Hand of God

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

HAND OF GOD

1 Sam 6:1-12

6:1 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 treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way? 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.

NIV

We cannot be sure what a model of a tumor looked like, yet they fashioned models of tumors and rats from gold to send with the ark of God back to the people of Israel. Interestingly, they call it the ark of the god of Israel; however, they referred to their god with a capital letter, Dagon. Is it any wonder the heavy hand of God was upon them? We had already considered how disrespectful they were to the LORD, but now, to put it on a cart, even a new cart, and have it pulled by two cows, even ones that had never been yoked before, was not fitting for the ark of God. However, the Philistines did not know any rules about the ark, so at least they showed some respect by using a new cart and those cows. Of course, the cows went straight away to the place they were supposed to go, showing the Philistines that the God of Israel had authority over all his creation, even the animals, directing them toward Beth Shemesh. At least now the Philistines knew the God of Israel was more powerful than their man-made god Dagon. We will see more about this ark of God within the city of Beth Shemesh, but for now, let us, once again, remind ourselves that we are children of the Most High God, the maker of heaven and earth. We know because we have accepted his grace, his provision for our redemption and salvation, Jesus Christ, crucified, shedding his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, that we live within the love of God. He watches over us, protects us, provides for us, heals us, directs our paths, and has sent the Holy Spirit to lead us into all his truth. We no longer have any knowledge of where the ark of God is, or whether it still exists hidden for all time, but because we live under the new covenant of grace, we only need Jesus. Although we cannot see him, we have the knowledge of his reality, a record by eyewitnesses who walked with him and talked with him, learning from him about the kingdom of God. Our faith has substance, even if we cannot see it with our physical eyes. We can see it within our spirit, because the Spirit reveals it to us. Let us give all the glory, honor, and praise that is due our God, lifting our hearts and our hands before him in worship. At the same time, we can also still our hearts, releasing all anxiety, worry, stress, fear, or any other negative feeling, knowing that He is God. As we worship the Lord our God, we have the peace of Christ within us. How wonderful a life in Christ is, as we revere our Almighty God. We do not live under his heavy hand, as the Philistines did, for we have taken Jesus’s yoke upon us, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.