1 Samuel 6:10–12

Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

Is it significant that the cows were lowing as they went? And what does “lowing”  mean anyway? Other than the song “Away in a Manger,” who uses the word lowing?

First off, if inspired scripture mentions that they were lowing as they went, it must mean something. Every word in scripture has a purpose. As for the meaning of lowing, it’s somewhat archaic, but it just means normal cow sounds. It’s almost synonymous with “mooing” except that if the passage said “mooing as they went” it would carry the sense of constant (i.e., excessive) mooing.

So, scripture mentioning that they were lowing as they went just means that the cows were acting normally. They were walking towards Beth Shemesh, not in a hurry or in a state of panic or doing anything else unusual.

So, the lords of the Philistines watch all this from a safe distance and see the cows head to Beth Shemesh in a completely unnoteworthy manner. They see this as confirmation of the priests and diviners’ theory that the “great harm” was from the LORD.

But note that this does not cause the Philistine lords to get a clue. What happens is in perfect accordance with their polytheistic worldview.

They conclude that the LORD (or maybe just the ark) is a god, not the God.

Worldviews can be a tricky thing. Everyone has one, and our understanding of all things is colored by it.

The tricky bit is that it’s hard to communicate with someone whose worldview is different from your own. You have to speak their language for them to understand. If what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense in their worldview, your message either won’t be understood or will be misunderstood.

This is especially important in evangelism. Our view of how the world works is radically different from the non-believer’s worldview. Thus, our attempts to communicate can go wildly wrong.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. — 1 Corinthians 1:18

One of the keys to effective evangelism is listening. It takes time to figure out someone’s worldview and learn to speak in their language.

This is what Paul was doing when he spoke to the people of Areopagus in Acts 17:22–34.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.