Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. – 1 Samuel 6:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 20, 2019): 1 Samuel 6

When bubonic plague broke out in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1900, it was the first appearance of the black death in the continental United States. But the immediate response of California Governor, Henry Gage, was to deny that there was a problem. Gage had been instrumental in attempts to open San Francisco’s ports to increased trade from Asia. He reasoned that he needed to keep the image of San Francisco and California clean so that the state could profit by both tourism and trade. At the time, San Francisco was the heart of trade and commerce in the state.

The plague arrived when the ship “Australia” laid anchor at the Port of San Francisco, and the disease quickly took root in the poorer sections of the city. Gage feared that if San Francisco was subject to quarantine, income would be lost and both the city and the state might never recover financially. As a direct result of the governor’s denial, the plague was given the opportunity to establish itself among the city’s animal population.

At the end of 1902, California elected George Pardee as a replacement to Gage as the California Governor. Pardee was a Medical Doctor, and he was able to offer a medical solution to the plague problem in the city, reforming the state’s boards of health and promising to be transparent when it came to cases of the plague. By the end of 1904, the plague had been brought under control. Close to 200 people died as a result of this outbreak of the Black Death, a number that might have been much lower if the existence of the Black Death in San Francisco had not been concealed in the beginning.

We don’t know exactly what happened to the Philistines during the time that the Ark of the Covenant dwelled in their land. But we do know that the bubonic plaque has existed in cycles throughout history and that the symptoms felt in the Philistine cities seem to match the plague, right down to the apparent realization that the tumors that were causing pain and death among the people were connected to the rat infestation that was also bothering the cities. And they had a choice. Their first response was to ignore the problem and deny that it was there. The Ark of the Covenant was a tremendous prize that they did not want to give back. But, eventually, it became clear that they needed to do something.

The “something” was to send the Ark of the Covenant home, along with a gold offering. But it was not just any gold offering. The offering was specific. It came in the shape of the tumors and the rats that had afflicted the people. The offering was a monetary atonement for the sin that the Philistine rulers had committed by taking the Ark in the first place. But it was also a prayer that the God of Israel would lift his hand and that the affliction that he had caused in the Philistine cities would cease. The offering was also a statement of praise and recognition that the God of Israel was really more powerful than even Dagon of the Philistines. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 7