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you you you you Well good evening everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church Take your song books and turn to song number six Song number six in your sambos will sing beneath the cross of Jesus and if you would stand We'll sing song number six Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land A home within the wilderness a rest upon the way From the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the night The burden of the day Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see The very dying from the one who suffered there for me And from my smitten heart with tears to wonders I confess The wonders of his glorious love and my own worthlessness I take across thy shadow for my abiding place I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face Content to let the world go by to know no gain or loss My sinful self my only shame my glory all the cross Let's pray heavenly father again Lord we just want to thank you for our church. Thank you for your word Thank you for salvation that it's so free and that it lasts forever. I pray Lord now that you would just meet with us tonight and fill our pastor with your power and spirit. We love you and we pray all this in Jesus name. Amen Amen. All right, you may be seated and turn in your songbooks to song 328. Song 328 in your songbooks. We'll sing I Want That Mountain. Song 328. I saw the giant of prayerlessness upon the mountain high He left so hearted my unbended knee No longer in the wilderness I'll stay and so I cry I want that mountain it belongs to me I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of astral grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me There was a giant of laziness who said I wouldn't go and witness for the one who set me free I'll come from out the wilderness I'll witness now I know I want that mountain it belongs to me I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of astral grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me One faceless giant upon the crest of Hebron's lofty hide Has vowed that he's the one to make me flee I'll climb from out the wilderness and trust Jehovah's might I want that mountain it belongs to me I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of astral grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me Let every giant of distress and unbelief and sin Get ready now to vacate for you see I've come from out the wilderness I know I'm going to win I want that mountain it belongs to me I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of astral grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me Amen. Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening. And just some announcements here before we get started. As far as church services are concerned everything should be normal this Sunday. We'll have our normal Sunday morning Sunday afternoon services. So any time at 1 p.m. and then the regional times throughout the week. And we have a soul winning marathon that's going to be taking place this Saturday. So brother Wade's going to be leading that up out in the Martinsburg area. And so I get with him if I know there's already a group set up for that. So if you're wanting to go to that and you're not in that group get a hold of brother Wade there and I know brother Gavin also is working. They're all working there to get those soul winning maps and everything together there for that event. So be in prayer for it if you can't make it out to that event. And then Bible memory for the month we have Psalm 110. So it's not a super long song but it's a good one. It's got some prophecies in there about Jesus and so Psalm 110 will be a good chapter to memorize there. And then Proverbs 18 24 is our memory verse for the week. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that's sicketh closer than a brother. That is our memory verse for the week. We've got the birthdays, the anniversaries, pregnancy. So be in prayer for Jennifer, Alyssa, Anastasia and Tabby. So congratulations that we found out that the Gandy's are having another girl. Brother Dave's really excited about it. But a blessing there. Obviously everything goes well with the pregnancies, with the babies. Be in prayer obviously for the ladies that just had babies, for the recovery process there as well. I think that's about it. We have the offering box in the back there if you want to give tithe or an offering. The mother and baby are in the room for the mothers and babies only. We're going to be continuing our study through the book of 1 Samuel tonight. So we're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 6. I didn't see who's reading. So Brother Dave is going to be reading 1 Samuel chapter 6 after we do one more song. Alright, if you would take your song books and turn to song 363. 363 and your song books will sing Wonderful Words of Life. Song 363. Sing them over again to me Wonderful words of life Let me more of their beauty see Wonderful words of life Wonderful words of life and beauty Teach me faith and duty Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Christ the blessed one gives to all Wonderful words of life Centerless to the loving call Wonderful words of life All so freely given Wooing us to heaven Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Sweetly echo the gospel call Wonderful words of life Offer pardon and peace to all Wonderful words of life Jesus only savior Sanctify forever Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life Alright, take your Bible and turn to 1 Samuel chapter number 6. 1 Samuel 6 and your Bibles will have Brother Dave read that for us. 1 Samuel 6, if you found your place, Amen. And the Bible reads, And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do for the ark of the Lord? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to His place. And they said, If you send it away, the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty, but in any rise return Him a trespassed offering, that then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why this hand is not removed from you. Then said they, What shall be the trespassed offering, which we shall return to Him? They answered, Five golden emeralds 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. Wherefore, ye shall make images of your emeralds and images of the mice, that mar the land, and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel, heard vincile He would lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. Wherefore, then, do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and the Pharaoh hardened their hearts, when ye had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people grow, and they departed? Now therefore, make a new cart, and take two milks kind, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kind to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. Take the ark of the Lord, and light it upon the cart, and put the jewels of gold, which ye return Him for a trespassed offering, and a coffer by the side of the rope, and send it away, that it may grow. And see, if it goeth by the way of his own coast, to Bethsemus, 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. And the men did so, and took two milks kind, and tied them to the cart, and set up their calves at home. And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold, and the images of their emirates. And the kind took the straight way to the way of Bethsemus, and they went along the highway, lowering as they went, and turned not excited to the right hand or to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them, and to the border of Bethsemus. And they of Bethsemus were reaping their reed-harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And the cart came into the field of Joshua of Bethsemite, and stood there where there was a great stone, and they claved the wood of the cart, and offered the kind a burnt offering unto the Lord. And 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 Bethsemus offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed the same day unto the Lord. And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. And these are the golden emirates, with the Philistines returned, for a trespass offering unto the Lord, for Asdod run, for Gaza run, for Ascalon run, for Gath run, for Ekron run. And the golden knights, 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 remained unto this day in the field of Joshua the Bethsemite. And he smote the men of Bethsemus, because they had looked unto 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 the great slaughter. And the men of Bethsemus said, Who is able to stand before this holy road-god, and to whom shall he go up from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kerjathjirim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord, come ye down, and fetch it up unto you. Let us pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house, and pray that you fill a pass with your spirit, and help us to be edified. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So you're there in 1 Samuel chapter 6, and we're continuing on our study through the book of 1 Samuel. And chapter 5, the Philistines are basically getting all these plagues, different things that are being put on them, before having the ark of God, the ark of the covenant. And obviously we're talking about the ark that has the cherry beams, the mercy seed, and all that, as far as what's supposed to be in the second tabernacle, or the Pass the Veil, in the holiest of all. That's where the ark of the covenant is supposed to be. And so at this point, the ark is not in Israel. It's no longer in Shiloh. And we see here that it's basically changing places in the Philistines' camp. It's going through all these different cities, because every time it goes somewhere, they get emeralds and all these different things. So in this chapter, this is where the Philistines are going to return the ark to Israel. And so we're going to see the story about how they do that, how exactly they do that, and everything else. But in verse 1 here, it says, And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. So it tells us exactly how long it was there. So just over half a year of it basically changing from one town to the other, to where they're finally done with this thing, they need to get rid of it, and all that. Now they inquire of the priests and the diviners. So they're inquiring of them as far as like, How do we do this? Where do we send it? How do we send it? Like all of that, right? They're trying to figure out how to go about this. And so in verse 2 here, it says, 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. 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. And verse 4 says, And then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emeralds 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. So when you look, first of all, why is it five? Well, it tells you why. Because it's the five lords of the Philistines. But then it goes on to say the emeralds. So that makes sense, right? The whole last chapter was dealing with that. I'm not about to go back into that as far as what that is and all that stuff. But we all know that. But the thing that's interesting is it talks about five golden mice. And what's interesting is that this is mentioned before it tells you why or anything about the mice, right? Because then it goes on to say in verse 5, It says, Wherefore ye shall make images of your emeralds and images of your mice that mar the land. So now we're finding out, oh, the mice were marring the land. And so when there's this destruction going throughout the cities, obviously we know that people died. And then they had these emeralds, right? The people that didn't die had the emeralds. But then on top of that, you had the mice that were marring the land that were basically eating up everything and all that. So it says, 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. And also when it talks about the five lords, it's also talking about the five cities. So I want you to see down here, look down at verse 17. So there's five lords but there's five major cities. So that kind of makes sense. This kind of reminds me of the fact that you had the tetrarchs in Israel back in Jesus' day. Because Herod was a tetrarch. He wasn't a monarch. He wasn't the only king. He was a part, you know, tetra meaning four, right? And so here, I don't know if it's pentra. No, I don't know. Petrarch? I don't know if that's the thing. But anyway, something like that. But there's five lords, five different cities. But I want you to see this dealing with the mice as well. I think specifically showing you where this was taking place. But in verse 17, it says, And these are the golden emeralds, which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord, for Ashtod one, for Geza one, for Eshkilon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one, and 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 remains unto this day in the field of Joshua the best she might. So, you know, I think that answers that. You know, when people are just like, why is it five? You know, and they look at the numbers, and then they go off road, right? And they're just like, they'll say something like, and I don't know if anybody said this, but I'm just kind of, just off the hip, I can see someone saying, well, you know, Genesis 5.5 and Acts 5.5 talk about someone dying, and therefore it's five because of death. But yet, verses weren't actually in the Bible, you know, like as far as the numbering. So, you're kind of like doing numerology with that. But then you can say, well, it's under the fifth rib. Okay, he got me. It doesn't matter if it's a verse or not. But you see how you can take numbers to an extent. It's like, why don't you just take the physical meaning of like, there's five lords, there's five cities to those lords, and that's why they made five emeralds and why they made five mice. That's really just as simple as it gets. And just take it at face value for what it is. And by the way, these are the, you know, this is like the Philistines making this stuff up. You know, it's not like God told them to make golden emeralds and golden mice, you know. It's just the fact that they're doing this to try to appease God and basically give him something so that they'll stop being plagued. So, in the end, it's five because of that. It's five emeralds, obviously because of the emeralds that, you know, was plaguing the men. But then the mice that we see now was also marring the land. So, you had a lot of people dying. You had a lot of people with these ailments. But then you had also mice that are plaguing the land as well. And it's just interesting to me too because you see a lot of plagues in the Bible. And this is, and I could be wrong, but I don't know of any other place where it mentions mice being a plague when it comes to the land, right. You'll see like the caterpillar and the locust and even serpents like being like a plague and stuff like that. Frogs, lice, all that different stuff. But here we have mice. And it just makes me think about the fact that in the end, I believe the end is going to be a culmination of God's plagues. And I just imagine that there may be things that are going on in the end that's not necessarily written down that, hey, we know. You say, well, you know, it doesn't explain everything. Well, just remember that there's seven thunders that are uttered from heaven and John's about to write it and God says don't write it yet. So, there may be things that are plagues or just different things that are going on that are kind of off screen, if you will, that we don't know about that are going to go on. But I think about the fact that if I see a plague in here that God is putting on somebody, you know, who's to say that that isn't coming back in the end? And that basically everything that God did in the Old Testament as a plague is just like being poured out at once on the earth. Now, don't quote me on that and be like, well, Pastor Robinson said mice are going to be a plague in the end times, thus saith the Lord. I didn't say that. I'm just saying it's possible that there are things that will be plagues that maybe we don't even, aren't even considering that he has done in the past and that he may do again in the future. So, going on from that, I want you to notice something here and this is something that just kind of, out of this chapter, I think this just kind of struck me more than anything else, is what's said here in verse 6. It says, 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? I want you to think about how long ago was this that God did those plagues in Egypt. You know, we're talking like 500 years, something like that, since that event. I mean, think about how old our country is, right? Over 200 years. 500 years. The King James Bible wasn't even that old. Obviously the Bible was before the King James Bible. I can see someone writing, it's only 500 years, it's only 400 years old and you trust that? The Bible has been around for a lot longer than that. I'm talking about the English King James Bible. But just think about that time frame and the fact that they're stating not only that God, what are they talking about though? Specifically, about Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardening their hearts. And this question gets brought up a lot as far as like, why does God harden someone's heart, right? And I know I preached this before and the fact that it doesn't really matter why, it states that he does, get over it, right? It's kind of like, if God says he does something and the Bible says that that's true and that that happens, you just have to deal with it. It's reality, okay? But, let's look into the why. Now, I know I preached on this with Rahab the harlot. Rahab the harlot, we're dealing with like 40 years later, right, when they're going into Jericho. And you remember Rahab the harlot talks about the fact that we know how basically they passed through the Red Sea. And it talks about how like the men's hearts melted for fear and there was no strength left into them because of what they knew as far as about God. And that was 40 years gone past, this is hundreds of years. And they're still remembering God hardened Pharaoh's heart to where they like just stuck out all these plagues. And so you think about it like, why are they bringing up Pharaoh? Because they're being plagued. They're being plagued with the emirates, they're being plagued with mice, they're dying, and they remember Pharaoh. And Pharaoh is like this person to be like, remember how Pharaoh was hardened? And go to Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 9, and here's a reason why God hardens certain people. And ultimately, like I said, it doesn't matter why, but I believe the Bible does give us insight as far as why. Sometimes we don't see the bigger picture, but sometimes God lets us see the bigger picture. Or at least lets us get a glimpse of it to where we can kind of wrap our minds around maybe the why, you know, what are his thoughts? You know, his thoughts are above our thoughts, his ways are above our ways, right? And so, Romans chapter 9 here in verse 15, and of course we're not Calvinists so we don't believe that people are born hardened, okay? God wants everybody to be saved, he's not willing to any should perish, who have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He's the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. But there are certain people that come to a point where God hardens their heart. And Pharaoh is one of those people. And the Philistines bring that up when they're being plagued. And it's kind of like the idea of like, remember Pharaoh, let's not be like him. But in Romans chapter 9 verse 15 it says, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, notice this, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he what? Hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing form say to him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? And then it goes on to say, Hath not the potter power of the clay, and of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What of God willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared on the glory, even us, whom he had called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. So it's really just telling you why. That Pharaoh was hardened so that his name would be known throughout all the earth. That his glory and his power and everything would be known throughout all the earth. Rahab the harlot, case in point. The Philistines, case in point. I'm not saying they're believers, I'm just saying they knew about it. They knew who the true God is. They're even stating that. They're just like, this is the true God, and maybe if we send this back, you know, they recognize that. Just like Nebuchadnezzar, when he looked into the burning fiery furnace, he said the fourth is like the son of God. He knew who God is. He even knew that there's a trinity, and that there's the son of God. Now obviously if you have some other perversion, it may say a son of the gods, but that's not what it actually says. So, when you're looking at, you know, passages like this, that just kind of sticks out to me that they recognize the fact that, you know, let's not harden our hearts like Pharaoh, right? What does it say in verse 6 there? It says, wherefore then do ye harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh harden their hearts? See, they basically go like, don't harden your hearts, like, let's not be like Egypt, let's not be like Pharaoh, and we're talking 500 years have gone by, somewhere around there, give or take, right? 500 years have gone by, and they're still thinking about that event. You know, why did he harden Pharaoh's heart? 500 years. Still, yay, thousands of years because we're still talking about it. Because it's written in the bible, right? It's the word of God. And we have Pharaoh as an example even today. So much so that in the New Testament, obviously Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, is writing about Pharaoh as the example of God hardening someone's heart. But notice that there's an end game to it, right? And the fact that, what was the end game? It was so other people would be saved. And listen, Pharaoh had a chance. And I preached about that when we went through Exodus. I don't believe throughout the whole book of Exodus he was already past feeling. I believe there came a point where he was like, done. But that just kind of stuck out to me in the fact that they were, like these prophets and these diviners of the Philistines are recognizing this. That hey, remember this, don't be like them. And they're not even claiming, they're polytheists, right? They have Dagon, their god, that got destroyed, obviously by the ark. It's even later on, it's like, let's send this down there so that it'll be like, maybe be merciful and not destroy your gods and yourselves and all these different things, right? But going on from there, 1 Samuel 6 and verse 7, 1 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 7, we see that they, how did they send the ark away? Well, verse 7 here says, Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kind, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kind to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. Now, milch kind are like milking cows. You kind of see it within the milch, right? But you can even see the fact that it's taking the calves from them. Like if you're having, if you have milking cows, you kind of have to have like, I'm not a dairy farmer here, but what I've heard is that you kind of have to have like calves to where they would produce milk to where you can actually milk them. So it kind of makes sense that they have calves that they're taking away from them so that they'll send these milch kind off. But notice that everything's new, right? It's kind of like new, nothing's been on it. You know, new cart, everything, right? And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the ark, and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, and a coffer by the side thereof, and send it away, that it may go. So what are we talking about? We're talking about the mice and the emerods, right? And see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth Shemesh, then he had done, I'm sorry, then he had done us this great evil, but if not, then we shall know that it is not in his hand, I'm sorry, it is not his hand that smote us, it was chance that happened to us. Now the first thing that I want to mention here is that, how did they send this ark away? They put it on a new cart. Now, I'm going to be hitting on it, because we're going to go from 1 Samuel to 2 Samuel, but we have a lot of chapters in between here. So if I talk about this event, about Uzzah, then you're probably going to forget about it by the time we get there anyway. No, I'm just kidding. Most of you probably know the story of Uzzah. But I want you to think about, when you get to that story, you're like, why did they do it that way? I want you to go to 2 Samuel chapter 6. Now, where this, the ark ends up, here in this, the end of this chapter, in chapter 6 and chapter 7, is where it stays until David tries to take it somewhere else. But, the first attempt of bringing it to Jerusalem, notice what happens here. But I want you to see, first of all, what are they doing? Verse 3, 2 Samuel 6, verse 3. It says, and they set the ark of God upon a new cart. Sound familiar? Now, they're like, well, they did it in chapter 6 of 1 Samuel. The Philistines did it. They also made these golden emirates and golden mites. Were they supposed to do that too? So what you're going to see is that throughout the Bible, when you see a story, that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Especially if it's someone that's a polytheist type of nation that's doing something, you don't look to them and be like, well, the Philistines put it on a new cart. Well, shut my mouth. I guess we should put it on a new cart. Because we know how godly they are. It's like when the world tries to give us moral advice. Or they try to tell us, well, Jesus wouldn't have done that. Well, I mean, just let me take your advice that's never read through the Bible and doesn't even claim to be a believer. Right? So when you look at the Bible as far as how things should be done, you should always look at the commandment. In a story, you have to take with a grain of salt because when you're dealing with the narration of a story, even if it's a good character, it may not be right. I mean, when David commits adultery with Bathsheba, I mean, we'll be like, well, David did it. It's right. Even though Nathan's like, thou art the man, and he's being punished for it. So just because a good character does it, or a bad character, I mean, even more so if someone that's not even a good character is doing something in the Bible, why would you take that as fact? That's the way it should be done. Now, I don't think anybody is saying that here, but when you look at the story of Uzzah here, I want you to notice that how they're carrying the ark on a new cart. What does the Bible say in Exodus as far as how they're supposed to carry the ark? Are they supposed to put it on a cart? No, they're supposed to bear it upon two staves. There's a staff on each side, and there's rings that they put it through, and they bear it up and carry it. Nowhere does it mention a cart. So, with that in mind, notice what it says, keep reading there. They set the ark upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah and Uzzah in Ohio. The sons of Abinadab drove the new cart, and they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God, and Ohio went before the ark, and David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments, instruments made of fir wood, even on harps and on salt trees and on timbrels, and on cornets and on cymbals, and when they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it for the oxen shook it, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error. There he died by the ark of God, and David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, and he called the name of the place of Uzzah to this day. Now, I've heard people preach that, well, you know, why did Uzzah die here? And they go through this whole dissertation that, well, he must have not been right with God in his heart. And they go off on this whole, like, tangent about some spiritual application here, about, like, him touching the ark, but, you know, not being, like, worthy, you know, like, no, they shouldn't have been on a cart to begin with, because the argument is, well, you know, he wanted to make sure the ark didn't fall off the cart. Here's the problem. It shouldn't have been on a cart to begin with. You have to do things God's way, and even when it looks like you're trying to help out, if you're doing it the wrong way to begin with, and then you're trying to do something to help out, then you end up getting killed. Well, not in every case, but in this case, you know, there's consequences for that. You have to do it God's way. You have to do it the way he spells it out to do it, and you know why he got killed? Because he touched the ark. Because he's not supposed to touch the ark. You're like, well, he didn't want it to fall. It should have been on a cart. You should have been burying it with the staves, and you wouldn't have to worry about it falling off a cart. So, that's why, you know, when you look at this, you're like, well, you know, where does it say you shouldn't put it on a new cart? Well, I'll tell you one thing. I'm not going to follow the example of the Philistines when it comes to them burying the ark. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Philistines put it on a new ark, and then David and them put it on a new ark when they carried it. Right? They're kind of following suit with the Philistines instead of looking back to the law. And the same thing would apply when you look at tradition. If the tradition contradicts, if something that happened in the past that was done before contradicts the clear commandment, then go with the clear commandment and nuts to the tradition. Now, if the tradition doesn't contradict anything, doesn't mess with anything, obviously it's not bad to just have tradition. Right? Tradition isn't just all bad. But when tradition makes null and void the commandment of God, that's when you throw out the tradition. So, I just want to give you an insight there that when you're reading through these passages, sometimes it will give you some clues as far as why that happened. When you read that story, you're just like, whoa, what in the world? Like, they're playing, they're excited, they're bringing in the ark, and all of a sudden, just like, that went from a high to the lowest you can get. Right? To where now, they're just like, they left it where it was at, they didn't bring it in, and all that. And we'll get to, obviously when we get to 2 Samuel, where they actually do bring it in, and all that. But, the thing that I want to get across is that a lot of times there's just a very simple answer to things. And you don't have to go down this deep well to figure out the answer. It's just like right in front of your face. It's like, well, why is there five mice and five emerods? Five lords. There, boom. Five cities, five lords. That's why. Why is, you know, and this happens in Revelation a lot, too. It's like, well, why is it this? Why is it this number? It's like, why is there seven golden candlesticks? Because there's seven churches in Asia. That's why. It's like, anyway, and obviously numbers have meanings to them, right? Seven is usually a number like dealing with perfection. Obviously three is God's number. You know, like, I get it. I'm not saying like 40, you know, when it comes to trials and tribulations and things like that, and fasting, it doesn't have like some significance. But always get the surface meaning first. Always when you're dealing with a parable, when you're dealing with a dark saying, when you're dealing with any passage, get the surface meaning first and then branch off to the spiritual. And if your spiritual meaning doesn't match the surface meaning, then you've got the wrong spiritual meaning. And so anyway, that's just a side note dealing with that. But it does say that basically if the cart, this is what the Philistines are stating here. If the goat, by the way, on its own, like basically they're just going to let this thing go. And if it goes the best shemesh, then they'll know that it was the Lord that did it. If not, then it was some chance that happened. And the thing I want to say with that is that timing and chance does happen. Meaning that the Philistines are saying this, and just because they say it, it doesn't mean it's true, right? But the Bible validates that. You don't have to turn to read Ecclesiastes 9, verse 11. It says, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. Now, obviously in most cases the race is won by the swift, right? When you think about it, if you're running a race, the fastest person is usually the one that's winning. But you know the story of the tortoise and the hare. It's not always the case, because there's pride involved. There's other things that can happen to where you lose the race, even though you were the fastest person, or you lose the battle, even though you're the strongest person. And that there's chance, right? That can happen. Even if you're the better team, it doesn't mean you're going to win, because time and chance happen to them all. And the thing that I want to get across with that is that there are things that are not like, the Lord is doing this to me, or Satan's doing this to me, right? Sometimes, just time and chance, right? You get a flat tire, you just happen to run over a nail, or a screw. You know, Satan's really hindering me. Listen, don't bring railing accusation. It's possible that Satan put that nail there, for you to run over. Because he didn't want you to get to church, or whatever. But you don't want to just throw out... Listen, Satan is guilty of a lot of things. We don't need to start throwing out accusations that may not be true. The same thing would apply just in general, when it comes to a lot of things, is that there's some things that just happen. And we're in this world... Think about it. God, obviously, there's certain things that He does. But He's not pulling strings on everything. And this is where the Calvinists just... I don't know what they say to this verse, when it comes to this, because they don't believe there's any chance, or time and chance. It's just, everything is the will of God. Whether someone's committing sin, whether this or that, it's the will of God. No. I mean, I don't have time to go into all that, but the idea here is that time and chance happen to them all, and basically what they're saying is that, we're going to do this, and it's kind of like casting a lot, right? Like, if this happens, we know it's the Lord that did this, and guess what happens? It becomes the best Shemesh. And sometimes the Lord... You know, when it comes to casting lots, it talks about the casting of the lot in the lap, you know, as a man, but the whole disposing of the thing is of the Lord. Because some people are like, casting lots, you know, that's just chance. Not always. Sometimes the Lord actually picks. When the lot fell on Jonah, guess what? It fell on Jonah for a reason. Because Jonah was the one to be blamed. And when the lot falls on Matthias, I believe the Lord chose Matthias, and that the whole disposing of the thing is of the Lord. Does that mean we should just go out there and cast lots for everything that we do? You're like, oh, you know, which car am I going to buy? Let's just cast some lots. Ferrari or Pinto? Is that even... That's like probably back in the 80s or something like that. Cast some lots here. Ferrari, yes! So, obviously, when it comes to time and chance, I'm not saying it's always the case. And a lot of times, the Lord is in, I mean, the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord. I'm not saying like, listen, everything that we do is just time and chance. I believe that there's divine appointments, I believe the Lord is leading, all that stuff, but we can't just say the Lord is just like, everything I do is just of the Lord. Or if something bad happens to me, it's Satan. Like, chance happens to us all, and it is what it is, okay? Verse 10 there in 1 Samuel 6, verse 10, it says, And the men did so, and took two milch kind, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, in the coffer with the mice of gold, and the images of their emerods. And the kind took the straight way to the way of Bathshemesh, 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, and unto the border of Bathshemesh. So, I think that tells us something that Bathshemesh is on the border of the Philistines and Israel, but basically, there was no doubt, right? It's not like it was just like some pinball thing, where it's like, well, they ended up making it there. No, it's just like straight course on the highway, like not taking back roads, like we're taking I-79, right? Just straight shot there. So, I mean, just kind of no doubt, like yes, it was the Lord. Now, we know that because we're reading the Bible. But in their mind, they may just think, hey, it's just a chance, just coincidence. As soon as we got this ark, obviously, that's foolish to think that, but at the same time, like, you know, that's the thought process, right? People are always trying to find a different way to rationalize things, right? Atheists out there are just like, oh, you see this miraculous thing. You see God's creation. You see all this stuff, and they're just trying to rationalize it in a way somehow that it's not of God. But, so, going on from that, when it arrives in Beit Shemesh, it says in verse 13, And they at Beit Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it. Now, once you think about this, it's been gone for seven months. They had this horrible battle that took place. 34,000 men at least died, right? The ark was taken. It's been seven months. All of a sudden, you're out there reaping in your field, and there it is. Just, you know, with the cows lowing and just on this cart. Because you can imagine that they're probably thinking, like, are we going to try to go get it? Like, you know, what's our next form of action? And all of a sudden, there it is in your lap. Which, one thing that I think about this is the fact is that God doesn't need man to take care of things when it comes to, like, winning a battle, or getting the ark back, or anything like that. Like, the Lord can make that all happen with the enemies. The enemies literally gave it back. He didn't even have to go to battle. So when we think about the fact of, like, oh, okay, the Lord is our helper. He's our buckler. He's our, you know, strength, our high tower. I mean, in a lot of these cases, where they go to battle in the Bible, they don't have to do anything. They're just sitting back and watching the Lord work. And then there's some cases where he's doing something, and then they come in and they win the battle, right? But, in a lot of cases, it's like the Lord does it all, and there's, like, no doubt that it was the Lord that did it. And so, I definitely see that when it comes to it. So they rejoiced to see it. In verse 14, it says, And the carp came into the field of Joshua, about Shemite. So this is a different Joshua than Joshua the son of Nun. I mean, he didn't live to be, like, 600 years old. So we're dealing with a different Joshua here. But it says, And stood there, where there was a great stone, and they clayed the wood of the carp, and offered the kind of burnt offering unto the Lord. So they literally just took all of what they had there, as far as the cart and the kind. These are cows, right? So, they're milk cows, and they sacrificed them unto the Lord. Verse 15, it says, And 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 Bathshemes offered burnt offerings and sacrificed the same day unto the Lord. So basically, there's this big stone there, and they set those things they made, the emerods and the mice, and set them on there. It's kind of like a memorial, if you will, of what happened here. And they basically just tear this new cart apart, and kill, and do the sacrifice. Now the five Lords see this, and they just return. So they've obviously, notice what it says in verse 16. It says, And when the five Lords of Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. So they're convinced, yes, we're going back home. And this obviously was of the Lord that this happened. Verse 17, it says, And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord, for Ashtod one, for Geza one, for Eshkilon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one. And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, belonging to the five Lords, both of the fenced cities of the 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 best she might. So that stone that they put those on, that great stone was called the Stone of Abel, and that's where they set the Ark, off the cart, and all of that. And now this is where it gets interesting, because at this point it's kind of like good news, and you're like this is great, the Ark's back in Israel, and then it goes on in verse 19, the next thing it says, it says, And he smote the men of Eschimas. You're like, what? It's always interesting when you see that, before you figure out why, right? You're just like, okay, the Ark's back here, they set up this, you know, like they do this sacrifice, then all of a sudden he's like smiting them. These are Israelites, right? The Philistine lords went back to their homes, like they're out of the picture now, right? But he smote, it says he smote the men of Eschimas, because they had looked into the Ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people 50,000 and three score and 10 men. 50,000, three score and 10 men. I mean, think about it, when you had that great battle where they took the Ark, less men died. 50,000 men were killed. Now, I hate the reference movies, but this is like straight up like Indiana Jones, right? Like, when I read this story, I'm just like Raiders of the Lost Ark, right? They got it from somewhere, right? Obviously, I didn't say anything about anybody's head exploding, you know, or anything like that, but, you know, whenever you look at these movies, you're like, that's a good one. You know why? Because it's based off the Bible, that's why. Any good story is from the Bible. I'm convinced, like any good film, movie, story, is like, has its roots based in what the Bible teaches. And stories in the Bible. You can't get better than the stories in the Bible. And this story, listen, in Indiana Jones, it was like, I don't know, I don't know what the count was, but it wasn't 50,000. I want you to think about this. 50,000, over 50,000 people died when they opened the Ark and looked into it. I don't think 50,000 people were walking by looking at it, and then they walked off and died, and then the next person comes and they walked off and died. I think basically, those are the best humans. Opened it up, looked at it, and then 50,000 people died. So 50,000, 3 score in 10, so 50,070. That's a pretty distinct number, right? I mean, it's not 50,000, it's not 51,000, right? I mean, you're right there. I mean, and sometimes I think we read past those numbers, like you'll see like 120,000 people die, and you're just kind of reading, you're just like reading on all, that's interesting, and you keep going. I want you to think about 50,000 people. I think when the students are in town, in Morgantown, it's around 50,000 to 60,000 people. That'd be like the whole town of Morgantown dropping dead. I mean, that's a lot of people. World League people, tell me about stadiums. Isn't like Ohio State like 60,000? Who's an Ohio State fan? Tell me. You're Ohio State, right? No, I'm just kidding. I just think about a stadium. I mean, sometimes when I try to think about numbers, when I think about like groups of numbers, I think about like a stadium that I've been in or I've been in something like that, just to kind of grasp what that number would be, like how many people is that, right? I want to say WVU Stadium is like 30-some thousand. So you're dealing with that and then like another, at least half of that. And so sometimes I think it's good to just kind of step back and think about it. I mean, that's how serious God is about the ark. That they looked into it, and these are people of Israel that looked into it, that he killed over 50,000. Now, and then Uzzah touches it and dies. I think more people are shocked that Brother Dave is an Ohio State fan. I'm sorry, I can't lie from the pulpit. Listen, I've had people lie about me from the pulpit. I mean, he's a Michigan fan. I think everybody knows that. I don't know if that makes your situation better when it comes to, I don't know what hurts worse, being lied about, being an Ohio State fan or actually being a Michigan fan. Actually, I don't care when it comes to that, but I do like giving people a hard time. When I think about numbers, sometimes I have to put a physical representation on it to really grasp it. I remember someone asked me one time, they asked me how many people went to this church. It was when Jeff Owens was preaching. He was still the pastor up at the Shenandoah Baptist Church. And I remember someone said, well, how many is he running? How many people were there? And I'm like, I don't know, like 200? It was like 1,000. Like just no concept of like numbers. I'm like 200. There's people in the balconies. There's like just hundreds of people there. There's probably like 1,500 people, who knows. So sometimes I really need like, I need a visual of like, okay, that's how many people it is right there, and then I can base it off that. But anyway, it says in the people, you know, verse 19 there, it says in the people lamented because the Lord had spent many of the people with a great slaughter. I mean, definitely. I mean, I can't imagine, you know, like just the highs and lows here. I'm like, we got the ark back. And then boom, over 50,000 people dead because they looked into the ark. And it says, and the men of Bathshema said, who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall he go up from us? Now I want you to think about this. When you're reading through Exodus about them making the ark, think about all the commandments about who is to be bearing the ark. You know, they're specific people. They're there to be Levites, but they had to be a specific, of a specific family that was to be moving certain things. And then when it comes to when it's in the temple, that only the high priest is to go back there once a year. So this isn't just something that everybody can just come up, like a trinket that everybody can come up and look at and touch and all this stuff. No. It is to be holy. And even, if you think about this, when Jesus resurrected from the dead, if you remember, if you remember that Mary Magdalene wanted to embrace him and he says, touch me not, for I have not yet ascended. Think about how holy him going into that veil, the new and living way, into the holiest of all, not with the blood of others, but with his own blood. And what it represents, because here's the thing, obviously that ark was made by men, right? It was crafted, obviously after the image, though. After the image that was in the holy mount. And the thing that you have to understand is that, yes, that's a physical object that I don't believe is even around anymore. I believe it's been completely destroyed and I don't think it even matters anymore, that we don't even need to worry about it, because the only ark that matters is what's in heaven right now. But the idea here is what it represents. And what it represents is eternal salvation that's going to be, the blood will be applied to with the blood of our savior. And that is not a trinket, that is not something for people to play around with, that is not something to put on some new cart when God says to bear it with staves. There is everything about that ark and everything about how he told them to move it, use it, where to put it, who is to be touching it, it all had a purpose, and it is not to be flippantly disregarded. So when you look at the fact that you're like, oh, I can't believe he killed 50,000 people, that's how serious that ark is. That's how serious that picture is. Oh, I can't believe Uzzah died because he touched it. That's how serious that ark is in the picture of what that ark represents. You say, well, people died because they didn't keep the Sabbath. That's how serious what the Sabbath represented, especially when you understand that the Sabbath would represent that you're not to do any works. And salvation is by grace through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works as any man should boast. And if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. That is how serious it is, because you add one work to salvation, not salvation. And when it comes to how holy that ark is in heaven that he sprinkled his blood on, and how holy and divine that Jesus' blood was, that where he couldn't even have someone touch him before he went up to heaven to sprinkle his blood upon the mercy seat, then you can understand the severity of this. And again, I think sometimes we have to look through God's eyes and see the bigger picture. Because, I mean, if you just read through the story, like that seems a bit much, right? You're just like 50,000 people. Even David with Uzzah is just like very displeased. He's just like, he made a breach. He named the place pure as Uzzah because of what happened with Uzzah. And so, it's not that when you read through here it's like, how dare you think that's a big number, you know? I think that we all have to look at this and stop and think about like, hey, here's the severity of the situation. Here's how important that picture really is. He didn't just flippantly tell them to make this ark and be like, well, you know, just, yeah, something. I just need you to make a box and you're going to put this in there and it doesn't really mean anything. No, it all had meaning. And so, go to, and we'll finish up here in 1 Samuel 6. In verse 21, it's going to end up going to Kirjeth-jearim. Now, I'm going to read a little bit into the next chapter just so you know where it goes, to kind of cap off where the ark goes. Because it says in verse 21, it says, and they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjeth-jearim saying that Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord. Come ye down and fetch it up to you. So they're like, take this thing away from us. Which you can understand. Verse 1 of chapter 7, And the men of Kirjeth-jearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eliezer's son to keep the ark of the Lord. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjeth-jearim, that the time was long, for it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Now, it's going to stay there until David tries to move it. And then you have that story with Uzzah. And then there's a period of time that goes by until he finally brings it into Jerusalem. Remember Obedidim? You know, you have that whole story where he's being blessed and everything. We'll get to that. But it goes to Kirjeth-jearim, and it's going to be there for a while before that story happens. Now, the last thing I'm going to mention here, and this is more of just a geography lesson, where is Kirjeth-jearim? Go to Joshua chapter 18. Sometimes I think it makes sense to kind of help understand where you're at, right? If you're looking at the map of Israel, this isn't the map of Israel, but let's just pretend for a second, right? Judah is like the southern portion, right? Because when you split the kingdom, this is very easy to kind of understand, is that you have the northern kingdom of Israel, southern kingdom of Judah, that's what becomes Judea and Jesus' day. And basically, there's different tribes scattered around, but really you have Judah down here, and Simeon, and then you have Benjamin, that's basically right on the top of Judah. And Benjamin and Judah are very well linked, okay? Now, what I want to show you is that Kirjeth-jearim is in the city of Judah, okay? So it's in Judah. Now that's where we know that David is obviously of the tribe of Judah, all of that. But look at verse 14, actually look at verse 11. So you're in Joshua 18, verse 11, just so you know that we're first of all talking about the lot of the tribe of Benjamin. It says, and the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, I'm sorry, and the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families. And so it's giving these borders, okay? But notice down in verse 14, and the border was drawn thence, encompassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward, and the goings out thereof were at Kirjeth-baal, which is Kirjeth-jearim, a city of the children of Judah. This was the west quarter. So when you think about the west quarter of Benjamin, on that quarter is a city of Judah. So Kirjeth-jearim is like right on the border of Benjamin. Does that make sense? Like it's using that as a marker to know where you're at as far as the westward quarter of this. And the thing that's interesting to me is that Jerusalem is where it ends up, but Jerusalem is actually technically in Benjamin. Look at Joshua chapter 18, and just so you know, we're still talking about the cities in Benjamin. Verse 21, it says, Now the cities of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, and going down the line, it's going through these different cities. But notice verse 28, And Zelah, and Eleph, and Jebusai, which is Jerusalem. And Judges confirms this as well, because it says that in Judges 1 21, and the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites, that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. But what you have to understand with that story is that Judah is the one that fought against Jerusalem and took it to begin with. Because in verse 8 of that chapter, it says, And the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it. I believe what's going on with Jerusalem is that you have Benjamin right here, and you have Judah down here, and Jerusalem's like, Jerusalem's like, if you were to think about, think about a city that's on, like, on a border, right? You think of Portland, Cincinnati, right? Where, like, the city is, like, literally on that border, to where it comes into Judah. So Bethlehem, for example, I believe, is in Judah. But if you think about, like, what is it, Kansas City? Kansas City is both in Missouri and in Kansas. Right? And so, when you deal with that border type of city, I think that's what you're dealing with with Jerusalem. Technically, it states that it's in Benjamin, but I believe it's on the border, and it's right there. So when you're thinking about, like, when they take it from Kirj Adjirim, they're taking it from, like, the west border over to the southern, like, middle portion of Benjamin, for whatever that's worth, right? But I just think it's interesting to kind of know where you're at on the map when these events happen. And the thing that's interesting, too, is that in Judges, it talks about how Judah took out, like, it says in Judges 1.18, it says, And Judah took Geza with the coast thereof, and Ashkelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. Do you remember those names? Those are three of the big cities of the Philistines. When you look at a map of Israel, you kind of have, like, the coast. It's kind of like a backward C shape, right? And then Judah is, like, this portion, but when you look at it, the Philistines kind of take out this coastal region right here, which nowadays is called, like, the Gaza Strip, right? They don't say Geza, they say Gaza. Obviously, Scorby's right, and it should be Geza. No, I'm just kidding. I don't care. I don't care how you say it. But basically, that used to be all of Judah back in the, but then it was, and throughout the Book of Judges, if you remember, the Philistines are basically oppressing them and all that stuff, and that's where they're at, okay? So, I kind of just wanted to give a little bit of, when you see a Kirjat Jirim, you could just look past that and just be like, cool. It's in a place called Kirjat Jirim, right? But I think it's always good to know, okay, where are we at? Are we up in Dan somewhere, right? Are we up in, like, northern, I mean, are we in Beersheba? Because from Dan to Beersheba, that gives you kind of like, well, we would say from, like, coast to coast. From Dan to Beersheba, you have the coast, the seas over here, so you always remember that. And then you have Jericho and Jordan and all that stuff, and they use those as borders. So, especially when you're reading through this, like, geography kind of helps, at least help me kind of picture what's going on, picture how far are they taking this thing, right? When you get to that story and all that. But, again, it ends up in Kirjat Jirim. It's going to be there for a while. And, you know, obviously, well, eventually, Lord willing, we'll get to 2 Samuel, where Dave is going to bring it into Jerusalem, and that's where it ends up being. That's where God chooses it to be. That's where he wants his house to be. That's where Solomon builds the temple and all of that. But right now, it's kind of in between. It was in Shiloh. The Philistines took it. They got rid of it. And then it went to Beit Shemesh, and then it's over to Kirjat Jirim. It's going to stay there for a little bit, until it's going to go to one other place, and then it's going to go into Jerusalem, and that's where it's at, until we don't really know what happens to it. So, when it comes to the Ark, we really don't know. It just kind of vanished, and that's where Indiana Jones comes in, and he finds it, and then they put it in. It's actually in some, like, warehouse in the United States in Area 51 somewhere, right? I'm joking. No, none of that's okay. But it really doesn't matter. Like, right now, I mean, all those things of the Old Testament, it doesn't matter. All that's done away with anyway. It's all a shadow of the things that come. So, let's end with a word of prayer. The only father we thank today. Thank you for your word, and thank you for the book of 1 Samuel. I pray that you'd help me to preach it correctly, and obviously for us to learn everything we can so we can apply these stories to our lives, Lord, and to learn everything we can from you. And Lord, we just thank you for this story, and just pray that you bless our families, bless this church, and keep us safe and on harm's way. Deliver us from any unreasonable or wicked men. We just pray this word. We have free course in everything that we do, and we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right. Take your song books and turn to song 307. Song 307 in your song books. We'll sing Jesus Calls Us. If you would stand, we'll sing song 307. Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our lives While restless see, day by day His sweet voice soundeth Saying, Christian, follow me Jesus calls us from the worship Of the vein holds golden store From each idol that would keep us Saying, Christian, love me more In our joys and in our sorrows Days of toil and hours of ease Still he calls and cares and pleasures Christian, love me more than these Jesus calls us by thy mercies Savior, may we hear thy call Give our hearts to thy obedience Serve and love thee