Is the party of Baal or the party of Astarte the answer to national woes or is national repentance the real answer? What happened when all Israel confessed their sins and repented? Are we willing to repent of worshipping false gods? Let’s look at 1 Samuel 7.
Did the people repent of worshipping false gods and return to the Lord?
So the people of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Lord’s chest. They brought it to Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Then they dedicated Eleazar, Abinadab’s son, to care for the Lord’s chest. Now a long time passed—a total of twenty years—after the chest came to stay in Kiriath-jearim, and the whole house of Israel yearned for the Lord. Then Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are turning to the Lord with all your heart, then get rid of all the foreign gods and the Astartes you have. Set your heart on the Lord! Worship him only! Then he will deliver you from the Philistines’ power.” So the Israelites got rid of the Baals and the Astartes and worshipped the Lord only. (1 Samuel 7:1-4 CEB)
Did Israel have an assembly, fast and confess their sins to the Lord?
Then Samuel said, “Tell everyone in Israel to meet together at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” The Israelites met together at Mizpah with Samuel as their leader. They drew water from the well and poured it out as an offering to the Lord. On that same day they went without eating to show their sorrow, and they confessed they had been unfaithful to the Lord. (1 Samuel 7:5-6 CEV)
Did God then defend Israel against an enemy attack by the Philistines?
Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car. (1 Samuel 7:7-11 ESV)
Did Samuel set up a memorial stone and was there a time of national peace?
Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israel’s territory again. The Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Samuel 7:12-14 HCSB)
Did Samuel build an altar and become a circuit riding judge?
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went on a circuit each year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places. He would return to Ramah because his house was there, and judged Israel from there. He also built an altar to the Lord there. (1 Samuel 7:15-17 ISV)
What did the devil say to Jesus during His time in the wilderness? Do we worship the devil or God alone?
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4:9-10 KJV)
Is the party of Baal or the party of Astarte the answer to national woes or is national repentance the real answer? What happened when all Israel confessed their sins and repented? Are we willing to repent of worshipping false gods? You decide!
The Ark Returned (1 Samuel 6)
Do we treat the things of God with proper reverence as holy or are we sloppy? Do we quickly turn from the error of our ways or stubbornly persist? Let’s look at 1 Samuel 6.
How long did it take the Philistines to admit they made a mistake? Why are we so stubborn to repent of a bad decision?
The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory for seven months. The Philistines summoned the priests and diviners and asked, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” They said, “If you send the Ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it empty, but rather be sure to send back to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will know why his oppression has not been removed from you.” (1 Samuel 6:1-3 ISV)
What strange offering did the pagan priests and diviners suggest? Did they admit that God was superior to their gods? Did they turn to God or persist in useless idols?
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. 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. 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? (1 Samuel 6:4-6 KJV)
Did they want to confirm if their troubles were just coincidence or caused by God?
So now, take and make a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. See, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that smote us; it happened to us by chance.” (1 Samuel 6:7-9 LSB)
What happened to the cart with the ark of the covenant on board?
Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. Now the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went on the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh. (1 Samuel 6:10-12 NASB)
What did the people of Beth Shemesh do as the ark arrived?
Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron. (1 Samuel 6:13-16 NIV)
How did God impress upon them to treat the ark as holy?
These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. (1 Samuel 6:17-19 NKJV)
Why did the people at Beth Shemesh send messengers to Kiriath-jearim?
“Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?” So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!” (1 Samuel 6:20-21 NLT)
Do we serve God in a careless manner or with reverence and awe?
Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29 WEB)
Do we treat the things of God with proper reverence as holy or are we sloppy? Do we quickly turn from the error of our ways or stubbornly persist? You decide!
How long did it take the Philistines to admit they made a mistake? Why are we so stubborn to repent of a bad decision?
The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory for seven months. The Philistines summoned the priests and diviners and asked, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” They said, “If you send the Ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it empty, but rather be sure to send back to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will know why his oppression has not been removed from you.” (1 Samuel 6:1-3 ISV)
What strange offering did the pagan priests and diviners suggest? Did they admit that God was superior to their gods? Did they turn to God or persist in useless idols?
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. 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. 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? (1 Samuel 6:4-6 KJV)
Did they want to confirm if their troubles were just coincidence or caused by God?
So now, take and make a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. See, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that smote us; it happened to us by chance.” (1 Samuel 6:7-9 LSB)
What happened to the cart with the ark of the covenant on board?
Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. Now the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went on the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh. (1 Samuel 6:10-12 NASB)
What did the people of Beth Shemesh do as the ark arrived?
Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron. (1 Samuel 6:13-16 NIV)
How did God impress upon them to treat the ark as holy?
These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. (1 Samuel 6:17-19 NKJV)
Why did the people at Beth Shemesh send messengers to Kiriath-jearim?
“Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?” So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!” (1 Samuel 6:20-21 NLT)
Do we serve God in a careless manner or with reverence and awe?
Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29 WEB)
Do we treat the things of God with proper reverence as holy or are we sloppy? Do we quickly turn from the error of our ways or stubbornly persist? You decide!
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