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.
10 And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:
11 And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.
12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.
13 And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the Lord.
15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.
16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the Lord: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.
19 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lordhad smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
20 And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and fetch it up to you. 1 Samuel 6
Well 7 months go by of shuffling the ark around, the men have these tumors, there are the mice and this may have led to worse plagues, as outbreaks of rodents not only destroy crops but wipe out villages with disease. They are a hard people though and loyal to their own gods, though such manufactured deities have not been able to stand before the Word of Israel's God. They commemorate the emerods and the mice with a gift of gold fashioned in such an image, acknowledging that this comes from God's displeasure. There is a "but" attached though, now they are observational scientists as well, though Dagon has fallen and every place the ark has been the plague has followed. They recall the story of Israel and Egypt, and how Pharaoh had hardened his heart. I was told of God, the law of God, my position as a sinner, this impassable void, of God's Son Who alone could pay the fare and make the trip. "But", there was that for me as well, a hundred buts, a thousand darts, so that if you were to answer any of my objections to the Word of God, there were 999 more to follow. I wasn't even listening to your first answer, my mind was made up, and I was only thinking about what I would say next. It's not that I mind there being a god, but just not The God. For Gideon it was a lack of knowledge, an expectation of what God should be like and when it was not that way, his faith was small, and so the fleece. The Philistines shall put forth a test to see if this is God or coincidence, a fleece that they will still not comprehend. If God leads these heifers, who are in milk, and they do not return home but rather go to a place they have not been, then we will know this is of the Lord. Though you quench all my darts, I will make more, and though I may think in your hesitation, or kindness, that I have made one that permanently sticks, what have I accomplished? If the cows did not go to the land of Judah, then Dagon was real? This sickness was not from the Lord? The dangling dart that does not take down the lion is more impressive to the delusional then the lion that is now before him. For every negative thing I thought I knew and held for certain against God, though not so firmly founded as I believed, there were a dozen reasons to believe, that God created the universe, that the scriptures are infallible in their original pen and remarkably maintained throughout history. The men of Bethshemesh, though saddened by the loss of the ark, and at first happy with it's return, still did not comprehend the sacredness of the contents, the approach, the blessed mirror of the priesthood to Him, Who could only approach, Who could only break that seal. Don't look lightly on the Word of God, do not set it aside on your table, come to Christ for understanding, it is not for the curious or those that seek earthly gain, there is nothing that can be traded for it, and no one with the right over God. The men of Bethshemesh asked that it be taken away, for "Who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God?" Good question.
Well 7 months go by of shuffling the ark around, the men have these tumors, there are the mice and this may have led to worse plagues, as outbreaks of rodents not only destroy crops but wipe out villages with disease. They are a hard people though and loyal to their own gods, though such manufactured deities have not been able to stand before the Word of Israel's God. They commemorate the emerods and the mice with a gift of gold fashioned in such an image, acknowledging that this comes from God's displeasure. There is a "but" attached though, now they are observational scientists as well, though Dagon has fallen and every place the ark has been the plague has followed. They recall the story of Israel and Egypt, and how Pharaoh had hardened his heart. I was told of God, the law of God, my position as a sinner, this impassable void, of God's Son Who alone could pay the fare and make the trip. "But", there was that for me as well, a hundred buts, a thousand darts, so that if you were to answer any of my objections to the Word of God, there were 999 more to follow. I wasn't even listening to your first answer, my mind was made up, and I was only thinking about what I would say next. It's not that I mind there being a god, but just not The God. For Gideon it was a lack of knowledge, an expectation of what God should be like and when it was not that way, his faith was small, and so the fleece. The Philistines shall put forth a test to see if this is God or coincidence, a fleece that they will still not comprehend. If God leads these heifers, who are in milk, and they do not return home but rather go to a place they have not been, then we will know this is of the Lord. Though you quench all my darts, I will make more, and though I may think in your hesitation, or kindness, that I have made one that permanently sticks, what have I accomplished? If the cows did not go to the land of Judah, then Dagon was real? This sickness was not from the Lord? The dangling dart that does not take down the lion is more impressive to the delusional then the lion that is now before him. For every negative thing I thought I knew and held for certain against God, though not so firmly founded as I believed, there were a dozen reasons to believe, that God created the universe, that the scriptures are infallible in their original pen and remarkably maintained throughout history. The men of Bethshemesh, though saddened by the loss of the ark, and at first happy with it's return, still did not comprehend the sacredness of the contents, the approach, the blessed mirror of the priesthood to Him, Who could only approach, Who could only break that seal. Don't look lightly on the Word of God, do not set it aside on your table, come to Christ for understanding, it is not for the curious or those that seek earthly gain, there is nothing that can be traded for it, and no one with the right over God. The men of Bethshemesh asked that it be taken away, for "Who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God?" Good question.
Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”…Hebrews 10: 28-30
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