Read: 1 Samuel 5: 1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33
The ark was brought to Ashdod which was one of the five Philistine satrapies. Ashdod means “I will spoil”. The ark of God was a small piece of furniture that was placed before the huge statue of Dagon, their country’s main idol. Dagon means “fish god” because of its ability to reproduce so many eggs. Dagon was like a man from the waist up and like a fish from the waist down. This huge statue fell on its face before God’s presence and was beheaded and its hands cut off. The people of the city started getting ulcers in their reproductive parts. God was showing them that this god of theirs had no power over him. The people of Ashdod sent the ark to Gath. Gath means “a winepress”. They panicked and started getting the same ulcers. They sent the ark to Ekron. Ekron means “uprooting or eradication”. God sent deadly destruction throughout that city and the ones that didn’t die were afflicted with the tumors. They were desperate to get the ark out of their country so they asked the religious leaders of their country how to send it back since it was such a powerful spiritual box. The leaders said it must be sent with a guilt offering and they came up with five golden tumors and five golden mice. The mice stood for the five lords of the Philistines. They put the ark with their gifts on a cart and sent it with two cows that had just given birth to calves and were still nursing them. They put them on the road and said that if the cows found their way back to the land of Israel, then God had heard their cry and would forgive them.
Naturally, a nursing cow would never leave it calf, but these cows marched straight to Beth-shemesh bellowing as they went.
Beth-shemesh means “house of the sun”. When the people of Beth-shemesh saw the ark returning they rejoiced! It went into the field of Joshua which is another name for Jesus.
In John, Jesus fed 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and two small fishes. There were enough left overs to fill 12 baskets. That is a miracle! When Jesus realized they were about to take him by force and make him king, he left and went to a mountain to be with his Father. His disciples left in a boat.
Tomorrow, we will continue the story and see the significance of it all.
Lord, help us to see that you are more than enough for every thing we need. You protect and provide for your children and there is nothing we need to fear.
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