THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
See 1 Samuel 6:7. It is also stated, "I create peace and calamity" (Isaiah 45:7). Here, what is referred to as calamity includes famine and disease, which many perceive as misfortunes and often label as such. Likewise, the priests and wise men from the five cities, after they had yoked the cows that had not borne calves to the cart and released them to go wherever they pleased, deemed the penalties sent from above as evil, along with the resulting grief and sorrow.
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The apostle writes: To the Jews I became as one of them, to those unfamiliar with the law I became as one without the law, and to those bound by the law, I adapted as one under the law (1 Cor. 9:20-21). God operates in a similar manner; for instance, He guided the Magi not through an angel, prophet, apostle, or evangelist, but rather through a star. By the means they understood, He led them to Him. It is also remarked regarding the cows that bore the ark, "If they travel this way, it is indeed the wrath of God," as assumed by the priests. Were the priests, then, correct? No, rather through their own words, God admonished and corrected them.