Introduction This is the middle chapter of the three chapters that deal with Ark of God; chapter 4 recorded it s capture; chapter 5 proves that God is not powerless; and chapter 6 records the story of the Ark s return. In chapter 4 the glory of God departed from the Temple. In chapter 5 God defends His holiness before the heathen Philistines and in chapter 6 God defends His holiness before the people of Israel. In chapter 7 Samuel will call the people to repent so that they can be delivered. In chapter 5 we find the Ark of God in exile. The children of Israel may have well been wondering if God had somehow lost His power. The Philistines were about to find out. Separate And Holy 1 Samuel 5:1; Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. The Philistines had five principle cities; (1) Ashdod; (2) Gaza; (3) Ashkelon; (4) Gath and (5) Ekron. Ashdod lies about 3 miles from the coast; directly west of Jerusalem. The tell of the ancient site is about 3 and one half miles south of the modern city. It has about a twenty acre acropolis and and a lower city of about one hundred acres (IVP Bible Background OT; p.287). There s gold (treasure) in them thar hills! 1 Samuel 5:2; When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. Ancient temples often featured a holy place. For ancient peoples; placing the relic or the statue of an enemy s gods into your god s temple; was proof that your god was superior to their god. This was the Philistine s way of saying; our god Dagon is greater than your God Jehovah or Yahweh! In the Middle Eastern pantheon Dagon was the principle god of the Philistines; he was the supposed father of Baal, the god of the storm. Some scholars believe the Philistines adopted this god when they came to the new land. Some scholars have suggested that Dagon represented the harvest (grain). For the people of Philistea; their chief god was the god of the economy. In their world; grain was the source of life and continued existence. Their motto; its the Harvest stupid. 1
By placing the Ark of God in the Temple of Dagon it was their way of saying that Jehovah is a prisoner, captured by Dagon! His inferiority has been demonstrated on the battlefield; and now He is no more than Dagon s servant; attending Dagon in his temple! In the ancient world it was believed that deities had certain powers; that each deity had a certain sphere of influence; and that influence was powerful in a certain area or region, or city. In Dagon s temple; you would think that Dagon reigned supreme; in the heart of Philistine territory. We sometimes think the same way. You would think in Saudi Arabia or in Iran the Muslim deity reigns supreme. You would think that in Salt Lake City the god of Mormon reigns supreme. Yet the mere symbol of God s presence; of Jehovah or Yahweh; is enough to topple the false god. Israel was a weak and divided nation; but Israel s God is self-existent; transcendent, eternal, omnipotent; immutable, omniscient, wise, sovereign; faithful and loving. Sovereign and Omnipotent 1 Samuel 5:3; And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. Imagine that! A god that falls down; a god that needs human beings to set it in its place again. That is the picture of every dead idol and man made god. False gods are fallen gods. It is not easy to relinquish an inadequate understanding of God. Even today when our little gods fall, our first instinct is not to abandon them but to prop them up again. The prophets constantly reminded Israel (and us) that the gods we make are always impotent when they face the living God (The Communicator s Commentary; Kenneth L. Chafin; p. 59). Like our government; we thing somethings are too big to fail. We pursue a personal bail out plan to keep the false gods working. Even Christians sometimes tell themselves lies about. The true and living God is able to take care of Himself. 2
1 Samuel 5:4; And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon s torso was left of it. The repeated falls of Dagon was supposed to send a message; Yahweh is not defeated, inferior, subordiate or about to suffer humiliation. Cutting off the hands and head and feet of the idol indicates destruction. The head of a defeated foe in the ancient world was meant to be proof of death! The cutting off of hands was a way of counting casualties. The Lord does not just humiliate His enemies--he mutilates them! Remember what this idol is! It is a manufactured object! Idols are lifeless, powerless, and have one destiny--destruction! Don t you find it interesting with all the things the Philistines could worship; the one thing they refuse to worship is the true and the living God? The Philistines continue to give themselves permission to believe god is whatever you want him to be! Idols are powerless to help us in hardship; why do we constantly seek help from those things that are not God; in financial distress, sickness, accident, broken promises, depression, loneliness, guilt, temptation, death. Only the true and living God can deliver us and preserve us in the midst of trial and temptation. This is why the Lord demands two things from us; that we have absolutely nothing to do with false gods and idols; and that is why the Lord demands that we acknowledge Him, the only true and living God. My soul thirsts for God; when shall I come and appear before God (Ps. 42:2). 1 Thessalonians 1:9; For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 1 Timothy 2:5; For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 1 Samuel 5:5; Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagons house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. The threshold was typically made of a single stone that spanned the doorway, raised slightly from the level of the door. Sockets were cut into the outer edges of the threshold on which the gates or door swung. The height of the threshold would prevent the doors from swinging out. Entry ways were often considered both sacred and vulnerable. Superstitious belief held that stepping on the threshold would allow demons that haunted the entryway to gain admission. Perhaps that was the preferred explanation among the Philistines for Dagon s troubles (IVP Bible Background OT; p.287). 3
The rituals and the superstitions of the Philistines have disappeared into history. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 1 Samuel 5:6; But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. Contrast the headless, handless, lifeless, useless god of the Philistines; with the mighty hand of the living God. The Lord will not only humiliate the god of the Philistines; their transgression brought judgment on the Philistine people. Remember when the Philistines captured the Ark of God; and arrogantly treated the Ark of God as though he were just one among many gods; they invited the judgment of God. Bible teachers have speculated on the nature of this plague. Some far fetched ideas include radiation poisoning. Some believe the Bible is describing the symptoms of bubonic plague. Inflamation of the lymph glands, in particular the glands in the groin; others think it a plague of tumors; perhaps severe hemorrhoids (see verse 9!) resulting from dysentery. Dagon was humbled; and now the men have also lost their dignity. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew text adds; And in the midst of their land rats sprang up, and there was a great death panic in the city ). 1 Samuel 5:7; And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god. These ancient people were able to see what so many refuse to see today; rebellion, transgression, mocking, insulting the true and living God leads to judgment. 1 Samuel 5:8; Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, 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 away to Gath. So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. We are not sure of the government system of the Philistines. The rulers of the cities may have operated along the lines of a coalition of city states. Gath is the Philistine city located closest to Judah. The city was located in the Valley of Elah. The Valley of Elah is one of the principle passes that separate the coastal plains from the hills of Judah. If the Ark of God goes to Gath; and there are no ill consequences; the leaders conclude all these calamities must be mere coincidence. 4
1 Samuel 5:9; So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them. Oh no, it is not a coincidence. 1 Samuel 5:10; Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people! 1 Samuel 5:11; 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 back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. Does God know what is happening? Spurgeon; I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes,--every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens,--that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses,--that the creeping of an aphid over a rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence, and the fall of the sere leaves from the popular is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He who believes in God must believe this truth. Some people accused Spurgeon of fatalism; but that is an altogether different doctrine. Fate says the thing is and must be; so it is decreed. But the true doctrine is--god has appointed this and that, not because it must be, but because it is best that is should be. Fate is blind, but the destiny of the Scripture is full of eyes. God does not do things in a hap hazard way. God does not act by chance. All God does; He does with a purpose. Fate is stern and has has no tears for sorrow; but God s providence is kind and good and on this we can safely rest. Do you mean God is responsible for evil? No. When we use the term responsible we often mean accountable. God is not accountable to anyone. Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him (Psalm 115:3). When we fight against nature or fight against disease are we fighting against God? The answer is no--because God is not nature and God is not disease. Christianity is not paganism or pantheism; the belief that God is all and in all; in fact nature is given to us so that we might subdue it. Our original marching orders from God where fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on 5
the ground (Gen. 1:28). After the fall--we battle--thorns and thistles; we war against nature; we earn a living by painful toil and the sweat of our brow. 1 Samuel 5:12; And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. Today critics and skeptics look for other causes to explain the events that took place on the ancient coast of Israel. Bubonic plague; swept in and the people of Israel that the God The Lord judged the people of Ashdod with tumors. The Scripture describes the scene; judgment fell on Ekron; the cries went up, death and panic filled the city; God s hand was heavy on the city; the cry went up to heaven. This cry created a call for the leadership of the Philistines to return the Ark of God to its rightful place. The hand of God will fall upon the unbeliever, and the false worshippers of this world. It is a hard but true message. Often people are judged in this lifetime. For those who escape the judgment and discipline of God on the earth; they will one day have to face God. There is no escape from the Judgement of God. John 8:24; Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. Conclusion The Lord destroyed the pagan idol and punished the people of Philistia. Coincidence? How are the lords of the Philistines going to get rid of the Ark of God and still maintain some sense of personal dignity; all the while avoiding further personal judgment? 6