Day1
Week10
1Samuel
“The gold tumors which the P’lishtim sent back as a guilt offering for Adonai were one each for Ashdod, ‘Azah, Ashkelon, Gat and ‘Ekron; and the gold rats also corresponded to the number of all the cities of the P’lishtim that belonged to the five leaders — fortified cities and country villages.
1Samuel 6:17-18
Cross references
2 Samuel 24:24
Numbers 4:14–15
Just In Case
The Philistine leaders wondered if all that had happened to them while they had the ark was an accident.
So they set up an elaborate and difficult test for God to fulfill, and they personally observed to see if God would indeed meet the test.
The test was simple and stacked against God.
The Philistines devised a test that “forced” the God of Israel to do something miraculous to demonstrate He really was the cause of the plagues.
This was a remarkable miracle.
The Test:
Take two cows who had never pulled a cart before, either alone or together.
By nature, two milk cows which have never been yoked should not pull a cart at all, instead they should have resisted their yokes.
Place the Ark on a cart and hook the cart to the yoke.
The ark didn’t have “handles” and was not to be carried by lifting it directly with one’s hands. Exodus 25:12-15
Though this way of transporting the ark was prohibited by the law, God excused them because of their ignorance of His law. And because they had no Levites to carry it upon their shoulders.
They put the articles of gold to be returned to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side: The Philistines were wise enough to not open the ark of the covenant and set the articles of gold in the ark itself.
Additionally, they decided to take the cows calves home, away from them. The “maternal instinct” of the cows would draw them not towards the land of Israel, but back home to their own calves.
If the cart returns to Israel we will know that we have offended The God of Israel, if not; then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.
No driver led them, yet the cows left home, and walked the ten miles (16 kilometers) or so to a city they had never been to. They left their own calves behind and went straight on a certain road, with never a wrong turn, never a stop, never turning aside into the fields to feed themselves, never turning back to feed their own calves.
When they arrived at the fields of Y’hoshua the Beit-Shimshi
The cows turned and entered the field.
When people don’t believe there is a loving God who sits enthroned in the heavens and has a good plan for their lives, you can’t blame them for being afraid, for being proud, for being miserable.
But for those who believe in the God of the Bible, there is no excuse for fear, pride, or misery.
God is still on His throne! “As we go forth into the world, let us believe that the movement of all things is towards the accomplishment of God’s purpose.” (Meyer)
Faith doesn’t need a “Test”
What about you?
Action Step
Ask yourself if you are looking for a sign?
Do you need to see results in order to believe that God is working for you?
Look up 1 scripture today about God’s Love for you.
Comments