Homecoming

 1 Samuel 6

Departure from Philistine Territory (vv.1-12)

After seven months of tumors and rats, the Philistines finally gave up and decided to let go of the Ark. They sought the counsel of priests and diviners on how to send it back to its place. Their advice?  Put it in a new cart hitched to two cows that have never been yoked and return it with five gold rats as guilt offerings – one each for the fortified towns, and five gold tumors for its five rulers.  I wonder if any human king would be delightful to receive a golden sore? Ewww! :> If I would make a peace offering to my husband, I don’t think a fashion accessory would do well. We don’t choose a gift without considering the recipient right? Especially if we’re seeking reconciliation. In their foolishness, the Philistines thought their way of appeasing their gods could honor Israel’s God too. We do the same when we insist that we can earn His pleasure with our long prayers, charity works, and sacrificial devotions? Did God ever require those from us? Why can’t our pride accept that Jesus Christ has already paid the penalty for our sins and all that’s left to do is to ask for His forgiveness and receive His salvation by faith? Is it unbelievably too simple? It took the Philistines seven months, the Egyptians, ten plagues, and with some of us, months of LOA from His presence. Yielding to His will is just a prayer away. One humble confession and He promised full pardon. No strings attached. No ‘do this first’, or ‘make yourself perfect first’, because God knows we can’t. His pleasure is only through His Son. Acknowledge Him and He will acknowledge us to the Father. That’s how it works. We can’t run it how we want it. It’s not our kingdom remember?

 Application:

Delayed obedience is disobedience. Late submission is actually non-submission because we have committed ourselves to a deadline. We have set structures to push us to excellence, build our character, and as platform to exercise wisdom. Every second counts. Ask an Olympic swimmer or runner and they’ll tell you it did cost them gold. Discipline of time is what separates mediocrity from mastery. ‘Daig ng maagap ang masipag’,  sabi nga ng Pinoy. If only the Philistines returned the ark after the first strike of plague, their death toll could have been reduced to zero; if only we disregarded our pride and sought forgiveness that same date, we might still have a friend to hang out with; if only we became fully yielding to His will, we could have experienced more of His grace. I regret those days I chose laziness (and/or busyness!) over my alone time with God and His word. I sure have missed a lot of His guidance and could have avoided many pitfalls. We should listen more to our own advice to youngters, ‘We will sometimes stumble and fall, but we can always stand up and run again’.  Rise Up! Obey Now, Do Not Delay!

Arrival at Beth Shemesh (vv.13-21)

What started with much rejoicing ended with mourning. They welcomed the ark with open arms, now they want it out of their town. They set it on a rock and made sacrifices to God, but then He put to death seventy of their men. We do sometimes experience such roller coaster rides, right? We started our day right, even took time to pray before we go to work. We’re happy and hopeful and full of positivity, This is gonna be a great day!’. But for some reason, our boss will disapprove our week’s work, then we’ll receive a call that our son hit his head on some wall, and just before logging off, we’ll see a bad comment in our Facebook wall being viewed by the world no less. Let me guess, we’ll be stuck for hours in traffic before we reach home, just so to complete our day! Whaaaat was that all about?!!  Well at least my example of a good day turned to bad was beyond our control. It just fell on our lot, and in time, we’ll see God’s purpose why He allowed it to happen. The people of Beth Shemesh put it upon their heads. They dishonored God by looking into the ark. A thick curtain in the Holy of holies served as a dividing line so that no man, except the high priest could irreverently enter God presence. He first cleanses himself, put on a special clothing, and bring blood with him inside, not anytime he wish, but only on the Day of Atonement. That’s how God wants His people to take His holiness seriously. Beth Shemesh folks disregarded the protocol, thus suffered the consequences. No subject can just present himself to the king without a summon, same as we cannot see our president without an approval. It’s in respect to their high office and because set rules are being applied. But on Jesus’ last breath on the cross, that curtain was torn in two signifying we can now go near to God. He opened the way for us to enter the Most Holy Place by His blood. How beautiful is that! No rules, no security pass, no appointments. Sadly though, how many of us rejoice in that privilege today? Let us not forget how Jesus suffered just for us to have that free access. I love how Hillsong put it into song: ‘Nothing you can do can make Him love you more, and nothing that you’ve done can make Him close the door. Because of His great love, He gave His only Son. Everything was done so you would come.” How about taking this time to pray…

 Application:

Just because the door to His presence is open doesn’t mean deliberate sinners can just walk in and out untouched. Grace never lowered His righteous standards. Shall those who received full pardon not live in gratitude to the One who set him free? We were bought at a price, thus we should honor Him with our lives.  Hebrews 10:29 is a warning for all of us: “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who ahs insulted the Spirit of grace.” Ungratefulness is an insult to any giver. Living in sin is being ungrateful. Give it up now. The consequence of sin is matchless to the loss we will temporarily feel in letting go of our pet sins. Ask Moses why he was forfeited from entering the promise land even after faithfully leading Israel for many years - - because he angrily struck a rock twice. Ask why Achan’s family was stoned and burned alive - - because he hid a beautiful robe and some silver and gold.  And why did God killed seventy Beth Shemesh men? Because they looked into the ark. It seems their punishments were so harsh compared to their ‘little’ sins. But why do you think Jesus equated adultery with a lustful look, or why include liars in the same row as thieves, murderers, immoral and sorcerers? We define and categorize sin based on the graveness of its result, but God sees all sins as coming from the heart that negates all that He is. If I arrive one minute late or five hours late to an appointment, it’s still disrespect. If I protest at the top of my lungs or quietly backstabbed my leaders, it’s both rebellion right? Just because we claim to be already Christians that we are safe from His judgment. We may be eternally delivered from hell, but we will still give an account for everything we did on earth. Time to mind our manners.