1 Samuel 6:1-7:2

1 Samuel 6:1-7:2

The Ark remained with the Philistines for 7 months, and there is no indication that the Israelites tried to recover the Ark. In 1 Samuel 5 we saw how God afflicted the various cities that house the Ark during that time in an effort to convince them to return the Ark back to Israel. What is interesting is that God had to do this, for Israel had not sent anyone to confront the Philistines and defend their God. I said yesterday that it appeared as if God chose to do this on His own this time and did not choose to use anyone in His plans. While this may be true, it can also be argued that Israel was too afraid to confront the Israelites, thus not putting their trust in God. Whatever the case was, the situation was taken care of in the end, and the Philistines were convinced that they needed to return the Ark. Furthermore, it appears as if the Philistines truly learned who God was, leaving it up to them as to how they would respond. They had the choice to stay in opposition to Him or learn to walk in obedience to His commands.


To show that they acknowledged His power and understood that the tumors and plagues that had been sent their way were from God, they created golden tumors and golden mice to send with the ark. They constructed a cart that would be pulled by two new cows and would carry the Ark back to its home. The extra “gift” of the golden images was to show that they recognized God, and some of the men even said that they did not want to harden their hearts as the Egyptians had done. The Egyptians did not want to accept the fact that Israel’s God had come to their rescue, so they hardened their hearts and ignored the obvious. This group of Philistines understood that the plagues could have been coincidental but were certain that it had come from God. So they sent the cattle off on their own and declared that if the cattle walked straight toward Israel, then it would be a sign that God had indeed been the one that sent the plagues to them. When the cattle returned to Israel, the Philistines had no more excuses. The text does not say how it affected these men or what conclusion they eventually came to, but God had clearly made Himself known to the Philistines, and it was up to them to decide if they would accept Him or not.

With the Ark back in the hands of the Israelites, the people rejoiced at its return. They immediately sacrificed the cattle as an offering to God, thanking Him for what He had done. Yet not long after this sacrifice, God killed many of the Israelites. The end of 1 Samuel 6 is somewhat confusing. A footnote in my Bible says that the 70 men who died could mean 50,000 men. Whatever the case, the text says that it was a “great blow” to the people of that town. The question that comes to my mind is what did they do and why were they punished? The text says that they “looked upon the Ark.” While I cannot recall any law against looking at it, I know there were laws that said it could not be touched. So the reason God struck these people so harshly is unclear in my mind, but they had to of broken some law. The only other option I can think of is the fact that none of these men offered to go after the Ark when it had been captured, but now they were rejoicing at its return. Maybe God was upset that they were happy to see the good that came out of the situation when they were unwilling to help resolve it. Whatever the case, Israel lamented over this for 20 years, and the Ark finally found its way to safety in an Israelite city.

This passage, more than any before it, has stumped me the most. Although it seems clear that God was able to reveal Himself to the Philistines and that the Philistines recognized who the God of Israel was, the role Israel plays in this story is unclear. I am left with many questions. Why did Israel not go after the Ark? Did God not want them to go? Were the Israelites unwilling to go? Why did God strike down so many, whether it was 70 or 50,000 afterwards? What did the Israelites do that required that punishment? Although it seems obvious that they must have been disobedient in some way, I am not sure I understand what they did. In the end, however, one thing is clear. God took care of His children once again, allowing the Ark to return to Israel. He took care of their enemies while making Himself known to yet another nation of people. Through His acts of love and punishment, God continued to show Israel that He was the one in control and that He was the one that they must learn to depend on and trust.

Matt