1 Samuel 6:1-21

Object lessons are powerful teaching tools.  God had used some very powerful lessons in Egypt when He set the children of Israel free be plaguing the nation until Pharaoh was willing to let the people go.  Pharaoh’s hard heart caused so much needless pain, suffering and death to his people that his reputation spread to other nations and has been known throughout history.  The Philistines were now receiving another painful lesson from God and they quickly realized that they did not want to be a sequel to the catastrophes of Egypt.  They knew God was not pleased with them and that the Ark seemed to be the point of contention so they sought to be rid of it as soon as was possible.  Their actions demonstrated that they had learned from the object lessons of Egypt but unfortunately they did not apply the lesson in the correct way.  Today we see illustrations of doing something right but not in the right or complete manner.

THE PHILISTINES RETURNED THE ARK WITHOUT REPENTANCE: The Philistines could clearly see that the Ark was bringing havoc upon their land.  They could see that the God of Israel was more powerful than any god they worshiped.  Their pain motivated them to get rid of the Ark and send it back to Israel with their sincerest apologies.  They were as respectful as they knew how to be by putting it on a new cart and they were very generous in returning it with golden replicas of the tumors and mice that were plaguing the land.  These were well intentioned acts but were insufficient to truly find favor with God.  I believe they probably got relief from their pain but did not find forgiveness for their sins.  They should have realized that God was the only true God and burned down the temple to Dagon and then taken the Ark back to Israel begging to know the one and only God of Israel.  They were not ready to turn from their traditions and beliefs to embrace and submit to God.  They simply wanted relief from their pain.  Unfortunately, this is all too common in today’s world as well.  We want relief from the pain caused by sin without the repentance that leads to freedom from and forgiveness of sin.

THE ISRAELITES RECEIVED THE ARK WITHOUT REVERENCE  When Israel receives the Ark they rejoice in this “victory” and they offer sacrifices to the Lord.  The rejoicing and the sacrifices were the right reactions for what happened.  However, seventy men lost their lives on that day because they looked at the Ark in a way that was not permitted.  I am not sure what they did, but it is clear that God was not pleased and that they should have known better.  They did not give the Ark or God the reverence that should have been part of this great victory.  I can only speculate that they must have looked inside the Ark or simply looked at it out of curiosity and not necessity.  God did not strike the Philistines down immediately because they did not know any better, but that was not the case for these men of Israel.  They knew better and chose to ignore the Word of God and failed to worship God so they were killed because of their lack of reverence.  We must never treat the person or the work of God flippantly, we must worship Him in reverence and a clear recognition of His greatness.