I Samuel 6:9
“The Message – If it heads straight back home to where it came from, toward Beth Shemesh, it is clear that this catastrophe is a divine judgment, but if not, we’ll know that God had nothing to do with it—it was just an accident.”
“If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-Shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”
The Philistines’ diviners told them how to return the ark. Put it on a cart with five gold tumors and rats, pulled by heifers with calves. If the heifers continue pulling the cart towards Israel, abandoning their calves, it means God was behind it. The method was appropriate to the Iron Age. God, in his mercy is giving this pagan nation clear evidence of his power, as if he was saying, “Look at me.” He made provision in the law for foreigners joining the Hebrew Nation. There was room in his embrace for all. The diviners got the cure right. They completely missed the message.
Lord, how am I missing your message? Where am I blinded by procedure? Warn me when my vision drifts from you. Please, keep my line of sight clear, to true truth.