Week Twenty-Day Four

Instructions for the building of The Ark are found in Exodus 25. It was to be made of acacia wood. It measured about 43 inches long, and about 27 inches both wide and high. It had 2 gold rings fastened on each side through which poles were inserted to carry it. The poles were to remain in the rings at all times. On top of the covering were two carved cherubim, with their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover. It was housed in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple.

The last mention of The Ark in The Bible was in the first Temple in Jerusalem. Many believe that it was either destroyed or carried off, as early as 925 B.C. during an Egyptian raid on Jerusalem, or as late as 586 B.C. by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar when they devastated Jerusalem prior to the Jewish captivity.

The Ark represented the presence of God to the people. God seems to have used it to communicate His presence in some very tangible ways. Our passage from last night details a fascinating example of this. As you read today, think about whether or not any physical object or place has ever taken on serious spiritual significance in your life.

Chapter 6 

¹ When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, ² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”  

 ³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

 ⁴ The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”  

   They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

 ⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸ Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, ⁹ but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”  

 ¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

 ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.  

 ¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

 ¹⁹ But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[a] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. ²⁰ And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” 

 ²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town.”

BEFORE YOU START YOUR DAY

1. Let’s think back through this incident for a moment.
   1. Do you think the Philistine’s response to The Ark represented real faith or was it just superstition? Why?
   2. What history lesson do the Philistine priests call their people to remember (v. 6)?
   3. Have you ever felt like God was punishing you? How do you decide if it is punishment or if it is just misfortune?
   4. Have you ever organized a thanksgiving service like the Israelites did when The Ark was returned?
   5. How does this passage speak to you this morning?
   6. Dedicate your day to God.