History · Chapter 6 of 31
1 Samuel 6
After seven months of plagues, the Philistines seek to return the ark. Their priests advise sending it back with a guilt offering of golden tumors and mice on a new cart pulled by two cows. The cows head straight to Bethshemesh, confirming the LORD's hand. The Israelites there rejoice and sacrifice, but many are struck down for looking into the ark, and they ask Kirjathjearim to take it.
What happens in 1 Samuel 6
The ark has plagued the Philistines for seven months, so they call their priests and diviners to advise how to send it back. The counsel is not to send it empty but with a trespass offering, five golden tumors and five golden mice matching the five Philistine lords, giving glory to Israel's God. To test whether the LORD truly caused their suffering, they place the ark on a new cart drawn by two milk cows that have never been yoked, with their calves shut up at home.
If the cows go straight toward Bethshemesh, the disaster was from God. The cows go lowing directly to Bethshemesh without turning aside. The reapers there rejoice, break up the cart for wood, and offer the cows as a burnt offering on a great stone. But God strikes down many men of Bethshemesh for looking into the ark, and the awestruck survivors ask who can stand before this holy God.
1 Samuel 6 in context
The ark, a source of terror to the Philistines, is now sent home in a remarkable act by pagans who acknowledge Israel's God. Even the enemies of Israel recognize His hand, echoing the plagues on Egypt, which they explicitly recall. The chapter also underscores the holiness of the ark, for it is not to be treated casually even by Israelites.
Bethshemesh was a priestly town, so the people there should have known to reverence it. This prepares for the ark's long stay at Kirjathjearim.
Main themes of 1 Samuel 6
1 Samuel 6 (KJV)
1And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. 3And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 4Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 6Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? 7Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: 8And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 9And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us. 10And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: 11And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 12And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh. 13And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD. 15And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. 16And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. 17And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; 18And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite. 19And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. 20And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us? 21And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
Verses to carry from 1 Samuel 6
“Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.”1 Samuel 6:5
“And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.”1 Samuel 6:12
“And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?”1 Samuel 6:20
Thematic connection
How 1 Samuel 6 points to Jesus
Two things in this chapter point us toward Christ. First, the Philistines are told not to send the ark back empty but with a trespass offering, a guilt offering to atone for their sin against the holy God. Their crude golden images cannot truly cover guilt, yet they confess the principle that offended holiness must be answered by an offering. Jesus is the perfect trespass offering, the guilt offering foreseen in Isaiah, who bears our sin so we need not perish.
Second, the deaths at Bethshemesh raise the desperate question, who is able to stand before this holy God. Left to ourselves, none of us can. But Christ answers that cry, for through Him we draw near to the holy God with confidence, since He has made peace by His blood.
Questions about 1 Samuel 6
Why did God strike the men of Bethshemesh?
They looked into the ark, treating the holy throne of God with irreverent curiosity, something even Israelites were forbidden to do (1 Samuel 6:19). Their joy at its return did not excuse handling it casually. The judgment underscores that God's presence is genuinely holy and not to be approached on our own terms, a lesson answered fully in Christ, our access to God.
Why did the Philistines send back gold with the ark?
Their priests advised a trespass offering of golden tumors and mice so they would not send it back empty, acknowledging that they had sinned against a holy God (1 Samuel 6:3). Even pagans grasped that offended holiness requires an offering. It is a dim reflection of the truth fulfilled in Christ, the perfect offering for guilt.
Reflection
This chapter holds together God's holiness and His mercy. He is not a casual God to be handled carelessly, yet He is approachable through the offering He Himself provides. Come to Him with reverence, never presumption, and be grateful that in Jesus, the true trespass offering, you can stand before the holy God who once made men tremble.
A prayer from 1 Samuel 6
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