What is the meaning of 1 Samuel 6:10? So the men did as instructed The Philistine leaders followed the precise directions given by their priests and diviners (1 Samuel 6:7–9). • Obedience, even among pagans, underscores the universal principle that God honors compliance with His revealed will—compare Israel’s “the Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses” (Exodus 39:42) and Samuel’s reminder that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). • Their action sets the stage for God to demonstrate His power; when humans do what He says, He takes full responsibility for the outcome (Joshua 1:7; John 14:15). They took two milk cows Milk cows were nursing mothers, normally kept close to their calves and unaccustomed to pulling loads. • Choosing these cows created a test only God could pass. Left to natural instinct, the animals would stay near their young. • This mirrors earlier divine tests that required animals unused to labor—such as the heifer with “no yoke” in Numbers 19:2 and Deuteronomy 21:3—highlighting purity and the direct intervention of the LORD. hitched them to the cart The cows were placed under a yoke for the first time and attached to a brand-new cart (1 Samuel 6:7). • A new cart symbolized respect for the holy object it carried, just as later “they set the ark of God on a new cart” in David’s day (2 Samuel 6:3). • By yoking untrained animals, the Philistines acknowledged that only the God of Israel could direct their path—echoing the proverb, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). and penned up their calves Separating the cows from their nursing calves removed every earthly incentive for the animals to head toward Israel. • Their natural pull would be back to the pen. If the cows instead went straight to Beth-shemesh, the Philistines would know the plague’s end came from “the hand of the LORD” (1 Samuel 6:9). • The scene recalls God’s frequent use of unlikely means—whether ravens feeding Elijah (1 Kings 17:4) or a donkey speaking to Balaam (Numbers 22:28)—to prove His sovereign control over creation. summary 1 Samuel 6:10 shows deliberate, careful obedience to God’s revealed instructions, setting up an unmistakable test of His sovereignty. By selecting nursing cows, yoking them to a new cart, and shutting their calves away, the Philistines removed every natural reason for the animals to travel toward Israel. When the cows defy instinct and head straight for Beth-shemesh, all doubt vanishes: the LORD alone directed their steps. The verse reminds us that obedient action, even by those outside the covenant, becomes a stage on which God displays His absolute power and faithfulness. |
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