Monday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 6:1-6
The Philistines Return the Ark
6 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”
3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”
4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. 5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.
The Philistines Return the Ark
6 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”
3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”
4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. 5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.
Commentary:
6:2 The Philistines reluctantly admit defeat and consult with their priests and diviners on how to send the ark back.
6:3 While a guilt offering as described in Lev. 5:14–17 did not exist for the Philistines, the ancient Near East shared the concept of misappropriating holy things or places for profane use. Thus the Philistines viewed their current plight as God’s “heavy hand” (1 Sam. 5:11) upon them for their desecration of the sacred ark; this desecration required a sacrifice as some kind of recompense to the God of the ark.
6:4 Five golden tumors and five golden mice. The exact relationship between the tumors and the mice is difficult to determine, but from the list in vv. 17–18 one possibility is that only five golden objects are involved and that the “and” should be taken here as “namely,” as is not uncommon in Hebrew, yielding “five golden tumors, namely, five golden mice” (see also v. 11). While that reading is grammatically possible, most interpreters understand 10 items set forth here: five golden tumors as well as five golden mice.
6:5 Even the pagan Philistines must eventually give glory to the God of Israel.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 500–501.
Questions:
When crisis hits, sometimes our first instinct is to figure out how to make it go away. We look for the quickest way to stop the pain, fix the problem, or get things back to normal.
After taking the Ark of God, the Philistines experienced one plague after another. So they called on their religious experts for advice. Their solution? Make golden offerings, place them on a new cart with the Ark, and send it back to Israel. The Philistines wanted the consequences of their actions to go away without having to change their hearts.
The Philistines were willing to send back the Ark, but that didn't mean they were ready to abandon their false gods or bow before the King of Israel. They wanted relief from suffering without surrendering. We, like the Philistines can fall into that same false idea.
When sin catches up with us, we look for a quick fix. We try to manage the consequences, smooth things over, or make a few adjustments so we can move on. Sometimes, we even ask God to change our circumstances while resisting the change He wants to bring about in us.
But God isn't interested in just making our problems go away. He wants our hearts. True repentance is more than asking God to remove the consequences of our sin. It's turning away from sin and turning toward Him. We shouldn't jump to asking God to make everything comfortable again, we should instead ask Him to show us where we need to change and give us the grace to walk in obedience.
After taking the Ark of God, the Philistines experienced one plague after another. So they called on their religious experts for advice. Their solution? Make golden offerings, place them on a new cart with the Ark, and send it back to Israel. The Philistines wanted the consequences of their actions to go away without having to change their hearts.
The Philistines were willing to send back the Ark, but that didn't mean they were ready to abandon their false gods or bow before the King of Israel. They wanted relief from suffering without surrendering. We, like the Philistines can fall into that same false idea.
When sin catches up with us, we look for a quick fix. We try to manage the consequences, smooth things over, or make a few adjustments so we can move on. Sometimes, we even ask God to change our circumstances while resisting the change He wants to bring about in us.
But God isn't interested in just making our problems go away. He wants our hearts. True repentance is more than asking God to remove the consequences of our sin. It's turning away from sin and turning toward Him. We shouldn't jump to asking God to make everything comfortable again, we should instead ask Him to show us where we need to change and give us the grace to walk in obedience.
- How is being upset about the consequences of sin different from being grieved over having disobeyed God? How can we recognize when we want God's forgiveness but aren't willing to submit to His authority?
- The Philistines were willing to make costly offerings to get relief from their suffering. Why can making a sacrifice feel easier than surrendering to God? Think about the difference between giving something up because we want a problem to go away and giving something up because we believe God is worthy of our obedience?
- How does the Philistines’ attempt to appease God with golden offerings expose the difference between religious performance and genuine relationship with Him? How does Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross show that we cannot earn God’s favor through our own efforts, but must receive His grace through faith?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the ways you have focused on fixing your circumstances while avoiding the deeper work of repentance and sanctification God wants to do in your heart.
- Thank God for loving you enough to pursue you, even while you were living in disobedience.
- Ask God for the humility as you learn how to walk in repentance and obedience.
- Thank Him that through Jesus, we don't have to earn His favor or offer Him something in exchange for His love.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
1. Who is Jesus? I believe Jesus is God because Jesus said He is God and proved it by rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples, His brother James, 500 others at one time, and Paul.
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)
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