Saturday, June 10, 2023

1 Samuel 5:1

1 Samuel 5:1 says, And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.  The Philistines relocated the Ark of the Covenant from Ebenezer to Ashdod, where Dagon’s temple was.  They did not destroy or desecrate it.  Verse two adds, When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.  They then took it into the temple of Dagon and set it up by Dagon’s statue.  They may have thought this would make God under Dagon’s rule.  I once saw a home with a cross over a statue of Buddha, and the homeowner said she just wanted to keep her bases covered.  Of course, God was not in the Ark of the Covenant, nor is He confined to any place today.  Verse three continues, And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.  When the people of Ashdod got up the next morning, the statue of Dagon was face down on the ground in front of the Ark of the Covenant, or of the LORD as it is referred to here.  They returned the statue of Dagon to its place.  They should have gotten the message, that all false gods are going to fall down before the one true and Living God, and the statue was unable to return itself to its place.  I believe this is another reason we don't need statues of God.  They would only be inanimate objects, and we serve a Living God.  Verse four states, And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.  They next morning when they arose, and Dagon was once again face down before the Ark of the LORD, but this time his hands and head had been cut off.  The message should have been becoming clearer.  Verse five adds, Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.  After that, no one, not even the priests of Dagon, would step on the threshold of the temple of Dagon.  They considered it holy according to Matthew Henry, but if it was, it wasn't because of Dagon.  People may consider a lot of places holy today, but if they do, they will not be holy unless God declares them to be.  Verse six continues, But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.  The hand of God was heavy on Ashdod because they refused to heed His warning and still worshipped a fallen idol instead of repenting and turning to Him.  We are told Ashdod was destroyed, and those who survived were afflicted with hemorrhoids as we would call them, and everyone who worships idols will one day suffer spiritually forever.  God has already sent the warning through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.  Verse seven declares, And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.  The Philistines may have thought they had triumphed when they took the Ark, but now they realized that God was going to punish them for attempting to keep it.  Those who believe that they have triumphed over God will always find that they are wrong.  Verse eight adds, They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.  After calling all the lords of the Philistines together, they asked what were they going to do with the Ark of the God of Israel, and it was determined that they would take it to Gath.  Verse nine continues, And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.  Changing the location of the Ark did not change the outcome.  The people who did not die were afflicted with hemorrhoids just as the people of Ashdod had been.  God is not limited in His power just because we change locations.  Verse ten says, Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.  They then took the Ark to Ekron, and the people there were not pleased to have it brought there.  Matthew Henry says since it was sent by the council, they could not refuse it.  The people of Ekron said that the council was out to destroy them.  It must be sad that in some places today that people have no choice in worshipping.  Verse eleven adds, So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.  They again gathered the lords of the Philistines, and asked that the Ark of the Covenant be returned to Israel where it belonged, because until it was, the hand of God was going to be heavy on them.  As long as people today worship idols, and especially if they attempt to make God inferior to those idols, God's hand is going to be heavy on them, spiritually if not physically.  Verse twelve continues, And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.  They stated the fact that the people in the cities where the Ark was kept either died or suffered because of it.  Those who worship idols today might be wealthy in this lifetime, but the hand of God is always heavy on them spiritually. 

No comments:

Post a Comment