April 05, 2014 - Saturday

Start Time: 7:35 A.M.

End Time: 8:44 A.M.

Title: The Ark Returned to Israel

Scripture: 1 Samuel 6:1 – 21

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months,  the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”  They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.” The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?” They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. 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.  Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

NOTES:

Ø God makes sure that our enemies return what they have stolen from us and give back even more from they have taken away!  Hallelujah!  God is a God of restoration and when He restores, He restores even more than what we lost.  The great thing about God is that the enemies who were fiercely stealing from us will soon return everything to us and even more than what they have taken.  They will be humbled by God and they, themselves, will soon realize that stealing from God’s people is the worst mistake they can do for the things they steal will become curses to them and it will afflict them, which will then lead them to return everything they took from God’s children and even give more by giving a guilt offering.  Praise Jesus!  Jesus has restored everything that was taken from us when He died and rose again.  We have 5 or 10 times than what was stolen from us!  Amen!  Start claiming those restoration and receive the gifts of our enemies!  Praise Jesus!

→ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way,  but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”  So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves.They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors.  Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

NOTES:

Ø God reveals to our enemies who He really is and what is He capable of!  God does not only reveal Himself to us, He reveals His power, His majesty and His glory to our enemies as well!  So that they will know that stealing from us, God’s children, means stealing from God Himself!  What a great God we serve!  He ensures that our enemies know His power, His ability, His majesty, which creates fear in them towards us because our God is the only True God and He is for us and against those who are against us!  Hallelujah!

→Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.  The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.  These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.  And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[a] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lordhad dealt them.  And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of theLord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”  Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”

NOTES:

Ø God finds a way back home to us every time, especially at times when we have lost hope!  Praise Jesus!  God is the God of impossibilities and He finds a way back to us even when we have given up.  He will even drive our enemies to return what we have lost and use them to bring our relationship back to Him.  Hallelujah!  God is marvelous and awesome.  I cannot truly comprehend His love and grace upon us but I am definitely grateful and moved by it. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Amazing God, loving Father, merciful and gracious Lord.  I am truly amaze of Your wondrous love and grace over me each day.  Thank You because You ensure that our enemies return everything they stole from us and even more.  Thank You because when You move, even our worst enemies will do good to us.  Thank You because You reveal Your power, Your greatness, and majesty to our enemies to let them know that when they mess up with us, they mess up with You.  Thank You Jesus for You always find a way back home to me even at times when I lose hope and just quit.  Thank You because You remain hopeful for me and break down all impossibilities just to return back home to me.  Thank You Jesus.  I love You.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!