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THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
CHAPTERS 5 & 6
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE SAGA
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE EVENTS
Welcome to our Christianity Oasis Daily Bread study program. This is the Philistine People in the Bible study taking a look into the Philistine Bible story and how the interesting Philistine People in the Bible message affects your be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.
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CHECK OUT THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL STUDY
FROM THE BEGINNING
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THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
CHAPTER
5 AND 6
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE TRUTH
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE TALE
Delighted to have you back for more Daily Bread! Recounting what happened in the
last chapter of our story, the Philistines, who had made war with Israel, were
victorious and they captured the Ark of God.
Now, there were five cities of the Philistines: Asdod, Askelon, Gath, Gaza, and
Ekron. (If you look on an ancient map of Israel, you'll see that they are all in
the same general vicinity.) The Philistines took the Ark to Ashdod and put it in
the house of their god.
The next morning, they found their god fallen down on
it's face in front of the Ark (as in worship), so they stood it back up, and the
following morning, they found it fallen down on it's face again, only this time,
it's head and both palms of it's hands were cut off and only a stump of it
remained.
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE EXPLANATION
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE ADVENTURE
In addition to this, the Lord destroyed many people of Ashdod and the
surrounding area. Many died, and there were also mice that plagued the
Philistine countries, similar to when the Lord sent the frogs, lice, flies,
etc., into Egypt. Those Philistines that survived the plague were struck with
emerods (tumors of the secret parts, or in other words; hemorrhoids). Yes, you
read that correctly.
So the men of Ashdod, realizing that the hand of the Lord was against them, had
a little meeting with the leaders of all the Philistines to decide what to do
with the Ark of God, and they decided to carry it to Gath.
Well, the people of Gath experienced the same fate as those of Ashdod, so they
sent the Ark on to Ekron. As you might imagine, the Ekronites felt like the Ark
was (if you'll excuse the expression) a hot potato, since their fellow
Philistines in Ashdod and Gath were devastated while the Ark was among them, so
the people of Ekron pleaded with the leaders of the Philistines to return the
Ark to the Israelites.
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE MESSAGE
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE BATTLES
You'll find an interesting thing in this story concerning the Philistines. We
know of course, that they were a heathen people, and we know that they had their
own god, but the destruction that was occurring among them while the Ark was in
their possession, was so deadly that:
Why do people pray
to God in Heaven if they are unbelievers? Just something interesting to think
about. Incidentally, the answer is; because He is so undeniable, and the fear of
the Lord is the only hope of humankind ... He IS their maker.
Even people who
claim not to believe, still have the instinct ... The understanding that He is
REAL, though they may deny it consciously, but again ... Instinctively, the
human creature knows that GOD EXISTS, because we are created by Him. Take a look
at what is written in the book Isaiah:
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE REPORT
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE WARNING
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Isaiah 29:15-16
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and
their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth
us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the
potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?
or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no
understanding?
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In modern English
... Anguish will come to those who try and hide their plans from the Lord, and
secretly they think that nobody knows their intents. Their backward thinking is
viewed as potter's clay (of which form the potter can change, any time HE
pleases), after all, can any object say concerning HIM that made it, HE didn't
make me? or can a thing that is formed say concerning HIM that formed it, HE
didn't know what HE was doing?
Another thing to
remember, is that many people are believers in God, just not worshipers of Him
... Like the Philistines. Very sad, but true.
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE CONCERN
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE ARK SEARCH
Now, back to our story.
For seven months,
the Ark was in the country of the Philistines, and there was uncertainty among
them as to what they should do with the Ark, because some believed that their
misfortune was of the hand of the Lord, and others credited it all to
happenstance, so they called together their priests and diviners (those who they
thought had special intuition or supernatural power of understanding), to ask
what to do, and how they should go about returning the Ark to the Israelites.
Their advice was to send the Ark back to the people of Israel. They advised not
to send it back empty, but with a trespass offering. Again, why would the
Philistines send an offering to God if they didn't believe in Him?
What was this
offering that their "prudent" men and priests advised the Philistines to send?
Five golden emerods (honestly), and five golden mice (representing an offering
for each of the five Philistine lords and their people).
They also suggested that just as the plagues of the Egyptians departed when God's people were freed,
perhaps the plagues of the Philistines would vanish likewise, once they returned
the Ark.
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE DISCUSSION
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE GROUP
So the Philistines
followed the advice of their counselors and made a new cart on which to return
the Ark. They made their golden emerods and mice and laid them in a chest upon
the cart with the Ark, and sent the Ark of God on it's way, being driven of two
milk cows, separating their calves from them as not to encourage them in any
way.
Their conclusion was that if the cows led the Ark up to Bethshemesh, then
all the evil that befell them was of God's hand, but if not, they would surmise
that all that had happened was purely by chance. (Why Bethshemesh? Because it
would be the obvious route to take when departing the countries of the
Philistines, if one's destination was an Israelite city.)
Well, guess what.
Those cows went straight on to Bethshemesh, just a lowing as they went, and
didn't stray to the right or to the left. The Philistines followed, of course,
to the border of the town to see if they would change course, but they did not.
For the people of
Bethshemesh (which was a town of Judah, by the way), this was a sight to see ...
Their beloved Ark of God, returning to them as they were harvesting wheat in the
valley! The milk cows brought the Ark to the field of Joshua, where it stood
still, and there was a great stone there.
THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE QUESTIONS
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE ANSWERS
The people split the wood of the cart
and offered the milk cows as a burnt offering to the Lord, and the people of
Bethshemesh offered sacrifice. When the five lords of the Philistines saw all of
this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
But that's not the
end of this story. The people of Bethshemesh looked into the Ark of the Lord and
He killed 50,070 people because of this. Only the Levite priests were allowed to
view the things of the Ark:
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Numbers 4:15
And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary,
and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after
that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch
any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of
Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.
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Numbers 4:20
But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest
they die.
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THE PHILISTINE PEOPLE BIBLE CONCLUSION
THE PHILISTINE IN THE BIBLE SUMMARY
The
men of Bethshemesh felt unworthy of the Ark remaining with them, so they sent
word to the people of Kirjathjearim that the Philistines had returned the Ark of
the Lord, and to come and bring it to their city.
Quite a story,
wouldn't you say? And there's more ahead, so be sure to come back soon, and
we'll share more together, right here at Daily Bread.
CONTINUE TO THE NEXT STUDY
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