The Ark Is Returned (Part 1 of 2)

When the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant, they thought they had acquired Israel's good luck charm. Their celebration quickly turned to fear.

However, when plagues accompanied the ark, no matter where it was sent today on Truth for Life were in chapter 6 of first Samuel, here's Alistair Begg with part one of a message titled, the ark is returned, I invite you to turn with me and follow along as I read from first Samuel in chapter 6 the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 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 shall we send it to its place. 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 will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you and they said, what is the guilt offering that we shall return to him. They answered five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines for the same plague was on all of you and on your Lawrence so you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your guards and your land, 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 now than they can prepare a new cart into milk cows on which there has never, yoke and yoke the cows to the card to go to Cobb's home away from them 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 returning to him as a guilt offering then send it off and let it go its way and watch if it goes up on the way to its own land to Beth Samish, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall note that it is not his hand that struck us. It happened to us by coincidence, the men did so and to to milk cows and yoke them to the card and shut up their cause at home, and he put the ark of the Lord on the card in the box with the golden mice in the images of their tumor and the cows went straight in the direction of Beth Samish along one Highway, lowing as they went. They turned near to the right nor to the left and the lords of the Philistines went after them. As far as the border, Beth Samish now the people of SMH were reaping their fleet harvest in the Valley and when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark rejoiced to see the cart came into the field of Joshua Beth Samish and stopped there.

A great stone was there. They split up the wood of the card and offer the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord and the Levites took down the ark of the Lord in the box it was decided in which were the golden figures and set them upon the great stone and the manifest Samish offered burnt offerings and sacrifice sacrifices on that day to the Lord and when the five lords of the Philistines, so it they returned that day to Accra. These are the golden tumors of the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord, one for Ashdod one for Gaza one for Ashkelon one for Gath one for Accra and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords with 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 Samish and he struck down some of the manifest. Samish because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck 70 men of them and the people mourned because the Lord instruct the people with a great blow, then the manifest. Samish said who is able to stand before the Lord. This holy God and to whom shall he go up away from eyes so they sent messengers to the inhabitants of curious to hear him saying the Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord come down and take it up to you.

That sends the reading of God's will thanks be to God, Megan Pogue lived to me all Lord, show me your self within your word.

Show me myself. Show me my Savior and make the book lifted me for Jesus sake on then what we have arrived at the first verse of first Samuel six in our studies in first Samuel. It reads as follows. The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

What are we to make of that. If anything, that is what I find myself thinking, as I said to study it this week asking myself, what is this mean have why should it matter clearly. It meant something. It mattered greatly 1050 BC, but this is the 21st-century and I don't know about you but I'm not aware of having made any Philistines lately, so it is a long way away and far away. And here we are this morning trying to keep in mind the verse which we said was foundational last time. In Romans 15 for which without quoting it simply says the things that were written in the past and policies quoted from the Old Testament, the things that were written in the past were written for ours, so that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. In other words, all the things that were written here in the Old Testament and were written long ago are meant to teach not only then but also now and so when we read of God's dealings in the past we are to be encouraged to go on believing and trusting in our own day. No part of the challenge and that in dealing with the Old Testament is that the Old Testament is full of sights and sounds and smells, which largely are absent when we read the New Testament. The Old Testament is full of liturgies and repetitive as ceremonies it.

In other words, it essentially provides for us. When you walk into it again of multimedia presentation of the revelation of God and of what it means to have a relationship with that God. As a result of his grace. So at the very beginning, God reveals himself by his name.

He says to Moses if when you go to Pharaoh say that I sent you. We transliterate that Yahweh in our English is translated mainly in our Bibles. Lord capitalize Lord so he reveals himself as Lord, and he reveals himself as holy and then he tells his people that that holiness is not only to be found in God but is to be displayed in then you shall be holy. He says, for I am holy. When you think of the sermon isn't part of this made me think very much about it this week you might be held as Sinclair Ferguson points out to us of regarding them as kind of pop-up books. Other kind of books that we reach our children and our grandchildren. So there full of pictures on the unfold as you hold them up and they learned not simply by the words that are there, but also by the pictures that are provided so it is that when we read from the very beginning of the Bible all the way through. Whether it is what we did in Ephesians where God is blending Jew and Gentile in making one people of his own.

When we think in terms of the family of God as we sung about it just now.

All of this throughout the Old Testament is teaching his people who they are and what he expects of them. Of course this is important not just if you like on a theological basis because if we are honest, we acknowledge the fact that it is by knowing whose we are who we are and what we are for that we are able to determine how we live that sense of connectedness to someone or to something whose anti-to whom do I belong, who are my my just a random collection of molecules held in suspension and what am I here for you. Just go to the Bible for this you just listen to contemporary music you say you don't even know any contemporary music, the stuff that you quote is buried about 40 years in the past guilty as charged, here, here, here is Supertramp you say you say Subaru remember this when I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful beautiful magical. Remember that by then they sent me a way to teach me how to be sensible, logical responsible, practical, and then the refrain. There are times when all the world to sleep. The questions run too deep for such a simple man when you please, please tell me what we've learned.

I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me who I am is the quest for meaning, isn't it reading them all in Brooks's latest book at the second mountain and it just yesterday afternoon as I was reading as it will this fit so perhaps I should mention it as a user is writing in earnings in chapter 21 headed a most unexpected turn of events in our military.

Whether all our by the book and enjoy yourself. But he's talking about other dimension of spiritual life and of meaning and the story modify that we use biblical stories to understand our aliveness and our significance. I can only answer the question what are my to do if I can answer the prior question of what story or stories do I find myself apart.

If there are no overarching stories then life is meaningless. Life does not feel meaningless. These stories provide in their simple yet endlessly complex ways a living script. They provide the horizon of meaning in which we live our lives, not just our individual lives, but our lives together. So you see, when the Bible unfolds in this way, and when we think about what happened is we will towards the end what happened to 70 men what happened to 70 men was significant, but it wasn't significant. Just for the 70 men and their families was significant for the whole nation of Israel and not only for the whole nation of Israel.

It was significant for everyone who ever lived. At any point in time that's why the story matters know where you say please get to the story all right here we are the ark, which represents the covenant of God is as we are told in the hands of their archenemies. It has been for seven months is a challenge for the Israelites.

This is never happened to them before the ark has never been captured before.

It is never been in this situation, inasmuch as it represented God's covenant purposes contain the 10 Commandments, and so on. They knew how significant it was that it had been taken away. It was also a matter of great concern. As we saw in chapter 5, and now see again for the Philistines themselves and so you will notice that in verse two are they people are calling you on the Lords of the cities to the priests and the diviners calling Ghostbusters if you like and are asking quite simply, what shall we do with the ark of the Lord. Tell is with what shall we send it to its place. In other words, they saw that there was a direct link between the predicament that they had faced with these plagues, the tumors some horrendous circumstances being overrun by mice and rats, or whatever it was they had tried under the leadership of the heads of the five cities to cope with the problem by just moving the ark around, but it actually compounded the problem because as they moved from place to place.

The plague followed. So let's go beyond the leadership politically is aware and less trying find counsel somewhere else. People do that eventually is just a matter of where you seek the counsel know you will see from the text of its open that they recognize that they were guilty they were guilty and so the people are giving them advice say to them, you know, it's important that you don't send this article way empty. If you return it with a guilt offering, then perhaps the God of the Israelites will lighten his hand of you and also against all of the rest of your land and your other regards to that's at the end of verse four we might just pause there and acknowledge something and see if you agree with this. Whenever people think of God, our God or God to whom they are accountable because usually if if they're prepared to entertain the notion of God of divinity, they immediately assume that divinity will be good in a way that they that we are not good.

And so they will be aware of the fact that somehow or another we need to close the gap between who and what we are and who and what God is by way of his revelation and so routinely what we try and do is manage this gap to try and fix the situation by our own efforts and by our own offerings, not as I was reading the newspaper this week there was an article on Cheryl Perez reaching the ascent of Everest. Perhaps you saw it and it focused on one particular sharp. A man by the name of Kami Rita, a 49-year-old Nepalese man who has taken people to the top of Everest 23 times and I wondered to myself as I wander what makes this man to quell part of what makes him take was then described in the article. This is quoting the man he says, and every mountain there is a God S it's our responsibility to keep the guard as happy and so months before I start my ascent I start worshiping and asking for forgiveness because I will have to put my feet on her body you've ever wondered about those Nepalese prayer flags. This is the kind of thing that underlies that fascinating is I have to start asking for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what is allows Libby will do that now steady steady recognizing that I am what I am in God is who he is. I think what I'll do is give that that furniture to Habitat for Humanity.

I could sell it and go out for dinner, but I think God would like it if I did this would and perhaps I can close the gap by my own efforts and by my ingenuity.

You may be here this morning and essentially asking the same question. What I do with God because that's what he there's a what are you going to do with the ark of God. No second question that comes in the text is in verse four. They said what is the guilt offering that we shall return to him and they recognize that there they were guilty. Woodhouse is a wonderful sentence when he says why would you pay a debt you cannot access to a guard, you do not know and that's what they were going to have to do and so they're told. Well this is this is what we suggest you do the answer comes there, and now are in a world that is very different from our own five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the lords of the Philistines, and so on, and we suggest that you make them in gold because it's not wise in these circumstances to appear to be stingy in our little plastic my sora will paper maximized will include ice, golden mice, because after all we're trying to explain you are trying to buy our own efforts deal with the predicament. How are we going to deal with God. What will I offer God if I'm indebted to God, what would I possibly produce pathetic isn't, but is understandable in the timeframe. What they were doing this as this was standard pro forma. They would they would take that which represented the predicament, which in this case was placed and expressly tumors and then they would make forms of those tumors and then they would present them to the deity in this way they were providing an image of what their problem was and they were also pleading for the removal of their problem.

That's why they're doing what they're doing. We know what our problem is and we made these in the hope that you fix this for us is is pathetic actually. I mean who modeled for the tumors zoo. They had like it like I'm trying to do the database you know.

So we are having on Monday if you low, and show your tumors were looking for were looking for some nice tumors that we can sounds ridiculous as in who knows whether tumors were but will leave that to the medical people notice that there is no indication there is no indication that they thought that this was going to be foolproof.

Perhaps the set. Perhaps, perhaps, no guarantee but is worth a try. What we have to lose. And then the next question verse six.

Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts now in the background to this story here, both in chapter 5 in chapter 6 invite all the way into chapter 4.

The background picture if you like.

If it if there was if there is a movie running in the background as this unfolds in real time. It would be the picture of the Exodus from Egypt and would be the picture of the people of God being set free from Egypt. As a result of the plagues that were brought upon the nation, and so on.

And that is the background to and there are echoes of the head all the way through the defiance of Pharaoh and the people had brought the judgment of God, and only when God's judgment was executed where the people then free to go and in the same way now were going to return the art to its own place is only sensible to do this so just as you have the picture of the people being exited from Egypt. So now were anticipating the part being removed from the cities of the Philistines listing to Truth for Life that is Alister Bragg pointing out the futility of trying to resolve issues with God through our own efforts and offerings. If you been benefiting from our study in the book of first Samuel, maybe you'd like to relisten or share these messages with a friend. The series is titled give us a king. It's available on a USB drive for just five dollars. That's 54 messages that will take you through the entire book of first Samuel, you'll find it@truthforlife.org/store. People often thank us for offering so many wonderful resources at cost and for the unlimited access to all of Alister's teaching online, but the thanks does not belong to us belongs to our monthly truth partners who faithfully pray for us and who give generously to make it possible for Truth for Life to provide Bible teaching to everyone without cost.

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So who can stand before a holy God will hear the answer to this great dilemma tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. But the Learning is for Living