"When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, 'What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place." (1 Samuel 6:1-2) It took seven months for the Philistines to reluctantly conclude that they weren't going to be able to keep what they considered the best war trophy of all time. It took months of illness and death in three cities before they believed possession of the ark was causing the judgment of the Lord to fall upon them. Now that they realize they have no choice but to return it, they ask their own religious leaders for advice about handling this religious object.
Surprisingly, these pagan priests and ministers of divination render very wise advice. Perhaps they should have been consulted much earlier on and then the death toll in Philistia might not have been so high. The heathen religious leaders of the Philistines display far more wisdom than their political leaders did. "They answered, 'If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it back to Him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to Him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why His hand has not been lifted from you.'" (1 Samuel 6:3) The men believe that the God of Israel exists, though they do not believe He is the only god. They acknowledge that the Philistines have offended Him by the taking of the ark and they understand that the plague in Philistia is a result of their possession of the ark. It must be sent back to Israel but not without an offering that they hope will appease the Lord.
The type of guilt offering they will recommend sending is not the type of guilt offering the God of Israel accepts for atonement of sin, but the Philistines are not repenting of sin in the manner in which we understand repentance. They're not asking Him to save their souls. Their offering is just an admission that they've offended Him and it's a request that He would remove the plague from them in exchange for the return of the ark. The offering will be of gold and it's the type of offering they might make to their heathen gods in hopes of having a request granted. Still, though, in advising the people to send an offering, the pagan priests and diviners are showing a greater awareness of the power of the Lord and a greater respect for Him than the majority of their countrymen have shown. "The Philistines asked, 'What guilt offering should we send to Him?' They replied, 'Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel's god. Perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.'" (1 Samuel 6:4-5)
Here we learn that the country is being overrun with rats at the same time that the people are suffering from a plague. This is why the theory has so often been put forward that the disease which afflicted the Philistines was the bubonic plague. The "tumors", therefore, would have been the very painful swellings known as "buboes". The religious leaders go on to say something that might, or might not, be a reference to the plague of boils that struck the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. "Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel's God dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?" (1 Samuel 6:6)
The Egyptian plague of boils took place in Exodus 9 when, yet again, Pharaoh refused to let the Lord's people go. Whether or not those painful boils were the bubonic plague is difficult to say, as there is no mention of rats associated with the malady of Exodus 9. The religious leaders of the Philistines may not be saying that Philistia and Egypt experienced the same plague but might simply be issuing a warning like this: "Remember how Israel's God sent a number of plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go? Do you want that to happen here? So far we've experienced only one plague but history tells us that He's capable of sending more than one type of judgment on those who have offended Him. If you persist in hanging on to the ark, more plagues may emerge like they did in Egypt. Every day you refuse to send the ark back is a day in which another calamity might strike us. Our nation could fall. We could all die. Let's take a lesson from what happened in Egypt due to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. Let's send the ark back before anything else happens."
The words of the priests and diviners leave us with no doubt that they and all the Philistines are very familiar with the acts of the Lord on behalf of His people Israel. They know He exists. They know He is powerful. They know He put the numerous gods of Egypt to shame. They know that Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth during the time of the exodus, was almost wiped off the map by the plagues the Lord sent because Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go. If Egypt could not stand before this God, Philistia cannot. And yet we don't find the Philistines experiencing a change of heart where the Lord is concerned; they do not forsake their useless idolatry and turn to Him. The Lord has demonstrated, in ways that cannot be denied, that He is Lord of lords. He has shown that He has all power over the earth He created. Yet the Philistines don't accept Him as their Creator and God. They know a great deal about Him but continue to reject Him. They can never stand before His throne of judgment and plead ignorance of Him or of His holiness and His power and His majesty.
The Apostle Paul spoke about the inability of pagan idolaters (who never forsook their idolatry) to stand before the Lord and plead ignorance on judgment day. He stated that no one who has ever lived can legitimately say that they were given no opportunity to recognize that there must be a God and that He is worthy to be worshiped. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---His eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they glorified Him not as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:18-23)
The Philistines of Chapter 6 cannot say that the existence of God has not been made plain to them. As Paul says, they are "without excuse". They will continue to cling to their images of human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles instead of giving their hearts to the One who created human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles. They are among those about whom it can be said, they "worshiped and served things rather than the Creator". (Romans 1:25) Mankind was created with a need for a relationship with the Creator. When man refuses to worship the Creator, he will still worship something, which means he will serve himself and the carnal desires of the flesh or he will serve some type of idol---whether that idol is literally a graven image or whether it is a substance, a relationship, an ambition, a worldly possession, or things of those natures. But he will be without excuse because God has revealed Himself to mankind.
Even had we not heard of the fame of the Lord, He has revealed Himself to us through the creation in all its wonder and complexity. The very creation itself testifies to the existence of a Creator. And if that Creator is capable of calling the entire universe and everything in it into existence out of nothing, isn't He worthy to be worshiped as God? Isn't He worthy to be worshiped as the only God? For there is no evidence of any other.
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