Today’s Scripture Reading (January 15,
2016): 1 Samuel 6
There is an
ancient adage that “pride goes before a fall.” In contemporary understanding
the proverb seems to indicate that if you are too conceited or think of
yourself as being self-important, then be aware that something is on its way
that will make you look very foolish. The proverbs is actually Biblical in its
origin – it is most likely taken from Proverbs 16:18 which says “Pride goes before
destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (NIV) But the phrase is so common in its usage that sometimes we forget
the meaning. When we are proud or self-important, when we think that we have
everything under control; that is the moment that we are not aware of the
things that can upset our plans and destroy what we have built.
A number of years ago, I almost drowned in a boating accident. Well, the
boat I happened to be in was two man canoe. A good friend and I were out on a
very busy lake (our first mistake) in a canoe. We were enjoying our time
together, and we had a routine set up – every time a speed boat would pass us, we
would drive the canoe straight into the oncoming wake from the boat. Our system
was working well, until we missed a boat. I can still remember the waves broadsiding
our canoe and my friend sitting at the front of the boat with an expression
that said “Oops looks like we are going to get wet.” I tried to grab one more
breath of air before I hit the lake (my second mistake), but by the time I hit
took the breath I was already under water. The result of the accident was that
I had bruised lungs that were no longer able to process oxygen, all because we
had become comfortable with the system and had missed something very important.
A cart had carried the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines to Beth
Shemesh. It is thought that the cart was most likely closed, so as it drew
close to farmers harvesting their crops, the first reaction had been to open
the crate and find out what it was that the cart contained. It is hard to
imagine the excitement of the farmers as they opened up the crate only to find
the Ark of the Covenant and the gold sin offerings that had been sent by the
Philistines. And up until this point in the story there was no sin. The problem
came that the cover of the crate was not returned. Instead, the Ark became an
item to be looked at, after all, these people would never see it again. They
may have even worshipped at it. Maybe they dreamed of the attraction that the
Ark could become for the town of Beth Shemesh. But the reality was that the
people of Beth Shemesh treated the Ark more as a tourist attraction than the
seat of God. They felt that they were important, because God had brought the
Ark to them, rather than realizing that they were nothing more than a stopping
point for the Ark as it made its way back to the tabernacle (a trip that the
Ark would not complete until during the reign of King David.)
And in this, they treated the Ark of the Covenant with less respect than
even the Philistines – at least they had placed the Ark in the temple of their
god. It is important to note that the number of dead here carries with it a bit
of a controversy. The original number in many manuscripts is 50,070. The problems
is that Beth Shemesh at the time was a small village and it wouldn’t have
contained that many people, even if the count included the people in the
village and in the surrounding area. So the translators of the NIV have stuck
with the number 70 as a correction. But the reality is that we really don’t
know the number of the dead that resulted because of the mistreatment of the
Ark.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1
Samuel 7
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