SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 6
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but 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.” [1 Samuel 6:3] One of my theories is that the evidence for God, and for what God says, is clear, even to non-christians. In my conversations with non-christians, I am often struck by how they get something (like non-violence or forgiveness or mercy) better than some of us christians. In today’s reading I marvel that the Philistines sense the need for a guilt offering, even to a foreign god. They’ve learned to respect God. Notice how the people of Beth Shemesh , Israelites who know Moses’ teaching, forget that the ark is not to be touched by anyone but levites – and open it up for a peak: But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. [1 Samuel 6:19]. They had forgotten to respect God.
These incidents remind me of how Jesus was also struck by how non-believers seem to figure it out quicker than believers: When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” [Matthew 8:10]. Our tendency is to think higher of ourselves, and lesser of ‘outsiders’. We act as if we know better, while we shake our heads at non-christians for the silly or sinful things they say and do. But I suspect that God is more frustrated with believers, who ought to know better; and more hopeful of non-believers, who still show evidence of insight and goodness.
God is speaking to all people. His Spirit is working among all people. No person is without the evidence and grace of God. Like the Philistines, without the law of Moses, they soon figured out that God was real, and powerful, and merciful. Like the wise men, they were able to find Jesus through the stars.
Evangelism is not bringing God to the ungodly. It is joining God Who is already at work in the world, modelling the God way among those who already sense God. It is not just telling others about God, but listening to how God is speaking to/through them. We can learn from them as well. Maybe the people of Beth Shemesh could have learned respect for God from their neighbours, the Philistines.
PRAYER:
Lord, may I see evidence today of You at work around me, in people who may not know You personally, yet seem to know You intuitively.