Read 1 Samuel 6
Long Reputation
6 “Why do you harden
your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did
they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?”
ONE of the most powerful stories in history is God’s
deliverance of his people from Egypt about 1500 BC. The story of Samuel occurs
around 1100 BC. In that 400-year-span, God’s reputation of power and Pharaoh’s
reputation of futile resistance to God’s power remained intact.
The Exodus
demonstration of God’s salvation is not only for his own people, it is known in
the history of even Israel’s fiercest enemies. What God did in Egypt resonated
400 years into the hearts and minds of wise men. Even though they didn’t
worship God, they had enough wisdom to know God’s power was above all gods and
all the powers of nature. These Philistines understood enough of God to be
fearful of his judgment. Wisely they repented of their sinful act, and they
returned the ark of God to Israel.
Read through this
chapter and see how the pagans tested their belief that God was inflicting a
terrible disease wherever the ark was stored. By yoking previously unyoked cows
who had suckling calves, the natural odds were great against the cows going
anywhere but back to the calf pen. But under God’s authority, the cows delivered
the ark to Israel.
In the history of
the Old Testament, God often acted in foreign lands to demonstrate his
sovereign authority over all the earth. This story is one of many where God
reveals his might and majesty to the known world.
1100 years after
this, Jesus came to inaugurate God’s eternal might and majesty as he called the
world to repent and be saved. That historical event is something worth
remembering.
A Moment’s Thought: What Jesus did on Calvary resonates
eternally.
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