1 When the Philistines
1. What do you think God was trying to tell the Philistines?
Dagon, fallen on his face.The ark was placed next to the idol of Dagon by the Philistines probably with Dagon looking down on the Hebrew Ark in order to demonstrate Dagon’s superiority over the God of Israel, but the symbolism was reversed when Dagon was toppled to a position of homage before the ark of the Lord.
Head and hands had been broken off.Proving that the Lord had defeated Dagon. In the ancient Near East, the heads and/or right hands of slain enemy soldiers were often brought back to the victors’ camp as trophies of war and to establish a body count
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, evenAshdod and the coasts thereof.7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.
2. How do you think the men of Gath felt about having the Ark?
9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
3. Does God have sense of humor or not? You can’t make this stuff up.
Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it
came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
4. With friends like these you don’t need enemies?
“Passing the buck”
This thing was a “hot potato”, nobody wanted it in their town.
11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Chapter 6
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
5. Why do you think it took them 7 months to decide to get rid of the Ark?
They really didn’t know what to do. There are times when we make bad decisions and then we don’t know how to get out of the situation.
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.”
6. What is a trespass offering?
Trespass Offering.This was a bloody offering presented for unintentional or intentional sins of a lesser degree and for which the violator could make restitution (Lev. 5:15-19).
15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lordas his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven. 17 “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the Lord.” Lev 5:15-19 (ESV)
Now they didn’t actually follow the prescribed method of performing a trespass offering in the Hebrew law, but they had the right idea. Make restitution, and show a repentant attitude.
Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
7. Why 5 golden emerods and 5 golden mice?
This shows how screwed up these people were, they make golden images of what had plagued them and sent them back to the Israelites. Is this their way of saying, “I’m sorry”? To me it seems pretty bizarre. One for every one of the 5 main cities in Philistia and the lords who ruled over them.
Make images… and pay honor to Israel’s god. The gold models were an acknowledgment that the disease and the rats were a judgment from the hand of the God of Israel.
Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? ESV
6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?
6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?
8. In light of our study in the book of Exodus, how should we view this statement?
God demonstrated his power to the Hebrews, to the Egyptians as well as to other pagan peoples in the area. During the time that Sadam Hussein was bragging about developing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Mohamar Quidafy in Libya was attempting to develop his own program of WMD’s. Fortunatley after we crushed Sadam, Quidafy decided to abandoned his ambitions in that area. Sometimes a demonstration of power can prevent a future problem. God understands there is no negotiation with evil. It must be crushed. I wish our state department understood that. In the real world there is only one way to deal with a bully. A beat down.
Neville Chamberlain in England had a policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany, and was infamous for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. He thought he guaranteed “peace in our time”. As a result 50 million died because of gutless politicians who were afraid to confront evil.
“Those who do not learn the from history are doomed to repeat it.”
7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.” 10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
9. To put the Ark on a cart for delivery back to Israel was a direct violation of the Mosaic Law. Why didn’t God punish the Philistines for mishandling the Ark as the Israelites were punished?
Notice that when the Philistines returned the ark to Israel, they put it on a cart. Nothing is going to happen to them for putting it on a cart. They did not know any better. God is not going to hold them responsible for this act. But Israel knew better, and we will see that God judged the Israelites because of the way they handled the ark. Why the difference? They knew better.
But I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. Matt. 11:22
We are only responsible for what we know. So the guy out in the jungle who has never heard of Jesus, God will not judge him for rejecting Jesus. He will be judged for rejecting the God of creation.
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20
10. What is the significance of the two milch kine not turning to the right or the left?
These two cows were in the process of milking their calves, so it would not be normal for them to leave those calves. If they continued down the road to Beth-shemesh with our turning back, the Philistines would consider that to be a sign from God that they had done the right thing.
Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord.
11. Why ask the Levites take down the Ark from the cart?
At that time the LORD separated thetribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Deut. 10:8
Now they are starting to pay attention again to God. You just don’t throw the Ark of God in the trunk of your car or the back of your pickup with your hunt’in dog.
16 And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.17 These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. 19 And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lordhad struck the people with a great blow. 20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”
So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.
12. Why is God killing the men of Beth-Shemesh. Aren't they His own people?
The men of Beth-shemesh do that which God had strictly forbidden. That ark belonged in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. It was to be seen only by the high priest—even he was permitted to enter before it only once a year. When the ark was transported, as it was on the wilderness march, it was carefully and reverently covered. The Philistines did not know these things, but the Israelites did know.
The NIV and the other modern translations say 70, KJV, NASB say 50,070. that’s a big difference. 70 at Beth-Shemesh, but another 50000 in the cities of the Philistines.
looked into the ark.This action on the part of the men of Beth-shemesh constituted the sin of presumption. The men of Beth Shemesh (Levites and priests among them) were judged by God for their irreverent curiosity. This is first addressed in Nu 4:20 but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”
Fifty thousand and seventy men. Some debate whether this figure is too large. However, retaining the larger number is more consistent with the context of “a great slaughter,” and the reference to 30,000 in 4:10 (cf. 11:8). However, a scribal error could have occurred, in which case the number would omit the 50,000 and likely be “seventy,” as in Josephus.
13. Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?
Who is able to stand before … God?This question climaxes the narrative of the ark. No one is able to stand against God’s judgment. This applied to the people outside the covenant as well as those under the covenant. Presumption before God is unacceptable. to whom shall He go. The expression was used to denote the desire to take the ark away from them.
14. What does “holy” mean?
To be set apart. To be distinct. Reserved for a special purpose. The utensils in the temple were holy, not because they were good or had some spiritual power, but they were set apart for a specific purpose. The Hebrews and then the Philistines had not been treating God as “the holy God”. When you deal with high voltage electrical circuits you will treat them with respect. If you take on a cavalier careless, sloppy attitude, you will pay the price. The Philistines and the Hebrews should have learned the lesson. See, they thought they could approach God anyway they wanted to. Many ways to God. But only through Christ can you approach God. Every other way leads to death. They ark was a picture of Christ.
16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This invitation is to the church, the ecclesia,” the separated out ones.”
15. Why would the men of Kiriath Jearim come and get the ark when it had caused so much trouble for the other cities?
Kiriath-jearim. A city located 6:21 approximately
10 mi. NE of Beth-shemesh. It would remain the resting place of the ark until David brought it to Jerusalem . This location had long been associated with Baal worship.
Kiriath Jearim means “city of woods”was at one time a center of Baal worship. It’s on the way to Shilohand it’s possible these men thought they could just pass the ark on, but by now everybody who knows better won’t go near it. These people are still not right with God, so it seems the ark just stayed there and people stayed away from it. They take it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.
NIVSN……………….NIV Study Notes.
JVM ………………….J Vernon McGee,
ACC ………………… Adam Clarke’s Commentary
BN ……………………Barnes Notes
WBC………….…….Wycliffe Bible Commentary
CN ……….…………..Constables Notes
IC……………….…….Ironside Commentary
NET…………….…….Net Bible Study Notes.
JFB……………………Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
VWS………………….Vincent Word Studies
CMM………………..Commentary on Matthew and Mark
BDB……………..….Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Darby……………….John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
Johnson……………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
EHS………………….Expositions of the Holy Scriptures
CPP…………………The Complete Pulpit Commentary
SBC…………………..Sermon Bible Commentary
K&D…………………Keil and Deilitzsch Commentary on the OT
EBC……………….…Expositors Bible Commentary
CBSC……………….Cambridge Bible for Schools and College
GC……………………Guzik Commentary
RD…………………..Robert Deffinbaugh
NSB …………………The Nelson Study Bible
MHC…………………Matthew Henry Commentary
ESVN……………..….ESV Study Bible Notes
MSBN……………….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
CSTTB………………..Chuck Smith Through the Bible
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