1 Samuel 5:1-6:2
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. 6:1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.”
Introduction
Chapters 4-6 are all one unit, a series of stories about the ark of the covenant meant to teach God’s people about God himself Last week, you saw really two views of the ark…
On the one hand you have the people of Israel who treated the ark like a magic charm. In the eyes of the Philistines, Israel brought out the ark from Shiloh just as any arm would bring out any idol as a kind of lucky trinket, a good luck charm, a secret weapon that will help us in battle. This is, of course, a misunderstanding of God and a misunderstanding of the ark. God would fight for his people. God would win the battle. He is not to be reduced to a little lucky charm. He is to be worshipped, not reduced to a mere object.
The other view of God, held by Eli and his daughter-in-law, treats God and the ark as more than a mere object. Eli and his daughter-in-law understand that such a low view of God and his ark is dangerous. And when the 30,000 men die, they understand it as punishment. But that is not as troubling to them as the Philistines walking away with the ark of God. That little bit of news causes both of them to fall over and die. The daughter-in-law even dramatically names her son Ichabod to commemorate the moment when the ark of God was taken and the glory of the Lord left Israel.
It’s a dark time. Israel retreats, defeated. Thirty thousand men lay dead. The ark has been taken. The glory of the Lord has departed from Israel. It seems God has abandoned his people.
Perhaps this is you? Perhaps there are some here who know defeat, who know dark times, who feel like the Lord has abandoned you. And maybe you even feel like you deserve it. Well, take heart. There’s more to this story… and it might surprise you.
1. God vs. Philistines
Our passage, chapter 5, begins with a setting in verses 1-2. We learn that the Philistines have transported the ark to Ashdod from Ebenezer, and they set it up in the temple of Dagon. Typical. Dagon is god of … fertility, other places, associated with grain, making things grow (the one given credit for the defeat of Samson in Judges 16)
What happens when God is treated like the inferior captive of this idol of Dagon? This is how it works. Prisoner. Trophy. What happens? Dagon falls over. He is humiliated in his own temple.
Look at 5:3. “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.”
The Philistines had no idea who they were dealing with. It is not only Israel who is meant to be learning about God, but the Philistines. You see, God will not be a prisoner to Dagon or to any one else. This is Yahweh, the Lord of hosts (1:3), and as Hannah told us in her prayer: “There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides you” (2:2).
Make no mistake about it. Yahweh, our God, is a holy God. If you think you are going to put him on the shelf next to and idol and that idol is going to withstand him, you are wrong. God’s holiness will not tolerate our idolatries.
Then what happens? The little servants of this mighty god Dagon had to come into the temple and prop him back up. What a terrifying, humiliating, foolish thing. And what happens the next day?
Look at 5:4. “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.”
God defeats Dagon. You see, Israel was foolish to think they should battle the Philistines without God. And so, they tried, ultimately reducing God to a trinket of luck. But God, God does NOT need the Israelite army to defeat the Philistines or their so-called god. His mere presence is enough to destroy Dagon, to decapitate him.
Notice the repetition in verses 4-7.
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.
Hand. God liberates Dagon from his hands, and then turns his own mighty hand against the Philistines. He gives the men in the region tumors. God defeats his enemies, with or without the Israelites.
The rest of the chapter continues with the conflict. The men of Ashdod realize that the Lord God of Israel is destroying them and determine to get rid of the ark. They send it to Gath (verses 8-9). And in Gath, God does the same thing, strikes the men with tumors. They learn their lesson about God, who demands holiness and worship from his people and fights for them, even when they are not there to fight. So they send the ark on to Ekron (verses 10-12). Deathly panic ensues and some of the people die immediately. The remaining men are struck with tumors. And so the conflict comes to a climax. The Philistines realize that without a soldier of Israel so much as setting foot in their territory, the God of Israel has dealt them a mighty defeat. They have to get rid of the ark of God. For seven months, they have been tormented and defeated by Yahweh.
2. What Are We to Learn From This?
What are we to have learned? I said at the beginning that this passage is fundamentally about teaching us something about God. Consider again Hannah’s prayer from chapter 2 (2:2-3a, 9-10).
God will defeat his enemies and defend his people by exalting the horn of his anointed and giving strength to his king. In other words, a victory over God’s people is NOT a victory over God. With or without us, he will defeat his enemies. However compromised we are as a people, this passage demonstrates to the Philistines and to us that our defeats are not to be equated with a defeat of God. He is a mighty fortress.
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing;
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great,
And armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal[1]
Friends, brothers and sisters, this is a picture of the Christian life.
You may feel defeated in this life. Perhaps it is your circumstances. Perhaps you know it is your sin. You feel like the glory of the Lord has left you. He has abandoned you. Just because we are saved, because we believe, because we are part of the people of God, it does not mean that we are not constantly defeated by sin. Perhaps this is you? You know what is right, and yet you keep giving yourself to what is wrong. Romans 7:15. You want to please the Lord, and yet you keep yelling at your wife in anger. You keep being jealous of your friend’s success. You keep having impure thoughts. You keep gossiping. You keep lying. You keep sinning. But remember, the defeat of God’s people does not mean that God is defeated. We may sin, but that does not mean God is powerless over sin. We may compromise, but that does not mean God compromises. Just because we have no control over sin, it does not mean that God is defeated by sin.
Perhaps you are even more like one of the Philistines? Perhaps you don’t have a relationship with God in the first place? For both the Christian and the unbeliever here, the lesson is about Yahweh. He is a God that is powerful, more powerful than any other God. Yes, he requires holiness. He requires us to identify the idols in our lives, the Dagons, anything that stands in the way of our rightful worship of him, and cast them aside. What are your idols? Money? Job? Family? The desire to be married, to have children? The desire to get out of Cuba? Where do you place your hope? In the government? In the Americans? God is powerful enough to bring down any one of these idols. Don’t be surprised when he does.
How? You might be wondering: how does God defeat my sin and destroy my idols? If my defeat in sin is not a defeat of God, how does this work?
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, it has already happened. Just as God once sent his ark into enemy territory to defeat his enemies, so God sent his Son into enemy territory to defeat sin and death. Consider Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Irony. Gospel. When you put your trust in Christ Jesus, you have no need to fear defeat by sin or idol. There is nothing in this world, even the sinfulness of your own flesh, that can separate you from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing.[2]
[1] Martin Luther, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” (1529).
[2] Martin Luther, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” (1529).