the parallel
Synonym divine touched in the life of Obed-Edom and Simon Peter.
A pattern of the hand of God showing His goodness from the start of these two man.
From the introductory, God needed a holding place/space:
Obed-Edom- God/The Ark needed a temporary place to be hosted.
Peter- Jesus needed a boat for a temporary space to preach.
Obed-Edom- it seems by chance, happened to landed with Obed-Edom receiving the Ark
Peter- then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s (Luke 5:3a)
Obed-Edom- God blessed his whole family as long as The Ark remains
with him.
Peter- Jesus blessed Peter with a net breaking load of fishes.
The Result:
1 Obed-Edom and Peter chose to follow God whole hearted after experienced God’s goodness.
2 Obed-Edom and Peter did not remain at where they were, but God promoted them to a certain position, allowing them to testify about Him effectively.
Interestingly, at that point of time i believed both men carried out their actions/duty without much faith or expectation; for Obed-Edom maybe fearful because someone just died touching the Ark. Peter maybe out of mere respect for Jesus as a teacher, let down the fishing net after hearing his teaching.
Here is my observation/thoughts:
When God needed something, He will not take advantage of/short changed the person but rewards him handsomely after the event/period of usesage, plus (here is the best part) even when the person responded with little trust or just mere out of respect for God.
God is a Good God, and God is a Rewarder.
Having experienced God personally, we usually do not remain the same- there will be a respond; the Goodness of God leads you to *repentance (*change of mind with understanding) (Rom 2:4)
Most of us, including me, would lingers/stop at point 2 but:
-If/when we press in further with God; most of such people in the bible ended up a vessel whom God used (literally) nightly, greatly or at least leaves an impact on an event, place or lives.
Having said, it could be the same case for Joshua the son of Nun. Joshua before becoming the Joshua of the bible we know, he was a helper to Moses but in one occasion, for some reason he was found remaining inside the tabernacle of meeting after Moses return to camp (Ex 33:11).
Interestingly, God choose him after Moses passed on. Why was Joshua chosen and not the other leaders? not even Caleb whom God also consider to have a different spirit from the spies.