Let's
continue our journey through the First Book of Samuel. Remember,
these questions are designed to help us interact deeply with the
text, and more importantly with the Author of the text, i.e., God.
They are meant to start up a meditation and a conversation that
begin with God's Word and
lead into a personal encounter with our Lord.
1
Samuel 5
*Why
do the Philistines put the Ark of God in the temple of Dagon, one of
their “gods”?
*What
happens to the idol of Dagon and why? What does this show us about
the relationship between God and idols?
*The
Philistines play a game of pass the buck with the Ark of God; what
does this tell us about human nature?
*What
message is God trying to send
to
the Philistines? Are they understanding it? Why
or why not?
*What
are the Philistines implicitly admitting when they decide to send the
Ark back to Israel?
1
Samuel 6
*In
pagan cultures, guilt offerings were commonly crafted in the form of
whatever was plaguing the people. What
do the Philistine priests and diviners propose
as a guilt offering? What are they suggesting by recommending a
guilt offering in the first place?
*How
do the Philistines look to the past to determine what to do in the
present?
*Are
the Philistines completely certain about what is going on regarding
the Ark and their sufferings? Why or why not?
*What
sign did God give to the Philistines? Why
did He do so?
*How
did the people of Israel respond to the return of the Ark?
*Why
were the people of Beth-shemesh unwilling to allow the Ark to remain
with them?
*How
do we treat the holy things of God? Do
we behave with reverence
or not?
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