2. Israel made a mistake in choosing a human king

3. What does it look like to learn from God’s rule in our lives?

4. Conclusion: God’s got this! Their failures = Our lessons
Two Threads
Israel’s Failure
God’s Rescue
Breaking the design of marriage (polygamy)
Perverse Priests who dishonored the Temple
The ending of one line due to great sin
Working in spite of it to bring a Judge (Samuel)
Samuel brought to the Lord within the Temple
The start of a new line due to great faith
Conclusion: God’s got this!
Their failures = Our lessons

5. No God, no peace Know God, Know peace
Many of the problems we face can be simply traced back to a lack of knowledge of God.
Know God, Know peace

6. Philistine assumption: Israel believed God was in the box.
No God, no peace
Philistine assumption:
Israel believed God was in the box.
“We beat the box”.
Reminds me of…
Know God, Know peace

7. …how much we love Raiders of the Lost Ark
It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
their need to acknowledge their offense to the
God of Israel by sending the Ark away with a
“guilt offering” 6:3
God’s work in people’s lives can allow them to see their need to repent, even when unsaved.
Acts 17:30

8. Fun fact It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
their need to acknowledge their offense to the
God of Israel by sending the Ark away with a
“guilt offering” 6:3
God’s work in people’s lives can allow them to see their need to repent, even when unsaved.
Acts 17:30

9. Ark found, point missed!

10. They took Dagon and put him back in his place.
1 Samuel 5:1-3
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!
They took Dagon and put him back in his place.  

11. 1 Samuel 5:4-5
But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

12. 1 Samuel 5:6-7
The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 

13. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
1 Samuel 5:8-10a
 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.  
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.

14. 1 Samuel 5:10b-12
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

15. 1 Samuel 6:1-3
When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, 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.
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.” 

16. It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
What he is saying…
It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
their need to acknowledge their offense to the
God of Israel by sending the Ark away with a
“guilt offering” 6:3
God’s work in people’s lives can allow them to see their need to repent, even when unsaved.
Acts 17:30

17. In acknowledging their sin with an offering the
What he is saying…
In acknowledging their sin with an offering the
Philistines also acknowledge His superiority
over them and their gods.

18. The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
1 Samuel 6:4-5
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. 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.

19. 1 Samuel 6:6-7
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?
“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.

20. The Philistines knew of:
What he is saying…
The Philistines knew of:
Yahweh’s (God’s) defeat of the Egyptians, apart from any army, and…
the danger of provoking Him to anger again 6:6

21. The Philistines knew the responsibility for what
What he is saying…
The Philistines knew the responsibility for what
happened in Egypt lay with the Egyptians - 6:6
When disaster strikes as a result of sin, the
responsibility lies with man, not God.

22. 1 Samuel 6:8-10
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, 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.”
So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves.

23. When a person is looking for a sign or a miracle,
What he is saying…
When a person is looking for a sign or a miracle,
it should be just that, not something that would
or could occur in the normal course of life 6:7-9

24. 1 Samuel 6:11-12
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. 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.

25. 1 Samuel 6:13-14
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. 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. 

26. 1 Samuel 6:15-17
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. The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 

27. 1 Samuel 6:18-19
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.
But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy 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.

28. 1 Samuel 6:20-21
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?”
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.”

29. We never need to fear the Lord when we do what is right.
What he is saying…
We never need to fear the Lord when we do
what is right.

30. 1 Samuel 7:1-2
So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. 

31. highly of the Ark itself. Now, they seem to have the opposite problem.
What he is saying…
While at first the people of Beth Shemesh handle the Ark of God correctly by using the Levites and sacrifices, they later disrespected God by looking into the Ark and paid a heavy price for it (6:19). When all of this began, Israel had thought too
highly of the Ark itself. Now, they seem to have the opposite problem.
God is honored only by proper worship. 

32. What he is saying…
The reaction of the people of Beth Shemesh reflects a truth missed earlier by Israel and critical for proper living and worship today:
Improper thoughts about God hurt our lives and distance us from Him (6:20-21).
God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him… in truth. (John 4:24).

33. by death and affliction.
What he is saying…
Interestingly, while the people of Israel will soon ask for another king other than Yahweh, He shows He can take care of Himself. Israel’s King single-handedly defeats the entire nation so that wherever the Ark travels it is followed
by death and affliction.
There is never a more capable Leader for our lives! 

34. Say it again, Sam

35. 1. God has the ability to remind people of His
Say it again, Sam
1. God has the ability to remind people of His
power regardless of their perceptions.
2. The victory of the King of Israel only
underscores that any defeat Israel suffered
wasn’t due to His inability but their sin.

36. 3. It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
Say it again, Sam
3. It is interesting that the Philistines recognize
their need to acknowledge their offense to the
God of Israel by sending the Ark away with a
“trespass offering” 6:3
4. In acknowledging their sin with an offering the
Philistines also acknowledge His superiority
over them and their gods.

37. 5. The Philistines knew of both Yahweh’s defeat of
Say it again, Sam
5. The Philistines knew of both Yahweh’s defeat of
the Egyptians, apart from any army, and the
danger of provoking Him to anger again 6:6
6. The Philistines knew the responsibility for what
happened in Egypt lay with the Egyptians 6:6.
When disaster strikes as a result of sin, the
responsibility lies with man, not God.

38. 7. When a person is looking for a sign or a miracle,
Say it again, Sam
7. When a person is looking for a sign or a miracle,
it should be just that, not something that would
or could occur in the normal course of life 6:7-9
8. We never need to fear the Lord when we do
what is right.

39. God is only honored by proper worship.
Say it again, Sam
10. First, they thought too highly of the Ark;
later, they didn’t respect it highly enough…
God is only honored by proper worship. 

40. 11. Improper thoughts about God hurt our lives
Say it again, Sam
11. Improper thoughts about God hurt our lives
and distance us from Him (6:20-21).
God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth
John 4:24

41. There is never a more capable Leader for our lives!
Say it again, Sam
12. Interestingly, while the people of Israel will
soon ask for another king other than Yahweh,
He shows He can take care of Himself. Israel’s
King single-handedly defeats the entire nation
so that wherever the Ark travels it is followed by death and affliction.
There is never a more capable Leader for our lives!

42. No God, no peace Know God, Know peace
Many of the problems we face can be simply traced back to a lack of knowledge of God.
Know God, Know peace