"Return from Exile," 1 Samuel 5:1-6:18, Dan Claire

Our fall sermon series is on First Samuel, and today's

message is. About the justice.

And mercy. Of our Lord.

You can find. This passage.

That we're looking at from First Samuel 5 and 6 on page 214 in

the. Black church Bible please.

Follow along and. Let's pray together.

As we begin. What a.

Gift and a blessing it is. Lord, that you speak to us

through Your word. We praise you, for you are not

silent. You are the God who?

Speaks and. You are the God who lives.

And through your life, we find life.

Through your word. We find wisdom and direction for

our. Lives through your spirit.

We find understanding. Fill us, Lord.

So that we may understand and we may faithfully live according to

what? You teach us.

In Jesus name, Amen. So this is a.

Story for Samuel. About how God delivers his

people. Once again.

Out of. Slavery and rescues them from

destruction and gives them a king.

In today's lesson, we find the action some I don't know, 1520

miles. Due West of.

Jerusalem on the coast, The Mediterranean coast in the

Philistine. Seaport of Ashdod where the Ark.

Of the covenant was in exile Israel had been at war with the

philistines, from which we derive the modern name

Palestinian and in this. Case though, it was the.

Philistines who had the better technology?

Of war. And there were no Ironworks in

Israel. So they literally had to beat

their plowshares. Into swords in order to fight.

If you remember from last. Week, the Israelites thought

that they had a secret. Weapon, though they had been

defeated in battle against the Philistines.

But they brought out their secret.

Weapon. To whip the.

Philistines and when they. Did the.

Philistines were terrified. Because it was the Ark.

Of the covenant. Of the God of Israel.

The Philistines by the. Way were the.

Cousins of the Egyptians and the Philistines.

Were terrified. Because they knew what had

happened to Egypt Just a few centuries earlier, Egypt had

been one of the. World's or.

Had been actually. The world's.

Greatest Empires? It had all of the.

Best of everything? They were at the top of the

world, but Israel's God utterly defeated.

Them in. Battle their.

Crops and their. Cattle destroyed their.

Water poisoned their first born sons.

Put to death. And their.

Cavalry. Drowned in the sea the people of

Israel then escaped from. Egypt, where they.

Had been enslaved and they eventually returned to Canaan,

to the promised land carrying God's.

Foot rest the Ark. Of the covenant, but once the.

People of Israel. Settled in the land of milk and

honey, they. Forgot about God?

They didn't treasure. God's Word.

They lived in houses they didn't build.

They drank from cisterns that they hadn't dug.

They became fat and lazy like Eli the Blind.

Fat, cowardly high priest. And instead of obeying the Lord,

they took him for granted and became subject.

To. The Philistines, the cousins of

the Egyptians and everything happened all over again,

suffering huge losses in battle. The Sons.

Of Eli. Hofni and Phineas.

As we heard last week, had this bright idea they could.

Bring out their secret weapon, the Ark of the Covenant, and

that would enable them to defeat the Philistines.

They brought it out as their lucky rabbit.

'S Foot. Even though these men were

wicked and perverse, the Philistines.

Were afraid. But they needn't have been.

Because God. Is not kept on a leash.

No one can rule over him. Not Israel back then, not Israel

today, Not Russia Today, not the United States today.

God is good. But he is not safe.

That day, 30. Thousand soldiers fell in

Israel, Hofni and Phineas. Fell.

And the Ark. Of God was.

Taken into captivity. Into Ashdod, the city.

On the coast, the. City of the.

Philistines. But just.

As God wouldn't allow the ark. To be used as a lucky rabbit's

foot. God also wouldn't allow it to

become a. War trophy.

In the Philistine temple to Dagon.

So look at verse. Three in chapter 5 and this is

where. We pick up the story.

Today, the Philistines. Woke up.

The next morning and they found their God Dagon laying prostate

on the ground. Before the footstool.

Of Almighty God an ominous sign, but maybe it was just a

coincidence maybe there have been an earthquake at night

maybe there had been a mighty wind that had come from the

ocean. So they set him back up and then

they went to. Sleep, but they.

Slept lightly and early the next morning they ran back to the

tomb that is the temple to. See if their God was still

upright, but he. Was not.

He was not. Alive he was.

Dead he had. Fallen again, and this time not

only. Had he lost?

His hands, something that the Egyptians did to their enemies

in battle, cutting their hands off.

But he'd also lost his head. Headless God Dagon.

Without a doubt. The living.

God of Israel had defeated. Dagon in battle, and what's

more, rats had infested. The seaport city of Ashdod.

Rats had come, and with them came plague tumors, hideous

tumors, debilitating, disfiguring tumors on the.

People of Philistia. Living in Ashdod.

So the. Philistines, verse 7.

Said. The hand.

Of God. The hand of.

Israel's God is heavy. Upon us, which is really ironic.

Because they're God. Dagon doesn't have any hands and

that becomes a joke. That goes through a dark joke

that goes through this entire chapter.

As the hand. Of God.

Is heavy upon them again and again.

So they said. Verse 8 We can no longer keep

the. Ark here.

In the Smithsonian in Washington.

Let's send it. South to.

Virginia and get rid of it, let them deal with it.

And so that's what they did. They sent it down.

To Gath, the city of Goliath. And the giants?

No repentance, just crisis management when the art got to

Gath. So did the rats.

And the plague. And the tumors and the hand of

God. It says was heavy.

Upon the people. Of gath.

No repentance, no taking responsibility.

Crisis management again. We don't have room for it here

in Virginia. Let's send it to Maryland.

Let's get rid of it. They can deal with it.

So the Ark made its way to a new town, to Ekron along.

With the rats. And the plague.

And the tumors and the hand. Of God heavy.

Upon them, people of Ekron weren't having it.

Verse 11 they said send it. Back to Israel, for there was

quote a deathly. Panic throughout the whole city

and the hand of God. Was.

Kaboda mode very heavy. Kaboda mode very.

Heavy, just as old Eli a couple of chapters ago.

Fat, lazy, blind. Eli was habode.

He was heavy. And when bad news came of the

Ark being taken away. He was so heavy he fell off of

his stool. And lost.

His head. And his grandson was born, and

his grandson was named EH. Habode, that is, the glory is.

Gone now the hand of God. Kaboda mode.

Is very. Heavy upon the Philistines.

So chapter 6, verse 2. The Philistine kings called a

summit, and they inquired. With.

The same people that. Pharaoh spoke with.

Back in the day, in the time of the.

Exodus, they called. For the priests and the diviners

and asked them what to do and they decided to send the ark.

Back to Israel. On a new wagon loaded with five

tumors and. Five rats.

That makes 10 plagues just retelling this story the same.

Story it repeats. Itself over and over again in

the Old Testament and to make sure.

That all this. Wasn't just coincidence that it

really. Was the heavy.

Hand of God upon them. They they built a.

New wagon and they had it. Pulled by two.

Milk cows, but they pinned up their.

Calves. Behind them and they said.

If this is. Just coincidence, those milk

cows will never. Leave their calves.

Let's see what. Happens and sure enough when

they set the. The cows loose, they took off.

Lowing. All the way back to the

territory of Israel it was. The heavy hand of God upon them,

and the cows went. Straight to bet.

Shemesh The. House of the.

Sun and went and stopped in the field of 1 Yeshua.

Short for Yahushua. Which means Yahweh.

Saves. God saves.

And that's what happened once again.

God. Yahweh.

The one true God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He saved Israel once again. Their leaders had.

Committed atrocities in his name.

Hofni and Phineas molesting the girls in the temple.

Justice required. That they be punished, but this

time instead of the people going back into.

Slavery. Yahweh.

Did it himself. He went into.

Exile for his people. In His mercy and grace, He

became their. Substitute.

He paid the price for their. Freedom.

He took their punishment upon himself.

He allowed his ark, his sacred footstool, to be.

Humiliated in defeat, carried off into bondage and set.

Before a worthless, stupid idol. His punishment?

For his. People's salvation when our.

Kids were little. We used to.

Do a lot of wrestling. I don't do that anymore because

now I'm afraid of them. But we.

Used to do it. And when we would do it, you

know, we'd get on the floor and they would bash my head in with

pillows and they would smother me with cushions and they would

pin me down to the ground. And then I would stand up and

take them and throw them on the sofa one at a time.

You know, because it was never really ever.

A fight, right? There was no question who was

stronger back then, and in one sense that's.

The way it is. For Almighty.

God also. In every one of these fights.

Through the whole. Old Testament.

He truly is omnipotent. None of these.

So-called gods. Or any match for him?

They're a joke. Every single time.

The plagues. Back in Egypt.

Tell this story so well. Because it's 10 plagues and it's

10 gods. You know the 1st.

Plague is the. Nile River God and God defeats

that one, and then he. Defeats the fertility.

God and then the crops God all the way to the ninth plague

where he defeats the sun God Rah.

The greatest God of. Egypt.

The only one that is left in the 10th plague is Pharaoh himself,

the house. Of Pharaoh.

And in the 10th plague a. Decisive blow a.

Crippling blow is. Dealt to the House of Pharaoh.

And God shows just in that story that none of them are a match

for him. And over and over again in these

stories, we find the same thing happening.

Every other God who does battle with Yahweh loses because.

It's never a real fight. Only the Lord, the Maker of

heaven and earth, is alive and omnipotent.

But over. Thousands of years and hundreds

of pages in the Old Testament. All of Yahweh.

'S magnificent victories do not cure the underlying problem, do

they? They only treat the symptoms

rather than the disease. For it's our hearts.

That are rotten they're. Idol factories, they're.

Fountains of sin. As Jesus says out of the heart.

Come evil thoughts. Murder, adultery, sexual

immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

These are what defile us, Jesus says.

And washing our hands won't cure it.

Sin is encoded into our operating systems.

There's no remedy for it apart from death.

And so in the fullness of time. God did.

The unthinkable. He became a man named Yeshua.

God saves. And he laid aside his

invulnerability and came. To save us by.

Putting on human flesh and becoming.

Fragile. Vulnerable Diable, he humbled

himself and became mortal. Like the rest of us.

He gave up his omnipotence and became subject to tyrants like

Herod and Caesar and living his entire life on the run all the

way up until he was delivered into captivity.

Before a particular. Knucklehead named Pontius Pilate

Spineless. Weak, soft.

Just like Eli the High Priest. When Pilate interviewed him.

Yeshua God saves. He's answered truthfully, he

said. My Kingdom is not of this world,

but I have come into this. World to bear witness.

To the truth and everyone who is of.

Truth. Will listen to my voice and

Pilate said. What is truth Soft?

And weak and then Pilate. Brought Yeshua.

Before the crowd and he said to the chief priest, find no guilt

in this man, but they. Shouted Crucify him.

Crucify him. So what did Pilate do?

He consented, He gave into their demands, and he handed.

Yeshua, God saves over to be crucified.

And at any moment the Lord. Could have called.

For the hand of. God to fall.

Upon Pilate and all, the Roman Centurions and all.

Those who were. Torturing him he could have.

Called for the. Angels to rescue and deliver

him. Just as God.

Had done so many times before. Once again, the hand of God

could have been Kaboda mode. Very heavy.

Upon those people, pilot and all.

His forces, but. If Yeshua had done this.

If he had. Chosen that way out.

It would have spelled our. Certain destruction.

Our hearts would remain rotten. To the core.

And so Yeshua remained instead faithful to His name.

To the very end. The Son of God did not lift His

hand against His oppressors. He laid aside his glory, His

cabode, He laid it. Aside becoming.

Ich abode the glory has departed.

Through Roman torture and God's just punishment upon our

rebellion, our wicked. Hearts fell.

Upon the one person in all of humanity who did not deserve it.

It was his will to be sacrificed for us.

That's the only way it could have happened, and the Jewish

high priest unwittingly made way for it to happen on the very

mountain where centuries. Earlier.

Abraham had lifted up a knife to murder his son in sacrifice and.

God spared his. Son.

Jehovah Jireh God provided a substitute.

And promised a substitute. And from that point on, the fate

of all humanity rested upon God, remembering that promise and

keeping that promise. And he did by sending his Son.

As our substitute, God did provide.

And now for. Those of us.

Who make? Jesus, Yeshua, our.

King, we have assurance that we will.

Be. Spared the eternal.

Exile that we deserve, he satisfied.

Eternal justice. For us, so.

That we might enjoy eternal mercy and grace instead.

Now the most important thing that happened.

This past week. Is not what you think.

It's that we forgot. The most important thing that

happened in all of. History We were bought with a

price we. Were ransomed from slavery by

the king, and now we don't belong to any other.

We belong to him and that makes all the difference.

For how we should live. So trust in the Lord with all

your heart, lean not on your own understanding in all your ways.

Acknowledge Him and He will make your.

Paths straight. Whether or not you can see it

right now, God is at work in our world.

He's setting our. World to rights.

Just as he did when he went into exile and Felicia and nobody

could. See what was.

Happening down there in the temple of Dagon, he may give you

or me opportunity to help him in setting the.

World to rights, but be assured of this.

He does not need our help. He can do it.

He can beat his enemies with his hands tied behind his.

Back because they. Ain't got no hands.

His mercies are new every morning, and he meets out.

Justice everyday whether? We are on board with that or not

so. Take a deep.

Breath and relax. Just a little God.

Keeps his promises. He will defeat his enemies and

ransom his people, guaranteed. And this is the God whom we

worship. Don't think for a moment that

you can control him. Though they did not honor him as

God or. Obey His word.

Hofni and Phineas tried to use him as a Talisman as a.

Lucky Rabbit's foot to. Defeat their enemies in battle.

They learned the hard. Way that that doesn't work.

The Philistines also. Thought that they.

Could tame God, they can make him bow down before their own

God, but again it backfired and alleged to their humiliation and

defeat. So don't be fooled into thinking

that you can control him either. He's good, but he's not safe and

he's not subject to our bidding. He does not serve any man, no

matter how important, though many still fancy.

That he does. Though many haven't read these.

Stories very closely. Humble yourself then in the

sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Do not command Him to. Follow you rather take up your.

Cross daily and follow him. That's what he.

Invites you to do remember he died.

For you. So that you might live for him.

That's the exchange. Follow him.

Take up. Your cross and follow him.

Paul says that God. Demonstrates his love for us in

this, that while we were still sinners.

While we. Were still his enemies.

Christ died for us so that we might no longer be slaves to

sin. With slaves to.

Righteousness that we might be friends who live for him.

That is the most important thing that ever happened and that's.

What should be? Top of mind for us every.

Day, so stop. Training your eyes on other

leaders, on other voices. Turn your eyes upon Yeshua.

Watch him. Listen to him, he is the one who

saves. You've heard it said Love your.

Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But he says to you. Love your enemies and pray.

For those who persecute. You so that you may be children

of your Heavenly Father, he says.

Love one another, love one another.

Paul writes. Love one another.

As Christ. Has loved you and walk in love.

As Christ loved. Us and gave himself up.

For us, A. Fragrant offering and.

Sacrifice to God if Yeshua did this.

For us, then we can love one another.

Do as he says. Do not swerve to the right or to

the left. But turn your feet from evil and

walk in his ways. He will lead you out of exile.

He will lead you. To home with him he alone is.

Worthy of our praise, Let's. Pray to him.

Together. Thank you Almighty God.

For such a. Great salvation and thank you.

For the hope that we have. In you alone we praise and

worship. You we bow before you as our.

Rightful King, we renew our love for you, and through you, our

love for one another. In the name of the Father and

the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.