A Verse
1 Samuel 5:1-12
When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
A Comment
In this morning’s passage, we get a glimpse into how the Philistines were interpreting their victory over the Israelites. After capturing the Ark of the LORD, the Philistines brought it into the temple of their god, Dagon. One OT scholar noted, “The comparatively small ark is brought as a trophy of victory, point to Dagin’s victory.” In other words, the Philistines believed that they triumphed over Israel because of the superiority of Dagon, their god. But, as the story continues, we learn that what seemed like victory over the God of Israel was actually defeat.
Once the Ark of the LORD was in Dagon’s temple, the people would come to the temple to worship in the morning. On the first morning, the Philistine people go into the temple and find Dagon lying on the ground, facedown before the Ark of the Lord. Initially, it would appear that the people didn’t really understand the significance of finding their deity face down in his own temple before the Ark of the Lord. So, they set their god back up and go on about their day. However, the next morning, they come into their temple and find Dagon’s head and hands cut off, fallen down again.
Dagon’s fallen and dismembered state can only signal one thing: the LORD has killed him. Thus, the point of the story is not the victory of the Philistines or Dagon over the Israelites, but rather the victory of the LORD over the Israelites and the Philistines! Hence, we remember the question that the Israelites asked back in 1 Samuel 4:3, which essentially said, “Why has the LORD allowed us to be defeated?” The answer: the Israelites had not regarded Him rightly. They sought to use the LORD’s presence for their own ends but soon learned that the LORD would not be manipulated.
Furthermore, the Philistines learn a partial lesson here. They learned that the LORD is greater than Dagon. Yet, tragically, instead of turning away from their idol worship to the LORD, they persist in their idolatry and send the Ark of the LORD away. And herein lies one of the saddest realities about idolatry: it blinds us to reality. We might think to ourselves, “If I had been a priest of Dagon and walked into our temple to find our diety dismembered at the threshold before the Ark of the LORD, then I would have abandoned my idolatry!” Yet, that is not what the Philistines did. Instead of repenting, they sent the presence of the Lord away.
As I think about this story, it reminds me of Jesus’ deliverance of the demon-possessed men in Matthew 8:28-34. According to Matthew, when Jesus came into the region of Gadarenes, he was confronted with two demon-possessed men. Jesus delivered the men from their possession and cast the demons into a herd of pigs in the region. You would think that the people of Gadarenes, themselves likely tormented at times by the demon-possessed men, would rejoice in their deliverance and proclaim their faith in Jesus. Yet, this is now what happens. Instead, even after witnessing Jesus’ defeat of the evil spirits in their midst, they “beg him to leave their regions.” In a sense, we see something similar in the Philistine’s response to the Ark of the Lord.
This should teach us that the Lord's presence and power can be perceived in different ways by different people at different times. For some, the presence and power of the Lord might be viewed as a blessing, as a welcomed reality that brings salvation and deliverance in the victory of the forces of evil. Yet, for others, that very same presence brings great destruction. This was surely the case among the Philistines and the Gadarenes.
So, I want to ask us this morning to consider both the blessing and the danger of the presence and power of the Lord. The Lord will not be manipulated. He will not be used as we see fit. Those who regard Him rightly, with humility and honor, will understand His presence and power as a blessing to His people. But those who arrogantly seek to use or commandeer Him will face destruction.
How are you approaching the Lord? Do you approach Him as someone to be used for your own will? Or do you approach Him as the Lord who rules over your life? How you approach Him will impact not only your perception of his presence and power but also the function of His presence and power in your life. If you approach the Lord as a means to an end instead of the End in itself, do not be surprised when what you perceive to be a blessing actually brings great pain and destruction in your life. You approach God as the great God over all, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, or you don’t approach Him at all.
The story of the Ark of the Lord among the Philistines should remind us of this reality. Furthermore, it should remind us of our need to approach the LORD in Jesus Christ, who grants us to boldly approach the throne of grace with the right perspective about who He is and what He does in this world.
A Prayer
Would you pray with me?
A Blessing
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the rulers of the kings of the earth.
The Blessed Danger of the Lord's Presence (1 Samuel 5:1-12)