Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?
– 1 Samuel 6:1-6
Devotion
The Philistines began to realize that the capture of the Ark of the Covenant was a bad idea and to understand their fault – the one true God would not be subservient to anyone, and this symbol of His power was no one’s trophy! The pagan religious leaders were called to assess the situation and rightly determined that the plagues being faced by the Philistines were due to their desecration of this sacred symbol and the resulting discipline imposed by God.
The severity of the punishment visited on the Philistines also reminded them of God’s punishment of the Egyptians prior to the Israelites’ flight from Egypt. God’s reputation clearly was not to be trifled with and his fame travelled throughout the world. Even more amazing is how this pagan culture realized that they needed to give glory to the God of Israel and atone for their mistreatment of the Ark.
The Big Question
How does realizing that the God we worship is the same powerful God who released the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians and the Philistines through His power change your daily walk with Christ?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.