Wednesday, September 16, 2015

I Samuel 5: God vs. Dagon

I love the veiled message of I Samuel 5!  Even when His people are defeated militarily, God is greater than any of the false gods of the surrounding nations.  Here the Philistines are rejoicing at their great victory of the previous chapter in defeating the Israelites and capturing their "god" (i.e. the Ark of the Covenant).  But what happens next shows that the Lord is well able to defend Himself and guard His name.

Certainly the Israelites must have lamented that their Ark fell into enemy hands.  How could such a thing have happened?  What would be the fate of the Ark now that it was controlled by the despised Philistines?  Who would look after the Ark now?

Well, the Philistines sure have grand plans for their war trophy!  Taking it to Ashdod, they install it in their pagan temple dedicated to their god Dagon.  The next morning, however, the statue of Dagon has fallen down and is lying on its face before the Ark.  Hmmm....interesting sign there, isn't it?  Hastily, the Philistines set their idol back up.  The second morning, however, things are even worse.  The trunk of Dagon is back on the ground, and this time his head and hands have been cut off and are sitting on the threshold.  Hilarious!

Not only that, but a plague of tumors breaks out against the inhabitants of Ashdod.  Clearly they are not strong enough to maintain holding the Ark there.  So the Ark is moved to Gath - where the same thing happens!  After the citizens of Gath are plagued with an outbreak of tumors, they move the Ark on to Ekron, whose residents are not at all happy to see the Ark come to them.  The realization starts to sink in to the Philistines that their entire nation cannot handle having the holy Ark among them; what they thought was a blessing has turned out to be a curse.  God didn't need the Israelites to defend His Ark - He is more than capable of watching out for Himself.

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