One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Monday, May 9th

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Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 5-7

Chapter 5 - The Ark Gives the Philistines Problems

The Philistines thought by capturing the Ark of Israel they had dealt the Israelites a crushing blow. What they didn't realize was that the presence of Israel's God, Yahweh was a dangerous thing to fool around with. When they tried to set the Ark of the Covenant next to their god, Dagon, he toppled face down. Even when they put Dagon upright the next day not only was he face down the next day, but also his head and hands were broken off and lying in the doorway. The God of Israel was a real and powerful, whereas the god of Philistines was made of lifeless stone. 

Dagon was represented with a half man, half fish figure, and was said to be the father of Baal. “This deity was a personification of the generative and vivifying [life-giving] principle of nature, for which the fish with its innumerable multiplication was especially adapted, to set forth the idea of the giver of all earthly good.” (Keil and Delitszch)

Every time they tried to get rid of the Ark, the Lord's vengeance struck those in its vicinity. They were afflicted with what the bible calls "tumors". Commentators are divided on what this term means. In other versions it is associated with rats ravaging the land and the people. Others think it refers to bleeding "piles", and others something like the "bubonic plague". Whatever they were, they wreaked havoc on the people whenever the Ark showed up. It was a sign of judgment on all those who took the presence of the Lord lightly. The Lord's holiness brought judgment on all those came into His presence. 

Chapter 6 - The Philistines Return the Ark

With all of these problems the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them what to do. The priests told them to send the Ark back to Israel with five gold tumors and five gold rats as a guilt offering. They put the Ark on a cart that was hiteched to cows, who had just given birth to two calves. This provided another test to see if they had appeased Israel's God. 

"The test was simple and stacked against God. By nature, two milk cows which have never been yoked should not pull a cart at all, instead they should have resisted their yokes. Additionally, they decided to take their calves home, away from them. The “maternal instinct” of the cows would draw them not towards the land of Israel, but back home to their own calves. The Philistines devised a test that “forced” the God of Israel to do something miraculous to demonstrate He really was the cause of the plagues."

The Philistines took the cart as far as Beth Shemesh. When the cows did not return home, they had gotten their answer. At Beth Shemesh they were overjoyed that the Ark had been returned. They did the right thing by offering a sacrifice of the cows, and burned the wood from the cart as a burnt offering. Technically the sacrifices should have only been made in the tabernacle, but it appears as if the Lord saw their heart in the matter. Yet, they made a fatal mistake by looking into the Ark, which resulted in the killing 70 of the men from Beth Shemesh. When they realized the danger of the holiness of the Ark, they convinced the men of Kiriath-jearim to take it. 

I think one of the main lessons in this passage is we often underestimate the holiness of God. We get so comfortable with the grace of God, we forget to be in awe of and fear the Lord. I think one of the most important reasons to read the Old Testament is to remember the whole character of God including his justice and holiness. 

Chapter 7 Samuel Leads Israel to Victory

Samuel rallied the people and called them to repent of their worship of foreign gods. They fasted and poured out water, as another symbol of their repentance. 

“They poured out their hearts like water in penance before the Lord.” “They seemed to say in effect, We could wish to shed as many tears for our sins as there are drops of water in this bucket; but because we cannot do this, behold, we do what we can.” (Trapp)

Samuel took a young lamb and sacrificed it to the Lord. As they Philistines came to attack and the Israelites started panicking. Samuel interceded on their behalf, and the Lord through the Philistines into a panic. The Israelites defeated them soundly. Samuel placed a large "Ebenezer stone" a site between the Israelites' territoty and the Philistines. 

Samuel knew the nation needed to remember this amazing victory, which came to a humble and repentant Israel. The LORD won this battle, not Israel – so he named the stone Ebenezer, meaning “stone of help.”

When God provides for us, we need these type of "memorial stones" to remind us of God's faithfulness. This is especially helpful in times where we might not feel the Lord's presence or provision. 

The Israelites were not bothered again by the Philistines. and they took back much of the land the Philistines had taken. This ended Samuel's reign as a faithful judge in Israel. 

Samuel was not a military man, but he was just as successful or more successful than Israel’s best generals because the LORD fought for Samuel. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites: Samuel was successful not only as a man of war, but also as a man of peace.

Click Here to Read John 6:1-21

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

The crowds continued to grow as Jesus healed people, and they saw his miraculous signs. Jesus tried to get away from the crowds, but eventually they would catch up to him. While he was sitting on a hill with his disciples, he saw a huge crowd (estimated at 5,000) coming toward them on the hill. He turned to Philip and asked him how they were going to feed all the people. While Philip was trying to figure it out, Andrew notices a small boy with two fish and five loaves. 

Jesus gives thanks for what they have and asks God to provide for the rest. Not only were all 5,000 fed there was enough leftovers to fill up twelve baskets. When the people saw this miraculous sign, they concluded Jesus was the prophet they had been expecting. Moses had written about this prophet when he said,

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. (Deuteronomy 18:15) If the coming Prophet was to be like Moses, it made sense that he would also feed the people miraculously as Moses did.

The people wanted to make Jesus a king, who would free them from Roman oppression. But Jesus knew this was not his mission in life, so he withdrew to a private place. 

ClickHere to Read Psalm 106:13-31

Click Here to Read Proverbs 14:22-23