The Return of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 5–6)

This sermon was preached on 25/4/2010

As we begin our study of these two chapters, which describe the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, it will be helpful to remind ourselves of its significance. Within the life of Israel, the ark symbolised the presence of God, but it did so in a threefold manner. First, the ark functioned as the throne of God, indicating that he was the ruler of his people; second, the ark functioned as the place of propitiation on the annual Day of Atonement, indicating that God was reconciled to his people, and that his rule was one of mercy; third, the ark was where the Ten Commandments were located and was the place where God made known his mind to his people, indication that God revealed his will to Israel, and that he desired that both his demands and his atonement be perceived together. The ark not only signified the distinctiveness of God but also pointed to the uniqueness of Israel as his people, for they alone had the blessings of his rule, his peace, and his guidance.

Was the ark a type of Jesus? The Old Testament is full of Christ and he appears there in different ways. The most obvious manner of his appearing is in prophecy. Another way he appeared is by the means of theophany, when he appeared in a temporary human form. A third way of seeing Christ in the Old Testament is in typology, when the features of an object or the attributes or actions of a person depict aspects of the person and work of Christ. Many commentators have argued the ark was a type, and I would mention some of their reasons. Since the ark was made of wood and covered with gold, it is suggested that these point to Jesus having a human nature and a divine nature. Within the ark, to begin with, were three items: the tables of stone on which the ten commandments were written, the golden pot containing manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded; each can be seen as a picture of Jesus who had God’s law in his heart, who is the food of his people, and who is the giver of life. The lid of the ark was the mercy-seat, and here sin was forgiven, which can obviously be applied to Jesus.

Does this mean that very time the ark is mentioned we should think of Jesus? It is the case that we should think of God when we see the ark, because it signified his presence, and since Jesus is God it also points to him. While we have to be careful, I think it is legitimate to see in such references pictures of the way Jesus deals with the church or with the world, so in the chapters we shall consider tonight we can see in the account of the ark with the Philistines a picture of how Jesus acts with the world, and in the account of the ark and the men of Beth-shemesh a picture of how Jesus acts with his church.

God and the Philistines

The Philistines placed the ark in the temple of Dagon, perhaps because they were showing contempt for the god of a defeated foe, but more likely because they wanted to add its power to the power of their god and so become a more powerful people – this was a common practice in the middle east at that time. But they learned that the true God will not share his glory with another. This is a lesson that needs to learned repeatedly. One obvious application is the modern practice of inter-faith activities. What the Philistines were trying to do, when they placed the ark in their temple, was to join the power of Yahweh and the power of Dagon together. For example, it is common to say since Christians, Jews and Moslems worship only one God they can worship together. But that is an insult to the glory of the living God.

Seeing evidence of the Lord’s power does not bring about a change of heart. In chapter 4 the author records the awareness the Philistines had of God’s mighty acts in the past and of how that knowledge had not caused them to worship him; the same knowledge is mentioned in 6:6, again with no signs of true worship. I would mention three further examples of their attitude.

First, when the Philistine priests saw Dagon’s head and hands cut off from this stump, they would have realised the significance, because this was the way a triumphant army treated its enemies. What had happened in the Philistine temple was a complete victory for Yahweh. Yet, in chapter 5:5, when Dagon falls on the ground, the consequence is that the Philistines make a ruling that no-one should ever stand on that spot. The location of the defeat of their idol becomes a place of significance to them.

Second, when one city cannot cope with the consequences of the presence of the ark, they send it to another city, no doubt hoping that the next city would find the means of preventing the troubles recurring. This is a joint-activity to find a way to neutralise the power of God, but there is no sense of acknowledging his supreme authority.

Third, eventually they realise that they cannot defeat him, so they decide to send the ark back to Israel. When their plan to return the ark works, they are merely glad to be free of the Lord and his judgment, but they show no interest in God’s mercy. No doubt the priests of the Philistines were praised for their astuteness in getting rid of God.

The actions of the Philistines here is an example of Paul’s teaching in Romans 1:18ff regarding how sinners, despite knowing the truth of God’s power, persist in their rejection of him. Knowledge, even of God, by itself does not lead to repentance.

God and the Israelites

The story informs us of the independence of God, in the sense that he does not need his people to help him. Israel had not been able to defeat the Philistines, and perhaps they imagined that Yahweh had also been defeated. As we saw earlier, Yahweh had defeated the pagan god Dagon in the very place where his power was assumed to be greatest.

But the ability of God is also seen in his providence. We can view the travels of the ark in the next seven months from two simultaneous but apparently contradictory perspectives. At one level, what is occurring is the desperate actions of the Philistines to avoid suffering God’s judgments as they send the ark from one of their cities to another. At another level, the ark of God is marching through the land of the Philistines defeating each of their power bases. We can use the behaviour of the Philistines as an illustration of how the enemies of God try to remove his influence, and if they cannot do it by one means then they will try another. But in each attempt they make, the Lord is also at work bringing judgement and confusion. This is how we, as the Lord’s people, are to view attempts by civil and religious authorities to remove God from his place.

Having said that God does not need us, I would stress that this does not mean God does not want to use us. The reality is that he does want to use his people.

A second lesson from the story is that God’s people should rejoice when he gives a measure of spiritual restoration. When the men of Beth-shemesh saw the ark returning they rejoiced. Here was a sign of the Lord returning to bless them. Beth-shemesh was one of the cities allotted to the Levites (Josh. 21:16), and the inhabitants should have known how to take care of the ark, so its return there is another reminder of God’s gracious working in providence. In his mercy he returned the ark to the tribe that he had designated to look after it.

A third lesson that we see here is that God deals with his people in a more severe manner than he does the world. But instead they committed the sin of sacrilege. It is not clear what the precise figure who died were. Most manuscripts say it was seventy persons; others say that that the 50,000 refers to the men who died in the battle with the Philistines and so added with the seventy gives the total number who died in that period. In any case, here we have a reminder that the mere presence of the signs of God’s commitment to his people is not an indication that he will tolerate improper responses from them. Of what sins were these Israelites guilty, bearing in mind that they were probably Levites or priests? The first sin was that they disobeyed clear biblical teaching that no-one was to look into the ark; perhaps their looking arose out of a concern to check whether or not the tablets and the other items were still in the ark, or perhaps it was mere curiosity. Whatever the reason, their action was wrong. A second sin was despising the symbol of God’s presence; when they lifted the lid of the ark they were holding in their hands the symbol of his power. A similar situation would occur if a person was to grab the Queen’s sceptre and throw it about; the seriousness is not in the metal of what the symbol is made, but what it represents.

Matthew Henry suggests that ‘perhaps they presumed upon their being priests; but the dignity of the ministerial office will be so far from excusing that it will aggravate a careless and irreverent treatment of holy things’. He goes on to say, ‘But let no man think that his service done for God will justify him in any instance of disrespect or irreverence towards the things of God.’ If these men were the leaders, then it is a reminder to church leaders today that what is required from them is faithfulness to God’s word. They have to treat the things of God as if they were handling God himself. When they read his word they are listening to God; how they handle the signs of God’s presence indicates what they think of God.

But the lesson is not limited to church leaders, for it applies to all the Lord’s people. Our God is a consuming fire and he demands holiness and obedience from us.

Signs of Hope

Nevertheless we should not regard what happened at Beth-shemesh in a totally negative way. One obvious factor of the return of the ark was that it indicated that God was once more present with his people, that the blessings which it signified, of rule, reconciliation and revelation, were once more available to them. This was a new beginning. God was returning to his people.

A second sign of hope is this: the Philistines could not endure the presence of a God of judgment and they got rid of him. It was different with Israel: they were beginning to learn that it is better for them to have God present in his holiness than for him to be absent from them. Jesus told one of the seven churches, ‘As many as I love I rebuke and chasten.’ This is a key difference between the way the Lord works with the world and with his people.

A further sign of hope is the importance of repentance and self-humbling at the actions of the Lord. The men of Beth-shemesh did not rebel against the judgment of the Lord, instead they humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God. This was how it should have been. They acknowledged his sovereignty and they showed their repentance by attempting to rectify the situation and find a suitable location for the ark.

Hopefully we are on the verge of a new dawn. This does not mean that there may not be occasions when God will be displeased; the sign of a new dawn is that we will repent and attempt to rectify the situation.