The Useful Warnings of Moses 5

 

Moses 5 is not a terribly happy chapter. Cain and Abel are born, Cain rebels and becomes Perdition, murder and wickedness spread, and the gospel is preached.

 

I want to point out that one useful thing about this chapter, however, is that it describes some behaviors and reactions that are psychopathic and sociopathic.

 

1)    Rejection of authority. “Cain hearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him?” (Moses 5:16)  The only other people in scripture who say “Who is the Lord?” in this dismissive way are Pharaoh in Egypt who is forced to let Israel go out of slavery, and King Noah in the Book of Mormon. The rejection of authority sets the stage for rebellion.

2)    Disregard of rules, commandments, boundaries. Cain knew that the required offering was supposed to be a sheep, but he chose to offer the fruit of the ground instead. (Moses 5:18-29)

3)    Emotional dysregulation. “But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect….And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Moses 5:21)  Cain’s anger at his incorrect offering not receiving divine acceptance is out of all proportion to what happened.

4)    Rejection of correction. In Moses 5:22-26, the Lord goes to the trouble of counseling Cain that if he does good he will be accepted and warns him what will happen if he persists. Here is Cain’s reaction: “Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel, his brother” (Moses 5:26)

5)    Pathological lying. The Lord warns Cain, “For from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies” (Moses 5:24).

6)    Power-hunger, grandiosity, and excessive pride. “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.” (Moses 5:31)  He thinks he is more powerful than anyone else. He also boasts in what he’s doing, even though it is pretty awful. And not only is he boasting about it, we see he is also lying to himself.

7)    Brutality. “Cain talked with Abel, his brother. And it came to pass that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him.” (Moses 5:32)

8)    Callousness and lack of remorse. “And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said: I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Moses 5:34).  This is as if people are asking Cain where his Abel is because Abel has disappeared, and not only does Cain lie about not knowing, but he doesn’t care.

9)    Manipulatively trying to make a play on others pity after horrible behavior. “And the Lord said… now thou shalt be cursed from the earth… And Cain said unto the Lord: Satan tempted me because of my brother’s flocks. And I was wroth also; for his offering thou didst accept and not mine; my punishment is greater than I can bear.”  (Moses 5:35,36,38) Notice that he’s trying to provoke pity even when he himself showed no pity. He’s trying to manipulate his way out of the consequences of his actions.

 

These characteristics are all part of “Cluster B”  personality disorder traits of psychopathy and sociopathy.  It almost as if the Lord wanted us to notice these characteristics as a pattern of behavior and 1) beware that we do not fall into them, and 2) beware of those we meet who exhibit these traits.

 

Instead cultivate:

1)    Respect for authority

2)    Regard for the commandments and boundaries

3)    Healthy emotional regulation

4)    Ability to accept correction

5)    Love for the truth

6)    Humility and a sense of equality

7)    Tenderness and gentleness

8)    Consideration for others and remorse for wrong-doing or offenses

9)    Ability to take responsibility for our actions

 

Another happier lesson we see from this chapter is that the Lord was still reaching out to Cain to try to help him, by trying to correct him after a wrong offering and trying to bring him to a sense of accountability for his actions after the murder of Abel with the question, “What hast thou done?” He’s also trying to show Cain he’d been lied to with Satan’s promise that no one would know what he’d done. He was still trying to reclaim Cain, even after Cain’s heinous act.

We see just how long-suffering and patient the Lord is, and we can trust that if he reached out to Cain, He will surely reach out to us.

Interesting Context and additional lessons clustered around “That hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man”

1 Cor. 10:13 is that famous scripture, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

This time when reading through, I thought it would be interesting to look at the context around the scripture and see how Paul gets to that fabulous pronouncement.

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10:1-13)

I noticed that Paul uses the story of the children of Israel in the wilderness with Moses and points out a number of lessons based on the story of the Israelites’ blessings and temptations.  They were all blessed the same way, but a number of them were overthrown in the wilderness because various temptations were too much for them.

I thought to highlight the kinds of challenges that Paul lists.

• Listing after evil things
• Idolatry/idleness
• Committing fornication
• Tempting Christ
• Murmuring

I thought about those challenges and temptations and I realized that in the past I had made an incorrect assumption about the Israelites. I had assumed that ALL OF THEM were affected by ALL of those temptations.  I’d always thought they were ALL lacking in any kind of spiritual strength whatsoever and that as soon as they had been taught a lesson in one area they immediately backslid in another and had to have the lesson all over again.

I realized instead that it was different segments of the Israelites that had these different troubles. Some had troubles with lusting after evil things, others had troubles with idolatry, others had troubles with fornication and yet another segment had troubles with tempting Christ and others had troubles with murmuring. 

Once I realized that, it made perfect sense that Paul would write, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”   Because if one type of temptation isn’t getting to you, you might be in danger of falling to the next one.

This particular principle is very powerful and we can still see it playing out today in the church. Anytime the prophet makes a statement on something and some segment of the church balks, you can’t get cocky and scornful of them because the very next announcement might give you problems.  Just as an example, some people have troubles with President Nelson’s instructions to use the full name of the church and not call ourselves “Mormons.”  I hear some people retorting, “Just get with the program and follow the prophet!”  More recently, the clarifications on the Word of Wisdom have created some problems for people, and then another more recent change in the Handbook about handguns being prohibited in church have caused another segment of members to rebel.

You see?  It still happens today.

But the fact that it was a segment of the Israelite population that had troubles with those various temptations shows that the temptation are indeed common to man.  Thus, when we discover we’ve gotten hit, we don’t have to feel like we’re alone.  And God can help us resist and escape the temptation if we will pray for help.  (It takes a lot of maturity to realize you can pray for help to resist.)

Paul also points out that the experiences the Israelites went through were written so that everyone could know the specific kinds of behaviors that displease the Lord so that we don’t fall into them ourselves—or if we discover we’re falling into them, we can realize it and repent quickly.

As you can see, Paul actually extracts about three lessons from those stories, which is pretty awesome. We just gravitate the most strongly to verse 13 about how every temptation is a common one and God can help us escape them.

Cunning Plans of the Devil

And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. (Alma 28:13)

What are the cunning plans of the devil? Can we see them at work in our lies? Do we see the attempts to flatter or stir up to anger or other strong emotion? Do we notice the attempts to bind down with apathy or discouragement or hopelessness?

Ensnaring hearts makes me think of feelings that are easy to get into, but which are hard to get out of.

I decided I needed more insight on this, so I decided to look at “snare” in the Topical Guide.

The children of Israel were commanded, “if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” (Ex. 23:33) Since that service to the other gods involved ritual prostitution, that was definitely true. Getting into that sin would be hard to get out of.

Gideon, after his military success, made an ephod and all Israel went whoring after it, and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house (see Judges 8:27). Material goods can be a snare when everybody loves it but us. If we want to get rid of it because it is having a bad influence and nobody will let us, or we don’t see what’s so great about it.

Saul gave his daughter Michal to David to wife, calculating that she would be a snare to him (see 1 Samuel 18:21) possibly because of her idolatry (see 1 Sam. 19:13). When spouses aren’t equally yoked, the less faithful one can pull down the more faithful one. The same can be said of friends as well.

David curses the wicked in Psalm 69:22, “Let their table become a snare before them; and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.” How might a table be a snare? I think it means what is on the table, not the table itself. In his day, food might have been a snare if people began breaking the Law of Moses concerning clean and unclean foods. It would lead them into thinking they could break other laws as well.  A table can also be a snare to people who have a hard time knowing when to stop eating.

Our mouth can snare us. “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” (Proverbs 18:7) People are affected by their own words, and we can get stuck in patterns of speech that aren’t very kind or healthy. We can get stuck in patterns of criticism or gossip.

Proverbs 22:24-25 warns against making friends with an angry man lest we learn his ways and become ensnared in them. So anger becomes a snare too. I think we can see today how people can get pulled a habit of anger.

Proverbs 29:8 says scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise men turn away wrath. Scorn causes people to do all kinds of things to avoid being derided, even if it is wrong. It can affect entire communities.

Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Worrying about what others will think can become a pernicious trap that keeps us timid and powerless.

Jeremiah 50:24 warns Babylon that a snare is laid for them and they are trapped because they fight against the Lord. Rebellion becomes a snare.

In Luke 21:34-35, Jesus warns that in the last days drunkenness, excess, and cares of this life would become a snare to the world before the second coming. So pleasures can be a snare as well. (It would certainly be a cunning plan of the devil to make fun into a snare that traps people.)

1 Timothy 6:9 says that they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. So greed and avarice can be an instrument of entrapment by the devil. The law of sacrifice is one of the Lord’s methods for getting His people loose from that kind of trap.

Alma the elder told the people in Mosiah 23:9 that he was caught in a snare with the iniquity of King Noah and the priests. He got loose by accepting the truth Abinadi taught, by standing up for Abinadi (which caused a break between Alma and the others), and by repenting.

Is there anything that is spiritually trapping you these days? Humility and repentance is the key to get out.

Various scriptures about “inasmuch”

I ran across a verse that had “inasmuch” in it, and it seemed to me that it expressed proportionality—the bigger one thing is, the bigger another thing is.  So I decided to search for scriptures to see how often I could find this and what I could learn from it.

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt. 25:40)

To the extent we are charitable to the least of humanity, we are charitable to Christ.

…inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. (Phillippians 1:7)

This one is a little tricky to follow, but I think it is staying Paul seems to have noticed that to the extent he was confined but continued to defend and confirm the gospel, he was given grace from God to strengthen others.  That gives some encouragement about our effectiveness for when we feel like we’re hampered by persecution, doesn’t it?

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:13)

So to the extent that we suffer as Christ did, we will be joyful when His glory is revealed. That gives a good reason to be valiant, doesn’t it?

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands. (1 Nephi 2:20)

So to the extent we keep the commandments, we will prosper. This theme is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon. (1 Nephi 4:14; 2 Ne. 1:9; 2 Ne. 1:20; 2 Ne. 4:4; Jarom 1:9; Alma 9:13; Alma 36:1; Alma 38: 1; Alma 50:20)

And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren. (1 Nephi 2:22)

This was definitely true of Nephi, and it may very well be true in general—to the extent one keeps the commandments, one is made a ruler and a teacher.

And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. (1 Ne. 17:13)

Maybe we are not seeking out a promised land like Nephi, but it is still true that to the extent that we keep the Lord’s commandments we will be led and we will know we are led by God.

And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. (1 Nephi 2: 21)

To the extent that we rebel, we are cut off from the Lord’s presence.  Pretty simple.

And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction. (2 Ne 5:25)

So to the extent that we don’t remember God, we will be scourged to destruction. The use of “scourge” here is interesting. A scourge is a whip. It’s not meant to be an execution device, but if it keeps hitting and doesn’t stop, then it becomes one. This scourge is stopped by remembering God and listening to His words. (Oh, look!  Remembering God is part of what we promise to do in the sacrament!)

And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper. (Helaman 4:15, see also Ether 11:8)

So to the extent that we repent, we prosper.

I’m going to end this post with a triple-packed scripture of inasmuches. 

25 And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known;

26 And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed;

27 And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent; (D&C 1:25-28)

This tells me I should expect exposure and chastening to the same extent that I err and sin.  There’s fairness in that.  The Lord doesn’t work like the world and overdo it on the chastening. And I love that the Lord tells us that we can be instructed to the extent we seek wisdom.  Doesn’t that just make you want to learn all you can and pray hard for wisdom?

Folly Made Manifest

I ran across some scriptures about how folly would be made manifest, and that intrigued me, so I did a search to see what else I could find with that language and what I could learn about it.

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (2 Tim. 3:8-9)

So the folly of rebellion is something that will be made manifest to all around the person who rebels. That’s usually the opposite of what the rebelling person wants; they want to be respected and be a leader, but they get the opposite.

And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, for their folly and their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all people. (D&C 35:7)

This tells us we should not be surprised that people know the faults of society or the evils of apostate religion. The folly and abominations will be obvious.

14 There were among you adulterers and adulteresses; some of whom have turned away from you, and others remain with you that hereafter shall be revealed.

15 Let such beware and repent speedily, lest judgment shall come upon them as a snare, and their folly shall be made manifest, and their works shall follow them in the eyes of the people.

16 And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear. (D&C 63:14-16)

Adultery is another sin, the folly of which shall be manifest to all. I get the sense that it is the kind of thing that the person committing it is so given over to it that they are completely blind to the awfulness and wrongness of it, while everyone else shakes their head, wondering how the person could be so foolish.

And if any man shall seek to build up himself, and seeketh not my counsel, he shall have no power, and his folly shall be made manifest. (D&C 136:19)

Selfishness and attempts to self-aggrandize are other faults that are made obvious to othrs, and it especially would be in this context of the Saints moving west, when resources were scare and the Saints needed to help each other.

To sum up, it seems rebellion, abominations, adultery, and self-aggrandizement are sins that the person committing them will be blind to the folly of it, while to everyone else the folly is obvious.

Why do the heathen rage?

1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.  (Psalm 2:1-3)

One of the things I learn from these verses is that it is not a new thing for peoples and even rulers of the earth to get impatient with God’s commandments and think of them as restraining bonds that hold them captive.  It is not a new thing for them to plot how to free themselves from the rules and principles and commandments of God so they can do whatever they want.   This has been happening all throughout world history. 

Whoever wrote this Psalm knew the heathen were (would be) offended and rage against the commandments of God and Christ which opposes the carnality of man. 

They think they can easily cast away these cords, but it is not so easy as that.  Commandments and principles are linked together, so rejecting one requires eventually rejecting all the others too.   And soon they are blundering around in uncertainty and darkness, acting so strangely that they seem almost drunk.

Who are the heathen?  Resorting to the dictionary…. :

Heathen: a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (esp. one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim) as regarded by those who do

Also, “a follower of a polytheistic religion; a pagan.”

Also, “(the heathen) heathen people collectively, esp. (in biblical use) those who did not worship the God of Israel.” (emphasis added)

Also, informally, “an unenlightened person; a person regarded as lacking culture or moral principles.”

The problem with resisting the rule of Christ is that the alternative is to have one’s lusts and sins rule one.  That’s how Satan establishes his rule.  And he is really out to enslave, unlike Christ, who wants to purify and exalt humankind.   

What’s neat is that the psalm also states what the Lord will do about this state of things when the heathen refuse His authority.

 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2: 4-12)

You can detect stages of the Lord’s attempt to reach the heathen.

--He allows them to be laughed at and derided to see if they will respond to shame. (v4)

--He speaks to them in His wrath. (v5) (Notice, He’s still speaking to them. This is the second warning.)

--He vexes them in his sore displeasure.  (v5)(He gives them trials and tribulations, hoping it will stir them up to remember the Lord and repent.)

--But when they will not hear, he will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces. (v9)

This is a predictable pattern. It will happen. It’s as sure as sure.

Ultimately, the psalmist urges the heathen judges and kings and peoples to do the smart thing so they don’t have to go through the pain of chastisement and destruction.  He advises them to submit to the Son (v12) and serve Him (v11).

I couldn’t resist adding here the song “Let us break their bonds asunder” from Handel’s Messiah.

It is fascinating to me how Handel rendered the text into music in his oratorio. It is as if the singers are trying to break out of the confines of the melody and the timing set for them, starting in random places and random times.  You can also hear their anxiousness to get rid of it all in the strenuous emphasis of their words.  

But there is also a lesson to be learned about the consequences of rebellion.  Even though the singers seem to be trying to break the rules of the song, they end up acting in a different pattern, one that is predictable.  Likewise, those who break the commandments may think they are setting their own course and deciding their own fate, but they are merely acting according to a different pattern, one with predictable consequences and which will end with them acting more and more foolishly and getting stuck in misery and sorrow.

Pride makes us like a decayed linen girdle

I was reading recently in Jeremiah and I ran across this interesting experience/experiment that the Lord gave to Jeremiah as an object lesson for his preaching.

1 Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.

2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.

3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying,

4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.

7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9 Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. (Jeremiah 13:1-11)

Basically the Lord told Jeremiah to get a linen girdle (or belt) and wear it and take care of it carefully.  Then, after some time, the Lord told Jeremiah to take the linen girdle, go to the Euphrates river and hide it in a hole somewhere. Jeremiah obeyed and buried it.  Then after more time had passed, the Lord told him to go back and retrieve the linen girdle again.  So he does.  And he finds the girdle is ruined and can’t be used anymore.

(Linen is a cloth made out of flax fibers, so if it is buried in a wet environment among lots of soil microbes and bacteria, it will begin to decompose like any other plant matter.)

The Lord tells Jeremiah that the pride of his people is going to be ruined just like the girdle was ruined.  He also says that just like Jeremiah had that girdle tied on him, the Lord had tied the house of Israel to him, but they chose to forsake him, so they will be ruined.

I think this experiment is a great lesson about the results of pride and rebellion.  When we’re humble, and follow the Lord, we’re attached to him just like a belt.  We’re not fancy ourselves, but we make the Lord look good.

But as soon as we stop listening and following, imagining that we are all that and a bag of chips, thinking we can worship other gods (or let our priorities get messed up), it is as if we untie ourselves, drop off, and bury ourselves in a muddy pit, and we begin to decay.

This resonated with me recently because I’ve noticed pride and vain imaginations in myself that have kept me from listening as I should.  It is very helpful for me to see that pride and rebellion make me decay and make me good for nothing.  I don’t want to be like that.  My vain imaginations don’t do me any good because they don’t tell me what good thing I must do next; they only tell me I’m fine how I am and that gets in the way of me changing for the better.   

The Israelites' Deeper Problem with Wanting a King

When the Israelites come to Samuel asking for a king and a displeased Samuel prays for direction, the Lord says some interesting things that indicate Israel has a deeper problem.

7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. (1 Samuel 8:7-8)

If you remember, the people used as a cover the excuse that Samuel’s sons were perverting judgment, but Samuel had not stepped down as judge and he could deal with his sons, and in that respect the current system was not faulty enough to require a change. 

Rather, this was a case where the system was working well and the people didn’t like it because it was working.  They had to really watch their Ps and Qs and it was strenuous.  Living the Law of Moses carefully made them more conscious of their fallen nature and need for a Redeemer and they didn’t like that.

I like that the Lord shows Samuel that it is not Samuel that was rejected, but the Lord Himself.  Again, Samuel was the judge, but he wasn’t laying down his own law; he was following God’s law in the Law of Moses, and if they didn’t like that, then they didn’t like God’s law and they didn’t like having God rule over them.

Also, the Lord shows Samuel that this rejection was nothing new, but it was of a piece with all the rebellions the Israelites had done against God ever since they had been brought out of Egypt—the times they had murmured over food, the times some parties aspired to the higher priesthood and leadership, the time they had refused to go up to conquer the land and then when told not to go up, they decided to go up anyway, the time they had made a golden calf instead of waiting for Moses, and all the times they had forsaken God and worshipped Baal.   Their problem is sin, and changing government systems is not going to address that.  What they need is a national call to repentance (and they get it in 1 Samuel 12).

One of the things this teaches me is that things are no different today and I am no better.  I tend to wander and I have to repent.  If I don’t listen to the counsel of my church leaders, I’m just like those people who wanted a king.  Trying to avoid keeping commandments is outright rejection of God as ruler over me.  If I don’t follow God, I’m following something else and making that thing or person my god.

Yes, following the Lord requires discipleship and sacrifice day after day.  It’s a struggle.  Seeking to subdue the sin that dwells in the flesh is a struggle.  But it is cool to me that effort doesn’t just show my allegiance to the Lord but it also is meant to help me become like Him in grace-filled increments.

It's also a good message for around election time.  New leaders aren't going to help if the same old nation-wide sins continue.  Only nation-wide repentance will bring real change.

There’s something else I notice in what the Lord says to Samuel.  I notice that the Lord is willing to take from Samuel that feeling of being rejected and take it upon Himself.  Feeling rejected is not pleasant.  It hurts.  It touches me that this story has a type of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and sufferings here, even to cover the hurt of rejection.  That means that anytime we are in a leadership position and our righteous direction is ignored or our counsel is rejected, we can turn to the Lord for comfort.

The Ark of the Covenant in Exile: 1 Samuel 5-6

1 Samuel 5-6 tell what happened to the ark, or rather how the ark happened to the Philistines who captured it, and how it came back to the Israelites.

If you remember, the background is that the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and killed Eli’s two sons, which caused great distress among Israel and led to the further deaths of Eli and his daughter-in-law.

So now what happens?

Jehovah Versus Dagon in a Knock-down Fight

1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.

2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3 ¶And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. (1 Samuel 5:1-5)

The first thing the Lord does is knock over the statue of Dagon before the ark.  By prostrating the idol, the Lord hoped to communicate a mild message – “Your god falls/bows before me and thus you should too.”  The Philistines just stood their god’s statue back up.

What did the Philistines think when they found Dagon had fallen down?  They probably thought some Israelites had snuck in during the night and pushed over the idol just to cause mischief.  The supernatural explanation that God or an angel had pushed over the idol does not seem to occur to them, or if it did, it was quickly squelched as unthinkable.  So they go with the natural explanation. 

The funny thing is, both explanations invalidate the power of their idol.  If it was Israel’s God or an angel, then Dagon didn’t have power to save itself, and if it was a mortal that pushed Dagon over, Dagon still didn’t have power to save himself from being tipped over OR to right himself back where he should be.  (This is in contrast with Jehovah, who does have that power.  We can see in the whole account of 1 Samuel 5-6 that God ultimately does have power to take the ark of the covenant back to Israel where it should be, even to the point of using transportation arranged by His enemies.  Pretty impressive, huh?  But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.)

Next the Lord does something a little more pointed.  He knocks Dagon down again, this time in such a way as to break off Dagon’s head and hands.  What is the message here?  “Not only does your god fall before me, your god is powerless and dead, just as he has no hands or head.  You are worshipping the wrong god.”   I read somewhere that in ancient cultures that conquering nations would break off the heads and hands of statues of gods in the nations they conquered, so there is dramatic irony in the Lord breaking hands and head off Dagon in Dagon’s own temple.

I think the fact that Dagon falls twice is meant to show this wasn’t an accident.  It’s supposed to be two witnessing events.

How do the Philistines respond to this?   They totally ignore that big picture message and focus instead on the fact that Dagon’s head and hands fell on the temple’s threshold, and they start treating the threshold as if it is sacred by starting a tradition of not stepping on it!   (1 Sam. 5:4-5)  This seems really bizarre, but it may be they thought Dagon’s second fall meant Dagon wanted to break, and if so, then the place he fell was special for some reason.

We can see the Philistines were persistent in their beliefs.  They were not going to let themselves be swayed by signs that seemed to favor another God over their own, especially since they believed they had captured the Israelite God in battle.  Further, they wouldn’t allow themselves to be fooled by what they might have considered cheap tricks masquerading as signs.  They probably reasoned that if it could be done by human hands, then it probably was.

It might be helpful to consider if there was any better way the Lord could have communicated with the Philistines the mistake they were making worshipping Dagon instead of God.  The signs of having Dagon fall and having his head and hands cut off was simple and clear, but can we think of any better way?  Just for grins, I thought up some options.

·      What if the roof had fallen in on Dagon but not the ark?  It might be hard to see with the roof fallen in.

·      What if Dagon had just been broken into tiny pieces with the ark?  That might just look like Dagon had left, and it wouldn’t do the job of showing he had no power.

·      What if Dagon had been broken into larger pieces?  That still doesn’t give anything better than the simplicity of Dagon losing his head and hands.

·      What if Dagon had fallen by itself with the ark not there?  That wouldn’t communicate anything about the God of Israel having power over Dagon.  The presence of the ark and Dagon falling before it communicated God’s power had the ascendency, even though the Philistines thought Dagon had won the battle at the beginning.

I think those two signs were adequate for their purpose and couldn’t be improved upon.

But the Philistines didn’t listen, so now what?

The Plagues Begin

6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

10 ¶Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. (1 Samuel 5:6-12)

Next the Lord sends plagues on the Philistines of emerods. The footnote says emerods could be hemorrhoids.   Also, according, to 1 Samuel 6:4-5, we might assume that mice were involved as well.  Some believe the mention of mice suggests that an outbreak of bubonic plague was included.

You’d think the Philistines would be wise enough to say, “Because the God of Israel’s hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god, and Dagon has not saved us, we must worship the God of Israel instead, for He has power over us as well as in His own land.”  But they don’t.  Instead they say, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.” (2 Sam 5:7)  (Does anyone else think it strange that they want to keep a worthless god and get rid of a powerful God?)

So they send the ark to Gath instead.  And the same plagues happen in Gath too.  And they try to send the ark to Ekron.

The plagues of emerods and mice were difficult to ignore, as disease, death of one’s loved ones, and destruction of crops usually is.  They seem to observe the plagues began in cities where the ark was, and this led them to conclude that the ark of the God of Israel was responsible.  Thus, Ekron, out of self-preservation starts to connect the dots and protest to save themselves from having to take in the ark.

Now, with our modern understanding of disease theory, we might wonder if the ark was a vector of disease and had some kind of germ on it that was spread by contact.  However, I think the mention of mice involvement in the plague suggests that mice were the vector, with their fleas that would bite humans and spread whatever nasty bug they had.   The Lord could bring plagues at will, as He did in Egypt when Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.

Another thing I notice is that 1 Sam 6:4, 17 mentions that the trespass offering to appease God would be five golden emerods and five golden mice, one for each Philistine town and lord because “one plague was on you all, and on your lords” (1 Sam. 6:4).  This suggests that the plagues spread beyond the presence of the ark into all the other Philistine cities as well.  The text doesn’t put emphasis on this, and it is worth thinking about why that is.

I think the text wants us to have in our head the image that where the ark comes, the Philistines are plagued and die.  It’s an image that communicates if you come into the presence of God, you will die.  This suggests that we are to learn the principle that to have God come when we are not prepared to receive Him would be a curse to us, not a blessing.  It’s a statement not just about physical death, but spiritual death and being cast out of God’s presence, which leads us to better understand the need to be redeemed and purified.

What to do?

1 And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

2 And 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.

3 And 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.

4 Then 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.

5 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.

6 Wherefore 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? (1 Samuel 6:1-6)

It is at this stage the Philistines decided to get rid of the ark, but they want to do it in such a way as to appease the Lord so the plagues will end.  So there is some discussion about how to do this.

Do they consider talking to the Israelites and asking about the Law of Moses and the rules for trespass offerings?  No.  They consult their diviners. 

There’s a nice little lesson here.  If you want to know how to repent, do you ask those who know about God—apostles and prophets and church leaders--or do you go to leaders of other religions?

The diviners really don’t know what’s going on either.  They say, “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.” (1 Sam. 6:3)  If you notice, they promise healing, but in case that doesn’t happen, they promise the people will know why they haven’t been healed.  They aren’t committing to a prediction because they are afraid they’ll be wrong, so they’re hedging their bets.

The diviners give directions according to the Philistine idol theology.  The trespass offering must be images of their plagues made out of gold.  To their mind, the emerods and mice have power, so that makes them gods, so they should make idol images and send them with the ark, thinking that the God of Israel will command those plaguey mini-gods to leave them alone.

The one useful thing the diviners say is this:

Wherefore 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? (1 Samuel 6:6)

The diviners remind the Philistines of the events of Exodus when the God of Israel plagued the Egyptians to get them to let the Israelites go.  The diviners and the people knew the stories, so they weren’t completely ignorant. 

I think the Lord knew the Philistines knew the story of Exodus, and used that to craft the message to the Philistines.   Just as the Egyptian magicians eventually had to acknowledge their powers (and the powers of the Egyptian gods) were inadequate in comparison to Jehovah, the destruction of the idol god Dagon demonstrated the same thing.   And just as the refusal to acknowledge the God of Israel led to plagues in Egypt, the refusal to acknowledge the God of Israel led to plagues in Philistine territory.

The Philistines were plagued far less than the Egyptians, and they could easily liken the Egyptian’s situation to themselves, which led to a determination of what they should do.  They probably used this reasoning-- “The Egyptians were plagued by Israel’s God for not letting Israel go.  We are plagued and Israel’s God’s ark is here.  We should let something go, but we don’t have Israelites here, just the ark.  Therefore, we should let the ark go.”  

However, they were still in doubt as to whether the God of Israel was really behind the plagues, because unlike in Exodus when Moses warned of the plagues beforehand, these plagues have no prophetic introduction that they can discern.  They just hit.  So the Philistines suspect the truth, but they are in doubt about it.  (They ignored the Dagon idol destruction, remember, and they were reluctant to accept the implications the story of Exodus had for their situation.  The diviners were right to ask them why they were hardening their hearts.)

Because they were still in doubt, the diviners recommend a test. 

7 Now 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:

8 And 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.

9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, 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.

10 ¶And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:

11 And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.

12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, 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 Beth-shemesh.

13 And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, 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….

16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. (1 Sam. 6:7-14, 16)

The test was a rather ingenious one because it would fulfill two functions for the Philistines.  1) It was a way to wash their hands of the ark.  2) It could become a sign about whether the God of Israel really was behind the plagues they had suffered. 

Their test was simple—require the God of Israel to drive the cart holding the His ark in a specific way to a specific place.  And they make it as hard as possible for it to happen naturally.  It can’t be a coincidence.  It has to have divine intervention to get there.

Let’s see how they construct this test.

1. They put the ark on a new cart.  This could be to show honor to the God of Israel, but it is also an unproven piece of equipment.

2. They yoke two milch cows to the cart.  Milch cows are milk cows and they are not draft animals, so they aren’t trained to pull things.  They probably wouldn’t know how to respond to a yoke and they’d probably have a hard time working together.

3.  They take the calves away from the milk cows.  The cows aren’t going to want to leave their calves.  They’d also probably have discomfort if the milk pressure in their udder isn’t relieved when it should.

4.  The cows and the cart were to be let loose to see where it would go.  No one was to drive it.  It could theoretically go anywhere. 

5.  The Philistines declare that if the cows took the cart straight to Beth-shemesh in Israel, then they would know that Israel’s God was behind the plagues they had suffered.  If it went anywhere else, then they’d figure the plague was just by chance.

Well, the impossible happens; the Lord takes the ark straight back to Israel on the highway to the very town the Philistines named, so in all respects the impossible sign was fulfilled.  Five Philistine lords follow it the whole time, so there are five witnesses that the cart goes straight to Israel.  

Does this have any effect on the Philistines?  Not that we can tell from the text.

The fallen Dagon idol, the plagues of emerods and mice, the unmanned cow cart going straight to Israel could have led to conversion, but it didn’t.  The Philistines tried to resist for as long as possible the thought that Israel’s God was responsible for what was happening, and even when they were trying to figure out how to appease Israel’s God and stop the plague, they were still resisting God.   They would not submit.  Perhaps they saw submission as too costly to them personally and to their culture.  We see here that all the signs in the world can’t convince people who are determined to resist the Lord. 

The Philistines illustrate that the Lord can only do a limited amount with people who refuse to listen to Him. 

1)    He can warn them, to demonstrate His justice and mercy, whether or not they listen.

2)    He can wait, hoping they will repent.

3)    He can use them as instruments of wrath to chastise other wicked people with war.

4)    When something specific needs doing, He can plague them.

5)    He can take them from the earth.

But there’s a cool thing here too. What happened among the Philistines shows me that the Lord doesn’t just want to reveal Himself to Israel; He wants to reveal Himself to the world.  It is human stubbornness, pride, and incorrect traditions that prevent men from seeing the true meaning of the miracles and signs the Lord does. 

Looking at this story in another way, in the capture of the ark by the Philistines and its journey back to Israel, we see a type of Jesus Christ, who allowed himself to be put to death and then raised Himself from the dead, with none to help Him.  “O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hosea 13:14).

Now, where do you suppose the Lord would take the ark when He’s taking it back to Israel?  Where is the best place in Beth-shemesh to leave it?  He takes it into a field belonging to a man named Joshua.  We don’t know much about Joshua and why he was chosen for this privilege, but note his name means “Jehovah saves.”  That’s an excellent final message, confirming Jehovah can save Israel and Jehovah can save His own holy things.  Jehovah certainly saved the ark.

Sadly, the people in that town didn’t have proper respect for the ark and they ended up plagued too.

Time to Sum Up

1 Samuel 5-6 is hard to apply to ourselves if we are determined to see it merely as an amusing story of the Philistines’ rebelliousness.  What we should be doing is looking for ways in our life that we make the mistakes the Philistines made and figuring out how to avoid those mistakes in the future.

Some Ways God Guides Us

To look at it in a positive way, these chapters tell us about a few of the different ways that the Lord might use to try to guide us back to him when we are way off track.  He may use signs that speak clearly and warn us of the errors we are in.  He may destroy our idols so that we see they don’t have power to save us.  He may allow disease and disaster to bring suffering in our lives in hopes it will motivate us to change as we search for relief and meaning in the experience.   (However, disease and disaster can happen to anybody, so it can’t be used to judge others.) He creates circumstances in our lives that recreate what we know of stories in the scriptures so that we can apply those stories to ourselves and make appropriate changes.  These seem to be for times when we are so hardened that nothing softer works.  (We don’t want to get to that point; it is far better to be quick to obey.)

The Philistines’ reaction demonstrates how efforts to reclaim us may cause us to react with unbelief and resentment.  Because the Philistines knew the story of Exodus and could apply that to themselves, they already knew what their problem was, but they didn’t like the implications.  They didn’t like the message of change that went with it that would require so much of them.  They didn’t want to see that God had a hand in their lives and they rejected that guidance.  So they kept looking for something else and that left them in doubt.  When their pain demanded an answer, they just wanted to know what caused it without letting that push them toward change.  

What would be a better way to react?

Just ask yourself--Who is better at following God’s guidance in this story, the Philistines or the cows that draw the cart with the ark in it?

Consider that even though the Philistines would not allow God to guide them and teach them, God could guide a pair of milk cows to 1) pull a cart with the ark 2) together 3) straight on the highway 4) straight to Beth-shemesh 5) even while every instinct those cows possessed screamed out that they needed to go find their missing calves.

What happened with those cows is encouraging because it shows me that if I am humble enough to listen and obey the Lord, He can guide me even if I am untrained for the task I’m given.  He can guide me to work with others.  His guidance can take me straight to the precise place He wants me to go, even if everything in me screams this was never supposed to happen.

Do you ever feel like those cows—set free in a wide open space with a burden to drag around and you could go anywhere and do anything, but you feel driven to do something specific and you don’t quite know why or where it’s going to take you?  I do, especially about writing for this blog. 

When we notice these things, I think we, like the cows, are meant to be a sign to others that God guides.  Maybe the glory of our lives is the direction we go.  Maybe that direction is obvious to everyone else, even while we ourselves wonder and struggle.  Maybe seeing us make our way slowly but surely in that direction strengthens others in their own faith journeys.

Also consider that just like the Lord guided those cows out of Philistine territory and straight to Israel, the Lord can guide each of us out of Satan’s territory and straight into the Lord’s kingdom.