SERIES I --- THE NATION UNITES --- LESSON 06

THE ARK RETURNED

LOWING COWS AND GOLDEN RATS

From 1 Samuel 6:1-7:2

For seven months, the Ark of Adonai had remained in the land of the Philistines. About that time, the Philistines called a meeting of their priests and magicians. What should we do with this Ark of Adonai, they asked. How shall we return it to the place where it belongs? You’d better not send it back without a gift, the priests and magicians replied. Send a guilt offering along with it. If the plague stops, then you will realize that it was YHVH who sent it. But what should this guilt offering be, the people asked. What should we send with the Ark? Make five golden tumours, like those tumours which the plague brought upon our people and five golden rats, like the rats that have come upon the land with the plague, one tumour and one rat for each of the five Philistine cities and their territories, the priests and magicians advised. If you make these models of your troubles, perhaps YHVH will take your troubles away from you. The priests and magicians had further warnings for the people. Remember what happened to Pharaoh and the Egyptians! They held on until YHVH destroyed the whole land with His plagues. Don’t you try to fight YHVH like that! The priests and magicians told the people specifically what they should do with the Ark of Adonai. Make a new cart and hitch onto it two cows with new calves. Take the calves away from the cows and send them home. Put the Ark of Adonai on the new cart, along with the golden tumours and golden rats which you will send as a guilt offering. Then send the cows and the cart on their way toward Israel. If the cows head for Beth-shemesh, away from their calves, you will know that YHVH has sent this plague upon us. If the cows go back to their calves, then you will know that the plague did not come from YHVH. The Philistines followed the advice of their priests and magicians exactly. They hitched two cows with new calves to a new cart and then took the calves back to their stalls. They put the golden tumours and golden rats onto the cart, along with the Ark of Adonai. The cows headed straight for Beth-shemesh, away from their calves, lowing as they went. Behind the cart went the heads of the Philistine cities, until they reached the border of the territory around Beth-shemesh. The people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley when the cart appeared. When they looked up from their work and saw the Ark of Adonai coming home, they were filled with joy. The cart rumbled onto a field owned by Joshua the Bethshemite and came to stop by a big stone. The people of that place broke up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Adonai. Some of the Levite men removed the Ark of YHVH and the golden gifts of the Philistines to a large stone. That day, the men of Beth-shemesh offered many burnt offerings and sacrifices to Adonai. For a while, the Philistine rulers watched to see what the people of Israel did. At last, they returned to Ekron. The five golden tumours had been sent to represent the five major cities of the Philistines; Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The five golden rats represented the other cities and villages which these five major cities controlled. As of the time of this writing, you can still see that large stone in Joshua’s field. Some of the men of Beth-shemesh tried to peek into the chest of the Ark of Adonai. In His anger, YHVH struck many of them dead. There was much mourning in Beth-shemesh for all the people who had died. Who can stand here before Adonai, the Holy YHVH, they asked. Where shall we send His Ark? The people of Beth-shemesh sent word to the people of Kirjath-jearim. The Ark of Adonai has come back from the Philistines, they said. Please come here and take it away!

COMMENTARY

PLAGUE IN BIBLE TIMES

For the seven months that the Philistines kept the captured Ark of YHVH, they suffered disease and plagues. Finally, they remembered all the plagues Adonai had brought on Egypt at the time of the Exodus and they remembered how YHVH had led His people in a pillar of cloud and fire. Afraid, they sent the Ark back to Israel in an ox cart. Would YHVH direct the Ark to its rightful home? They would see. Few things terrified the people of the ancient world as much as the horrible disease known as the plague. Once a plague started, it left a trail of death through the homes of the wealthy and poor alike. A typical epidemic might start like this: a brother and sister went to work in the family pottery shop as usual. But late in the day the girl began to shiver and become nauseous. At last, the boy led the girl home, for she was too dizzy to walk by herself. That night the girl was sleepless, muttering incoherently with delirium. The other family members slept little either, listening to the girl groan from the severe pains in her stomach, arms and legs. By the next evening her eyes were red and swollen and a furry yellowish-brown layer covered her dry tongue. By now, the anxious parents realized what was happening. Unmistakable symptoms followed, filling the family with dread: swellings, open sores and small red spots covering the girl’s abdomen. By the end of the fourth day the girl was dead. Soon after, her brother and father died in the same agonizing way. Other families lost someone, often two or three or even the entire family. Few recovered. Physicians of the ancient world were helpless against the disease now known as bubonic plague. Although it was known that hordes of rats or mice appeared with the plague, no one knew how they related. Less than a hundred years ago the cause of the plague was discovered. Rodents carry fleas, which carry the disease. When the rodents die, the fleas carry the disease to humans, spreading plague to them. The Philistines were correct in associating the golden rats or mice and the golden tumours with the plague.