October 10, 2012
The Ark of God------Part 2
1st Samuel 5:1-6:21
I. Traveling With the Ark 5:1-6:18
II. Returning the Ark 6:19-21
"Most people have never heard of Bernard Coffindaffer, but a lot of people have seen the results of his work. He was born in 1935, in Craigsville, West Virginia, and was orphaned at the age of ten. He managed to finish high school when he was 14, serve 6 years in the US Marines, and go on, to graduate, from the University of Charleston, with a business degree. He established a coal-washing business and made a small fortune in the mountains of West Virginia.
But the coal-washing business is not the work, that has touched the hearts of so many people. His really memorable work, began, when he became a Christian, at the age of 42 and God called him to preach. He served seven churches in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. And his most profound ministry began, when he had, what he called "a genuine, marvelous, glorious vision."
Coffindaffer had sold his business and had netted nearly $3,000,000. The Holy Spirit, gave him a vision, to take that money and erect, sets, of 3 large crosses, along the highways and roads, in the United States, and the world. And starting in 1984, that's exactly what he did. In the last nine years of his life, Coffindaffer set about erecting clusters of 3 crosses, in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Zambia, and the Philippines. Because of his vision---- a total, of 1,864 clusters of crosses, now stand beside interstates and local highways and country lanes.
Have you ever seen them, these silent witnesses for Jesus Christ? (I've seen them in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia---you will round a curve and unexpectedly, in the distance, there a set will be). The crosses are made of California Douglas Fir, with the center cross, painted gold, befitting the royalty of the Messiah. The crosses on the left and the right are painted pale blue. There are 3 nails in each cross, one at each of the cross-arms, and one, halfway down the main shaft of the cross, representing where the hands and feet of Jesus and the 2 thieves, on either side of him, were nailed. When each set of crosses, was erected, a consecration ceremony was held. Scripture was read and a prayer of dedication was offered.
In 1993, Bernard Coffindaffer was 68 when he died, penniless, of a heart attack. But, he left a tremendous legacy for the world to see. His testimony about the crosses was simple----" he wanted to remind people that Jesus was crucified on a cross at calvary, for our sins….. his prayer… was, that the crosses would encourage people to think and ask questions, and eventually, lead them, to a saving knowledge, of the Lord Jesus.
Most of those crosses are still standing, today, and the are powerful symbols, or our faith. They point to a decision, that eventually, every person has to make. Coffindaffer was wise---instead of erecting just one cross, he didn't forget that 3 men, were crucified on that fateful day---- the Savior was hung on one of them, but the men hanging on either side of him, were just ordinary men. And the only difference between the 2 thieves, was in their decisions---- One decided to humble himself before the Lord, and one decided to reject Him. The cross is the symbol of the sacrificial death of our Savior, and I hope that we don't ever take it for granted."
I. Traveling With the Ark
A.) The world's gods are powerless before God Almighty. 5:1-5
After the Philistines seized the Ark of the Covenant, they took their captured trophy, to Ashdod, one of their 5 cities, and placed it there, in the temple of their god, Dagon. Their purpose was clear-----Yahweh, as the defeated, humiliated God, deserved to be placed, in a subservient position, for all their people to see, before the victorious Dagon. They either believed, that the man-made Ark, was actually Israel's God, or they at least, regarded it, as the visible throne, of an invisible deity. Whichever it was, the Philistines believed, that since they had won the battle, against the Israelites, then their god Dagon, must have defeated the God of Israel, on the battlefield too. They honestly believed, that just like the Israelites were going to have serve them now, Yahweh was going to have to serve Dagon, too. But they didn't have very long to wait, before God's sense of humor, showed them just how wrong they were.
Early the next morning, the people of Ashdod found their god laying on the ground, face down, as though the idol was prostrating itself, in worship, in front of the Ark of the Covenant. God, was being very clear, about who was worshiping who!------the so-called victorious god, of the Philistines, needed the help of men, to put him back on his pedestal. It was powerless, in the presence of the God of Israel. The Philistines couldn't see, that their man-made idol, couldn't sustain himself without their help.
The next morning, it happened again, except that time----Dagon's head and hands had been broken off, and were laying on the threshold, so that his worshipers couldn't even go into the temple, without stumbling over them.
This is really, a hilarious story, for us who know the truth, of God's omnipotent power, but to the superstitious Philistines, it was intended, by God, to teach them a valuable lesson.
God had created a deliberate contrast between Dagon and Himself. Because, unlike Dagon, Almighty God, doesn't need anybody, to fight His battles or to set Him up, on any kind of pedestal. God could have leveled the Philistines with just a word, if He had wanted to.
And, He didn't need the Israelites, to capture the Ark, and get it back for Him. He had a plan to rescue it, which was a better one, than anything, a man could devise. Israel didn't need to carry God----God was able to carry Israel.
God does want our love and our obedience and our service, but it would be arrogant of us to assume, that God is dependent on us, to do His will. God loves us and wants to work through us, to spread His good news, but we can never forget that He's God. He doesn't need us for anything---but, in His grace, He allows us, to come and participate with Him, where He's already working.
(In 1996, the US astronaut, Shannon Lucid spent 188 days in space, along with 2 cosmonauts from the former Soviet Union. One night, after supper, she and 2 cosmonauts began talking about their childhoods and what life was like for them during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union.
They surprised each other. Lucid told them she had grown up fearful of the Soviet Union, and most American adults would have felt the same way. But the cosmonauts said they had been equally afraid of the US.
Lucid was shocked that they were afraid of the US. The idea that Russians would think we wanted to destroy them was incredible to her, as it would be to most Americans.
Those Russian cosmonauts, are like people who don't know God. They think that God wants to harm them, or to control them or take everything away from them----- but nothing could be further from the truth. Although there is a spiritual, cold war, going on, where people who don't know Jesus, actually are God's enemies, because of their sins, they aren't enemies that God wants to destroy. They are enemies, that God dearly wants to love and to save, and teach how to be His friend.)
God wanted to make the Philistines His friends----but, eventually there came a time when He chose to turn away and take His mercy with Him---- and He wasn't able to allow them to continue being a powerful nation, because they never learned to trust Him as their God.
Their cities were located in a coastal, fertile, foothill valley----and iron-mongering was their greatest asset.
Because they lived at a cross-roads, to the then known world, their influence touched anyone, who passed their way ---- and because they wouldn't give up their pagan ways----God couldn't allow that influence to continue. But, as the story goes on, we're going to see, that He gave them chance after chance, to recognize Him as the only true God-----and at any point in time, if they had learned to trust Him, and if they had asked Him to be their God, He would have forgiven them, and He would have become their God too----but they refused to see, beyond their own importance-----and eventually, they were annihilated.
B.) There is no one who can manipulate God's power and presence for any reason. 5:6-6:12
The Philistines acknowledged the existence of the Hebrew God, but only as one of many deities, whose favor they sought. Thinking of God in this way, made it easy, for them to ignore his demand, that people worship Him alone. Many people worship God this way. They see God as just one ingredient in a successful life. But God is way more than an ingredient----He is the source of life itself.
Are we like the Philistines, seeing God's favor, as just one of the ingredients for a good life? We need to be careful that we don't-----we need to see God as the only ingredient to a successful life.
It doesn't matter who we are, or what we do, or how much education we have, or how much money we have in the bank, or how many friends we have, or how smart we are------if God isn't the center of our lives, whatever is left over, will just wind up being, wood, hay and stubble. (Mary Kathryn has a friend, who has just found out that her little 8 month old baby, has a fatal disease, that will probably take his life before he's 2----when I asked Mary Kathryn, if her friend was being brave-----she said "yes she is, as always…" the reason why Mary Kathryn could answer me with such certainty, and the reason why I can believe that its true, is because, her friend has made Jesus, the center of her life----and she's trusting, that He will give her the strength to walk through, whatever she's going to have to walk through, in the coming days.)
The Philistines had just witnessed a great victory by Israel's God over their god, Dagon----but they didn't act on that insight, until they were afflicted with tumors or boils, believed to have been caused by rats (which means, as most theologians believe, that it was probably the bubonic plague). Similarly today, many people don't respond to biblical truth until they experience pain. Do we listen to God, for truth's sake---or do we only turn to Him, when we're hurting? If I only had one prayer for us, today---it would be, that we would be so used to trusting God every day, in the little things, that come our way, that when the big things, come, we just go right on trusting Him, without missing a beat. Knowing that we're safe in the palm of His hand, no matter what storms are raging around us.
When the people of Ashdod realized, that the God of Israel, who had inflicted plagues on the Egyptians, had caused a plague of boils to come upon them too----they thought the solution to stop the plague, was to get rid of the Ark, as fast as they could---so they called a council of their rulers together, and decided to send it on a road trip, to one of their other cities, Gath. Immediately, the same plague broke out there-----when the reign of terror became too much for Gath's inhabitants, they sent the Ark, up the road to Ekron. The Philistines in that town, were scared to death, that the same devastation, would happen to them, that had happened at Gath and Ashdod------and as soon as the Ark entered their city, they cried out against it---they didn't want it!!!!!!! The great war trophy, of the Israelites, had become death to anyone who came in contact with it. Sure enough, the plague started there immediately, too!!!! and the people begged, for the ark to be sent back, where it had come from.
The pagan Philistines, had finally begun to have the respect for the Ark, that Israel, should have had, from the beginning. They had played with fire and they had gotten burned badly. It had become clear to them, that Israel's one God, was more powerful, than all of their deities, combined.
It only took 7 months, for the Philistines, as a whole, to figure out, that they wanted to be rid of the Ark, so they called all their priests and fortune-tellers together, and came up with a plan….
The heathen priests, recognized that they had sinned against Israel's God, by kidnapping the Ark of the Covenant. They were scared to death, to offend Him any more, than they already had, so, they couldn't just send it back to the Israelites, and say "sorry, we messed up." The had to be handle the matter, with care. Their religious leaders were wise in their warning, to the Philistine kings, not to harden their hearts, like the Egyptians had, and wise, in their encouragement to them, to figure out a way to pay honor to Yahweh, the Almighty God. The Hebrew word for "honor", chabod, means glory (its the root word for Ichabod, which Phinehas' wife, named her baby, before she died, which means "no glory") The priests directed them, to give glory to Israel's God----and the irony of this is---- that the glory that Israel had forgotten, to give God, by trying to use the Ark for their own purposes, was given to Him, by the pagan Philistines------its sad, the Philistines, were so close, to an understanding of God, but they just could not accept His sovereignty over them.
The priests recommended that a guilt offering be sent along with the Ark, to atone for their sin, and to compensate for the violation of the Lord's honor. They felt like, that gesture, would would heal the Philistines and appease God's displeasure with them. They weren't really sorry for what they had done---they were sorry, that they had gotten caught
It's easy to justify our behavior and to design our own methods of acknowledging God, instead of serving Him, in the way He requires. The guilt offering, was because the Philistines recognized, that they were guilty of taking the Ark---- not that they were guilty of sinning---- they thought the Israelite God was angry with them, so, they did everything they could to try and placate Him. They didn't understand that God doesn't want excuses from us, or good works or empty words, when we mess up----what He wants, is remorse and accountability and repentance.
A new cart was prepared---and two nursing cows, that had never been yoked before, were chosen to pull the cart. Their calves, were taken away and penned up, and left crying, for their mamas. Both the Ark and the chest containing the guilt offering, were placed on the cart, and the cart was sent on its way, with no driver.
The 5 gold rats and the 5 gold boils or tumors, that they sent as the guilt offering, meant nothing to God---but because the Philistines, were idol worshipers, they thought the golden gifts, that they had devised, couldn't help but please Him.
When they sent the nursing cows, to take the Ark back----- they were testing, to see if it was really God, who was punishing them, or if it was just a coincidence.
We know, though, that only God, who has the power over natural order, could have caused those cows to go in the direction that they did, toward Beth Shemesh------ because under normal circumstances, those nursing mothers would never have left their babies. They went straight up the road, and didn't turn to the right or the left----
God had destroyed the Philistine's god, and the Philistine's bodies-----and through those mama cows, He was sending them a clear message, that He was the one, true, sovereign God---- He didn't send the cows to pass the Philistines test---He sent them, to reveal to the Philistines, His mighty power, and also, to make the Israelites remember it.
(A TV show, preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics, featured blind skiers being trained for slalom skiing----- impossible as that sounds. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught on the flats, how to make right and left turns.
When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners, skied beside them, shouting, go "left!" and go "right!" As they obeyed the commands, they were able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending solely, on the sighted skiers' word. Each skier, had to have, complete trust, in their partner or there would have been, total catastrophe.
What a vivid picture of the Christian life? In this world, we are, in reality, blind about what course we need to take. We have to rely solely, on the word, of the only one, who knows what the future holds----God Himself. His word gives us the direction, that we need, to finish the course.)
II. Returning the Ark
A.) Respect and honor, should be given to God and His ways. 6:13-18
When the people of Beth Shemesh looked up from their harvesting, they saw what must have been an amazing sight----2 noisy cows, pulling a new cart, carrying the Ark of the covenant------and they rejoiced. The destination of that cart was not a coincidence----- scripture teaches us, that Beth Shemesh, was one of the Levitical cities-----and was set aside for the clan of Kohath, the Levitical family, who had been given the charge of caring for the Ark. So the cart had gone unerringly, straight to the place, where it was supposed to go. Only Almighty God could have orchestrated that!!!
Joshua, of Beth Shemesh, probably never dreamed, that a large rock, in his wheat field, would become so famous. But that's where the cart stopped, and the cows came to rest. The Levites took the Ark, and the chest containing the gold objects, sent by the Philistines, off the cart and set them on the rock for everybody to see. The people broke up the cart and used it as firewood, to sacrifice the cows, in a burnt offering to the Lord. But, this was an act of disrespect, though, to sacrifice those mother cows---because, Levitical rules stated, that they were supposed to sacrifice only male animals. So, even though they were offering burnt offerings, to the Lord, they weren't really being obedient----they were doing it the way that they wanted to do it.
How often do we do the same thing? We go through the motions of who we're supposed to be, as believers----but we tweak our worship or our service or our behavior or our understanding of the scriptures-----to make it just a little more palatable, or a little more exciting, or a little more inclusive----so that we can have the Lord, and a little bit of the world's standards, too.
But God is a sovereign God, and the truth is, He calls us to a different standard----- And His standard, is not really a hard one to follow---if we're living in a close relationship with Him. If we really sit back and pay attention, we can see, that there aren't many "thou shalt nots" in the scripture----there are many more "thou shall's" ------but we still, find it so hard, to it His way, not ours (pride).
The "Thou shall's" that He's given us, are contained in, 10, commandments---that can be summed up into one, "Love the Lord your God, with your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor, as yourself"-------there's nothing legalistic about that---and there is nothing demanding about that---and there is nothing to be prideful about that------it boils down, to who we believe the Lord God is, and how much do we want to please Him----it comes down to what's in our hearts----because our thoughts and our words and our actions, are a true reflection of who we really are, and what our relationship with the Lord really is.
(In 1994, Rob Mouw, was a high school senior, at Wheaton Christian High School, in Wheaton Illinois, where He was the star of the soccer team. In the final seconds, of a championship game, against, the favored Waubonsie Valley High----his team was behind by one goal. Rob was dribbling the ball, in front of him, running at full speed, to try and score! Just before he shot the ball, in that split second, he caught sight of the scoreboard-----time had run out----there were 4 zeros on the clock. But like any good athlete, Rob shot the ball anyway, and went in for the goal. The referee signaled that the goal had counted, and the game had finished in a tie.
The Wheaton fans cheered. The Waubonsie fans yelled that the time had run out.
Rob had a choice to make. He could either say nothing and avoid a loss and be a hero---after all, it was the referee's job to decide the calls, not his---- Or Rob, could do the right thing…
Before he left the field, Rob asked the referee, if the official time was kept on the scoreboard or the referee's stopwatch. The referee said that the scoreboard time was official, and then ran off the field. Rob went to his coaches and explained that just before the kick, he had seen the zeros on the clock. Since he hadn't heard a whistle, he had continued to play. But his goal was late, and he didn't think that it should count.
His coaches agreed, so they went over to the opposing coaches, explained what had happened, and conceded the victory to the Waubonsie Valley team. When he was interviewed about it later, Rob said, "Every time in your life that you have an opportunity to do right, you should be thankful-----it gives you an opportunity to please the Lord. When a person knows what right is, and then doesn't do it---that is a sin. To have won that game, would have been great-----but it was just a game-----doing the right thing and having peace with God, is much more important." As tempting as it must have been to keep his mouth shut----Rob did the right thing, because He valued what was right in God's eyes, more than he did what was right, in the eyes of his peers.)
It's interesting, that the 5 rulers of the Philistines, were watching the Israelites and their festivities, from a distance.We can only imagine, what they said to their people, when they went back to their own towns----- But one thing's for sure, they would have told them, that it was the Israelite God, who had caused the plague of boils to come upon them. Its going to be interesting to study David and Goliath, in a few weeks----because we will see that the Philistines saw the hand of God come against them again. You would think they would have been terrified to fight His people another time, but the depth of human arrogance, knows no boundaries-----and eventually, the Philistines did realize, that the God of Israel, would defeat them, every single time.
The joy of the Israelites turned to sorrow, really quickly, that day. We can just imagine, what it must have been like. There on that rock, was their most treasured possession---The Ark of God-----in addition to that, were the 5 gold rats and the 5 gold boils, one from each city….for all to see-----(until this episode, in their history, none of them had ever seen the Ark----it had always been covered, when they traveled, or it had been behind the curtain, in the Holy of Holies, per God's instruction) so, they were feeling pretty good----because not only did they have the Ark back, but they were able to look at it, and they had valuable gifts too------from their enemies, no less----I'm sure they were laughing and retelling the story, of how they had looked up to see the miraculous sight, of the noisy cows, heading right for them. Some curious men, even tried to lift the lid, to check out the Ark's contents. And when they did-----God struck them down!
The Israelites had to learn a very valuable lesson and it's a lesson that we all need to learn too---- even though, it may seem harsh to us----- disrespect, for the things of God----- including casualness and flippancy, toward His word, His gifts and His presence, will bring discipline.
B.) God will not tolerate sin. 6:19-21
Since God is holy, we are foolish to even presume, to come into His presence with an arrogant and sinful attitude. Those men were killed, for looking into the Ark, because, the Israelites had lost sight of the power and majesty and person, of God, and had made an idol out of the ark. They had tried to harness God's power, to use it for their own purposes (victory in battle). But the Lord of the universe, cannot be controlled by human beings.
To protect the Israelites, from His power-----He had warned them, to not ever look at the sacred, sanctuary objects, in the most holy place, or they would die. Only the descendants of Aaron, were allowed to see the Ark once a year, when they made atonement for the people' sin-----and only the Levite priests, were allowed to move the Ark, when God told them too. So, because of their disobedience, God carried out His promised judgement, and either 70 men were killed or 50,000 of them were----we aren't sure which, because different ancient manuscripts say different things-----
but theologically, the larger number makes more sense----because, if the military might of the Philistines could kill 30,000 Israelites------ in His holiness, their sovereign God, would have wanted them to know, that His power was far greater than any human military effort.
God could not allow the people to think, that they could use His power, for their own ends. He could not permit them to disregard His warnings and to come into his presence lightly. He didn't want the cycle of disrespect, disobedience and and defeat, to start all over again. He wanted them to remember, that He was the God who had brought them out of Egypt; who had parted the Red Sea; who had destroyed Pharoah's army; who had provided for them in the wilderness; who had given them the Promised Land; who had, time, after time, when they had cried out to Him, and had turned from their wicked ways, rescued them from their enemies. God didn't kill the Israelite men of Beth-Shemesh to be cruel. He killed them, because overlooking their presumptuous sin, would have encouraged the whole nation of Israel, to continue to ignore Him.
The Israelite Leaders panicked----they asked the right question, "Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? and they knew the right answer----"no one"----but instead of running to Him, and bowing down in repentance and reverence, before Him, they blamed Him, for dealing them a heavy blow---and then tried to get rid of the Ark, as fast as they could. Unlike the heathen Philistines, they took no responsibility for their actions, their was no self-searching and no confession of sin and there was no remorse.
They obviously were not ready to receive the Ark, which tells us, that they were not prepared to return to God, and yield themselves to Him yet. So, they ran away from, the only one who could help them----the only one, who had the power and the wisdom and the desire, to save them from their selfish selves----they ran away from their God.
(Several years ago, and eastern paper reported this story.
One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck did too.
Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman then turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase.
Reaching the point of panic, the woman slipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her auto screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the backseat.
The woman had been running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist hunkered down in the woman's car. The chase was not his effort to harm her, but to save her, even at the cost of his own safety.
That's the way the Israelites were and its the way many of us are sometimes, we run away from God, or we turn and fight Him, because we're afraid of what He might or might not do, to us or for us. But God's plans are always for good and never for evil-----in His desire and ability, to rescue us, from the hidden sins, that endanger our lives.
So, the devastated people of Beth Shemesh, send a short, cryptic message----- to Kiriath Jearim, a little village, 15 miles east of where they were------and they told the men, to come and get the Ark because the Philistines had returned it.
Which is exactly what they did---- they got it and took it straight to a Levite's house, who was also a Kohathite, named Abinadab, whose son, Eleazar, was consecrated to guard it. Which he did, in obscurity, until 20 or so years later, when David came and got the Ark, and took it to Jerusalem.
Believers can fall into the same kind of thinking that the Israelites did, if we're not careful-----We want our God to be casual and easy-going---we want to treat Him like He's' the man upstairs, rather than the Lord God Almighty and we want to think that He's our buddy, instead of our heavenly Father. We want God to be our co-pilot but then, we get uncomfortable, or even aggravated, when He wants to fly the plane.
Probably the best advice we can follow, is from the prophet, Habakkuk--- in Chapter 2, verse 20, of his book---- he said, "But the Lord is in his Holy Temple; let everyone on earth, be silent in His presence"
The truth is, we serve a God, who is immeasurably powerful. The one who brought the Ark back from the Philistines, is the same one who raised Jesus from the dead----- and He will accomplish His purposes. His victory does not depend on me or on you, any more than it depended on the Philistines or the Israelites.
God wants us to know Him----He wants us to bow before His holiness, and to revere His sovereignty, and to respect His authority, and to do His will. So, we need to come into His presence, with a quiet humility, and a gentleness of spirit, that allows us to hear, what He wants to say, whether it's to chastise or to praise, us...
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