Wednesday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 5:6-12
6 Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors. 7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
6 Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors. 7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
Commentary:
5:6 The tumors, together with an apparently abnormal number of mice in the area (6:5), have led most commentators to identify the disease as bubonic plague. Yet 5:12 has no reference to the mice at all. See note on 6:4.
5:8 The five (6:4, 16) lords were the rulers of the five ruling Philistine cities (i.e., the Philistine pentapolis; see 6:17). Gath was the city of Goliath (17:4), Achish (21:10; 27:2), and Ittai and the 600 Gittites (2 Sam. 15:18–19). Gath is probably Tel ets-Tsafi, about 12 miles (19 km) east of Ashdod and 5 miles (8 km) south of Ekron (1 Sam. 5:10), at the foot of the Judean hills.
5:10 Ekron is another city of the Philistine pentapolis, most probably Tel Miqne, 22 miles (35 km) west of Jerusalem, on the western border between Philistia and Judah. This journey of the ark, taken from city to city by its panicky “captors,” is almost a parody of a triumph march. Ekron has been discovered and excavated by archaeologists. A monumental inscription, belonging to the early seventh century B.C., has been found in what appears to be a temple complex. It is a plea to a goddess to protect Achish, the ruler of Ekron, and to bless him with long life, and to bless his land.
5:11 a deathly panic. I.e., one that causes death.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 500.
5:8 The five (6:4, 16) lords were the rulers of the five ruling Philistine cities (i.e., the Philistine pentapolis; see 6:17). Gath was the city of Goliath (17:4), Achish (21:10; 27:2), and Ittai and the 600 Gittites (2 Sam. 15:18–19). Gath is probably Tel ets-Tsafi, about 12 miles (19 km) east of Ashdod and 5 miles (8 km) south of Ekron (1 Sam. 5:10), at the foot of the Judean hills.
5:10 Ekron is another city of the Philistine pentapolis, most probably Tel Miqne, 22 miles (35 km) west of Jerusalem, on the western border between Philistia and Judah. This journey of the ark, taken from city to city by its panicky “captors,” is almost a parody of a triumph march. Ekron has been discovered and excavated by archaeologists. A monumental inscription, belonging to the early seventh century B.C., has been found in what appears to be a temple complex. It is a plea to a goddess to protect Achish, the ruler of Ekron, and to bless him with long life, and to bless his land.
5:11 a deathly panic. I.e., one that causes death.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 500.
Questions:
When something in our lives isn't going well, it's easy to think the problem is where we are rather than what is happening within us. We start looking for a different environment, a different routine, or a different set of circumstances, hoping that a change on the outside will finally bring the peace we've been missing.
After God brought judgment upon Ashdod, the Philistine leaders decided to move the Ark to Gath. But the same trouble followed them. So they sent the Ark to Ekron, and the people there were terrified when they learned what had happened. No matter where the Ark went, the Philistines could not escape the power of the God of Israel. They kept moving the Ark from city to city, but their circumstances only got worse.
The Philistines were treating a spiritual problem like a logistical problem. They thought that if they could just get the Ark somewhere else, they could get their lives back to normal. But the problem wasn't their location. They were dealing with the living God, and no change of scenery could remove them from His authority.
We can make the same mistake when we assume that a different set of circumstances will finally give us the peace we want. We blame the stress of our schedule, the people around us, or the season of life we're in. Sometimes those things really do need to change. But sometimes we're looking everywhere except at the very thing God is bringing to our attention.
God is not limited by our attempts to avoid Him. His hand followed the Ark from Ashdod to Gath and then to Ekron. The Philistines could move from one city to another, but they could not escape His authority. And while we can't think that every hardship is God's judgment, we can trust that He is able to use even difficult circumstances to expose our need for Him.
God's pursuit of sinners is ultimately seen in Jesus. He came into the world to seek and save the lost, not because we had found our way to Him, but because we could not rescue ourselves. Through Jesus, we are invited to stop running from the God who knows us and to receive the grace that only He can provide.
After God brought judgment upon Ashdod, the Philistine leaders decided to move the Ark to Gath. But the same trouble followed them. So they sent the Ark to Ekron, and the people there were terrified when they learned what had happened. No matter where the Ark went, the Philistines could not escape the power of the God of Israel. They kept moving the Ark from city to city, but their circumstances only got worse.
The Philistines were treating a spiritual problem like a logistical problem. They thought that if they could just get the Ark somewhere else, they could get their lives back to normal. But the problem wasn't their location. They were dealing with the living God, and no change of scenery could remove them from His authority.
We can make the same mistake when we assume that a different set of circumstances will finally give us the peace we want. We blame the stress of our schedule, the people around us, or the season of life we're in. Sometimes those things really do need to change. But sometimes we're looking everywhere except at the very thing God is bringing to our attention.
God is not limited by our attempts to avoid Him. His hand followed the Ark from Ashdod to Gath and then to Ekron. The Philistines could move from one city to another, but they could not escape His authority. And while we can't think that every hardship is God's judgment, we can trust that He is able to use even difficult circumstances to expose our need for Him.
God's pursuit of sinners is ultimately seen in Jesus. He came into the world to seek and save the lost, not because we had found our way to Him, but because we could not rescue ourselves. Through Jesus, we are invited to stop running from the God who knows us and to receive the grace that only He can provide.
- The Philistines kept moving the Ark, hoping the next city would be different. When a problem follows you from one season of life into another, what are some ways you blame your circumstances rather than considering whether there is something we need to address? How can you begin to distinguish between a situation that needs to change and one that is exposing an issue you have been avoiding?
- The Philistines could not escape God's authority by moving the Ark from one city to another. Do you ever try to keep God at a distance and avoid what He is clearly communicating to you? How does Jesus' pursuit of sinners demonstrate that God's desire is not only to expose our sin, but to bring us into a restored relationship with Him?
- Think about a recurring frustration or conflict that has followed you through different circumstances. What part of that situation have you been tempted to blame entirely on someone else or on your environment? What difficult conversation or personal responsibility have you been avoiding, and what is keeping you from addressing it?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the tendency to blame circumstances or other people while overlooking personal responsibility.
- Thank God for sending Jesus to seek the lost and provide the way for us to be reconciled to Him.
- Ask for wisdom to recognize the difference between circumstances that need to change and attitudes or actions that need to be addressed.
- Pray for courage to face difficult conversations and respond faithfully to God's Word.
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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