1 Samuel 6:19
The Philistine’s stole the Ark of the Covenant when Israel brought it out of Shiloh onto the battlefield to stop the invaders. It did not work, for Israel was under punishment of God for the filthy lifestyles and practices of the high priest Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phineas. The two sons were killed in the battle and Eli died when he fell and broke his neck upon hearing that the Ark was gone (1 Samuel 4:18).
With the Ark of God in their possession, the Philistines fell under a terrible curse with all of the men in whatever the Ark entered being struck with “emerods in their secret parts” (1 Samuel 5:9). These were terrible sores and are believed to have possibly been hemorrhoids. Other men were simply killed by the hand of God. It became clear to the Philistines that God wanted His Ark back!
To test and see whether or not the curse that was upon them was from God, they placed the Ark on a cart and yoked “two milch kine” to it (1 Samuel 6:7). These were two cows that had just calved, and it would take an act of God to force these cows to walk away from their calves. An act of God is exactly what they got as they watched in amazement as the two cows walked straight to the Jewish village of Bethshemesh, “lowing as they went” (1 Samuel 6:12).
When the Ark arrived in Bethshemesh, which means “house of the sun” in Hebrew, the men of the city lifted the lid off the Ark and looked inside. Perhaps they wanted to make sure that the Philistines had not taken anything, but whatever the reason, God killed 50,070 of them. Numbers chapter 4 had warned that no one was to touch the holy things of God, so the act of touching the surface of the Ark was bad enough, but to pear inside was to lift the mercy seat which was sprinkled with sacrificial blood. To see the contents of the Ark you had to move the blood out of the way, effectively ignoring the fact that a lamb had lost its life to keep what was covered hidden from view.
Hebrews 9:4 tells us that there were three items in the Ark: a golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the 10 Commandments. All three items were a result of man’s rebellion against God. The manna came when Israel complained about God’s provision. Aaron’s rod budded as a result of an insurrection that was against God’s priest, Aaron. The Ten Commandments were a result of Israel bragging that whatever God told them to do, they were capable of doing it (Exodus 19:8). God wanted all signs of man’s rebellion and sin to be covered by blood so that when He looks at them, all that He will see is the sacrifice.
God told Israel in the land of Egypt to mark the door posts and the door mantle with the blood of a spotless lamb and that when the angel of death came over to kill the firstborn of all of the land, the blood would cause him to “pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). The precious blood has always caused God to “pass over”. While the blood of bulls and of goats could not take the sin away (Hebrews 10:4), Jesus came for that very reason. Now that all of our sins are beneath the shed blood of Jesus, may we never lift the lid again! He does not see your sin, so why should you?
The Philistine’s stole the Ark of the Covenant when Israel brought it out of Shiloh onto the battlefield to stop the invaders. It did not work, for Israel was under punishment of God for the filthy lifestyles and practices of the high priest Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phineas. The two sons were killed in the battle and Eli died when he fell and broke his neck upon hearing that the Ark was gone (1 Samuel 4:18).
With the Ark of God in their possession, the Philistines fell under a terrible curse with all of the men in whatever the Ark entered being struck with “emerods in their secret parts” (1 Samuel 5:9). These were terrible sores and are believed to have possibly been hemorrhoids. Other men were simply killed by the hand of God. It became clear to the Philistines that God wanted His Ark back!
To test and see whether or not the curse that was upon them was from God, they placed the Ark on a cart and yoked “two milch kine” to it (1 Samuel 6:7). These were two cows that had just calved, and it would take an act of God to force these cows to walk away from their calves. An act of God is exactly what they got as they watched in amazement as the two cows walked straight to the Jewish village of Bethshemesh, “lowing as they went” (1 Samuel 6:12).
When the Ark arrived in Bethshemesh, which means “house of the sun” in Hebrew, the men of the city lifted the lid off the Ark and looked inside. Perhaps they wanted to make sure that the Philistines had not taken anything, but whatever the reason, God killed 50,070 of them. Numbers chapter 4 had warned that no one was to touch the holy things of God, so the act of touching the surface of the Ark was bad enough, but to pear inside was to lift the mercy seat which was sprinkled with sacrificial blood. To see the contents of the Ark you had to move the blood out of the way, effectively ignoring the fact that a lamb had lost its life to keep what was covered hidden from view.
Hebrews 9:4 tells us that there were three items in the Ark: a golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the 10 Commandments. All three items were a result of man’s rebellion against God. The manna came when Israel complained about God’s provision. Aaron’s rod budded as a result of an insurrection that was against God’s priest, Aaron. The Ten Commandments were a result of Israel bragging that whatever God told them to do, they were capable of doing it (Exodus 19:8). God wanted all signs of man’s rebellion and sin to be covered by blood so that when He looks at them, all that He will see is the sacrifice.
God told Israel in the land of Egypt to mark the door posts and the door mantle with the blood of a spotless lamb and that when the angel of death came over to kill the firstborn of all of the land, the blood would cause him to “pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). The precious blood has always caused God to “pass over”. While the blood of bulls and of goats could not take the sin away (Hebrews 10:4), Jesus came for that very reason. Now that all of our sins are beneath the shed blood of Jesus, may we never lift the lid again! He does not see your sin, so why should you?
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