1 Samuel 6
The Ark Returned to Israel
The Ark was in possession of the Philistines for 7 (complete) months and it was decided to send away the Ark, but not without a guilt offering (atonement, reparation, amends perhaps). By this time they have realized the significance of violating a boundary between what is common and what is Holy and the consequences it causes. Following this would be healing and an understanding of why God's hand does not turn away.
The guilt offering would be 5 golden tumors and 5 golden mice. At this point, 5 represents each town or lord of the Philistines. I mentioned that tumors meant diseased. Mice represents 'unclean' and afflicted those in Ashdod, for possibly worshipping Dagon, or perhaps for not listening to God when he placed Dagon facedown before him.
This was the Philistines only hope for God to 'Lighten His hand'.
I think this is all part of internal reasoning, which could have been attempted, but not followed through after Gath was laid waste. A dialog that takes place within us, when collect the facts and make a decision. In this case it is saying, "Why would you continue this as the Egyptians did?".
So they prepared a cart with 2 milk cows that have not been yoked before and send away their calves. I see this as performing an act of faith, removing any possibility for distraction. If it goes up to Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) then it confirms that God performed great harm. This appears to be an act willingness to open some kind of relations. If the message is received, this will all be confirmed. If not, this is coincidence...
So they sent the cart, 2 cows, ark, and guilt offerings away and the message went directly to it's destination and the people who happened to be harvesting wheat (love and charity) rejoiced. It stopped at a great stone (truth) into the field of Joshua (delivered). The wood (good of merit) was then split and the cows (symbol of honesty, without motive, or a kind of act of humility) were burnt offerings to the Lord. The Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron.
Before we move on, it is worth mentioning, once again, that God was rare in these days...
Next 70 (perfect spiritual order carried out with all power) men (reason) of Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) were struck when they attempted to look up on the ark of the Lord (divine presence). People mourned as a result of this great blow. Men (Awareness) of Beth-shemesh questioned who can stand before God and sent messengers (swift of foot) to Kiriath-Jearim - city (consciousness) of thickets (memory).
Bare with me here while I attempt to piece this together... The message was received successfully and accepted, but there appears to be guilt or shame left behind that has been tucked away into memory (thicket), because it is impossible to face (ark) head on. We might come back to this another day.
How this speaks to me...
Letting go of self-will is a slow methodical process. We gather as much as we can, to make sense of things. Once we realize the insanity in it along with the damage, there is a need to turn away from old ways and heal. This surrender has to have merit to it or we are doomed to see it again. Once an honest gesture is made, we find understanding from the recipient, but at times there may be emotions left behind that are impossible to understand. We carry it with us in our memory, in hopes of understanding or healing it when we are better prepared to face them.
The Ark was in possession of the Philistines for 7 (complete) months and it was decided to send away the Ark, but not without a guilt offering (atonement, reparation, amends perhaps). By this time they have realized the significance of violating a boundary between what is common and what is Holy and the consequences it causes. Following this would be healing and an understanding of why God's hand does not turn away.
The guilt offering would be 5 golden tumors and 5 golden mice. At this point, 5 represents each town or lord of the Philistines. I mentioned that tumors meant diseased. Mice represents 'unclean' and afflicted those in Ashdod, for possibly worshipping Dagon, or perhaps for not listening to God when he placed Dagon facedown before him.
This was the Philistines only hope for God to 'Lighten His hand'.
I think this is all part of internal reasoning, which could have been attempted, but not followed through after Gath was laid waste. A dialog that takes place within us, when collect the facts and make a decision. In this case it is saying, "Why would you continue this as the Egyptians did?".
So they prepared a cart with 2 milk cows that have not been yoked before and send away their calves. I see this as performing an act of faith, removing any possibility for distraction. If it goes up to Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) then it confirms that God performed great harm. This appears to be an act willingness to open some kind of relations. If the message is received, this will all be confirmed. If not, this is coincidence...
So they sent the cart, 2 cows, ark, and guilt offerings away and the message went directly to it's destination and the people who happened to be harvesting wheat (love and charity) rejoiced. It stopped at a great stone (truth) into the field of Joshua (delivered). The wood (good of merit) was then split and the cows (symbol of honesty, without motive, or a kind of act of humility) were burnt offerings to the Lord. The Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron.
Before we move on, it is worth mentioning, once again, that God was rare in these days...
Next 70 (perfect spiritual order carried out with all power) men (reason) of Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) were struck when they attempted to look up on the ark of the Lord (divine presence). People mourned as a result of this great blow. Men (Awareness) of Beth-shemesh questioned who can stand before God and sent messengers (swift of foot) to Kiriath-Jearim - city (consciousness) of thickets (memory).
Bare with me here while I attempt to piece this together... The message was received successfully and accepted, but there appears to be guilt or shame left behind that has been tucked away into memory (thicket), because it is impossible to face (ark) head on. We might come back to this another day.
How this speaks to me...
Letting go of self-will is a slow methodical process. We gather as much as we can, to make sense of things. Once we realize the insanity in it along with the damage, there is a need to turn away from old ways and heal. This surrender has to have merit to it or we are doomed to see it again. Once an honest gesture is made, we find understanding from the recipient, but at times there may be emotions left behind that are impossible to understand. We carry it with us in our memory, in hopes of understanding or healing it when we are better prepared to face them.
