THE RETURN OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT The ark of God remained in the midst of the pagans for seven months to confirm to all, that what happened to the idol Dagon, and to the people (the tumors and the destructive rats), was not a mere coincidence, but was actually a sign of God’s wrath on the pagans. It was also to let the believers offer an honest repentance, truly yearning to enjoy the presence of the ark of God in their midst. 1- Returning the ark with a trespass offering 1 – 5. 2- Returning the ark on a new cart 6 – 16. 3- A testimonial stone in the field of Joshua 17 – 18. 4- Striking the men of Beth Shemesh 19 – 21. 1- RETURNING THE ARK OF GOD WITH A TRESPASS OFFERING “The ark of God was in the country of the Philistines seven months” (1 Samuel 6: 1). We do not know how the Israelites felt about the events of those days; but it was most probably a feeling of weakness and humiliation, for the death of many including their two priests, and for their loss of dignity. Days, weeks, and even months, have passed with no news about the ark; yet God was working to confirm His ability of salvation. The pagans felt awe towards God; so they called their priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place? “ (1 Samuel 6: 2). God used even the pagan priests and the diviners to testify to Him; and as St. John Chrysostom says: [The enemies themselves testified to him and their diviners expressed his voice1]. The diviners were those who claim their ability to know future things through natural signs, like the flying of birds, the intestine of a slain beast, looking at a liver, at arrows, into the water in a glass, calling the spirits of the dead, reading the lines of a palm, or following the path of stars, etc.... Those customs have been common among the ancient eastern peoples, and still are in several eastern countries. Through divination, some people choose their spouses, or the time to go to war; something that is forbidden by the Holy Book (Leviticus 20: 27; Deuteronomy 18: 9 - 14; Jeremiah 14: 14; Ezekiel 13: 8 - 9). The diviners’ counsel, was not to send away the ark of God empty, but to return it with a trespass offering; proclaiming that they did Him wrong, and that what they are suffering is a chastisement, and a fruit of their trespass toward the Lord. As a material and symbolic payoff to what they did to His people, they requested that each of the 5 great cities should take part in that offering, in order that the confession of guilt would be unanimous, and that the offering would be on behalf of the whole people. It had been the custom of pagans, in order to get well, to present an image of the sick part of the body to the gods; That is why the diviners requested the offering of 5 golden tumors and 5 golden rats; Yet the people exceeded that, and presented a number of golden rats according to the number of fortified cities, and even the desert villages; for the plague had been general (1 Samuel 6: 18). The pagans realized two facts: 1 In Matt. Hom. 6. 2 a- That their trespass offering is not a bribe, for God could not be bribed by gold or silver; but it is rather a proclamation and a testimony to His glory saying: “You shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your lands” (1 Samuel 6: 5). b- It was to no avail to harden their hearts, as did the Pharaoh of Egypt who perished (1 Samuel 6: 6); as the news of what occurred in Egypt 350 years before was widespread all over the nations of the Middle East. 2- RETURNING THE ARK ON A NEWCART The Philistine made a new cart, took two milk cows which have never been yoked, hitched the cows to the cart, to carry the ark of God and the trespass offering. Although they shut their calves up at home, the two cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, went along the highway, bowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the Lords of the Philistines went after them behind the ark of the Lord. What a marvelous scene that testifies to God’s love for His people! However long has been the sojourn of the ark in the land of the enemies, God still yearns to dwell amid His people. He led the two milk cows, against their natural tendency to join their calves, to go straight toward the people of God. How amazing is God’s mercy toward us; He yearns to forget our iniquity, to rest and dwell in us! The new cart and the two cows that were never been yoked, reveal how, even the pagans realize that God does not accept the wavering between the two sides; He wants the heart that carries Him, to be completely His; not to mix between the love of God and that of sin; or between the kingdom of God and that of the devil. And as the apostle Paul says: “What communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? “ (2 Corinthians 6: 14). The scholar Origin says: [The kingdom of God is not to be set with that of evil. That is why, if it is our will to be under the reign of God, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Romans 6: 12); Do not obey its commandments, when it provokes our souls to do the works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19); works that are foreign to God1]. The pagans intended to make a new cart, and to take two milk cows that were never been yoked... We saw that in the statute of the “red heifer without blemish,... on which a yoke has never come” (Numbers 19: 2); and how, the Lord Christ entered into Jerusalem, on a colt on which no one has sat (Mark 11: 2). The priests and the diviners requested, that the cart with the ark of God, should be let to go free, to see if it would go up the road to its own territory in ‘Beth Shemesh’ - a city of priests on the border of Judah (Joshua 21: 16), 12 miles south-east of Ekron called ‘Eon-Shams’ nowadays. 3- A TESTIMONIAL STONE IN THE FIELD OF JOSHUA If the cart represents the Church of the New Testament that embraces two groups: those of Jewish and of Gentile origin who all, by the Spirit of God, have become ‘new’ in the Lord, as though “have never been yoked,” Why did the cart head straight to the field of Joshua of Beth-Shmesh (1 Samuel 6: 18)? St. Justin answers this, by holding a comparison between the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan, under the leadership of Joshua,, and the entrance of the new cart with the ark of God into the field of Joshua, saying: [The two cows that have never been yoked, did not head to the place from which the ark was originally taken, but to the field of a particular man by the name of ‘Joshua’... a name derived from ‘Jesus’... which reveals that they were drawn by the power of the name, as it 1 On Prayer 25:3. 3 previously happened with the people, remaining from those who came out of Egypt, when they were led to the promised land, by him who carried that same name Joshua1 (Jesus). The stone on which the ark of the covenant was set in the field of Joshua, remained as a testimonial for the future generations, to God’s work with His people and His care for them.(1 Samuel 6: 18). 4- STRIKING THE PEOPLE OF BETH-SHMESH a- Those people were expected to fall on their faces once they see the ark of God, to offer repentance to God, and to call the priests and Levites to carry the ark in celebration. But they, disregarding the law, crowded around the ark so that fifty thousand and seventy men of them were struck dead. The Philistines, despite their ignorance, had honored the ark of God, more so than the people to whom clear statutes have been given concerning it. likewise, how often have we trespassed the sanctuaries of God, slothfully approached the divine sacraments, and disrespectfully listened to the word of God?! b- The Book discerns between the 50, 000 and the 70, who were struck dead because they looked at the ark; probably because the 50, 000 were of the children of Israel, who came from everywhere to celebrate its return; while the 70 men were of the people of Bet-Shmesh alone. Some believe though, that the old Hebrew versions mentioned only the seventy. The ark did not return to Shiloh, probably because it was utterly destroyed by the Philistines; as is clear from the excavations, as well as in the book of Jeremiah 7: 12 2. The ark was taken from Beth-Shmesh to ‘Kirjath Jearim’ ( City of forests) 3, on the border of Judah and Benjamin, that was related to Judah. It was probably ‘the village of grapes,’ also known as ‘Abaghosh,’ 9 miles west of Jerusalem. The ark of the covenant remained there until king David moved it into the house of ‘Obed-Edom, the Hittite (1 Chronicles 13: 5, 13; 2 Chronicles 1: 4). 1 Dial. With Trypho. 2 Nelson: A New Catholic Comm. P. 310. 3 Strong's Exh. Concordance…, art. 7157.
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