1 Samuel 6: ☧-Ark Misunderstood, Moved to Multiply Mercy

Rev. Robert Paul, pastor of Memorial Lutheran Church & School in Houston, Texas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Samuel 6.

Why would God let the Philistines literally cart around His holy ark like some kind of magical plague box? The Philistines made a “box” with images of the mice and buboes sent from God, possibly sculpted into the box itself. So they sent this box of their own design alongside the Ark of the Covenant—not one box, but two—just to be sure that it wasn’t all “by coincidence.”

But the Israelites also failed to humble themselves before the presence of God, putting both boxes together on a “great stone” in Beth-shemesh like some public spectacle. God strikes them too, before the Ark is sent away again. Humanity’s selfish impenitence just wants to get rid of God when He’s inconvenient, but like Joseph in Egypt and Christ in Judea, God uses mankind’s evil misunderstandings to move His blessings to the ends of the earth.