#DailyDevotinon The Lord Jesus Christ Is Not To Be Trifled With
July 22nd
Read 1 Sam 5:1—6:3, 10–16
1Sa 5:11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there…1Sa 6:4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords…14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. (15) And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD.
Little did the Philistines understand that it was the Lord that gave them the victory that day and allowed his Ark to be captured. He was going to show his glory among them by killing their god Dagon and inflicting the Philistines with plagues. Time after time no matter where they moved the Ark of the Lord disaster came upon them. Finally they decided to go to the Israelites for help. We don’t know where the Israelites came up with this prescription but perhaps they were following the pattern of the bronzed serpent, make an image of your affliction and offer it up to the Lord.
When the cart gets to the Israelites of course they rejoice. The offer the cows who brought in the Ark as a sacrifice to the Lord and set the golden tumors and golden mice on the big rock the cart had come to. On the one hand the Lord accepts the sacrifice. On the other hand, the Lord strikes seventy of them dead in verse 19 because they had looked upon the Ark of the Lord. Sometimes you wonder why he didn’t do that to the Philistines. Maybe he was having mercy on them because they didn’t know better. Maybe the Israelites opened the lid. We don’t really know. Certainly Israelites had seen the Ark when it was brought out in battle in the past. Obviously, they were not acting in faith.
What can we learn from this? Our God is a Living God. He is not a statue, painting, image that can be captured and tamed, broken or otherwise injured. He demonstrates his glory and power as he sees fit and has mercy upon whom he will have mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ is not to be trifled with. He can see into your heart and know if you are dealing humbly and honestly with him. For this, we should be reverent and conduct our days in the fear of the Lord. But we should also learn that our Lord Jesus Christ desires to be with his people. Even as the Ark was returned to the Israelites, our Lord Jesus Christ has given us his name and his body and blood to be present with us in mercy as he has promised as we gather together. For this, our Lord Jesus Christ should be praised and glorified for his mercy and kindness towards us.
Heavenly Father, ever grant us true fear, love and trust in you and your Son Jesus Christ, that our lives may demonstrate our worship of the same in all our doings. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.