The Ark Narrative
We’re going to attempt to briefly bridge the gap between 1 Samuel 4:22 and 7:3. Of course, we encourage you to read the passage for yourself because there’s no substitute for the Word of God. But we do hope this post might help with understanding.
Starting in 1 Samuel 5, this is the second episode in the “ark narrative” and we find the Philistines in a situation they cannot control. First, they’re celebrating their victories over “the Lord” back in 1 Samuel 4, when they defeated Israel twice (killing 34,000 men) and then captured the Ark of the Covenant, which they knew to be the manifestation of the Hebrew God. They wanted to put an exclamation mark on their victory by putting the ark in a trophy case, so to speak.
Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 1 Samuel 5:2
They take the ark into the temple of their god, Dagon, in Ashdod. It appears their victory over the Lord isn’t as complete as they thought though, because on two successive nights, the idol of Dagon falls over in the presence of the ark (vv. 3–5). Furthermore, the inhabitants of Ashdod are afflicted with tumors (vv. 6–7). This leads to the ark’s being removed to Gath, only for the epidemic to spread there also (vv. 8–9). God is displaying his power in a very immediate and uncomfortably personal way to the Philistines. Once again the ark is moved, this time to Ekron, where the inhabitants have heard of the curse that seems to come with it, and they instead advocating returning it to “its own place”
9 But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” 11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. 1 Samuel 5:9-11
The hand of God was heavy there. There’s an irony here that the hearers and readers of this story can pick up on. Israel knew that God had defeated them, not the Philistines, but the Philistines were convinced it was their military acumen that won the battles. God is showing us through these events that it was indeed his sovereignty that led to Israel’s defeat, and now that he’s judged Israel, he’s taking a moment to judge the pagans and their pagan worship practices. The Philistines’ disrespectful treatment of the ark transforms what they had viewed as a trophy of their victory into a scourge for which no one has room. In what should be a victory tour, it’s almost a parody because the roles of victor and vanquished are reversed. By humbling both the Philistines’ god and the Philistines themselves, the Lord leaves them (and the Israelites) in no doubt as to who is truly in control of all human affairs and how powerfully he can act against those who offend him.
In this contest between Yahweh and Dagon, the Lord makes it abundantly evident who is the victor. Honestly, it’s not even a real contest, as we see the Lord’s superiority effortlessly displayed. Israel’s God shows himself to be still a “man of war” (Ex. 15:3), able to defeat all opponents. He is the one whose hand is strong to save and whose intervention is irresistible (Ps. 89:13). The Lord receives glory for himself through the situation, just as he did in Egypt (Ex. 14:4, 17–18).
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 1 Samuel 6:2
Chapter 6 takes us into the third episode in the story of the ark, which serves to further assert the status and power of Yahweh. For seven months the Philistine lords resist acting on the evidence that the curse afflicting their land has been sent by the Lord. Eventually, and with great reluctance, they call for the advice of their religious experts as to how to return the ark to Israelite territory. They are advised that the ark should be accompanied by a guilt offering of five golden tumors and five golden mice to appease the God of Israel (6:2–6). Additionally, the Philistine clergy propose a test to ascertain whether all that has happened in the land has been a matter of coincidence or whether the superior power of the Lord really has been at work (6:7–9). They are hoping it was all coincidence so they can save face and not have to acknowledge the power and diety of the Hebrew God. Special arrangements are made for transporting the ark using cows that have never before drawn a cart and that are separated from their newly-born calves. When the cows hauling the ark ignore their natural instincts and head away from their young and pull the cart in the right direction without any overt guidance, it‘s demonstrated beyond doubt that the God of Israel is indeed active.
11 And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 1 Samuel 6:11-12
When the ark reached Israelite territory at Beth-shemesh, the people there were harvesting their crops, and stopped to celebrate the return of the ark.
14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 1 Samuel 4:14
Right away, they sacrificed the cows to the Lord to celebrate the ark’s safe return. However, it’s not all smooth sailing; 70 men of Beth-shemesh violate the sanctity of the ark and are struck dead by the Lord for their impiety. In response, the terror-stricken people of Beth-shemesh call on the people of Kiriath-jearim to come and take the ark there (6:19–7:1). Just like the Philistines, the Israelites have to learn to fear, respect, and obey the Lord and everything connected with his presence.
20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 1 Samuel 6:20
The people of Beth-shemesh illustrated a certain level of spiritual obtuseness. “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?” reveals a genuine awareness of the majesty and sanctity of God. Yet they perceive that their inadequacy and guilt render them unfit to be in the presence of God (Ps. 130:3). However, rather than seeking to repent and change their own condition, they instead ask, “And to whom shall he go up away from us?” This response should remind us of one shared by many in the New Testament: “They began to beg Jesus to depart from their region” (Mark 5:17).
1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of aAbinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. 1 Samuel 7:1-2
The men of Kiriath-jearim respond positively, and the ark is brought “to the house of Abinadab on the hill.” The men bring the ark to Abinadab because he is possibly a priest, although the text isn’t clear on that. Obviously, though, the people of Kiriath-jearim adopt a more reverent attitude toward the ark, consecrating Eleazar (son of Abinadab) as its custodian. The ark stays there, about 8.1 miles (13 km) northwest of Jerusalem, probably until David takes it to his capital (2 Sam. 6:2–4).
