1 Samuel 5:1-12 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 4:12-22. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 5:1-5 (NIV)
1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.
3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.
4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.
5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
Verses 1-5: To me this is one of the funniest sequences in the Bible. Having captured the Israelites’ ark of the covenant, the Philistines took it to Ashdod, a major Philistine city, and placed it in the temple of their god Dagon. They put the ark beside the statue of Dagon (who looked like a half-man, half-fish and whose name apparently means “little fish” — he was the original “Little Mermaid”!) Yet the next morning, the Dagon statue was face-to-the-ground bowing before the ark (v3)! This happened a second time the next morning, except the second time the Dagon statue’s head and hands were broken off and placed at the entrance of the temple (v4). Interestingly, rather than treating this event as proof that Dagon was not a real god and that they should worship the Lord instead, worshipers of Dagon would avoid stepping on the temple entrance as a show of respect to Dagon (v5) and chose to move the ark of God somewhere else (v8).
What can we learn from this?
1. The Lord is greater than all other gods. Remember that the ark of the covenant was just a gold-plated box, a symbol for the presence of God. Yet to show that the Lord reigns supreme over all spirits, God caused the Dagon statue to bow down to the ark, like a criminal bowing down to a police badge. Today, God has given us something much greater than the ark. We have Jesus. Jesus is more than a symbol for God’s presence. He IS the presence of God. By His Holy Spirit living in us, we have access to Jesus wherever we go. Jesus’ name is “the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
So today pray with confidence knowing that when you pray in the name of Jesus, you are praying to the One who is greater than every spiritual power.
2. If there is an idol in your life, something that you have been bowing down to other than God (such as a worry, a disturbing thought or something that is good but has taken God’s place in your life), the best thing you can do is bring it into the presence of God. Confess your sins to Him, spend time in God’s presence, and take the healthy steps you need to take until your idols bow to Jesus. Victory over idols is won in the presence of God. So spend time in the presence of God today!
1 Samuel 5:6-12 (NIV)
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors.
7 When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god.”
8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?” They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.
10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.”
11 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy upon it.
12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Verses 6-12: Here we see that whenever the ark was brought into a city occupied by Israel’s enemies, the people in that city would suffer an outbreak of tumours. This happened in two Philistine cities, Ashdod and Gath. Eventually the Philistine rulers decide that they need to return the ark to the Israelites, lest more Philistines suffer and die.
What can we learn from this? It is much better to have God as your friend than as your enemy. The Bible says that all of us were enemies of God, constantly fighting and rebelling against Him with our sinful behaviour. As God’s enemies we didn’t stand a chance and could only expect suffering and death at the hands of God’s wrath. But God turned us from His enemies into His friends when He sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. Jesus received God’s wrath in our place, so that we God’s enemies could be forgiven. As Colossians 1:21-22 says, once we were enemies of God, but now God has reconciled us to Him through Christ’s death on the cross to present us holy in God’s sight, free from accusation. Because of Jesus, instead of God’s wrath, we get God’s mercy. Instead of disease, we get God’s healing. Instead of death, we get His life. What an amazing God we serve.
Lord Jesus, I bow before You today. You alone are God and You reign supreme over every evil spirit. You are greater than all things. Come and be glorified in me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
