The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD. And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.
(1 Samuel 6:10-16 ESV)
The odds were stacked against this journey. Two cows that had never pulled a load before... leaving behind their calves??? I don't think so. But as strong as the pull was to go to their calves, they went right toward the closest Israeli town, a town of the Levites, who would know what to do with the ark. Everyone was happy - the people of the town who received it, and the Philistines who got rid of it! A clear message was sent: God is God wherever we are, whoever we are. He blesses those who follow Him; He judges those who oppose Him. May we learn the lesson well, and go straight to the truth.
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