1 Samuel 3-6

What happens when God's people cry out for mercy? God intervenes. What happens when those who are not God's people cry out for mercy? That is the situation of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 5:12. After seven months they figure out that the God of Israel was afflicting them because of their irreverent action with the ark of his covenant. The Philistine's received no help from their idols so it seems that they began to cry out to Israel's God for help. How did God respond? He gave their leaders a plan to return the ark to the covenant people. The really great news is that God shows it take very little faith in him for him to demonstrate his power ina big way. The saddest part of this story is that the Philistines missed an opportunity to know God more. When the cattle took the ark back to Israel they could have sought God out. They could have continued to pray to the one who was greater than their idols. But they didn't. In 1 Samuel 6:16 we see that the Philistine leaders watched the reunion between God people and the symbol of his covenant with them. The leaders didn't linger and wonder. They turned and went home. Their "comfortable" gods were back in control, and life could go back to normal. What a sad commentary on human nature.
Stuart