Yahweh and Dagon


1 Samuel 5
1 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.”
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.”
11 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.
12 The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

I have to confess my imagination runs a little rampant when I read this story of the Ark of God and the statue of Dagon. I imagine God flicking a little finger and down goes Dagon, or commanding and angel, “Go tip that thing over, would ya?” Or maybe just a little breath from God and down Dagon went. Or perhaps just a thought . . . As you can see, that statue didn’t stand a chance before an almighty God! God was not going to be affronted by having His Ark placed before another god. Of course, then they Philistines went and set their precious Dagon back up, and God knocked it over again; only this time He broke off the hands and the head too! In the warfare of the time, the enemies’ head and hands were often cut off of the defeated foe. They were considered trophies for the victor and helped in getting a “head” count so to speak of the vanquished enemy. Then the Philistines were afflicted by “tumors”. The translation of this word leads in several directions ranging from a type of hemorrhoid to the plague. (The plague is suggested because in the next chapter these tumors are associated with a rat infestation as well.) So not only is their “god” afflicted, now the people suffer as well. Our God is real and He is sending a loud message to everyone that He is not to be taken lightly.

And thus we have our learning point for today – do we take God too lightly? Of course we do! So far, we haven’t suffered a plague, but some of our idols have certainly fallen. (i.e. the stock market, natural disasters, sports and entertainments figures who do not fail to disappoint . . . pick your idol.) With each event, be it personal or national, we need to see that God is speaking to us, declaring His sovereign power over all. He is not to be taken lightly and we do so at our own peril. The people of Philistine had a very concrete (or was it stone) example of God’s power and they heard the message – you don’t mess with the Living God! If something like that were to happen today, we would shake it off as coincidence or come up with some kind of scientific explanation. (While we like to believe that science can explain everything, it can’t.) Our cynical view of the world would take over and we would not see the hand of an all-powerful God at work. At least the people of Philistine saw God’s hand and knew they (nor their god) were a match for His power. Sadly, instead of bowing to the only true God, they sought to rid themselves of Him.

Instead of following the path of Philistines and trying to rid ourselves of a holy God, perhaps we could begin to take Him more seriously and grant Him the power that He deserves in our lives. Instead of watching as He topples our idols, we could set them aside ourselves (with His help) and thus fall in line with His will and His way. Or is it going to take tumors (economic collapse) and rats (natural disaster) to bring us back into alignment with the True God?

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