The Un-Drove Cattle of God: Text: 1 Samuel 6:10-12
Introduction: When God Drives
We live in an age that prides itself on its alleged sophistication. Modern man believes he has outgrown the need for a God who intervenes, a God who acts, a God who is holy and therefore dangerous to trifle with. He has domesticated God, made Him a celestial consultant, a cosmic therapist, or, failing that, has dismissed Him altogether as a relic of a superstitious past. The gods of our age are manageable gods, predictable forces, manageable idols made of silicon and political power. They are gods that do what they are told.
But the God of the Bible is not manageable. He is not a tame lion. The story of the Ark of the Covenant among the Philistines is a thunderous rebuke to every form of paganism, ancient and modern. The Philistines had captured the Ark, the visible footstool of Yahweh's throne, and they thought they had captured Israel's God. They put Him in their trophy case next to their fish-god, Dagon, as though He were just another tribal deity to be added to their collection. But the living God does not share His glory with idols. Dagon ended up prostrate and broken. Tumors and rats afflicted the Philistine cities. They quickly learned that you do not capture the God of Israel; He captures you. You do not possess the Ark; it possesses you.
This brings us to our text. The Philistines, terrified and beaten, are desperate to rid themselves of this holy object that is wrecking their nation. Their priests and diviners, steeped in pagan superstition, devise a test. It is a test designed to give them plausible deniability, a way to see if all this misery was from Yahweh or just a string of bad luck. Their test is a fascinating mixture of pagan methodology and a dawning, terrified respect for the God they have offended. They will stack the deck against God, creating a scenario that, by all natural laws, should fail. And in doing so, they unwittingly set the stage for one of the most glorious and understated displays of God's absolute sovereignty in all of Scripture.
What we are about to see is that God does not need our help. He does not need our clever strategies or our marketing campaigns. He is perfectly capable of directing His own affairs, and He often does so in ways that confound the wisdom of the wise and reveal the foolishness of men who think they can put God to the test.
The Text
Then the men did so and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, as well as the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
(1 Samuel 6:10-12 LSB)
The Impossible Test (v. 10-11)
The Philistine plan, as outlined in the preceding verses, is now put into action.
"Then the men did so and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, as well as the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors." (1 Samuel 6:10-11 LSB)
Let us be very clear about the nature of this test. The Philistines are not being stupid; they are being cunning. They are stacking the deck of natural probability as high as they can against Yahweh. First, they take two milch cows, that is, nursing cows. Any farmer, ancient or modern, will tell you that a nursing cow's deepest instinct is to be with her calf. Separating a mother from her young creates immense distress. The cow's every inclination will be to turn back, to get home to her babies.
Second, these were cows on which "no yoke has come." They were unbroken. They had never been trained to pull a cart together in a straight line. Untrained animals, when yoked together, will pull against each other, go in circles, or simply refuse to move. The natural expectation is chaos, not a disciplined march.
Third, they shut up their calves at home. This is the cruel genius of their test. The sound of the distressed calves would be a constant, powerful summons for the mothers to return. The cows would not only be fighting their own instincts but would be pulled back by the cries of their young.
So, the Philistines have created a scenario where, if nature takes its course, the cart will go nowhere, or it will go back toward the Philistine city of Ekron. If the cart goes straight, against all instinct, toward the Israelite town of Beth-shemesh, it could not be chance. It would be a sign. It would be the hand of God.
And on this cart, they place the Ark of Yahweh. But they also include their pathetic little guilt offering: a box with golden mice and golden tumors. This is classic pagan thinking. They believe they can appease an offended deity with trinkets. It is an attempt to bribe God, to pay Him off for the damage He has caused. They are admitting His power, but they still do not understand His holiness. They think this is a transaction. They do not yet grasp that the Creator of the universe is not interested in their golden tumors. He is interested in their repentance, which they are not offering. They are not bowing the knee; they are trying to cut a deal to get God off their backs.
The Sovereign Procession (v. 12)
Now we come to the glorious, understated punchline. The test begins, and God responds.
"And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistine went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh." (1 Samuel 6:12 LSB)
Every element of this verse is a testimony to the absolute, meticulous providence of God. The cows, against all nature, "took the straight way." There was no meandering, no confusion. They marched with the discipline of trained soldiers. The Hebrew indicates they went on one highway, a direct route. There was no deviation.
They went "lowing as they went." This detail is magnificent. It tells us that the miracle was not that their instincts were erased. They were still nursing mothers. They were still distressed. They were lowing, crying out for the calves they had left behind. Their nature was not suspended; it was overruled. God was not puppeteering inanimate objects; He was directing living creatures, compelling them to act against their deepest desires for the sake of His greater purpose. This is a profound illustration of how God's sovereignty works. He does not obliterate the will of the creature; He directs it. He governs all things, even the moaning of a cow, to accomplish His perfect plan.
They "did not turn aside to the right or to the left." This is the language of covenant faithfulness (Deut. 5:32; Josh. 1:7). These pagan cows are displaying more obedience than covenant Israel often did. They are on a divine mission, and they will not be distracted. God has given them their orders, and they are following them perfectly.
And what of the Philistines? "The lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh." They followed at a distance, watching their carefully constructed test being systematically dismantled. They watched as nature bowed to the will of its Creator. They followed this strange, holy procession right up to the border of Israelite territory. They saw with their own eyes that this was not chance. This was the hand of Yahweh. They had their answer. There is no record of them falling on their faces in repentance. They saw the sign, and they went home, back to their impotent gods. Seeing a miracle is not the same as being converted. The evidence was irrefutable, but their hearts remained hard.
Conclusion: The Unseen Hand
This story is a beautiful, pastoral picture of the doctrine of providence. Providence is the unseen hand of God guiding all things to their appointed end. It is His purposeful sovereignty in action. The Philistines thought they were testing God, but in reality, God was teaching them, and teaching us, a lesson.
He was teaching that His purposes cannot be thwarted. He can use two nursing cows to do what an army could not. He can use the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He can use the most unlikely instruments to bring His glory home.
He was teaching that He is Lord over nature. The instincts He programmed into creation are subject to His command. The universe is not a closed system of cause and effect, running on its own. It is an open system, and the Creator can and does intervene whenever He pleases.
And this brings immense comfort to the believer. Our lives are not a series of random events. We are not at the mercy of chance or fate. We are in the hands of the same God who guided those two cows. Sometimes, our path feels like it goes against every natural instinct we have. We are called to leave comfort, to sacrifice, to move toward a destination we cannot see, all while the world, the flesh, and the devil are screaming at us to turn back. We, too, are often "lowing as we go." The path of obedience is not always easy or painless. It is a struggle. We feel the pull of our old lives, our old desires, our old homes.
But the same God who put a homing instinct for Beth-shemesh into those cows has put a homing instinct for the New Jerusalem into the hearts of His people. He has sent His Spirit to guide us. And though we may low and groan along the way, He will see to it that we do not turn to the right or to the left. He will bring us home.
The Ark of the Covenant was ultimately a picture of Christ. It was the place where God's presence dwelt with man. And like the Ark, Christ came into the enemy's territory. He invaded the dominion of Satan, and though it looked like He was captured on the cross, He was in fact dismantling the kingdom of darkness from the inside out. And on the third day, He began His own procession, not back to a Levitical city, but to the right hand of the Father, leading captivity captive. The God who brought His Ark home on an unmanned cart is the same God who raised His Son from the dead, and He is the same God who will bring all of His children safely home.