And now make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it may go.
The ark of the Lord has been in Philistine hands for seven months. The plagues have left its captors desperate to be rid of it. This verse holds their plan: put the ark on a cart, set a box of gold beside it as a guilt offering, and let it go. Could such a gift, sent in such a way, ever satisfy the God they had offended?
The instructions in this verse are not God's. They asked their own religious experts instead.
Their choice was typical of their completely unrepentant condition. They did not turn to Him who had afflicted them for instruction. They turned to their own priests, the men who served before Dagon, and to the diviners. These diviners match the magicians of Egypt, who bewitched them and led them astray. How true it is! Whatever the circumstances, the natural man never turns of his own accord to the only source of light there is.
The Philistines shaped their gold into images of the plagues they had suffered. That shows how far their thinking reached.
We notice, however, that the offerings go no further than a memorial of their affliction. They make images of the tumours and of the mice. But what about the sin which brought this judgment upon them? Is there any confession of that? Is there any memorial of that? Ah, no. The natural man sees the affliction. He magnifies it so much that he forgets or ignores the cause for which the affliction came. How different this is from the true trespass offering, the only offering that counts before a holy God! That offering is not so much a memorial of the affliction or the judgment deserved. It is an acknowledgment of the sin which made it necessary. Above all, it is a confession that the only sacrifice God can accept is the unblemished sacrifice of a guiltless substitute — Christ, who alone is the trespass offering, the One who "bore our sins in His body on the tree."
There is a second problem with the gift itself. Metal, however precious, is not what Scripture says clears guilt.
They want this "mighty God of the Hebrews" to relieve them of their plagues. So they think to appease Him with a present, a trespass offering, just as Jacob thought to appease the anger of his brother Esau. But it is "the blood that makes atonement for the soul." And "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." "You were ransomed… not with perishable things such as silver or gold," writes Peter, "but with the precious blood of Christ."
The order to "send it off and let it go its way" sets up a test. The Philistines chose cows that had never worn a yoke, and made the result a trial of the Lord.
These Philistines then propose a new cart and "cows on which there has come no yoke," as a test of the Lord… And the Lord was willing to meet them on their own test. Surely this was very gracious. It shows what a God we have to do with — not only for ourselves, but even for those who know Him less.
Even so, they still wanted proof, though the evidence in front of them was already clear.
The previous evidence had been very clear. Yet men are extremely slow to give God the honour that is rightly His.
A cart carried the ark here, and God let it happen. That does not make the cart His way of moving it.
Now a new cart was all very well for the Philistines, as a way to get rid of the ark. But it was not according to God's instruction about the Levites. But then they were not Levites, and you do not expect a "natural man" to be intelligent about divine things. God's children, however, should be, for they are "spiritual."
The Philistines meant the gold as a way out of their trouble. It amounted to a confession.
God makes clear that the victory of the Philistines over sinning Israel was no victory over Him. They made their trespass offering in ignorance. Even so, it is a recognition that the capture of the ark has only brought judgment from a God whom they now seek to propitiate.
- Counsel — The plan came from Dagon's priests and diviners, not from the God who had struck them. Left to himself, the natural man never turns to the only source of light there is.
- Gift — The gold copied the plagues but never named the sin, so it remembered the pain and ignored the cause.
- Blood — Gold cannot appease God. Atonement comes by the precious blood of Christ, the true trespass offering.
- Test — Letting the cart "go its way" was a test God was gracious enough to meet, even for those who knew Him so little.
- Glory — Enemies are slow to honour God. Yet their offering admitted that capturing the ark had brought only His judgment.
And see, if it go up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, it is he who has done us this great evil; if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that touched us; it was a chance [that] happened to us.
The ark of God had been in Philistine land, and it brought them nothing but misery. So they set up a test to settle one question. Was the God of Israel striking them, or had they just had a run of bad luck? They designed the test so that only God could make it work: a cart, two nursing cows taken from their calves, and no driver.
Consider what those two cows were up against:
It was a most severe test. Nothing but the power of God could make the cows go against nature and head straight on to Beth-shemesh. That was the nearest Israelite town, some nine or ten miles away. Everything was against the ark getting safely out of the land. The cattle were not used to the yoke. They did not know the road to Beth-shemesh. They had no driver or overseer to guide them. They had the strongest instinct of animals — love for their offspring — pulling them back. And like all domestic animals, they felt the pull of home.
The wording of the test gives the Philistines an escape route. If the cows wander, they can file the whole disaster under accident:
The hidden unbelief in the hearts of the Philistines shows in the way they chose to send the ark back to the land of Israel. Who would have thought of taking two heifers that had never worn a yoke and harnessing them to a cart with no driver? Would that not guarantee the destruction of the ark? And to make it harder still, they left the calves of these cattle behind. All of nature was against the ark ever reaching the land of Israel. May we not well believe the people held a quiet hope that things would turn out differently from what they had to believe?
God was under no obligation to answer a test drawn up by pagan diviners. He answered it anyway.
And the Lord stooped to meet them on their own test. Surely this was very gracious. It shows what a God we have to do with — not only for ourselves, but even for those who know Him less.
These men had no Scripture to guide them. They did have a conscience, and that was enough for God to answer:
The priests and diviners, for all their deep ignorance, are at least honest. They admit God's hand in these plagues and try to work out how to "give glory to the God of Israel." They tell the people not to harden their hearts against Him. Finally, they suggest a way of knowing whether it really is He who has caused this great evil, or whether the thing was only accidental. All this shows conscience at work in the absence of the light that revealed truth brings. God always takes account of conscience, even a darkened conscience, and gives a clear answer.
The answer came through animals doing what animals never do:
Contrary to nature the cows leave their calves. With no prompting from man they take the ark to Beth-shemesh, lowing as they go. This proves they acted by some power above the instincts of nature. So God stoops to meet these heathen in their distress, and at the same time vindicates His glory in the sight of His enemies. God makes it plain that the victory of the Philistines over a sinning Israel was no victory over Him.
A sign given to the conscience carries weight. Refusing it does not cancel it:
So God met the thought of the heart where there was only the working of conscience, without the light of revealed truth. It was not the knowledge of God, but the instinctive sense of His hand. He did this so that there might be a voice in their conscience. If they hardened themselves against it, or forgot it, so much the worse would it be for them.
The Philistine rulers watched the whole thing. Their conclusion was not worship but relief:
The lords of the Philistines follow them. At last they have to admit that God has vindicated His honour. He has shown the reality of His own presence and His own care for His throne... And here we leave the Philistines, who return home, glad no doubt to be well rid both of the plagues and of Him who had sent them.
- Hand or accident. The Philistines wrote the test so that one word would settle it: either God's hand struck them, or it was "coincidence". There was no third option.
- Hand hidden by unbelief. They chose every detail of the plan — untrained cows, no driver, calves shut up at home — so that nature could take the blame for failure.
- Hand stooping. God accepted terms set by pagan diviners. He met a conscience that had no Scripture to guide it, and gave it a clear answer.
- Hand above nature. Cows overrode their strongest instinct and walked the straight road. Israel's defeat had never been a defeat of Israel's God.
- Hand refused. They got their answer and used it to send God away. A sign reaching the conscience leaves a man more responsible, not less.