Where in the world does an expression like “till the cows come home” originate? And what if the cows never do come home? What then? Well, one time they didn’t come home, and people knew exactly what that meant.
The Philistines, archenemies of Israel for many years, had won a great prize, or so they thought. They had captured the Ark of the Covenant in battle, There simply was no greater spoil in this long-standing strife. So proud were they of their prize that the put it on display at the temple of their god, Dagon. After a series of embarrassing incidents with Dagon, a distinctly uncomfortable plague, and a number of deaths, they decided maybe the Ark should return to Israel.
Just to make sure they were not mistaken about the timing and source of this series of misfortunes, they devised a plan that would either verify or falsify their initial conclusion. They placed the Ark on a new cart, along with some peculiar gold objects in a box, and specially selected two cows that had never before had yokes on their necks. Both cows had calves that were still milking. They separated the cows from their calves, hitched the cows to the cart, and pointed them down the road in the direction of Israel.
There is no question what would have happened had these cows just followed their natural instincts. They would have turned right back around and returned to their calves as quickly as they could. But they didn’t! Instead, “the cows went straight in the direction of Beth Shemesh along the highway, lowing as they went. they turned neither to the right nor to the left” (1 Samuel 6:12). There was only one reason those cows didn’t come home, and the Philistines knew it. Instead of following their natural instincts, they were under the direction of God!
I wish that more people were like those cows! Those cows did not turn aside to the right or the left. While that was literally true for them, that language is usually reserved in Scripture to describe one who is being faithful to God and His word. It was what God charged Joshua to do as he took the reins of leadership after the death of Moses, and what Joshua then charged Israel to do near the time of his own death (Joshua 1:7 23:6). It is following one’s own instincts and desires that leads a person to the right or to the left of God’s word.
While God easily overcame the natural instincts of those two milking cows, He does not deal with us in the same way. We have to make the choice to submit to God’s will and follow His direction.
Those cows didn’t come home, and they would up being a sacrifice to God (1 Samuel 6:14). When we overcome our own selfish desires and give our lives over to God, we, too, become a sacrifice – a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1).
–David Deffenbaugh
