My Time!

My Time!

After the sacred chest had been in Philistia for 7 months, the Philistines called in their priests and asked, What should be done with the sacred chest and how to send it back "Don't send it back without a gift," the priests and fortunetellers answered. "Send along something to Israel's God to make up for taking the chest in the first place. Then you will be healed, and you will find out why the LORD was causing you so much trouble." "What should we send?" the Philistines asked. The priests and fortunetellers answered: There are five Philistine rulers, and they all have the same disease that you have. So make five gold models of the sores and five gold models of the rats that are wiping out your crops. If you honor the God of Israel with this gift, maybe he will stop causing trouble for you and your gods and your crops. Don't be like the Egyptians and their king. They were stubborn, but when Israel's God was finished with them, they had to let Israel go. Get a new cart and two cows that have young calves and that have never pulled a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take the calves back to their barn. Then put the chest on the cart. Put the gold rats and sores into a bag and put it on the cart next to the chest. Then send it on its way. Watch to see if the chest goes on up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-Shemesh. If it goes back to its own country, you will know that it was the LORD who made us suffer so badly. But if the chest doesn't go back to its own country, then the LORD had nothing to do with the disease that hit us--it was simply bad luck. The Philistines followed their advice. They hitched up the two cows to the cart, but they kept their calves in a barn. Then they put the chest on the cart, along with the bag that had the gold rats and sores in it. The cows went straight up the road toward Beth-Shemesh, mooing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them until they got close to Beth-Shemesh. The people of Beth-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were so happy that they stopped working and started celebrating. The cows left the road and pulled the cart into a field that belonged to Joshua from Beth-Shemesh, and they stopped beside a huge rock. Some men from the tribe of Levi were there. So they took the chest off the cart and placed it on the rock, and then they did the same thing with the bag of gold rats and sores. A few other people chopped up the cart and made a fire. They killed the cows and burned them as sacrifices to the LORD. After that, they offered more sacrifices. When the five rulers of the Philistines saw what had happened, they went back to Ekron that same day.

Lesson to be Learnt:

                The reason behind sending two cows who have calves were that, when we set them they tend to return back to their calves, due to their motherly character. So the Philistines wanted to test and see if their trouble was just a coincidence or that really God of Israel had punished them for taking the Ark. But the cows went right into the land of the Israelites. So they came to understand that it was the hand of the Lord that was against them. Sometimes we think that certain problems/disease/trouble is due to bad luck or ill time. But it isn’t true. God has a purpose for everything that is happening in our lives. Some people call a day good /bad or even say that their time is good/bad. But the Bible says that everyday is made by the Lord and we have to rejoice in it and that our time is in Gods hand. We can’t predict our birth/death. It is in God’s hand to give us life. So let us pray daily and thank Him for the day He has given us and do our best to fulfill God’s purpose in our life.

Psalm 31:15

 (Hindi) मेरे दिन तेरे हाथ में है? तू मुझे मेरे शत्रुओं और मेरे सतानेवालोंके हाथ से छुड़ा।

(Kan) ನನ್ನ ಆಯ ಷ್ಕಾಲವು ನಿನ್ನ ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ; ಶತ್ರುಗಳ ಕೈಯಿಂದಲೂ ಹಿಂಸೆಪಡಿಸುವವರಿಂದಲೂ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಬಿಡಿಸು.

(Mal) എന്റെ കാലഗതികള്‍ നിന്റെ കയ്യില്‍ ഇരിക്കുന്നു; എന്റെ ശത്രുക്കളുടെയും എന്നെ പീഡിപ്പിക്കുന്നവരുടെയും കയ്യില്‍നിന്നു എന്നെ വിടുവിക്കേണമേ.

(MKJV)  My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

(Tamil OV)  என் காலங்கள் உமது கரத்திலிருக்கிறது; என் சத்துருக்களின் கைக்கும் என்னைத் துன்பப்படுத்துகிறவர்களின் கைக்கும் என்னைத் தப்புவியும்.

(Telugu)  నా కాలగతులు నీ వశములో నున్నవి. నా శత్రువుల చేతిలోనుండి నన్ను రక్షింపుము నన్ను తరుమువారినుండి నన్ను రక్షింపుము.