1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello, and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,410 All right, we're going to go ahead and continue our Bible study 10 00:00:27,410 --> 00:00:28,330 in 1st Samuel. 11 00:00:28,330 --> 00:00:31,130 So if you have your Bibles and you want to follow along, which I 12 00:00:31,130 --> 00:00:34,290 encourage you to do, we're in First Samuel, chapter six. 13 00:00:34,450 --> 00:00:36,610 I'll catch you guys up with where we left off. 14 00:00:36,610 --> 00:00:39,050 I know a week sometimes can feel like a long time. 15 00:00:39,050 --> 00:00:41,570 If you were here last week, if you weren't here, I'll try to catch 16 00:00:41,570 --> 00:00:42,770 you up the best way that I can. 17 00:00:43,170 --> 00:00:47,210 Here in First Samuel, we've been tracking the story of the Israelites 18 00:00:47,210 --> 00:00:50,370 and how they turned away from the Lord, specifically through the 19 00:00:50,370 --> 00:00:53,090 leadership of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phineas. 20 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,720 Hophni and Phineas were involved with a bunch of different 21 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,680 sins, and they were in rebellion to God. 22 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,240 And then, in so doing, God judges the family of Eli and by extension, 23 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:03,680 the nation of Israel. 24 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,040 And so Israel is defeated by a group of people called the Philistines. 25 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,640 And I'm sure if you study the Bible at any point, you've heard 26 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:11,600 the name the Philistines. 27 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,120 One of the famous Philistines is Goliath, the giant that. 28 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:16,760 That you're aware of. 29 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:17,520 He's from Gath. 30 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,080 Uh, there's five cities in the Philistine kingdom. 31 00:01:20,410 --> 00:01:23,090 And you're going to need to know that, because a couple of them 32 00:01:23,090 --> 00:01:24,410 are mentioned in chapter five. 33 00:01:24,570 --> 00:01:27,570 But essentially what happens is on the battlefield, there's a 34 00:01:27,570 --> 00:01:28,930 guy named Hoffney, Phineas. 35 00:01:28,930 --> 00:01:29,690 They're killed. 36 00:01:30,010 --> 00:01:33,530 And then when the news gets back to their dad, Eli, he dies. 37 00:01:33,930 --> 00:01:37,570 And then the bigger news is that the Ark of the Covenant was 38 00:01:37,570 --> 00:01:38,170 taken away. 39 00:01:38,570 --> 00:01:41,450 And that might not sound like a big deal for us, but for them, 40 00:01:41,450 --> 00:01:42,170 that was huge. 41 00:01:42,330 --> 00:01:45,450 The Ark of the Covenant was a representation of the power of God. 42 00:01:45,450 --> 00:01:47,690 It was the representation of the presence of God. 43 00:01:48,150 --> 00:01:51,510 And in the rebellion, God allowed for the Philistines to steal 44 00:01:51,830 --> 00:01:53,190 the Ark of the Covenant. 45 00:01:53,510 --> 00:01:57,470 And so, obviously, Israel is, in their minds, defeated, in their 46 00:01:57,470 --> 00:01:59,110 hearts, defeated, spiritually defeated. 47 00:01:59,110 --> 00:02:04,590 And at the end of chapter four, we see that they are just broken. 48 00:02:04,590 --> 00:02:08,310 And there's a lady there that she basically names her child who's 49 00:02:08,310 --> 00:02:11,150 born through all this, Ichabod, which means the glory has 50 00:02:11,150 --> 00:02:12,270 departed from Israel. 51 00:02:12,270 --> 00:02:15,710 So in Many people's minds, the glory had departed from Israel. 52 00:02:15,710 --> 00:02:17,350 Now we know that God's glory didn't depart. 53 00:02:17,350 --> 00:02:19,590 It was their rebellion that allowed the glory to. 54 00:02:20,450 --> 00:02:23,210 But even in the midst of Israel's unfaithfulness, God is still 55 00:02:23,210 --> 00:02:26,290 faithful to Himself, and He's faithful to His Word, and He gives 56 00:02:26,290 --> 00:02:27,130 glory to Himself. 57 00:02:27,130 --> 00:02:29,690 And so, if you remember, the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant 58 00:02:29,690 --> 00:02:31,970 and they put it into the house of Dagon. 59 00:02:31,970 --> 00:02:35,490 Dagon was a false God that the Philistines worshiped. 60 00:02:35,490 --> 00:02:39,130 And as the Ark of the Covenant was in the house of Dagon, they come 61 00:02:39,130 --> 00:02:39,770 back in the morning. 62 00:02:39,770 --> 00:02:43,250 Dagon's fallen on his face, which is a picture of God's power 63 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:44,050 over Dagon. 64 00:02:44,050 --> 00:02:46,800 And then the next day, they come back, and Dagon's statue had 65 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,760 fallen, the idol fell, his head was knocked off, his arms were 66 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:50,160 knocked off. 67 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,480 All that was left was the. 68 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:52,640 The body there. 69 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:55,560 And so obviously they're like, what in the world is happening? 70 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:59,040 A Deon has fallen to the God of the Israelites, and they recognize 71 00:02:59,040 --> 00:02:59,520 his power. 72 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,400 But instead of turning to the God of Israel and worshiping him, 73 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,480 they try to avoid him and send the. 74 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,600 The Ark of the Covenant away. 75 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,760 But in the meantime, there is sickness. 76 00:03:11,100 --> 00:03:14,380 And we know that they're struck with these tumors that take 77 00:03:14,380 --> 00:03:15,500 over their whole bodies. 78 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:17,660 And so they pass it to three different cities. 79 00:03:17,660 --> 00:03:20,500 There was a city called Ashdod, there was a city called Gath, 80 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:22,060 and there was a city of Ekron. 81 00:03:22,060 --> 00:03:23,900 And they're all afflicted with the sickness. 82 00:03:24,060 --> 00:03:25,420 And so they make a decision. 83 00:03:25,420 --> 00:03:27,740 They say, we've got to get rid of this Ark. 84 00:03:27,820 --> 00:03:29,700 We've got to get rid of the judgment of God. 85 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:32,540 And if you remember, what we talked about last week was the. 86 00:03:32,700 --> 00:03:36,180 The idea that everybody will face the power of God at some point 87 00:03:36,180 --> 00:03:39,570 in their life, whether it be through the power of faith and the 88 00:03:39,570 --> 00:03:41,610 power of salvation or the power of judgment. 89 00:03:41,770 --> 00:03:44,330 And so the Philistines were facing the power of God's judgment. 90 00:03:44,330 --> 00:03:47,850 And instead of turning in repentance and humbling themselves 91 00:03:47,850 --> 00:03:51,610 before God, which he calls us to do, they just turn with the idea 92 00:03:51,610 --> 00:03:55,330 of rejection, and they want to get rid of the presence of God and 93 00:03:55,330 --> 00:03:55,970 his judgment. 94 00:03:55,970 --> 00:03:57,770 So we're in chapter six. 95 00:03:57,930 --> 00:03:59,250 This is where we're going to pick up. 96 00:03:59,250 --> 00:03:59,690 And this is. 97 00:03:59,690 --> 00:04:02,650 The Philistines plan to return the Ark back to Israel. 98 00:04:02,810 --> 00:04:04,570 They're like, God is a problem for us. 99 00:04:04,570 --> 00:04:06,170 We thought he was going to work for us. 100 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:07,680 They saw the. 101 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,080 If you guys know some of the stories of the Ark of the Covenant, 102 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,080 the Ark of the Covenant seemed to the people around the world to 103 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:14,240 be the source of the power. 104 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,200 They said, well, if we have the Ark, we have the same power as 105 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:17,920 the Israelites. 106 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,040 What they failed to understand is that it wasn't the Ark itself 107 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:21,800 that was the power. 108 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,440 It was the God behind the ark. 109 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,760 And so the Philistines wanted to use the Ark for their advantage, 110 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,240 and they realized that it wasn't going to be for their advantage. 111 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,680 So chapter six is all about them trying to get the. 112 00:04:32,010 --> 00:04:34,650 The power from the judgment away from them. 113 00:04:34,650 --> 00:04:36,330 And so let's look at verse number one. 114 00:04:36,330 --> 00:04:39,050 In 1st Samuel, chapter six, it says, and the ark of the Lord was 115 00:04:39,050 --> 00:04:41,290 in the country of the Philistines seven months. 116 00:04:41,930 --> 00:04:44,010 So it took them seven months to make a decision. 117 00:04:44,650 --> 00:04:47,290 They had made some small decisions about passing it around 118 00:04:47,290 --> 00:04:50,890 to the different cities, but ultimately they did not make a decision 119 00:04:51,210 --> 00:04:53,210 to repent or to give it back. 120 00:04:53,210 --> 00:04:55,050 It took them seven months to do that. 121 00:04:55,050 --> 00:04:58,010 And I thought about that for a second, and I thought about, why 122 00:04:58,010 --> 00:04:59,130 did they take so long? 123 00:04:59,130 --> 00:05:01,810 Why were they reluctant to make a decision? 124 00:05:01,810 --> 00:05:04,730 Well, I think it was because they saw the ark as a trophy and 125 00:05:04,730 --> 00:05:06,450 they were resting in their pride. 126 00:05:06,450 --> 00:05:06,890 They were. 127 00:05:06,890 --> 00:05:10,570 They were resting in their victory and in some way trying to 128 00:05:10,570 --> 00:05:11,410 make it work for them. 129 00:05:11,410 --> 00:05:13,890 But what we know is that when we're trying to make it work on our 130 00:05:13,890 --> 00:05:16,210 own strength, when we're trying to make it work in our own 131 00:05:16,210 --> 00:05:20,530 pride, God can ultimately level us down and make us to a place 132 00:05:20,530 --> 00:05:24,050 where we are going to make a decision, whether it be rebellion 133 00:05:24,050 --> 00:05:24,930 or repentance. 134 00:05:25,250 --> 00:05:27,690 And so verse number two, it says in the Philistines called for 135 00:05:27,690 --> 00:05:29,090 the priests and the diviners. 136 00:05:30,020 --> 00:05:31,700 So basically, they're holy people. 137 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:32,180 They're. 138 00:05:32,180 --> 00:05:34,100 They're shamans, so to speak. 139 00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:37,660 And they said, what shall we do to the ark of the Lord? 140 00:05:37,660 --> 00:05:40,420 Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. 141 00:05:41,300 --> 00:05:45,020 And so the Philistine priests came up with an idea here, verse 142 00:05:45,020 --> 00:05:45,220 three. 143 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:48,860 And they said, if you send it, if you send away the ark of God of 144 00:05:48,860 --> 00:05:50,140 Israel, send it not empty. 145 00:05:50,140 --> 00:05:52,660 So their minds basically turn to this. 146 00:05:52,660 --> 00:05:54,420 We have to try to appease this God. 147 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:54,990 They're. 148 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:57,590 They're going to try to treat the God of Israel the same way that 149 00:05:57,590 --> 00:06:00,550 they treat their gods, which, if you know, the pagan gods, what 150 00:06:00,550 --> 00:06:03,310 they would try to do is appease them by giving them offerings 151 00:06:03,310 --> 00:06:06,790 and sacrifices, but not in the way that God had called for in the 152 00:06:06,790 --> 00:06:08,950 Old Testament, but in more selfish ways. 153 00:06:08,950 --> 00:06:11,910 So, like, if we want a good crop, we're going to give our crops 154 00:06:11,910 --> 00:06:13,630 to him and actually they went further. 155 00:06:14,190 --> 00:06:17,430 Many of you know that the pagan worship in the Old Testament 156 00:06:17,430 --> 00:06:20,510 in the Canaanite kingdom and many of the other Babylonian areas 157 00:06:20,750 --> 00:06:22,710 were essentially child sacrifice. 158 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:25,780 They would offer their children for a BAAL and for Moloch 159 00:06:25,780 --> 00:06:29,860 for these sacrifices to give them some type of fruitfulness later 160 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:30,900 on and fertility. 161 00:06:31,140 --> 00:06:34,380 But nonetheless, we see that they try to worship still the God 162 00:06:34,380 --> 00:06:35,700 of Israel in their own way. 163 00:06:35,700 --> 00:06:38,940 They said, we have to send something, obviously, because we, 164 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:41,180 we know that these plagues were not by accident. 165 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:45,020 We know that God was giving us some sort of judgment, so maybe buying 166 00:06:45,020 --> 00:06:45,620 him off will. 167 00:06:45,620 --> 00:06:47,620 Will give us some kind of salvation here. 168 00:06:47,860 --> 00:06:50,660 And so they said, we can't send it back empty, but in any wise 169 00:06:50,660 --> 00:06:52,300 return him a trespass offering. 170 00:06:52,300 --> 00:06:53,730 So they said, so this is interesting. 171 00:06:53,730 --> 00:06:56,170 The Philistines actually recognized that they had trespassed 172 00:06:56,170 --> 00:06:57,410 against the God of Israel. 173 00:06:58,050 --> 00:07:01,530 But instead of doing what was right and repenting and turning away 174 00:07:01,530 --> 00:07:04,050 from their gods, they just said, let's try to throw something 175 00:07:04,050 --> 00:07:04,530 at him. 176 00:07:04,530 --> 00:07:07,090 Let's try to give God something to, to appease Him. 177 00:07:07,090 --> 00:07:09,009 And that's sometimes what we see in the world today. 178 00:07:09,009 --> 00:07:09,650 You know, there. 179 00:07:09,650 --> 00:07:12,410 There are people that might even recognize that they're sinning 180 00:07:12,410 --> 00:07:13,170 against God. 181 00:07:13,410 --> 00:07:16,930 But instead of dealing with it and repenting and humbling themselves 182 00:07:17,250 --> 00:07:21,390 and turning to the truth and turning to holiness, they basically 183 00:07:21,390 --> 00:07:22,630 say, well, I'm just going to give more. 184 00:07:23,270 --> 00:07:24,630 I'm just going to try harder. 185 00:07:25,030 --> 00:07:27,270 I'm going to try to have my Christian karma. 186 00:07:27,270 --> 00:07:29,150 I'm going to try to have my good outweigh my bad. 187 00:07:29,150 --> 00:07:31,550 And that's essentially what we see here, and that's what we've seen 188 00:07:31,550 --> 00:07:32,070 throughout history. 189 00:07:32,070 --> 00:07:35,110 That's man's way to worship, but that's not God's way of worshiping. 190 00:07:35,110 --> 00:07:37,190 So they, they recognize that there is a sin here. 191 00:07:37,670 --> 00:07:40,510 They recognize that they are in the wrong, but they don't deal 192 00:07:40,510 --> 00:07:41,750 with it in the proper way. 193 00:07:42,230 --> 00:07:44,550 And so they had enough sense to know that they had offended the 194 00:07:44,550 --> 00:07:45,590 true God of Israel. 195 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,200 But they did not express it in the right way. 196 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,600 They didn't express itself in sorrow and repentance. 197 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,000 They tried to appease God. 198 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,280 And ultimately we'll never be able to do that because we can't 199 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:56,240 pay for our own sin. 200 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:57,800 Then what do they say? 201 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:58,480 They say, give. 202 00:07:58,480 --> 00:07:59,560 Give a trespass offering. 203 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,400 Then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his 204 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:03,840 hand is not removed from you. 205 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:05,880 So basically, they're trying to figure out God. 206 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:07,200 They're trying to figure out his mind. 207 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:08,880 And really, I'm going to tell you this. 208 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:13,600 Ultimately we as we as human beings cannot ultimately get into 209 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,880 the mind of God and know specifically why he's doing what 210 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:16,320 he's doing. 211 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:19,140 There are going to be times where God does lay out his plans. 212 00:08:19,140 --> 00:08:21,340 There are going to be times where God does lay out his thoughts. 213 00:08:21,340 --> 00:08:22,340 We see that in scripture. 214 00:08:22,660 --> 00:08:25,940 But ultimately we can never understand the mind of God completely. 215 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:26,740 Verse 4. 216 00:08:26,820 --> 00:08:28,180 Then they said, what shall. 217 00:08:28,180 --> 00:08:28,940 What shall be? 218 00:08:28,940 --> 00:08:31,860 The trespass offering which we shall return to him. 219 00:08:31,860 --> 00:08:32,819 So that's the big question. 220 00:08:32,820 --> 00:08:34,260 What's going to be enough for God? 221 00:08:34,740 --> 00:08:37,220 And what they come up with is, is kind of interesting. 222 00:08:37,220 --> 00:08:40,740 I don't know if that's what I would come up with, but this is what 223 00:08:40,740 --> 00:08:41,260 they came up with. 224 00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:45,420 They said, we're going to give him five golden emodes or five golden 225 00:08:45,420 --> 00:08:45,940 tumors. 226 00:08:46,340 --> 00:08:50,020 So since they had been given tumors, what they believed by God 227 00:08:50,020 --> 00:08:52,940 because of their sin, which we agree to, it would be God's judgment 228 00:08:52,940 --> 00:08:53,460 upon them. 229 00:08:53,460 --> 00:08:57,300 They say, we're going to have these five tumors that are golden 230 00:08:57,300 --> 00:08:59,780 and give that to, to God and put that in the ark. 231 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:05,340 And then it says, in five golden mice, which seems kind of 232 00:09:05,340 --> 00:09:05,820 out of place. 233 00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:07,460 I'm like, where did the mice come from? 234 00:09:08,020 --> 00:09:10,930 So I was reading up on that because I was like, I, I want to 235 00:09:10,930 --> 00:09:11,090 know. 236 00:09:11,090 --> 00:09:12,850 That just gets piques my curiosity. 237 00:09:13,170 --> 00:09:15,730 So some scholars, they don't know for sure why they put the mice 238 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:17,090 in there or the rats. 239 00:09:17,090 --> 00:09:19,490 And in the Hebrew, it could have been either one rodent. 240 00:09:19,570 --> 00:09:22,530 But essentially what most people think, most scholars think 241 00:09:22,530 --> 00:09:25,770 is that this, these tumors were coming about through some kind 242 00:09:25,770 --> 00:09:27,450 of plague, bubonic plague. 243 00:09:27,450 --> 00:09:30,130 And if you know, in the past, the way that that plague was passed 244 00:09:30,130 --> 00:09:32,290 along was through rats and those kind of things. 245 00:09:32,610 --> 00:09:34,730 So some scholars might think that that was along with it. 246 00:09:34,730 --> 00:09:35,490 We don't know for sure. 247 00:09:35,490 --> 00:09:38,940 But five emirates or five tumors and five golden mice according 248 00:09:38,940 --> 00:09:40,580 to the number of the lords of the Philistines. 249 00:09:40,580 --> 00:09:43,740 Remember that number five is significant for the Philistines because 250 00:09:43,740 --> 00:09:44,900 they had five kingdoms. 251 00:09:44,980 --> 00:09:46,260 So that's why they pick five. 252 00:09:46,260 --> 00:09:51,060 Five of each of the cities there for one plague was on you all 253 00:09:51,060 --> 00:09:52,459 and on your lords. 254 00:09:52,459 --> 00:09:57,100 And so this is a recognition of God's judgment upon all of the 255 00:09:57,100 --> 00:09:58,500 cities of the Philistines. 256 00:09:58,900 --> 00:10:02,060 And so we know the plague involved tumors, and we know that 257 00:10:02,060 --> 00:10:05,390 it was destructive, and we know that there was a lot of calamity 258 00:10:05,390 --> 00:10:05,990 with it. 259 00:10:05,990 --> 00:10:09,510 And so what they say is this, this is, this is interesting as well. 260 00:10:09,670 --> 00:10:13,310 It says when they, they said verse 5, wherefore you shall make 261 00:10:13,310 --> 00:10:16,110 images of your emirates and images of your mice that mar the 262 00:10:16,110 --> 00:10:16,390 land. 263 00:10:16,710 --> 00:10:17,070 So. 264 00:10:17,070 --> 00:10:19,750 So in some way the mice were marring the land. 265 00:10:19,910 --> 00:10:20,830 We see that there. 266 00:10:20,830 --> 00:10:24,230 And you shall give glory unto the God of Israel. 267 00:10:25,030 --> 00:10:27,710 So, so in some degree, this is their way of saying that they're 268 00:10:27,710 --> 00:10:29,670 going to give glory to the God of Israel. 269 00:10:30,410 --> 00:10:32,810 And, and so they acknowledge God's judgment. 270 00:10:33,530 --> 00:10:35,610 And that's one way to give glory to God. 271 00:10:36,410 --> 00:10:39,690 But obviously they're not doing it in a way that's according 272 00:10:39,690 --> 00:10:40,970 to the plan of God. 273 00:10:41,370 --> 00:10:46,610 But it says here that, that and hopefully, per adventure, he 274 00:10:46,610 --> 00:10:50,570 will lighten his hand from off you and from your gods and from off 275 00:10:50,570 --> 00:10:51,450 your land. 276 00:10:52,490 --> 00:10:56,370 So we, we see in verse five that their heart is not to turn to 277 00:10:56,370 --> 00:10:57,420 God like so. 278 00:10:57,420 --> 00:11:01,100 So giving glory to God doesn't necessarily equate that I'm going 279 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:02,660 to exclusively worship him. 280 00:11:02,980 --> 00:11:04,220 And that's what God wants. 281 00:11:04,220 --> 00:11:05,780 God wants our exclusive worship. 282 00:11:06,740 --> 00:11:09,780 I have to be very clear in Scripture, God does not say that 283 00:11:09,780 --> 00:11:12,740 we should add him into our Rolodex of worship. 284 00:11:13,380 --> 00:11:15,540 We should not add him as one of our gods. 285 00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:17,100 And that's really what the Philistines were doing. 286 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:19,220 They said, let's appease the God of Israel. 287 00:11:19,220 --> 00:11:22,380 So he would lay off on us, and he'll lay off on our gods and he'll 288 00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:23,220 lay off of our land. 289 00:11:23,970 --> 00:11:25,930 And that's one of the things that we have to take note of in our 290 00:11:25,930 --> 00:11:28,410 world today because there's a lot of people that will say, you 291 00:11:28,410 --> 00:11:28,770 know what? 292 00:11:28,930 --> 00:11:31,970 I'm glad that you believe in God, and I'm even okay that you believe 293 00:11:31,970 --> 00:11:35,010 in Jesus, but he's just one of my many things that I worship in 294 00:11:35,010 --> 00:11:35,410 my life. 295 00:11:36,130 --> 00:11:39,010 You know, if there's certain religions, there's certain world 296 00:11:39,010 --> 00:11:42,490 religions that will say, I'll accept Jesus as my Savior along with 297 00:11:42,490 --> 00:11:43,570 a hundred other gods. 298 00:11:44,290 --> 00:11:46,970 And what we know is that's not what God look is looking for. 299 00:11:46,970 --> 00:11:49,170 He's looking for exclusive worship. 300 00:11:49,170 --> 00:11:51,210 It's him, the way, the truth, and the life. 301 00:11:51,210 --> 00:11:52,530 God is a jealous God. 302 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,240 And, and I don't want to make you confused with that, because sometimes 303 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,800 when you hear the word jealousy, you think of it as negative. 304 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,440 And in most cases in our humanity, it is. 305 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:05,400 Because usually our jealousy is based off of our flesh. 306 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,560 Our jealousy is based off of our pride. 307 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:11,160 Our jealousy is based off of something that deals with us getting 308 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:11,560 something. 309 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,160 But really, biblically speaking, the Bible says that there 310 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,440 is a godly jealousy. 311 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,000 It's mentioned in the New Testament. 312 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,560 And we know that God is jealous over his people. 313 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,120 And if God, if God desires our exclusive worship, what that means 314 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,240 is that if we worship anything Outside of Him, we are committing 315 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,320 something called idolatry. 316 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,200 We're giving worship to something that is not God. 317 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,160 And that's, that's, that's idol worship. 318 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,960 And the Bible says that clearly something that God hates. 319 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:41,320 And so we see in verse five that there, this is not the proper 320 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:42,520 repentance and worship. 321 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,800 It says that, that maybe if we give this to God, maybe He will lighten 322 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:47,200 his hand. 323 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,120 From off of you. 324 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:49,400 So there's that selfish focus. 325 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,280 And from off of your gods there, there's that polytheism, multiple 326 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,160 gods, and from off of your land. 327 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:56,840 So there's that materialism there. 328 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,680 And so we see that there's just like a very humanistic way to 329 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:00,080 worship. 330 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,280 And we have to be so careful about that. 331 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:07,000 The Bible, the Bible teaches that there is a proper way to worship 332 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:07,400 God. 333 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,400 And I've heard people say, and I have to caution all of us on this, 334 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:13,640 and I want you to be careful. 335 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,360 I've heard people say that there's no wrong way to worship. 336 00:13:16,710 --> 00:13:19,750 Like, as long as your heart's in it, God is happy. 337 00:13:20,070 --> 00:13:23,150 But, but I do want you to take note that in the New Testament, In 338 00:13:23,150 --> 00:13:26,990 John chapter 4, Jesus clearly teaches the Samaritan woman that 339 00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:29,350 we should worship him in spirit and in truth. 340 00:13:29,990 --> 00:13:32,030 And so there is a right way to worship. 341 00:13:32,030 --> 00:13:34,990 And the right way to worship is the way that God calls us to worship. 342 00:13:34,990 --> 00:13:38,870 So instead of trying to give God what we think he wants, why don't 343 00:13:38,870 --> 00:13:42,270 we go to His Word and look at what he tells us that he wants? 344 00:13:42,270 --> 00:13:45,210 And that's his complete devotion to him, complete obedience 345 00:13:45,210 --> 00:13:49,010 to Him, a complete dedication with our hearts and with our minds 346 00:13:49,010 --> 00:13:50,090 and with our actions. 347 00:13:50,170 --> 00:13:51,250 And that's what we see. 348 00:13:51,250 --> 00:13:53,850 The failure of the Philistines, among many other things, 349 00:13:53,930 --> 00:13:57,050 is that they're trying to appease God and worship God on their 350 00:13:57,050 --> 00:13:57,370 terms. 351 00:13:58,010 --> 00:13:59,450 So it would be similar to this. 352 00:13:59,450 --> 00:14:02,290 We would say this, well, I worship this way because this, this 353 00:14:02,290 --> 00:14:03,210 makes me feel good. 354 00:14:04,490 --> 00:14:07,170 Well, I understand what we mean by that. 355 00:14:07,170 --> 00:14:11,550 And there might be certain elements of worship that we attract 356 00:14:11,550 --> 00:14:12,230 ourselves to. 357 00:14:12,230 --> 00:14:16,190 Like, for, for some people, some people really enjoy music or 358 00:14:16,190 --> 00:14:18,750 some people really enjoy Bible study. 359 00:14:18,990 --> 00:14:21,870 There's going to be some, some things that we do in worship that 360 00:14:21,950 --> 00:14:24,190 we tend to be more naturally drawn to. 361 00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:27,350 But at the same time, we can't just make up our own terms on how 362 00:14:27,350 --> 00:14:28,510 we want to worship God. 363 00:14:28,510 --> 00:14:31,030 Specifically if he tells us that there are certain things that 364 00:14:31,030 --> 00:14:32,430 are not the right way to worship Him. 365 00:14:32,830 --> 00:14:35,710 So one thing that we, we see, and I mentioned this before, and 366 00:14:35,930 --> 00:14:38,410 some of you are, are you Know, if you're here with all my services, 367 00:14:38,490 --> 00:14:41,490 I apologize because sometimes I'll use a reference on a Wednesday 368 00:14:41,490 --> 00:14:43,810 night, and I have no idea if I use that on Sunday night, Sunday 369 00:14:43,810 --> 00:14:44,090 morning. 370 00:14:44,090 --> 00:14:46,770 So if you were here, and this is a double up, I apologize. 371 00:14:46,770 --> 00:14:49,970 But it still has the same application we see in the New Testament. 372 00:14:49,970 --> 00:14:52,970 There was a group of people in the church of Corinth, and the church 373 00:14:52,970 --> 00:14:53,890 at Corinth were. 374 00:14:53,890 --> 00:14:54,810 They were believers. 375 00:14:54,810 --> 00:14:57,890 First Corinthians chapter 3 tells us that they were believers, 376 00:14:57,890 --> 00:14:59,450 but they were immature believers. 377 00:14:59,610 --> 00:14:59,930 They. 378 00:14:59,930 --> 00:15:00,730 They were carnal. 379 00:15:00,730 --> 00:15:00,930 They. 380 00:15:00,930 --> 00:15:02,450 They had not grown in their faith. 381 00:15:02,450 --> 00:15:05,090 And Paul says, I should be bringing you the meat, but I can't 382 00:15:05,090 --> 00:15:06,530 bring you the meat because you're still in the milk. 383 00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:09,330 You should be teaching, but you're not because you haven't matured. 384 00:15:09,330 --> 00:15:12,050 And one of the reasons why they didn't mature is because they 385 00:15:12,050 --> 00:15:15,610 were allowing pagan worship to seep into the church. 386 00:15:15,610 --> 00:15:18,370 And so if you know the church of Corinth, they had the goddess 387 00:15:18,370 --> 00:15:22,890 Diana and they had a, a whole temple there that people would travel 388 00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:24,330 from all over the world to worship. 389 00:15:24,410 --> 00:15:27,770 And so people in Corinth were used to worshiping in a way that 390 00:15:27,770 --> 00:15:30,730 was similar to what we would call pagan worship. 391 00:15:31,030 --> 00:15:33,230 And I don't need to go through all the details, but one of the things 392 00:15:33,230 --> 00:15:36,310 I will say is that the church at Corinth began to allow some of 393 00:15:36,310 --> 00:15:38,030 that to seep into their worship. 394 00:15:38,030 --> 00:15:40,630 And when Paul gets there, he's like, that should not be the case. 395 00:15:40,630 --> 00:15:41,750 We've got to deal with this. 396 00:15:41,910 --> 00:15:44,750 And so if we have these examples in the Old Testament and 397 00:15:44,750 --> 00:15:48,830 the New of improper worship, we should take note of that and say, 398 00:15:48,830 --> 00:15:52,070 hey, are we in the church properly worshiping the Lord? 399 00:15:52,550 --> 00:15:56,670 And so I think that that's a note to take there, but we will move 400 00:15:56,670 --> 00:15:57,950 on a little bit here. 401 00:15:57,950 --> 00:15:59,090 Now, verse six. 402 00:15:59,090 --> 00:16:04,370 Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts as the Egyptians and 403 00:16:04,370 --> 00:16:05,530 Pharaoh harden their hearts? 404 00:16:05,530 --> 00:16:07,770 So the question would be is, are you going to harden your hearts 405 00:16:07,770 --> 00:16:09,490 the way that the Egyptians did? 406 00:16:10,050 --> 00:16:14,690 Now this is also I, I find so fascinating because the people here 407 00:16:14,690 --> 00:16:17,210 in Phil, in the Philistine area, the, the people that were living 408 00:16:17,210 --> 00:16:19,930 in Canaan had heard the stories of what the God of Israel 409 00:16:19,930 --> 00:16:22,850 did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, which, if you remember, 410 00:16:23,090 --> 00:16:25,090 they brought a bunch of plagues to the Egyptians. 411 00:16:25,090 --> 00:16:26,450 God brought all the plagues there. 412 00:16:26,670 --> 00:16:29,430 And ultimately the, the great judgment of taking the firstborn 413 00:16:29,430 --> 00:16:30,270 of the Egyptians. 414 00:16:30,350 --> 00:16:32,470 And so essentially the Philistine priests are like, are 415 00:16:32,470 --> 00:16:33,950 you going to be the same way as the Egyptians? 416 00:16:34,030 --> 00:16:36,110 You're going to try to do it the way they did it. 417 00:16:36,190 --> 00:16:38,750 And when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they 418 00:16:38,750 --> 00:16:40,830 not let the people go and they departed? 419 00:16:41,870 --> 00:16:43,750 And so the idea would be this. 420 00:16:43,750 --> 00:16:46,510 They were aware of the, what we would call the Exodus account. 421 00:16:46,670 --> 00:16:50,950 And the Philistines rightly remembered that anyone who comes 422 00:16:50,950 --> 00:16:52,350 against the Lord loses. 423 00:16:53,660 --> 00:16:58,220 And even if they are selfishly interested, they do understand that 424 00:16:58,220 --> 00:17:02,380 hardening their hearts against the God of Israel has great problems. 425 00:17:02,620 --> 00:17:05,020 And, and I think that's evident, and I think that's even 426 00:17:05,020 --> 00:17:07,820 as Christians, we should recognize that hardening our hearts 427 00:17:07,820 --> 00:17:11,540 against God, against His will, against his, his conviction in our 428 00:17:11,540 --> 00:17:15,500 life is going to always lead us to a devastation and destruction 429 00:17:15,500 --> 00:17:16,180 and emptiness. 430 00:17:16,180 --> 00:17:20,580 And so even the pagan Philistines recognize that disobeying 431 00:17:20,580 --> 00:17:23,710 the God of Israel has consequences all the more. 432 00:17:23,710 --> 00:17:27,590 Why, it's so hard to understand why the Israelites couldn't 433 00:17:27,590 --> 00:17:28,270 understand that. 434 00:17:28,430 --> 00:17:31,310 But we know because of their flesh and because of their rebellion, 435 00:17:31,630 --> 00:17:33,390 that was certainly something that they had to. 436 00:17:33,390 --> 00:17:34,190 To deal with. 437 00:17:34,670 --> 00:17:36,910 All right, so verse seven, they come up with a plan. 438 00:17:36,910 --> 00:17:38,669 How, how are they going to get the ark there? 439 00:17:38,910 --> 00:17:40,070 How are they going to get. 440 00:17:40,070 --> 00:17:42,550 How they couldn't put it on a plane and fly it there. 441 00:17:42,550 --> 00:17:43,790 They had to figure out a plan. 442 00:17:44,030 --> 00:17:46,950 And, and even in this plan it seems so interesting because the 443 00:17:46,950 --> 00:17:49,630 Philistines still are deciding if this is really God doing it. 444 00:17:50,010 --> 00:17:53,970 And so they basically give God one last test here to see if what 445 00:17:53,970 --> 00:17:57,690 they're doing here is their own will or ultimately it's God's 446 00:17:57,690 --> 00:17:57,970 power. 447 00:17:57,970 --> 00:17:58,570 Verse 7. 448 00:17:58,650 --> 00:18:04,930 Now therefore, make a new cart and take two milch kind on which 449 00:18:04,930 --> 00:18:06,370 there hath come no yoke. 450 00:18:06,370 --> 00:18:08,650 So that's two, two milk cows, basically. 451 00:18:08,650 --> 00:18:11,490 All right, in everyday English it's you say take two cows that are 452 00:18:11,490 --> 00:18:14,610 milking right now that have two calves on which there have become 453 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:15,170 no yoke. 454 00:18:15,170 --> 00:18:19,770 And so the idea here would be that you're taking two mil cows that 455 00:18:19,770 --> 00:18:22,010 have never been yolked up, they've never worked, they never 456 00:18:22,010 --> 00:18:22,770 carried a cart. 457 00:18:22,770 --> 00:18:26,850 These are freshly yolked animals that have never worked in 458 00:18:26,850 --> 00:18:30,810 this way and tie the kind to the cart and bring their calves home 459 00:18:30,810 --> 00:18:31,410 from them. 460 00:18:31,490 --> 00:18:35,250 So they say basically we're going to make an impossible situation. 461 00:18:35,410 --> 00:18:39,170 It would have been maybe not impossible, but highly improbable 462 00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:43,370 that two milking cows that had calves and had their calves taken 463 00:18:43,370 --> 00:18:46,490 away from them and then never been yolked would actually find their 464 00:18:46,490 --> 00:18:46,770 way. 465 00:18:47,270 --> 00:18:49,190 And that's what we're going to see here, is that they're going to 466 00:18:49,190 --> 00:18:52,430 take two milk cows, take their calves away from them, hide them 467 00:18:52,430 --> 00:18:54,710 so that the cows would go. 468 00:18:54,790 --> 00:18:58,110 And ultimately we know that their nature would be that they would 469 00:18:58,110 --> 00:18:59,830 go after their, their, their calves. 470 00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:03,910 And what we're going to see here is that they take these impossible 471 00:19:03,910 --> 00:19:06,750 situation of these two cows and ultimately God's going to use 472 00:19:06,750 --> 00:19:10,710 it and take it all the way to Israel, verse 8, and take the ark 473 00:19:10,710 --> 00:19:14,170 of the Lord and lay it upon the cart, and put the jewels of gold 474 00:19:14,330 --> 00:19:17,490 which he returned for a trespass offering in a coffer by 475 00:19:17,490 --> 00:19:20,450 the side thereof, and send it away that they may go, that it may 476 00:19:20,450 --> 00:19:20,730 go. 477 00:19:20,810 --> 00:19:25,130 So they say, okay, here they're conducting an experiment 478 00:19:25,610 --> 00:19:26,650 after all of this. 479 00:19:26,970 --> 00:19:28,570 Maybe God is sending this. 480 00:19:29,130 --> 00:19:31,930 But ultimately we're not 100 sure that this is God. 481 00:19:32,330 --> 00:19:35,490 So we're going to give this test to God and we're going to put 482 00:19:35,490 --> 00:19:36,770 all these hardships in the way. 483 00:19:36,770 --> 00:19:40,220 And if this works, if this works, then we'll know that this 484 00:19:40,220 --> 00:19:40,740 was God. 485 00:19:40,740 --> 00:19:43,860 And you know, God's going to work against their maternal instinct. 486 00:19:43,860 --> 00:19:46,460 God's going to work against their inexperience and he's going 487 00:19:46,460 --> 00:19:51,100 to take the ark to Israel, verse 9, and see if it go up by the 488 00:19:51,100 --> 00:19:55,420 way of his own coast to Beth Shemus, which Beth Shemesh was an 489 00:19:55,420 --> 00:19:57,700 Israelite city there town. 490 00:19:57,860 --> 00:20:00,180 Then he hath done us this great evil. 491 00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:04,500 But if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote 492 00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:06,870 us, it was a chance that happened to us. 493 00:20:07,110 --> 00:20:09,790 So even in verse nine we see that they're not a hundred percent 494 00:20:09,790 --> 00:20:10,870 sure that this is God. 495 00:20:11,190 --> 00:20:14,790 They said, well, maybe, just maybe, this is just by chance, by 496 00:20:14,790 --> 00:20:15,070 luck. 497 00:20:15,070 --> 00:20:19,030 And again, depending on your belief in God, I don't believe in 498 00:20:19,030 --> 00:20:20,350 chance, I don't believe in luck. 499 00:20:20,350 --> 00:20:21,550 I don't believe in any of those things. 500 00:20:21,550 --> 00:20:23,510 I believe that God ordained certain things to happen. 501 00:20:23,670 --> 00:20:26,350 And so for them, they're still in question of whether or not this 502 00:20:26,350 --> 00:20:30,870 is truly God's working or this just was a bad situation for them. 503 00:20:31,310 --> 00:20:33,550 And so this test is played out there for the Lord. 504 00:20:33,550 --> 00:20:35,430 Now, we know a couple different things. 505 00:20:35,430 --> 00:20:38,510 One, there is a very specific way to move the ark. 506 00:20:38,830 --> 00:20:42,150 And we know that through other scenarios when the Israelites didn't 507 00:20:42,150 --> 00:20:42,990 move it the right way. 508 00:20:43,390 --> 00:20:46,630 If you remember, there was a guy named Uzzah who the cart, they 509 00:20:46,630 --> 00:20:50,510 try to take the quick route later on, and the ark falls and Uzzah 510 00:20:50,510 --> 00:20:51,950 goes to catch it and he dies. 511 00:20:52,430 --> 00:20:54,470 And so then the question would be is why? 512 00:20:54,470 --> 00:20:58,120 Why did, why did God judge Israel for making a cart and not 513 00:20:58,120 --> 00:20:58,760 the Philistines? 514 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:00,160 Well, there's a couple reasons for that. 515 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:00,880 I believe. 516 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,480 I believe, number one, God understood that he had laid out the 517 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:05,600 instructions to the Israelites and they knew better. 518 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,600 The Philistines were not children of God, therefore they were 519 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:09,920 not part of God's covenant. 520 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,480 Also, they had not been instructed of how to do it. 521 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,240 So God does judge on different sections here. 522 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,000 He judges the people that knew the truth and the people who did 523 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:19,680 not know the truth. 524 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,880 And so God doesn't necessarily strike them all dead, because we're 525 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,840 actually going to see in, in a few verses in this passage that the 526 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,880 Israelites actually just peek into the ark. 527 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,560 And they peek into the ark and they actually die for doing the same 528 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:32,720 thing. 529 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,960 And there's a lot of reasons why that is the case. 530 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,600 And we'll get to that here in a few moments. 531 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:38,920 So they come up with a plan. 532 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,880 Instead of carrying it the proper way by putting the rods in 533 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,560 and having the Levites carry it, they just put it on an unmanned 534 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,720 cart with two milk cows that have their calves taken away and 535 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:50,720 have never been yoked. 536 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,010 And let's see if this is God's plan now. 537 00:21:53,010 --> 00:21:53,930 Again, this is still. 538 00:21:53,930 --> 00:21:55,050 This is still testing God. 539 00:21:55,050 --> 00:21:55,530 I don't. 540 00:21:55,850 --> 00:21:59,770 I don't think in the Bible it ever really celebrates testing God. 541 00:22:00,170 --> 00:22:03,290 There are some situations in which people came and asked God, 542 00:22:03,290 --> 00:22:05,690 like, Lord, if this happens, do this, do this sign for me. 543 00:22:05,850 --> 00:22:08,010 And I think even in those cases, those aren't probably the 544 00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:09,770 best things because it shows a lack of faith. 545 00:22:09,850 --> 00:22:10,770 I really do believe that. 546 00:22:10,770 --> 00:22:13,450 Now, if God does give us signs, I don't think it's a bad thing. 547 00:22:13,610 --> 00:22:16,090 But I think that when we come and try to test God and set up a 548 00:22:16,090 --> 00:22:18,970 situation, say God, if you do this and then this and this and this, 549 00:22:18,970 --> 00:22:20,850 I think that's a very dangerous place to be in our life. 550 00:22:20,850 --> 00:22:23,250 And that's exactly what the Philistines are doing here. 551 00:22:23,570 --> 00:22:24,170 Verse 11. 552 00:22:24,170 --> 00:22:27,090 And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart and the coffer 553 00:22:27,090 --> 00:22:29,690 with the mice of the gold and the images of the Emirates and the 554 00:22:29,690 --> 00:22:33,450 kind took the straight way to the Beth way of Beth Shemesh and 555 00:22:33,450 --> 00:22:34,450 went along the highway. 556 00:22:34,690 --> 00:22:37,530 And this is interesting here, lowing as they went. 557 00:22:37,530 --> 00:22:40,730 Meaning basically the idea is, is that they're. 558 00:22:40,730 --> 00:22:42,770 They're calling out like in, like. 559 00:22:42,770 --> 00:22:43,410 Like if. 560 00:22:43,410 --> 00:22:44,570 How angry a cow can be. 561 00:22:44,570 --> 00:22:45,050 Okay, right. 562 00:22:45,050 --> 00:22:48,140 We don't want to anthropomorphize an animal. 563 00:22:48,140 --> 00:22:49,060 Like they're not humans. 564 00:22:49,060 --> 00:22:51,620 But the cow itself was making a loud noise. 565 00:22:51,620 --> 00:22:52,300 That's what it's saying. 566 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:55,220 And so what the meaning of the Text would be, is that basically 567 00:22:55,220 --> 00:22:56,340 they're going against their will. 568 00:22:56,340 --> 00:22:58,300 God is forcing them down the road. 569 00:22:58,780 --> 00:23:02,220 And so we see that they're moving down, lowing as they went, 570 00:23:02,220 --> 00:23:02,500 and. 571 00:23:02,500 --> 00:23:02,859 But. 572 00:23:02,859 --> 00:23:03,220 But. 573 00:23:03,220 --> 00:23:05,820 And turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. 574 00:23:05,980 --> 00:23:08,500 And the lords of the Philistines went after them unto 575 00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:09,860 the border of Beth Shemesh. 576 00:23:09,860 --> 00:23:11,420 So this is probably an interesting scene. 577 00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:14,750 You see these two cows that are, you know, mooing as loud as 578 00:23:14,750 --> 00:23:16,750 they can, but they're staying straight on the path. 579 00:23:16,830 --> 00:23:19,990 And you see these Philistine guys following behind it, kind of 580 00:23:19,990 --> 00:23:21,070 watching from a distance. 581 00:23:21,310 --> 00:23:21,990 Verse 13. 582 00:23:21,990 --> 00:23:25,550 And they of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the 583 00:23:25,550 --> 00:23:28,990 valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced 584 00:23:28,990 --> 00:23:29,469 to see it. 585 00:23:29,469 --> 00:23:32,710 So imagine if you're the guys from Beth Shemesh, you're out here 586 00:23:32,710 --> 00:23:35,990 working in the field, your mind is set upon the fact that the 587 00:23:35,990 --> 00:23:37,150 Ark of the Covenant's been taken. 588 00:23:37,310 --> 00:23:38,910 The Philistines are never going to bring it back. 589 00:23:38,910 --> 00:23:40,190 They've got the power of God. 590 00:23:40,410 --> 00:23:43,450 And all of a sudden they look up and they see two cows calling 591 00:23:43,450 --> 00:23:44,810 out and they're like, what is that coming? 592 00:23:44,810 --> 00:23:47,330 And it's the Ark of the Covenant, unmanned, just coming their 593 00:23:47,330 --> 00:23:47,490 way. 594 00:23:47,490 --> 00:23:49,570 And obviously it would be like a reunion. 595 00:23:49,570 --> 00:23:51,410 It would be like seeing the Lord coming back. 596 00:23:51,410 --> 00:23:55,370 It would be in many ways exciting for them to see that God's 597 00:23:55,370 --> 00:23:57,050 power was still there with them. 598 00:23:57,050 --> 00:23:58,890 And so they're rejoicing to see it. 599 00:23:58,890 --> 00:23:59,170 They're. 600 00:23:59,170 --> 00:24:00,410 They're excited to see it. 601 00:24:00,410 --> 00:24:04,050 And I think that all of us could understand their. 602 00:24:04,050 --> 00:24:05,170 Their excitement in. 603 00:24:05,170 --> 00:24:05,850 In that regard. 604 00:24:05,850 --> 00:24:09,670 And so, against all odds, against all expectation, the cows 605 00:24:09,670 --> 00:24:14,110 go to the land of Israel where the ark should be, and God returns 606 00:24:14,110 --> 00:24:15,190 it back safely. 607 00:24:15,670 --> 00:24:16,550 And so we. 608 00:24:16,550 --> 00:24:20,750 We know that it was against all expectation because the cows 609 00:24:20,750 --> 00:24:22,270 should have resisted the yoke. 610 00:24:22,270 --> 00:24:23,670 This is their first time ever doing it. 611 00:24:23,670 --> 00:24:25,550 They should have never been harnessed. 612 00:24:25,550 --> 00:24:28,470 They should have wanted to go back to their calves, and they definitely 613 00:24:28,470 --> 00:24:29,750 wouldn't have known where to go. 614 00:24:30,070 --> 00:24:32,230 But God didn't leave this up to chance. 615 00:24:32,230 --> 00:24:36,850 God stepped in and directed the path of these animals to where 616 00:24:36,850 --> 00:24:37,850 they needed to go. 617 00:24:38,650 --> 00:24:40,930 So the ark is back at Beth Shemesh. 618 00:24:40,930 --> 00:24:44,170 They're excited and they're cheering and verse 14. 619 00:24:44,170 --> 00:24:47,890 And the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and 620 00:24:47,890 --> 00:24:51,210 stood there where there was a great stone, and they clave the wood 621 00:24:51,210 --> 00:24:55,050 of the cart and offered the kind a burnt offering unto the Lord. 622 00:24:55,050 --> 00:24:58,410 Now that is an interesting thing. 623 00:24:59,850 --> 00:25:00,210 They. 624 00:25:00,210 --> 00:25:03,450 They knew this was the right thing to do in honoring God. 625 00:25:05,780 --> 00:25:09,180 But in a strict sense, though, if you're going to go off of the 626 00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:13,060 Mosaic law, they were not supposed to offer female animals. 627 00:25:13,540 --> 00:25:16,660 And so we can still see a little bit of the immaturity and 628 00:25:16,660 --> 00:25:19,060 the lack of complete understanding of the law of God here, 629 00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:22,220 because they take these two female cows and they sacrifice these 630 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:24,900 cows as a burnt offering, which really should have not been 631 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:28,420 done according to Leviticus chapter one and Leviticus chapter 632 00:25:28,420 --> 00:25:28,860 22. 633 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:30,100 That's a forbidden thing. 634 00:25:30,460 --> 00:25:33,140 And they murk and they make a burnt offering to the Lord away from 635 00:25:33,140 --> 00:25:35,500 the tabernacle, which again, is. 636 00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:39,020 Is not something that would be what they would consider to be the. 637 00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:39,980 The plan of God. 638 00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:42,460 And that violated. 639 00:25:42,460 --> 00:25:44,940 I believe It's Deuteronomy chapter 12 as well. 640 00:25:45,740 --> 00:25:49,420 But I. I guess it's because they're excited and against these 641 00:25:49,420 --> 00:25:54,220 circumstances, I. I believe still the God was honored. 642 00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:56,380 But, yeah, again, they're trying to do it in their own way. 643 00:25:56,820 --> 00:25:59,220 But we do know the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, which 644 00:25:59,220 --> 00:26:00,380 was a good thing, verse 15. 645 00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:03,420 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the coffer that 646 00:26:03,420 --> 00:26:05,700 was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them 647 00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:06,540 on a great stone. 648 00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:09,540 And the men of Beshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifice 649 00:26:09,540 --> 00:26:12,180 sacrifices the same day unto the Lord. 650 00:26:12,260 --> 00:26:14,740 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned 651 00:26:14,740 --> 00:26:15,860 to Ekron the same day. 652 00:26:15,860 --> 00:26:18,260 So, like, it's an understatement. 653 00:26:18,340 --> 00:26:21,060 I wish I knew more about what happened. 654 00:26:21,380 --> 00:26:23,380 Like, what did the Philistines do once they went back? 655 00:26:23,380 --> 00:26:23,780 I don't know. 656 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:26,750 The Bible doesn't tell us, but it just says there they went back 657 00:26:26,750 --> 00:26:28,550 to Ekron, verse 17. 658 00:26:28,550 --> 00:26:31,270 And these are the golden emrods which the Philistines returned 659 00:26:31,270 --> 00:26:34,590 for a trespass offering unto the lord for Ashdod 1, for Gaza, 660 00:26:34,590 --> 00:26:38,030 1, for Ascalon, 1, for Gath, 1, and for Ekron 1, and the golden 661 00:26:38,030 --> 00:26:38,270 mice. 662 00:26:38,270 --> 00:26:40,430 According to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belong 663 00:26:40,430 --> 00:26:43,590 the five lords, both fenced cities and the country villages, 664 00:26:43,590 --> 00:26:47,750 even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark 665 00:26:47,750 --> 00:26:48,190 of the Lord. 666 00:26:48,190 --> 00:26:51,070 Which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, 667 00:26:51,070 --> 00:26:51,830 the Beth Shemesh. 668 00:26:51,830 --> 00:26:52,890 So that's. 669 00:26:52,890 --> 00:26:54,330 That's actually very interesting. 670 00:26:54,330 --> 00:26:58,770 It kind of tells you the location where it was set and everything 671 00:26:58,850 --> 00:26:59,410 like that. 672 00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:03,810 And so the offering went to the Lord there, and the Ark of the 673 00:27:03,810 --> 00:27:07,010 Covenant was only handled by the Levites, which was a good thing. 674 00:27:07,010 --> 00:27:08,210 And that was according to. 675 00:27:08,210 --> 00:27:08,730 To God. 676 00:27:08,730 --> 00:27:12,130 And the men of Beshemesh are. 677 00:27:12,130 --> 00:27:13,210 But they're going to sin here. 678 00:27:13,210 --> 00:27:13,730 Verse 19. 679 00:27:15,010 --> 00:27:16,570 So verse 19. 680 00:27:16,570 --> 00:27:19,050 And he smote the men of Beshemesh. 681 00:27:20,010 --> 00:27:22,970 So after all this, God kills these men. 682 00:27:23,050 --> 00:27:25,890 And, and some people don't understand this, but God is very 683 00:27:25,890 --> 00:27:28,410 clear on his teaching on who should deal with the ark. 684 00:27:28,410 --> 00:27:30,890 And they're just openly rebelling him because they had looked 685 00:27:30,890 --> 00:27:31,930 into the ark of the Lord. 686 00:27:32,010 --> 00:27:35,130 Now you like, if I just read that verse out of context, I'd be 687 00:27:35,130 --> 00:27:36,890 like, man, that is not very fair. 688 00:27:36,890 --> 00:27:40,050 Like, God brings them the ark and they look into it and he kills 689 00:27:40,050 --> 00:27:40,330 them. 690 00:27:40,650 --> 00:27:44,250 But God, for his reasons, it's very clear that no one should be 691 00:27:44,250 --> 00:27:45,930 touching the ark except the Levites. 692 00:27:46,190 --> 00:27:47,350 And they have to do it in the right way. 693 00:27:47,350 --> 00:27:49,510 And no one should be looking into the ark except those that are 694 00:27:49,510 --> 00:27:50,190 called to do so. 695 00:27:50,190 --> 00:27:53,190 So essentially what we see is they're just an open rebellion to 696 00:27:53,190 --> 00:27:53,390 God. 697 00:27:53,390 --> 00:27:54,750 They're just doing what they want to do. 698 00:27:55,150 --> 00:27:58,550 And so it says, because they looked into the ark, even he smote 699 00:27:58,550 --> 00:28:01,110 of the people 50,000 and three score and 10 men. 700 00:28:01,110 --> 00:28:03,830 And the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many 701 00:28:03,830 --> 00:28:05,310 of the people with a great slaughter. 702 00:28:05,470 --> 00:28:07,070 And the men of Beshemesh said, who? 703 00:28:07,390 --> 00:28:09,470 And this is so interesting because they asked this question, 704 00:28:10,350 --> 00:28:13,070 and it's a, it's a real question, but from the wrong heart. 705 00:28:13,970 --> 00:28:15,890 Okay, let me, let me, let me explain what I mean by that. 706 00:28:16,130 --> 00:28:18,850 There are questions that we can write that are the ask that are 707 00:28:18,850 --> 00:28:21,330 the right questions, but with the wrong motivation. 708 00:28:21,410 --> 00:28:22,330 So they asked this question. 709 00:28:22,330 --> 00:28:26,050 It says, who is able to stand before this holy God? 710 00:28:26,770 --> 00:28:28,130 Their, their thing is this. 711 00:28:28,450 --> 00:28:31,370 Well, if we can't look onto his holiness, who can stand before 712 00:28:31,370 --> 00:28:31,650 Him? 713 00:28:31,650 --> 00:28:32,130 Like, what. 714 00:28:32,130 --> 00:28:33,010 What's the point? 715 00:28:33,250 --> 00:28:35,690 You know, how, how can any of us be holy enough for this? 716 00:28:35,690 --> 00:28:36,850 God is what they're asking. 717 00:28:37,010 --> 00:28:39,410 And, and the real question is this. 718 00:28:39,410 --> 00:28:40,730 Who can stand before the Lord? 719 00:28:40,730 --> 00:28:41,570 And none of us can. 720 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,800 None of us in our own merit can stand before the Lord. 721 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,560 But we know the answer to the question is, is that when we turn 722 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,520 to Jesus, when we turn to the one who bore the weight of our sin, 723 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,920 we can stand in the presence of God and his holiness. 724 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,879 And so they asked this question, who can stand before the 725 00:28:57,879 --> 00:28:58,240 Lord? 726 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,280 And I thought about that and their disrespect for God. 727 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,840 Essentially, the men offended the holiness of God. 728 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,600 But now it, when you, when you're faced with the holiness of 729 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,280 God, it really should turn us to one thing. 730 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:15,440 It should turn us to worship. 731 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,040 It should turn us to repentance. 732 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,720 It should turn us to a place of desiring a closer relationship 733 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:20,240 with God. 734 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,480 Instead of how this was for them, they distanced themselves from 735 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:24,880 God. 736 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:27,360 See it here, verse 21. 737 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,200 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jarem 738 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,520 saying, the Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord. 739 00:29:33,770 --> 00:29:35,450 Come ye down and fetch it up too. 740 00:29:36,090 --> 00:29:39,690 So they say we look on the holiness of God improperly. 741 00:29:39,930 --> 00:29:42,050 We, we can't stand before the holiness of God. 742 00:29:42,050 --> 00:29:43,130 He judges our people. 743 00:29:43,530 --> 00:29:44,890 So we need to get rid of this. 744 00:29:45,290 --> 00:29:46,530 That's not the right response. 745 00:29:46,530 --> 00:29:49,290 The right response to the holiness of God should be, I need 746 00:29:49,290 --> 00:29:50,610 a closer relationship with Him. 747 00:29:50,610 --> 00:29:54,010 I need his grace, I need his mercy, I need his forgiveness. 748 00:29:54,330 --> 00:29:57,450 Instead, the people here at B Shemesh just said, we got to get 749 00:29:57,450 --> 00:29:57,930 rid of this. 750 00:29:57,930 --> 00:29:59,170 We've got to separate ourselves. 751 00:29:59,170 --> 00:30:02,110 And so there's really two choices that we can make when the 752 00:30:02,110 --> 00:30:03,830 holiness of God is revealed to us. 753 00:30:03,830 --> 00:30:08,310 And by the way, I think that we should do an in depth study, all 754 00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:11,070 of us as Christians at some point in our life and looking at 755 00:30:11,070 --> 00:30:12,510 the pure holiness of God. 756 00:30:12,590 --> 00:30:14,030 What does the word holy mean? 757 00:30:14,030 --> 00:30:15,750 I think that's a place that we should start. 758 00:30:15,750 --> 00:30:16,350 Holiness. 759 00:30:16,670 --> 00:30:21,350 Yes, it means sinless, but it also means to be separate, to be 760 00:30:21,350 --> 00:30:24,750 distinct, to be different, to be like totally unique. 761 00:30:25,390 --> 00:30:28,470 And though we are called to be holy, as God is called to be holy, 762 00:30:28,470 --> 00:30:30,770 we can never be on the same level of God's holy. 763 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,480 The Bible says be holy, for I am holy, meaning we are called to 764 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,200 be set aside for a specific use as God is holy. 765 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,920 But none of us can be on the same level of God's holiness. 766 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,680 So, so when God calls us to be holy, yes, the desire is for us to 767 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:46,280 be sinless. 768 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,160 But none of us can be sinless because of our lack of complete holiness 769 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:50,920 in our life. 770 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:52,560 But God is completely holy. 771 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:53,320 So what does that mean? 772 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,760 Even in, even if you remember back in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 773 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:58,360 is, is revealed in a vision. 774 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,920 The holiness and the power of God. 775 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,000 And if you remember, what did he say? 776 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,920 He says, holy, holy, holy. 777 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,400 He says, woe is me for him. 778 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,040 I am a man of unclean lips. 779 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,600 He basically recognizes that he needs God's mercy. 780 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,720 He is in comparison to the holiness of God, as the Bible says, 781 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,760 even in our goodness filthy rags, as the book of Isaiah says. 782 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:23,480 So what you're like, what's, what are you trying to make? 783 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,080 What, what point are you trying to make here? 784 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:26,120 I'm trying to make this point. 785 00:31:26,730 --> 00:31:30,290 The, the recognition of God's holiness should bring us only to 786 00:31:30,290 --> 00:31:31,290 one conclusion. 787 00:31:31,370 --> 00:31:36,450 That I am a sinner, that I am broken, that I am in great need of 788 00:31:36,450 --> 00:31:39,930 his mercy and grace, and I can only be saved and only have righteousness 789 00:31:40,090 --> 00:31:43,370 and only have forgiveness through him and his work. 790 00:31:43,610 --> 00:31:46,210 Now, for the Old Testament, that was looking towards the Messiah. 791 00:31:46,210 --> 00:31:49,530 For us, that's looking back to Jesus Christ and looking up to him. 792 00:31:50,490 --> 00:31:53,210 But on the other side of things, a lot of people's response 793 00:31:53,210 --> 00:31:56,050 to God's holiness is when they recognize really, really who God 794 00:31:56,050 --> 00:31:58,690 is, it's almost like a disdain for him. 795 00:31:59,730 --> 00:32:01,570 Like, well, why would God judge me? 796 00:32:01,970 --> 00:32:04,090 And actually Paul deals with that in the book of Romans. 797 00:32:04,090 --> 00:32:07,650 Paul's like, there are some people that say, if God is so holy 798 00:32:07,650 --> 00:32:10,530 and he made me and then I sin, why does he get mad at me? 799 00:32:10,850 --> 00:32:12,530 And, and so that's a good question. 800 00:32:12,609 --> 00:32:15,130 And he ultimately says, it's not God who makes us sin. 801 00:32:15,130 --> 00:32:17,730 It's our own desires, it's our, it's our own flesh. 802 00:32:18,050 --> 00:32:22,170 And so what we can ultimately see is that God cannot look on our 803 00:32:22,170 --> 00:32:25,720 sin as a holy God and leave it unnoticed. 804 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,480 For example, if, if I was, if we were walking out tonight to the 805 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,760 car and there was a, a crime happening in the parking lot, maybe, 806 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,280 maybe there was a guy and he was attacking somebody on the parking 807 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,720 lot, and we all just looked and said, well, not my problem, not 808 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:42,200 my issue. 809 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,800 I think all of us would recognize the wrong in that. 810 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,560 I mean, maybe, maybe I'm not asking all of you to go jump on that 811 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,400 criminal, but you would at least, hopefully someone would call 812 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,520 911 and address that and not just let it go. 813 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,320 And, and, and we understand that principle. 814 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,360 So think about God, the creator of the universe, the One 815 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,760 who created all things perfectly. 816 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,400 And then we mar it and there's all this evil in the world. 817 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:09,920 God has every right and is in complete holiness to judge that evil 818 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,800 as the righteous judge of this world, as a holy, righteous God. 819 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:18,480 And we that are saved are only saved through his mercy and his grace. 820 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:19,240 We don't deserve it. 821 00:33:19,730 --> 00:33:21,410 So, so I say all that to say this. 822 00:33:22,130 --> 00:33:22,490 We. 823 00:33:22,490 --> 00:33:24,930 We need to go back to the word of God. 824 00:33:24,930 --> 00:33:28,370 We need to go back to the truth of his word, to the place of 825 00:33:28,370 --> 00:33:30,850 saying, man, God is totally perfect. 826 00:33:31,410 --> 00:33:33,090 He's called me not to do this. 827 00:33:33,650 --> 00:33:35,050 And the list goes on and on. 828 00:33:35,050 --> 00:33:35,810 And guess what? 829 00:33:35,810 --> 00:33:37,410 I do list goes on and on. 830 00:33:37,890 --> 00:33:40,930 So, so why does God still forgive me? 831 00:33:40,930 --> 00:33:42,530 Because he is completely holy. 832 00:33:42,530 --> 00:33:45,660 But also at the same time, he's completely loving, he's merciful, 833 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:49,940 he's gracious, and so the opposite happens here at the end 834 00:33:49,940 --> 00:33:50,700 of this chapter. 835 00:33:51,420 --> 00:33:54,540 These men see that they offend the holiness of God. 836 00:33:54,540 --> 00:33:57,660 They do the exact thing that God says not for them to do. 837 00:33:58,460 --> 00:33:59,260 They do it. 838 00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:00,540 God judges them. 839 00:34:00,779 --> 00:34:04,180 And then the rest of them go, well, who could even stand before 840 00:34:04,180 --> 00:34:05,180 this righteous God? 841 00:34:05,420 --> 00:34:06,020 You know? 842 00:34:06,020 --> 00:34:08,820 And essentially the idea would be questioning God's holiness. 843 00:34:08,820 --> 00:34:12,830 I mean, if you're questioning why God judges somebody, then you're 844 00:34:12,830 --> 00:34:15,830 questioning the holiness of God, the goodness of God, and that's 845 00:34:15,830 --> 00:34:17,030 not a place that we want to be. 846 00:34:17,190 --> 00:34:21,510 So the end of this would be the negative conclusion that these 847 00:34:21,510 --> 00:34:24,710 people from Beth Shemesh, instead of being revealed to the 848 00:34:24,710 --> 00:34:27,590 judgment and holiness of God, instead of turning to him and wanting 849 00:34:27,590 --> 00:34:31,830 to be in his presence, they turn away and they try to push it 850 00:34:31,830 --> 00:34:32,110 away. 851 00:34:32,110 --> 00:34:37,750 And so the primary idea behind holiness is not just moral purity, 852 00:34:38,300 --> 00:34:41,700 but it's being distinct, being separated, and being separated with 853 00:34:41,700 --> 00:34:42,140 God. 854 00:34:42,940 --> 00:34:43,660 And so when. 855 00:34:43,660 --> 00:34:49,980 When humans encounter the holiness of God in our flesh, we. 856 00:34:50,060 --> 00:34:51,500 We are repulsed by it. 857 00:34:51,900 --> 00:34:55,740 But hopefully in our spirit, we are drawn to the holiness of God. 858 00:34:56,380 --> 00:34:59,980 And so, you know, I think that if. 859 00:34:59,980 --> 00:35:00,460 If you. 860 00:35:00,460 --> 00:35:03,380 If you see indications in Scripture, like obviously we mentioned 861 00:35:03,380 --> 00:35:07,640 Isaiah, we even see in Luke, chapter five, Peter, he. 862 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,360 He recognizes the holiness of God, and he says, depart from me. 863 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:10,600 I'm. 864 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:11,680 I'm a sinful man. 865 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:12,600 And. 866 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,160 And so I think that what we can see in our own lives is that 867 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,760 we have to have a proper response to the holiness of God. 868 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,480 And so the men of Beshamesh showed their heart with the question, 869 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:22,960 who. 870 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:24,240 Who can stand before God? 871 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:26,320 Their question made God seem too harsh. 872 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,240 The question made God basically, like, like. 873 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:32,240 Like we know better than God. 874 00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:33,320 Why did God do this? 875 00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:35,520 And that's sometimes questions that people ask. 876 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:36,120 I. I know. 877 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,720 I know people, and I've even struggled with this question is like, 878 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:40,280 why would God allow this to happen? 879 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,000 Or why would God do this? 880 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:42,360 Or. 881 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:46,519 Or why would God not judge this or whatever it is? 882 00:35:46,519 --> 00:35:48,400 I mean, the list goes on and on with the questions that we have 883 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:48,920 for God. 884 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,560 But what we have to go back to is the fact that I believe that God's 885 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,480 defining attribute, even though he's loving, even though he's 886 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,540 forgiving, even though he's patient, all the things that you 887 00:35:58,540 --> 00:36:01,340 can think of with God, I think his defining attribute is his holiness. 888 00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:03,820 His holiness ties all of his other attributes together. 889 00:36:04,540 --> 00:36:07,580 Because I could say to you, I'm loving, but if I'm not holy, 890 00:36:08,060 --> 00:36:09,420 my love might not be perfect. 891 00:36:10,300 --> 00:36:13,420 So his love is perfect because he's completely holy in every way. 892 00:36:13,420 --> 00:36:17,380 So the men of Beshemesh are asking a good question, but with 893 00:36:17,380 --> 00:36:18,140 the wrong heart. 894 00:36:19,100 --> 00:36:20,620 So I would say to you tonight, who. 895 00:36:20,620 --> 00:36:20,900 Who. 896 00:36:20,900 --> 00:36:21,380 Who could. 897 00:36:21,380 --> 00:36:22,860 Who could stand before God? 898 00:36:23,110 --> 00:36:24,470 Could any of us stand before God? 899 00:36:24,550 --> 00:36:28,870 And the answer is not without a person and work of Jesus Christ, 900 00:36:29,510 --> 00:36:30,990 none of us can stand before God. 901 00:36:30,990 --> 00:36:34,550 If we try to meet God and worship him on our terms, we're always 902 00:36:34,550 --> 00:36:35,190 going to fail. 903 00:36:35,430 --> 00:36:39,630 If we meet God on his terms through his Son, we ultimately are 904 00:36:39,630 --> 00:36:41,350 going to find grace and forgiveness. 905 00:36:41,910 --> 00:36:45,150 And so for the men of Beit Shemesh, the holiness of God was 906 00:36:45,150 --> 00:36:45,590 a problem. 907 00:36:46,710 --> 00:36:49,310 And the way that they were going to try to fix that problem 908 00:36:49,310 --> 00:36:52,870 was not through asking him for forgiveness, but by disting them, 909 00:36:52,870 --> 00:36:54,230 distancing themselves. 910 00:36:54,230 --> 00:36:57,390 And so they said, we're going to give it to the men of Kirjath 911 00:36:57,390 --> 00:36:58,030 Jarem. 912 00:36:58,270 --> 00:37:00,190 And we don't know why they picked this village. 913 00:37:02,030 --> 00:37:03,870 Maybe they just knew some people over there. 914 00:37:04,750 --> 00:37:06,590 Maybe they thought that they could take care of the ark. 915 00:37:06,590 --> 00:37:08,350 Well, or maybe. 916 00:37:08,430 --> 00:37:10,470 Maybe the other side of things, maybe they didn't like them. 917 00:37:10,470 --> 00:37:12,750 And they're like, well, maybe they can deal with that. 918 00:37:12,750 --> 00:37:15,510 I don't know why they sent it there, but it's interesting. 919 00:37:15,510 --> 00:37:19,910 It did stay in that town, that city, late, all the way to Second 920 00:37:19,910 --> 00:37:24,590 Samuel, chapter six, until David eventually brings the ark to 921 00:37:24,590 --> 00:37:25,470 Jerusalem. 922 00:37:25,630 --> 00:37:28,470 And then we know with David, David had the desire to build the 923 00:37:28,470 --> 00:37:28,990 temple. 924 00:37:29,310 --> 00:37:33,070 But if you remember, God said, no, David, not you, your son. 925 00:37:33,870 --> 00:37:35,670 But we'll get into that story later on. 926 00:37:35,670 --> 00:37:37,830 So it's interesting to track the Ark of the Covenant. 927 00:37:37,830 --> 00:37:41,750 So basically, in First Samuel, we've seen it in Shiloh, and we've 928 00:37:41,750 --> 00:37:45,430 seen it now, very, very short amount of time in Bet Shemesh, and 929 00:37:45,430 --> 00:37:48,390 then it goes to Kirjath Jarem. 930 00:37:48,390 --> 00:37:50,350 And then eventually it goes to Jerusalem. 931 00:37:50,650 --> 00:37:53,130 And you might not find that interesting, but I think it is interesting 932 00:37:53,130 --> 00:37:56,530 because we see God's hand of protection upon it until it gets 933 00:37:56,530 --> 00:37:58,970 to the temple there with King Solomon, which. 934 00:37:59,370 --> 00:38:00,850 That's a whole other story for another day. 935 00:38:00,850 --> 00:38:02,330 And if you stick around, we'll get there. 936 00:38:02,650 --> 00:38:04,490 But in that time, we'll. 937 00:38:04,570 --> 00:38:05,810 We'll be covering a lot of. 938 00:38:05,810 --> 00:38:06,970 A lot of stuff here. 939 00:38:08,170 --> 00:38:12,730 So with that being said, you know, we've got some heavy, heavy 940 00:38:12,730 --> 00:38:13,130 stuff. 941 00:38:13,530 --> 00:38:14,570 Anytime you study the. 942 00:38:14,570 --> 00:38:17,640 I've heard people say this, and I understand the sentiment behind 943 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:18,000 it. 944 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,040 Anytime you study the Old Testament, they say, you know, it 945 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,000 seems like there's a different God in the Old Testament, in the 946 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:23,800 New Testament, and. 947 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,520 And I understand the thinking behind that. 948 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:31,080 But what we have to understand is that it's not a different God. 949 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,040 Obviously, he's dealing with people in a different covenant, different 950 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:35,920 time frame. 951 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:37,480 And so there's different dispensations. 952 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:38,320 The Bible says. 953 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,520 And so we're living in a different time frame. 954 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,020 And God still deals with his same character, but he deals with 955 00:38:44,020 --> 00:38:45,500 people various ways. 956 00:38:45,500 --> 00:38:48,460 And what I will say to you is that if you understood, number one, 957 00:38:48,460 --> 00:38:53,820 if you understood the evil of the Old Testament pagans and in, 958 00:38:53,820 --> 00:38:57,500 in Canaan and other places, you would understand why God sometimes 959 00:38:57,500 --> 00:38:59,260 had to judge them in certain ways. 960 00:38:59,900 --> 00:39:03,260 Again, we're not the ones to be the judges today. 961 00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:04,700 The Bible says, vengeance is mine. 962 00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:06,620 I will, I will repay, say the Lord. 963 00:39:06,700 --> 00:39:07,660 So it's our, our. 964 00:39:07,660 --> 00:39:09,300 In our culture today, what do we do? 965 00:39:09,300 --> 00:39:10,420 We turn it over to the Lord. 966 00:39:10,420 --> 00:39:12,630 We, we trust that the Lord's going to make it right. 967 00:39:12,630 --> 00:39:15,990 We're going to trust that God's going to do his work and ultimately 968 00:39:15,990 --> 00:39:17,390 that God's going to make it right one day. 969 00:39:17,390 --> 00:39:21,790 And even the psalmist, even David seemed like, lord, seems like 970 00:39:21,790 --> 00:39:23,710 you're not dealing with the people the way that you should be 971 00:39:23,710 --> 00:39:24,390 dealing with them. 972 00:39:24,630 --> 00:39:27,270 So even David in the Old Testament didn't think God was being 973 00:39:27,270 --> 00:39:27,830 harsh enough. 974 00:39:28,230 --> 00:39:30,910 He was like, God, why are you letting these evil people get away 975 00:39:30,910 --> 00:39:31,350 with things? 976 00:39:31,350 --> 00:39:33,350 And you seem to be judging your people. 977 00:39:33,670 --> 00:39:36,390 And basically God tells them, be patient, I'm God. 978 00:39:36,390 --> 00:39:38,230 You don't have the right to question me. 979 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:40,640 And we even see that in the story of you guys. 980 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:45,080 Remember the story of guy that goes to Nineveh, Jonah, okay, If 981 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:45,760 you remember one. 982 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,840 A lot of people think that Jonah was just so scared, like I 983 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:50,080 always was framed in the question. 984 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,280 Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because he was scared of 985 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:55,480 all the Ninevite people. 986 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:56,480 They were really mean. 987 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,400 Actually, Jonah says, why he didn't go to Nineveh. 988 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,000 He didn't like the people in Nineveh. 989 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,080 And he said, God, you're so gracious. 990 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:05,360 I know you're going to save them. 991 00:40:05,910 --> 00:40:07,870 And I know if I preach this, you're going to save them. 992 00:40:07,870 --> 00:40:08,710 And I don't want that. 993 00:40:08,710 --> 00:40:10,070 He didn't want them to be saved. 994 00:40:10,070 --> 00:40:10,870 He was he. 995 00:40:11,110 --> 00:40:11,950 There was enemies. 996 00:40:11,950 --> 00:40:13,190 And that was tough for him. 997 00:40:13,510 --> 00:40:15,030 God still used Jonah. 998 00:40:15,030 --> 00:40:18,390 Even though he was struggling and was unfaithful, God still forced 999 00:40:18,390 --> 00:40:19,470 him basically to go there. 1000 00:40:19,470 --> 00:40:20,870 And the word of God was presented. 1001 00:40:21,110 --> 00:40:24,510 And so just as much as some might say, well, God isn't a gracious 1002 00:40:24,510 --> 00:40:27,830 God in the Old Testament, I just gave you a few analogies where 1003 00:40:27,830 --> 00:40:30,710 people were accusing God of being too gracious in the Old Testament. 1004 00:40:30,710 --> 00:40:32,910 And so I think that what we have to do is we have to see it from 1005 00:40:32,910 --> 00:40:36,410 the bigger perspective, different time, a different dispensation. 1006 00:40:36,570 --> 00:40:39,530 But ultimately it's the same God with the same grace and the same 1007 00:40:39,530 --> 00:40:40,090 mercy. 1008 00:40:40,410 --> 00:40:42,490 And God deals people. 1009 00:40:43,130 --> 00:40:45,850 God deals with people fairly in every single sense of the word. 1010 00:40:45,930 --> 00:40:48,490 And so I would encourage you to think about that and pray through 1011 00:40:48,490 --> 00:40:48,770 that. 1012 00:40:48,770 --> 00:40:50,489 And that's something that you're wrestling with. 1013 00:40:50,810 --> 00:40:52,050 You know, study through it. 1014 00:40:52,050 --> 00:40:54,530 And I would encourage you to look it up on your own and pray through 1015 00:40:54,530 --> 00:40:54,730 that. 1016 00:40:54,730 --> 00:40:57,050 And I believe God will give you peace and comfort in that. 1017 00:40:58,090 --> 00:41:02,140 Well, with that being said, we'll come back next week and we'll 1018 00:41:02,140 --> 00:41:03,420 see that there. 1019 00:41:03,420 --> 00:41:04,500 There's more to the story. 1020 00:41:04,820 --> 00:41:05,900 The Philistines are. 1021 00:41:05,900 --> 00:41:07,940 They're not going to get rid of the Philistines that easily. 1022 00:41:08,580 --> 00:41:09,380 And then you. 1023 00:41:09,380 --> 00:41:10,660 God gets them through everything. 1024 00:41:11,140 --> 00:41:14,220 And one of the passages of scripture that I struggle with is 1025 00:41:14,220 --> 00:41:16,620 when Israel then comes back and says, okay, God, you've got us 1026 00:41:16,620 --> 00:41:18,580 through all this, but now we want a real king. 1027 00:41:18,820 --> 00:41:20,980 We want a king that like everyone else has. 1028 00:41:21,140 --> 00:41:24,740 And we just see Israel as a picture of those that have been faithful 1029 00:41:25,620 --> 00:41:28,180 some degree, but ultimately God is completely faithful. 1030 00:41:28,180 --> 00:41:30,740 And we're going to talk about that and we're going to see why Saul 1031 00:41:30,740 --> 00:41:31,380 was selected. 1032 00:41:32,050 --> 00:41:34,090 And some of you know the story of Saul and David. 1033 00:41:34,090 --> 00:41:37,410 And I know there's a lot of information about, of all the Bible 1034 00:41:37,410 --> 00:41:41,250 characters, I feel like David probably has some of the most material 1035 00:41:41,250 --> 00:41:44,330 out there, if you will, about people secondarily making shows and 1036 00:41:44,330 --> 00:41:48,570 movies and, and, and books and plays and all that. 1037 00:41:48,570 --> 00:41:51,010 And I'm not saying that those are bad, but what I am saying is 1038 00:41:51,010 --> 00:41:54,890 that make sure when you're getting your biblical content of 1039 00:41:54,890 --> 00:41:56,770 who is what and what they're doing. 1040 00:41:56,770 --> 00:41:57,610 Get it from the word. 1041 00:41:57,610 --> 00:42:00,650 And obviously people have to take artistic liberties in these 1042 00:42:00,650 --> 00:42:02,210 plays when we go there. 1043 00:42:02,210 --> 00:42:04,450 So like when we went to Sight and Sound and it was David up there, 1044 00:42:04,450 --> 00:42:05,370 I'm like, I don't know. 1045 00:42:05,370 --> 00:42:07,090 That didn't happen in the Bible or something like that. 1046 00:42:07,170 --> 00:42:09,650 So again, we have to just be discerning on those things. 1047 00:42:09,650 --> 00:42:13,610 I'm not saying that, but what I am saying is that sometimes what 1048 00:42:13,610 --> 00:42:16,010 we have to be very careful with is people that are well known 1049 00:42:16,010 --> 00:42:16,530 in scripture. 1050 00:42:16,530 --> 00:42:18,050 There's a lot to be said about them. 1051 00:42:18,130 --> 00:42:20,850 And not all that stuff that's said about them in popular culture 1052 00:42:20,850 --> 00:42:21,490 is true. 1053 00:42:21,650 --> 00:42:25,680 So we have to just be really aware of that as we're, as we're 1054 00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:26,760 intaking information. 1055 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,480 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1056 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:32,120 Podcast. 1057 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,680 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1058 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,600 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1059 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,080 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1060 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:43,960 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1061 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:49,640 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro Middletown BaptistChurch.com 1062 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:51,860 if you've enjoyed this podcast podcast. 1063 00:42:52,020 --> 00:42:56,420 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates. 1064 00:42:57,060 --> 00:42:58,020 Thank you so much. 1065 00:42:58,260 --> 00:42:58,980 God Bless. 1066 00:42:59,220 --> 00:43:00,500 Have a wonderful day.