Commentary - 1 Samuel 6:1-9

Bird's-eye view

After seven months of plagues and humiliation, the Philistines are at their breaking point. The Ark of the Covenant, which they captured in a spirit of triumph, has proven to be a divine hot potato, bringing judgment wherever it goes. Their god, Dagon, has been toppled and broken, and their people are afflicted with tumors. In this passage, the Philistine leadership, desperate for a solution, consults their own religious experts. What follows is a fascinating display of pagan reasoning grappling with the undeniable power of the God of Israel. They devise a plan to return the Ark, complete with a guilt offering, and construct a test to determine once and for all if their suffering has been the result of Yahweh's direct intervention or simply a string of bad luck. The entire episode serves as a powerful testimony to the sovereignty of God, who compels even His enemies to acknowledge His glory and whose reputation, established in the exodus, continues to precede Him among the nations.

Outline

Context In 1 Samuel

This chapter is the climax of the Ark Narrative that began in chapter 4. Israel, treating the Ark as a magical talisman, brought it into battle and lost it to the Philistines (1 Sam 4). This was a devastating blow, symbolizing the departure of God's glory from a disobedient people. However, chapter 5 immediately shows that Yahweh is not defeated. The Ark wreaks havoc in Philistia, first by humiliating their idol Dagon in his own temple, and then by inflicting plagues of tumors on the people of Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. Chapter 6 details the Philistines' terrified response. They are not repenting in faith, but they are certainly convinced of Yahweh's superior power. Their problem is no longer how to defeat Israel, but how to rid themselves of the terrifying presence of Israel's God. This passage sets the stage for the Ark's return to Israel and the subsequent events at Beth-shemesh, which will demonstrate that God's holiness is a danger not only to pagans but also to His own irreverent people.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 1 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the fields of the Philistines seven months.

The time frame is significant. Seven is a number of completion and perfection in Scripture. God's judgment upon the Philistines has run its full and complete course. He has taken His time to ensure the lesson was thoroughly learned. This was not a brief, ambiguous event. For over half a year, the Philistines have been hammered by the holy presence of God in their midst. The Ark was not in a city, but in the "fields," suggesting they had moved it out of their population centers in a desperate attempt to mitigate the plagues. But you cannot escape the presence of God by changing your geography.

v. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Make us know how we shall send it to its place.”

When the world is in a crisis it cannot solve, it turns to its experts. The Philistines summon their religious professionals, the priests and diviners. Their question is not one of theology or repentance. It is a purely practical question of logistics and damage control. They are not asking, "How can we know and worship this powerful God?" They are asking, "How do we get this thing off our hands and send it back where it belongs?" They acknowledge it is the "ark of Yahweh" and that it has a proper "place," which is not with them. This is a forced confession of Yahweh's unique claim on His own throne.

v. 3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not turned away from you.”

The pagan priests display a surprising amount of sense here, which is a testimony to God's common grace and the natural law written on the heart. They understand that a great offense has been committed and that restitution is required. You cannot steal a king's throne and then just mail it back. To send it back "empty" would be an insult. They rightly diagnose the need for a "guilt offering" (in Hebrew, an `asham`). They correctly link this offering to their physical healing and to the removal of God's heavy hand. They are operating within a framework of transgression and appeasement, a shadow of the true economy of salvation that will be fulfilled in Christ, our true guilt offering.

v. 4 Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.

Here, their pagan worldview comes to the fore. The form of the offering is based on the principle of sympathetic magic. They propose making golden images of the very things afflicting them: the tumors on their bodies and the mice that were ravaging their land. The offering is to be five of each, corresponding to the five city-states of the Philistine confederacy. The logic is that by offering up an image of the curse, the curse itself might be lifted. While the method is pagan, the principle of substitution is a faint echo of the gospel. God, in His wisdom, will accept this flawed and superstitious worship because it is all these pagans can offer, and it is directed toward His glory.

v. 5 So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that bring the land to ruin, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.

This is the heart of the matter. Whatever else they do, they must "give glory to the God of Israel." God will have His glory from all men, either freely given in worship or extracted in judgment. The Philistines are being compelled to confess His greatness. Their hope is that this act of tribute will cause Yahweh to relent. Notice the scope of His power: they recognize His hand is upon them personally ("you"), upon their false religion ("your gods," whom He had thoroughly humiliated), and upon their whole livelihood ("your land"). They are confessing His total sovereignty over every aspect of their existence.

v. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had abused them, did they not allow the people to go, and they went?

This is a stunning verse. The Philistine diviners are biblically literate, at least when it comes to God's resume of judgment. The story of the Exodus was not some local affair; it was an international object lesson in the futility of resisting Yahweh. God's mighty acts are for the benefit of His people, but they are also a testimony to the nations. The diviners are warning their own rulers not to repeat Pharaoh's mistake. A hard heart in the face of God's judgment only invites more severe judgment. The wisest thing to do when God has you in a corner is to surrender. This is pagan pragmatism, but it is sound advice nonetheless.

v. 7 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.

Now they devise the test. The elements are carefully chosen to eliminate any natural explanation. The cart must be "new," set apart for this holy purpose, not defiled by common use. The cows must be "milch cows," nursing mothers whose powerful maternal instinct would drive them toward their calves. Furthermore, they must be untrained, having never borne a "yoke." Every natural impulse would cause these animals to either refuse to pull the cart, turn back home to their young, or wander aimlessly. The Philistines are stacking the deck against a "natural" success.

v. 8 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.

The Ark is placed on the cart. The guilt offering is not placed inside the Ark, they have enough fearful respect to not violate it, but in a box beside it. It is an accompanying tribute. Then, they are simply to "send it away." No driver, no guide, no one directing the cows. They are to release it to the sovereign will of the God it represents.

v. 9 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.”

Here is the great antithesis: divine providence or blind chance. The Philistines establish a clear, falsifiable test. If these untrained, nursing cows, against all instinct, pull this new cart straight up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-shemesh, then the conclusion is inescapable: "He has done us this great evil." But if they do anything else, the Philistines can comfort themselves with the notion that it was all just a coincidence, a fluke, a bit of bad luck. The modern world loves the category of "chance" because it allows man to live as though there is no sovereign God to whom he must give an account. The Philistines are about to learn that with the God of the Bible, there is no such thing as chance.

Application

First, we see that God's glory is the central issue in the world. God is not a needy deity, hoping for a little recognition. He is the sovereign King, and He will be glorified. He will receive that glory either through the willing praise of His redeemed people or through the forced confession of His judged enemies. The Philistines did not want to worship Yahweh, but they were compelled to give Him glory. This should encourage us, because it means that ultimately, no purpose of His can be thwarted.

Second, this passage demolishes the idea of a secular, neutral world governed by chance. The Philistines set up a test to distinguish between God's hand and random happenstance. The Bible's consistent testimony is that there is no such thing as "chance." Every atom and every molecule is upheld by the word of His power. Whether in blessing or in judgment, it is always His hand that is at work. We are to see His providence in all things and reject the world's appeal to luck or fate.

Finally, we see a shadow of the gospel. The Philistines knew they were guilty and needed to make a guilt offering to appease the wrath of a holy God. Their offering of golden tumors was a superstitious and inadequate attempt, but it pointed to a true need. We too are afflicted with a plague far worse than tumors, the plague of sin. And we need a guilt offering. But we do not offer God golden images; rather, God Himself has provided the offering. Jesus Christ is the true `asham`, who took our plague upon Himself on the cross, so that by giving glory to Him, God's hand of judgment is turned away from us forever.