Oh, Those Golden Tumors!
By Aaron Damiani.
This is the second in a series of posts on 1 Samuel, supplementing messages in our preaching series this fall. Today we consider 1 Samuel 5:1-7:2.
As a church, we are on a chapter-by-chapter journey through the book of 1 Samuel. For those with attentive eyes and ears, 1 Samuel offers up poetic and profound insights into the Gospel. It schools us in the ways of the triune God, whose justice and mercy are on full display before his sons and his enemies.
Like any good parent, the Lord had established a clear boundary with his children: do not commit idolatry (Exod 20:3-4). He had also tethered a consequence to any future disobedience: bitter exile in a foreign land (Deut 28:64). After years of testing the Lord’s patience, Israel suffered a crushing defeat to the Philistines in the battle of Ebenezer (I Sam 4:10-11). Any Israelite who knew the Torah could see the writing on the wall: Israel had triggered the Lord’s justice by flaunting their idolatry. Their leaders were dead. It was time for exile.
But the Lord’s mercy and justice met as he took the curse of exile on himself. Instead of sending Israel into a foreign land, the Lord allowed the Philistines to capture the Ark of God (I Sam 4:11, 5:1). Instead of the whole nation being carried off in chains, the presence of the Lord, manifest in the Ark of the Covenant, was taken into enemy territory. The Ark was set within the Temple of Dagon, symbolizing the subjugation of the Lord by the god of the Philistines (I Sam 5:2). But the Lord defeated Israel’s enemy by severing Dagon’s head and hands (I Sam 5:3-4). In this we are reminded of the promise of Satan’s fatal head wound (Gen 3:15; Rev 20:7-10).
The Philistines passed the Ark around from tribe to tribe in a desperate attempt to stymie its destructive power (1 Sam 5:6-12). In so doing, they unwittingly aided the Lord in a systematic defeat of Philistia’s five major cities, from Ashdod to Ekron to Gath to Ashkelon to Gaza. Wherever the Ark went, men died or contracted tumors (5:12). Like the sub prime mortgages of our day, the Ark of God had become a supremely toxic asset. No one wanted to own it anymore.
Humbled and reeling, the Philistines sent the Ark back to Israel, packed with a guilt offering of golden tumors and mice (I Sam 6:5). In this we are reminded of the Exodus, when the Lord terrorized the Egyptians with plagues and death, and his people left with their captors’ precious metals. Even the Philistines, who had heard of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, couldn’t help but notice the parallels (I Sam 6:6-9).
I Samuel 5:1-7:2 is a wonderful example of how God’s justice and mercy meet ultimately in his own self-giving love. This story points us forward to the cross of Christ, where God’s justice and mercy are finally reconciled once and for all. As in I Samuel, Jesus bore the curse of Israel’s idolatry, being willingly exiled from the Promised Land. In so doing, he humbled Israel’s enemies and blessed his people with gifts.
Today in prayer, reflect on these chapters, giving thanks and praise for the ways that God has worked on our behalf. In his mercy, he exchanged places with the accursed. In love, he suffered for us. In his justice, he dealt decisively with our sin. In his grace, he gave us every good and perfect gift.
A Prayer for Today:
O God, who declares your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may be made partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.