What to do?

19. May 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Our text for today gives us the solution that the philistines came up with to handle the problem with the ark of God. Here is the story.

I Samuel 6:1  And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2  And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
3  And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4  Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
5  Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6  Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7  Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
8  And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
9  And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.

So to summarize, after the ark had been there for seven months, the Philistines called the diviners together and ask them how to get rid of the ark.

We know from yesterday’s lesson that it had plagued the land with tumors and mice. The diviners instructed them to build a new cart to put it on and send it away with a trespass offering which they suggested should be golden images of the tumors and mice.

The diviners then told them to send it on its way and if it goes toward the land of Bethshemesh then it was the God of Israel that brought the plague but if it goes another way, then they would declare that it was just a coincidence that these things happened.

Tomorrow, we will see what direction the ark goes in and what happens when it ends up at its’ destination .

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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