Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. Bit if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."This is an interesting demonstration of how all cultures of the time apparently tested their gods. The Israelites have done this sort of thing many times before, with Gideon's fleece being the best known. I wonder if they got the idea from the cultures around them, or vice versa?
Also, it is fascinating to see that they do understand, in the superstitious way, how the scientific methodology works. They think that God is responsible for their afflictions, but aren't positive, so they devise a test. If it is God, then He will guide that ark back to where it belongs. If not, then it will probably go some other way, and they'll know God is no responsible. It is good to see them consider that He is the cause, and I wonder how this affected their thinking on His power long-term? Obviously it wore off within a generation or two, since Goliath obviously had no fear of Him.
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