‘Til the Cows Come Home
October 19, 2020 at 4:05 pm | Posted in I Samuel | 4 CommentsTags: 1 Samuel 5, 1 Samuel 6, 1 Samuel 7, commentary in 1 Samuel, Sunday School lessons on 1 Samuel
In I Samuel Chapter 5 the Philistines, having captured the Ark of the Covenant, took it to the temple of their head god, Dagon. That night the statue of Dagon fell before the Ark, so the next morning they set it back up, but the morning after that not only was the statue lying down again, but its hands and feet had been cut off. The Philistines had tried to humiliate God, so He humiliated them with a couple of plagues:
They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
I Samuel 5:8-9
We know from Chapter 6 that there was a plague of mice, too, but there is no unanimous agreement among Bible scholars about exactly what these “emerods” were. An outbreak of Bubonic plague carried by the mice is one suggestion, but tumors or hemorrhoids are the most common theories.
The Philistines moved the Ark to couple of different cities, and the same thing kept happening, so when they took it to Ekron the people there tried to wave them off, saying, “Don’t bring that thing here!” At the third city this happened:
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
I Samuel 5:11-12
The Philistine lords and priests – the rulers – had to devise a way to get rid of it. The beginning of I Samuel Chapter 6 takes place seven months after the Philistines first captured the Ark. Their plan was to make a show of getting rid of the Ark, but to stack the deck with two cows who had just given birth.
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. 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. 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? 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:
I Samuel 6:2-7
Remember this cart; it will be important later. The cows did not turn around with the cart. They went straight to the Israelite town of Bethshemesh.
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.
I Samuel 6:13
Imagine these men working in the fields when the cows came. These men might have kept working “‘til the cows came home,” but the cows weren’t coming home! The Ark came home instead.
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.
I Samuel 6:14
Despite the unwitting service done by these cows, they got killed for their trouble! But so did many Israelites who didn’t treat the Ark with reverence or obey the law.
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 LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
I Samuel 6:19
The Ark then went to Abinidab’s house, and his son, Eleazar, was consecrated to guard the Ark. It stayed there for 20 years before Samuel called an assembly.
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
I Samuel 7:3
During those 20 years the people were concocting the idea of having a human king.
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
I Samuel 7:5-6
It’s one thing to have a celebration and call it worship, but before the people could worship they needed to confess.
And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.
I Samuel 7:11-12
How Not to Comfort a Grieving Parent
October 13, 2020 at 2:32 pm | Posted in Biblical comfort, Job | 1 CommentTags: commentary on Job, Ephesians 3, Job 10, Job 11, Job 15, Job 9, Mark 14, Romans 8, Sunday School lessons on Job
By Chapters 9 and 10 the careful reader of the Book of Job starts to get some insight into where Job’s relationship with God, and his knowledge of God, could be improved. This happens as we observe Job’s questioning of God. In Chapter 10 Job wants to know if his life has been a waste.
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
Mark 14:3-6
Nothing given to Christ in faith and love is ever wasted.
Zophar speaks next. He was the youngest of Job’s “friends“/inquisitors, and the angriest. He accused Job of being nonsensical, and, in doing so, showed his own hypocrisy.
Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 11:2
There’s a time and place to stand up for the righteousness of God, perhaps when someone publicly takes His name in vain or complains too much about the weather, but some occasions call for a differnt tone or sense of compassion, such as when someone is angry at God because he has lost a child.
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Job 11:7-9
Zophar had much to say about God’s sovereignty, but he didn’t say anything about God’s love.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19
The wisdom of God is beyond measure. The perfection of God is beyond measure. But so is the love of God for His children.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
Why were Zophar, and to some extent Bildad and Eliphaz, so angry at Job? Their fear had made them angry. They wanted Job to confess some secret sin to account for his troubles, so that they wouldn’t have to worry about troubles coming for them too. “If this happened to JOB, what could happen to US??” Zophar wanted Job to get his blessings back – but on his terms. He unwittingly spoke for Satan, wanting Job to make a “prosperity bargain” with God. An attempt to bribe God with an insincere confession is not the right motiviation.
When Eliphaz speaks again in Chapter 15, he first accuses Job of being an idiot, then he accuses him of being a hypocrite. He was anxious for Job to repent – to change his ways. He couldn’t understand how Job could possibly entertain the notion that God could let the wicked prosper or punish the righteous. God’s patience is often greater than we can grasp with our finite understanding.
Apostle and Apostate
October 9, 2020 at 9:45 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 6 CommentsTags: 12 Apostles, apostasy, apostate, Apostles, Bible Q&A
Question: How is it that the words “apostle” and “apostate” can sound so similar, but have such different meanings?
Answer: Let’s state the definitions first. The capital-A Apostles included the former 12 Disciples of Jesus, minus Judas, who betrayed Him. Judas was replaced by a man named Matthias (Acts 1:12-26). After Jesus’s Resurrection and Ascension, He then appeared to, and called, a man named Saul of Tarsus to become an Apostle (Acts 9:1-31), and changed his name to Paul. The Apostles were commissioned to spread the Gospel throughout the civilized world in the 1st Century, and to plant churches, and, in some cases, to be the conduits through which the Holy Spirit gave us the books of our Bible that make up the New Testament. After the original Apostles died, there were no more capital-A Apostles. However, the term “apostle” means someone who is sent on a mission to make converts to a religion or religious cause, and to spread and establish the beliefs and practices of that religion. In that sense, all true Christians (as messengers and ambassadors of Christ and His Gospel) are called to be little-a apostles (Matthew 28:19-20).
The word “apostate” means someone who has renounced or turned away from or forsaken the religious beliefs he once claimed to hold. In Christianity, the word “apostle” has a very positive connotation; “apostate” has a very negative connotation.
The reason that they sound similar is that they come from the same ancient Greek root words. Apo was a prefix meaning “apart from” or “set off.” The second part of the words come from a Greek word which meant “sent” (stel). An apostle is someone who has been “sent off” on a mission to advance his faith among unbelievers. The idea of being “set off” also applies to the prefix in “apostate,” but in this case, “stat” is applied to someone who has “removed himself,” someone who has “rebelled and defected” and now “stands apart” by his own choice from that for which he once stood. It’s a little confusing, but the key is in remembering that an “apostle” has been “sent off” with a commission; whereas, an “apostate” has abandoned his former status.
The Hand of God
October 2, 2020 at 1:17 pm | Posted in I Samuel, Uncategorized | 8 CommentsTags: 1 Samuel 4, 1 Samuel 5, 1 Samuel 6, commentary in 1 Samuel, Sunday School lessons on 1 Samuel
Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
I Samuel 4:15-18
Eli was a man in poor health, ill-prepared for the series of shocks he received:
Shock 1: The Israelites had lost the battle against the Philistines.
Shock 2: Many of the Israelites were dead.
Shock 3: Both his sons were dead.
Shock 4: The Ark of God had been captured by the enemy and taken away.
This was too much for him. It is possible that Eli was grossly overweight because he had been eating far too much, and more than his share, of the meat given to him from the ritual sacrifices. It is also possble that he led an overly sedentary lifestyle. He was heavy in size, but not in glory (kabowd).
There is an interesting theme of the word “hand” running through I Samuel Chapters 4-7.
And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
I Samuel 4:3 (emphasis added)
You may be captured by the hand of your enemies.
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
I Samuel 7:3 (emphasis added)
You may be delivered (supernaturally) from the hand of your enemies.
And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
I Samuel 7:8 (emphasis added)
You may ask the Lord to save you out of the hand of your enemies.
Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
I Samuel 4:8 (emphasis added)
God’s enemies will be frightened by the reputation of His hand.
But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
I Samuel 5:6 (emphasis added)
The Lord’s hand is heavy: powerful and mighty.
And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
I Samuel 5:7 (emphasis added)
The hand of God is serious (“sore”).
And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
I Samuel 5:9 (emphasis added)
God’s hand may be against a group of people.
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.
I Samuel 6:3 (emphasis added)
God’s hand upon someone will cause him to consider why.
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.
I Samuel 6:5 (emphasis added)
God’s hand has perfect control; He may lighten or increase the pressure.
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.
I Samuel 6:9 (emphasis added)
God’s hand may work through circumstances.
So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
I Samuel 7:13
The Lord’s hand does not get tired.
You may have heard the saying that God has no hands but ours to do His work in this world, and while the sentiment behind that expression has some merit, exhorting us to serve faithfully as His ambassadors, it is fundamentally untrue. God is perfectly capable of working out His Divine will with or without our hands.
Easily Offended
October 27, 2020 at 10:04 am | Posted in Job | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical reproach, commentary on Job, Job 17, Job 20, Job 23, Job's friends, personal offence, Sunday School lessons on Job
By Chapter 17 Job was ready for death.
Job 17:1
But he never considered suicide.
The more Job’s “friends” argued, the more offended they became, especially Zophar.
Job 20:3
Zophar was concerned with his own reproach, and this caused him to express his own spirit. As a Christian, it’s easier to yield to the Spirit when something is more generically offensive, but when we are personally offended we think it’s time for our own spirit take over.
By Chapter 23 Job got to a point where he had enough arguing, and he began appealing directly to God. In his pain, he became confused about where God is. Sometimes we pray and want to explain to God exactly what we’re going through – as if He doesn’t already know. We don’t have to search for God. He’s everywhere, and He knows where we are. He knew where Job was: in the furnace.
Job 23:10