took her as a wife to pretend that the baby that she was going to have was his, but in fact, the baby did not survive. God did not allow that to take place and and and David was hardened and didn't repent at first, but in Psalm 32, he says it like this. In Psalm 32 and speaks concerning this, he says in verses 3 through 5, "When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I haven't hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." Instead of hardening ourselves, we should respond quickly to his conviction. They didn't. They held fast. And so what do they do? Verse two, the Philistines in chapter six. 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'll be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you." Then they said, "What is the trespass offering?" Trespass means guilt offering. "What is the trespass offering which we shall return to him?" They answered, "Five golden tumors, 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 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." So what do they do when they're under this pressure? They look for spiritual direction. And again, that's common today. They went to their pagan priests, and they said, "We need advice. What is it we can do? How can we be helped?" And so it speaks of these priests, and notice it's priests and diviners. The priests and diviners are the religious leaders of the Philistines. The priests were responsible to keep the temple maintained. They performed rituals, sacrifices. And the priests were the ones who shaped society by leading worship and devotion to Dagon. That was our priests. The diviners were the ones who were consulted in all important matters, and they used witchcraft and astrology, sorcery, necromancy, which means communicating with the dead. They used spells and dreams and soothsaying and omens and they use these things these diviners to deceive the people. These are things by the way that were strictly forbidden to the nation of Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 10 through 12, there shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who practices wish witchcraft or a soothsayer or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who conjures spells or a medium, a spiritist, one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall have nothing to do with these things. You know, there are Christians who still consult their horoscopes. And and they and they think that these are harmless things, but the fact is that the Lord has made it very clear that these are things that are forbidden. You're not to try and get information about him and his will through satanic means. I went to a Bible study many years ago. Actually, I was teaching the Bible study. And uh at the end of the study I would visit with the people. It was only there were only a few people there so it was easy to sit down and talk and I was talking to this young lady. It was her first time there and so I was talking to her and so as we were speaking um she was going to college at the time and and this was real big in the '70s what she did is she says to me you know, I didn't know her from Adam and she didn't know me at all. It was her first time at the Bible study and she looks at me and she says to me, "What's your sign?" You know, and that was a very common thing in the '70s. What's your sign? So I looked at her and I said, "What do you mean?" "What's your sign?" I said, "Oh, the fish." And she says, "Oh, you're a Pisces." And I said, "No, the Ichthus." I said, "I don't go for that astrology that horoscope garbage. And that was my first conversation with Marie. >> [laughter] >> Who became my wife. You know the word of the Lord though it's very clear. You don't go to anybody else you go to him. And so today people continue to go and have their their palms read, you know, or they'd go to they they look at their astrological things and that and and this is strictly forbidden. Christians don't do that because we have God God who gives to us revelation his word his Holy Spirit and things of that nature lead us along the path of these priests were doing something and what they were doing these people who were priests and diviners is they had understood at least one thing because it was very obvious that God had had been offended and they're trying to find a way to a to uh to satisfy his wrath. And so notice how they propose what is called a trespass offering. As I mentioned the word trespass means something that is a guilt offering. We have done something wrong so we want to atone for that through this offering. They knew they dishonored the God of Israel. So they fashioned tumors and rats because that's just another way of saying we understand. We recognize >> [snorts] >> your punishment. We see that we have angered you. And notice how verse 5 says in this all of this give glory to the God of Israel perhaps he will lighten his hand from you. What does that mean give glory? Acknowledge his power. Acknowledge his authority. He has conquered your gods. Understand that. Not just Dagon by the way but all other gods you worship are worthless and powerless. Again in Isaiah 44:9-11 all who make idols are nothing. The things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind. They're ignorant to their own shame. Who shapes a god and cast an idol which can profit nothing? People who do that will be put to shame. Such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together, take their stand, and they will be brought down to terror and shame." So, God challenges the false gods cuz he demonstrates himself to be the only true God. He goes on 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, they did not let the people go that they might depart." So, the question is asked concerning what had happened to the Egyptians and Pharaoh and all of that. They knew what God had done in Egypt, and they reminded them of his past deeds. Notice the warning, "Do not harden your hearts. Do not harden your heart in pride. Don't reap even worse consequences." The word harden, it speaks of making something calloused or unfeeling. It speaks of making it dull, unfeeling, [snorts] insensitive. >> [clears throat] >> In Job chapter 9 verse 4, it reads, "God is wise in heart, mighty in strength." And the question is asked, "Who has hardened himself against him and prospered?" Who can defeat God? Your arms are too short to box with God, right? In Hebrews 3:13, it says, "Exhort one another daily while it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." How does your heart become hard? Because you're deceived. That's why when the Holy Spirit convicts us, it's always wise to respond as quickly as possible. It shortens the time that we're chastened and it awakens us to the truth of God in a quicker way. So, do it daily and do it quickly. Do it now. So, what do they do? They propose something, verse 7. Uh make a new cart. Take two milk cows which have never been yoked. And hitch the cows to the cart. 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. Send it away. 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. And so, that's a good plan. This is going to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is bringing judgment. Now, why would that be? How would that be? Well, notice with me, he speaks concerning these uh the cows in verse 7 and it says, "Take two milk cows which have never been yoked. They've never been broken. Hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves away from them." Untrained cows would never pull the cart. They would reject it as well as the yoke. If they tried to put it on them, they would simply stand still. They knew that. And the second thing about that is these untrained cows would never abandon their nursing calves. They would never do that. They would go to their calves before they would wander towards Beth Shemesh because Beth Shemesh is where they're going and it's located some 15 mi west of Jerusalem, and it was a city inhabited by the priests. And so, this is going to prove if they go, then that proves that what we're saying is true, that the God of Israel is judging you. So, verse 10, the men did so. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, shut up their calves at home, and they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, the chest with the gold rats and images of their tumors, and the cows headed straight. There was no driver. They headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. The lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. And so, they were resistant to leave their calves. Excuse me, they're moaning, but they go straight to Beth Shemesh. What's the point of that? Even animals obey God. Remember how the great fish was directed by God to go and swallow Jonah? Jonah was having a problem with God, but the great fish didn't. When God said, "Go," it went. The Bible in Jonah 2:10 says the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land. Undoubtedly, it was God who had um directed the animals two by two and all that were entering into the ark. Undoubtedly, it was God who directed them to do so. When you look at 1 Kings, for example, in chapter 17, verses 3 and 4, God commanded ravens to bring food to uh a prophet by the name of Elisha. So, the animals actually obey him. And one of the more interesting scriptures that show us how the the animals obey God and all in the way that these milk cows are, in Matthew 17:27, Jesus told the disciples to go out and catch a fish because it would have a coin in its mouth so they could use the coin to pay the temple tax. And so, this fish somehow went and swallowed up a coin but kept it in his I It just amazes me these kinds of stories, you know, because creation itself obeys God. There was a great evangelist of another day, his name was D. L. Moody. And D. L. Moody pointed out that creation obeys God. He said, "God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light. Let the waters bring forth." And the water brought forth abundantly. Jesus spoke to the sea and the sea obeyed. He spoke to a fig tree and it withered and died. He spoke to devils and they fled. He spoke to the dead and they rose. He goes on to say, "Did you ever notice how all but the heart of man obeys God? Look through history and you'll find this to be true. All creation obeys God. But when God speaks to man, man will not obey. Man is out of harmony with God. Even these cows sacrificing their own calves, nursing mama cows, they had to go. God ordered them to and they went. So, it says in verse 13, "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 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, offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took the 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 Excuse me, 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 that 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. 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. So, couple of things here that really doesn't matter, but it's just a a point. It gives to us the season they were reaping their wheat harvest. That means it's early summer. And so, the cart in verse 14 comes to the field of Joshua Beth Shemesh. Now, this is geographic. That's simply the furthest point of Philistine territory. But, to give some insight into what's taking place, Israel as a nation had 48 Levitical they called them Levitical cities. And these were cities according to the book of Numbers chapter 35 and Joshua chapter 21. These were cities that were given to the priests. Beth Shemesh, which is 15 mi west if you were looking at a map, 15 mi west of Jerusalem, was one of them. Now, the ark had been in Shiloh, which was taken 20 mi northwest to Ebenezer, then 20 mi southwest to Ashdod. It's just showing you that it's been moved. The cows well, the cows were sacrificed. But they were done so for a holy purpose. They were made as an offering to God. And so the Philistine noblemen who were going along with the ark and all, they they saw that and they turned and they returned to the Philistine city of Ekron. One last little geographic thing, in verse 18 speaks of the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark. That's a reference to the border of Philistine influence. And that stone was still in existence during the time of the writing. And so, happy times are here again. Now, it's back, right? Well, verse 19, he struck the men of Beth Shemesh. These are Jews. 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. The men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who Who's able to stand before this holy Lord God? To whom shall it go up from us?" So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jearim saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord. Come on down and take it to be with you." >> [laughter] >> It's going to kill us, you take it. But let's look at that for just a moment. It says in verse 19, he struck the men of Beth Shemesh. Why? They looked into the ark. Okay, I mentioned this a moment ago. Beth Shemesh is one of the Levitical cities. In the Levitical city, these are people who would know God's holiness. They would have known that God commanded them not to do such a thing. In the book of Numbers in chapter 4, verse 15, it reads, "When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites will come to carry all the holy articles. They must never touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites will carry all the things from the tent of meeting. These people died. Why is that? Instead of obedience, they showed impiety. They disrespected God and they didn't value the ark. God had dealt with the Philistines and here's a little practical application, but he also dealt with his people. Let me make application by closing in this way. The Philistines didn't know any better. They didn't have commandments like the Jews did. They didn't have regulations and rules like the Jews did. They were just acting out of actually just taking a chance that what we're doing is the right thing. But the Jews knew better. Because the Jews knew better, these priests knew better. They knew they were not to have done what they did, they were judged. >> [snorts] >> If you want a biblical New Testament reference, Luke 12:48, listen to what it says. He who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. And to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. I used to say it like this, the more you know, the more you owe. That's why a lot of people like to be ignorant of the things of God because they feel that they're going to be judged for less things should there be a judgment. The more I know, the more I'm responsible for. As I read my scriptures, as I teach the word and I learn his ways, that puts me in a greater place of accountability. So an ignorant person, someone who doesn't know any better, is going to receive a lighter punishment than somebody who knows better and continues to do it because God does not ignore the sin of his people. First Pe- First Peter 4:17, listen to this, "The time has come for judgment to begin where? At the house of God." And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Sometimes believer will say, "I just don't know why the Lord is treating me so harshly." And then it turns out that they're in willful sin and rebellion against God. And the chastening of God from their perspective is nothing but punishment. In fact, it's not punishment at all. It's It's It's a It's a chastening, which is intended to cause us to turn from our sin so we can once again be restored to relationship with him and be blessed by him. It's a It's a good thing to to repent as quickly as possible because the Lord doesn't relent. You think, "Oh, you're getting away with it." You're not. He's just giving us opportunities. He gave me opportunity to repent and I thought, "Well, I I'm doing and then I go back to it." And he said, "No, this isn't how it works. Judgment begins in the house of God." And God has a way of working those things in us. And so, when the Lord convicts us, God help us to to repent quickly and and to be restored into fellowship with him so that his hand of chastening is removed. And in this particular case, they're saying, "Who's able to stand before this holy God? What's going on? We don't want anything to do with this." And so, they send in verse 21, they send messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up with you. We don't want to have this anymore." The fear of God has come over them. We can't stand before him. We need to remove him from our presence. And so, they sent to They sent messengers to to a a place that was 10 miles to the northeast. Now, it's possible that Shiloh has been destroyed. So, they sent the ark to another city. And they're saying, "We're going to remove this right now because we're being dealt with in a way that we have to we have to get God's hand off of us." And so, they send these messengers and they say, "We want you to take the ark." And so, that's what's going to take place and we'll look at that next time we're together when we open up chapter 7. And there it is. We went through two chapters, guys. Uh yeah. I'm proud of myself. Our Father, we do bless you. I am thankful, Lord, that we we can go through these scriptures and we can learn lessons from you. Lord, we can see how even pagans can fear you but not know how to fear you in truth. But, we also see how that even those who are your own children can do things that you are not in approval of and receive chastisement even the most