Follow that cow

Published 2:40 pm Monday, August 8, 2011

Remember the familiar Bible stories of your childhood? Are there some that you heard so often that you knew them by heart? Among the most familiar stories we might list:

Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Noah’s Ark, Adam and Eve, Loaves and Fishes, the Easter Resurrection and the story of Jesus’ Birth.

I have a great respect for some of the less common Bible stories. Today, I’ve been pondering one such narrative. This story is seldom told and is so over looked that many students of scripture would have to re-read the passage just to be sure of its existence. The story is found in 1 Samuel 4:1-6:16.

It is a story that confirms God’s power to achieve his purposes. It reminds us of God’s sovereign ability and the truth that he has a definite will. Too often in our “plan, fill, and execute the agenda lives,” it seems that the course is completely up to us. Where will I go to school?  Which jobs should I apply for? Where will I live? What will I do with my free time? It is all up to you and me, right? We’re self-made, self directed, goal-oriented, seize the moment individualist right? Maybe and then maybe not.   

Consider the possibility that God doesn’t leave every outcome up to man’s discretion. As humans, we do have the freedom of free moral agency but this story challenges us to consider the possibility that God’s purposes will be achieved, even if he has to use a cow to do it.

We will call our well-overlooked story “Follow That Cow.” It features ancient Israel during the later priesthood of Eli. In this story, the army of Israel was totally defeated and Israel’s national treasure “the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord” was captured by the Philistines.

To put the story into historical context, we note that Eli had been priest and prophet of Israel for 40 years. This was a big job, a job so big that it consumed most of Eli’s time and energy. He hardly had any reserve to keep up with the latest shenanigans of his two wayward sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

If you want a quick profile on these two chaps look back to 1 Samuel 2:12 and read, “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.” This is another way of saying they chose to live as sons of the devil. Ouch! How would you like to read that descriptor on your progress report, a job reference, evaluation, or retirement speech?

 Now if we whole heartily embrace a paradigm of relativism, Hophni and Phinehas are granted adolescent amnesty. Warren Bennis labels it “adolescencia” and describes the condition as a period in which the individual enjoys all the privileges of adulthood and none of the responsibilities thereof.

From this magical perspective we can cover our eyes and lament, “Boys will be boys.” Surely these young scamps were only testing their wings, you know, sowing a few wild oats. But 1 Samuel doesn’t appear to glamorize irresponsibility. We find five of Hophni and Phinehas’ sins listed right there in black and white. (Oh, don’t you hate to hear someone quote; “Your sins will find you out”?)

In addition to the list suggesting that they were sons of Belial, it also says, “They knew not the Lord.” This is the sin of refusing to obey the Lord. Third we see that they made people abhor the offering of the Lord by forcibly taking sodden and raw flesh from offerers contrary to the law (v.13-17). This robbed the offerers of meat that belonged to them. As if robbery was not enough, they proceeded to commit adultery with women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle of worship (v.22). Then last but not least, they refused to obey truth and quit sinning even when they were found out (3:25). Quick cover up your head, troubles coming, I just know it.

But just a moment as we refer back to our list of favorite Bible stories, most of us can recall the Lord speaking to the boy Samuel in the night. Remember the story?  The Lord called Samuel three times and finally gave him a prophecy, which Samuel then shared with his mentor Eli.

If you need to refresh your memory, start reading in 1 Samuel 3:11. Samuel’s was not a message of blessings earned, it was a message of judgment and the reaping of sin and guess who the perpetrators were? Yeap, Hophni and Phinehas.

As we get back to our “cow” story, we read that both of Eli’s sons were killed in the fighting. It is evident that the Philistines’ attack and victory, as well as the tragedies in Eli’s family were a direct result of national and personal sin. Oh, dear I prefer to ignore that reaping and sowing accountability, don’t you?

 Both of Eli’s wicked sons died in the battle of defeat and the story just gets worse. When old Eli heard about the national defeat, the loss of the ark, and the death of his children he fell out his chair, broke his neck and died. Talk about a bad day! This family would have needed a Hospice Swat Team. 

 Quick change the channel, this tragedy stuff is just too heavy. I like happily ever after resolutions, preferably within 60 minutes. I need a little comic relief, let us look into the camp of the Philistines. Ah, victory belongs to the strong. Surely there is fun and mirth for all. The power of God and his blessings associated with the ark were well known even among the Philistines. The victors reasoned that, “You can never have too many gods on your side, we’re in for even more good times.”

They paraded the ark into their own temple and dusted off a worthy location right next to one of their prime gods, a fish/man, Dagon. Over the next two nights the statue of Dagon was toppled and broken. Now having a statue destroyed may represent a reduction in assets but its nothing compared to the next punishment.

First one, then another and then several Philistines noticed the appearance of tumors — “in their private areas.”  No doubt about it, that would definitely focus some attention. Now as your thinking about the prospect of tumors, keep reading and find that the following scriptures help us to know that the tumors were external, bulging masses. Perhaps they were red, feverish, and oozing corruption, all beneath the belt line. No stolen treasure was worth this.

What was the logical Philistine response? “Quick, why should we keep all this good fortune for ourselves? Let us share it with our least favorite neighbors, in Ekron. You remember the ones who rerouted their sewage into our river.” So they put a bow on top of the ark and called UPS. Sure enough, not only did the neighbors develop the same plague of tumors but many also died.

If we could hide behind the drapes in the conference room of the Philistines, we might hear someone say, “The ark of the Lord has been in our country for seven months. I don’t know about you guys but enough is enough for me!” I say, lets get rid of this thing, anybody got a plan?”

A plan was formulated in which a new cart was built and two mother cows were harnessed to it. The nursing calves of the cows remained back at the farm. Then the ark was loaded aboard the cart and the heifers were left without a guide.

Questions must have filled the minds of observers. Would the nursing cows willingly forsake their babies? Where would the dumb animals wander? If the cows chose to leave their babies and went directly to the borders of Israel, then this would prove that God wanted the ark returned to Israel.

Sure enough, we read that the cows lowed as they walked indicating that they very much felt the absence of their calves and that their natural instincts were to turn back toward home. But we also read that the cows didn’t turn to the right nor the left. How can we explain the fact that they found their way directly to Israel without any road signs or a AAA map?

There is more to your future and my future than we know. Be aware as you and I plan and prepare that God does have a will. He prefers that we obey him lovingly and willingly but when we choose otherwise the results can be a very bad day or a very bad seven months. At best it may represent opportunities missed. Ultimately, God’s will doesn’t depend upon our efforts. God’s purposes will be achieved even if he has to use a cow.