1 Samuel 5 (Philistines Place the Ark in the Temple of Dagon)

The Judgment on Eli’s House and the Capture of the Ark

This morning we're going to be looking at a short chapter 1st Samuel chapter 5. This is the story of the Philistines and the Ark if you remember from last time the Lord had judged the nation of Israel because of Eli the priest and How he did not restrain his son.

So in preparing for battle with the Philistines Eli's sons Hathnai and Phinehas they decided to go into the tabernacle. Take the Ark of the Covenant from its place and kind of paraded around. Thinking that it was some sort of good luck charm that it would Bring them the victory and of course this was strictly forbidden.

So because of that primarily of course God had already determined to judge them. But between that and their bad behavior up until that point The Lord Punished Israel. They were routed in battle the two men Hathnai and Phinehas were killed the Ark of the Covenant was captured.

And when their father Eli heard about it all when he heard about the Ark in particular He fell over broke his neck and died. At which point the people responded. The glory has departed from Israel. So now in 1st Samuel chapter 5 the Philistines have the Ark of the Covenant.

And what happened. God used a wicked nation Philistia to judge his own people so it's not as if God here's the thing to keep in mind. It's not as if God just because the Philistines won the battle. It's not like God is on their side far from it.

So God punished his own people for their iniquity and now God is going to punish the Philistines because really at this point if you look at it Everybody is defiling the Ark of God and remember the Ark represented God's presence inside was the Two tablets of stone the Ten Commandments Aaron's rod that budded a pot of manna God would appear and he spoke with Moses Above the Ark between the cherubim.

This was the most holy item Israel possessed. And I said that last time I said last week that when we studied Exodus Leviticus numbers and all of those studies are on The YouTube channel you can check those out.

But very very clear that the Ark and the whole ministry of the tabernacle. It was a type or a shadow pointing ahead to the ministry of Christ. So the illustration is this those who would tamper with the Ark?

Those who would corrupt the ministry of the tabernacle and just kind of do whatever they want. Not follow the rules not follow the teachings. That's comparable to tampering with the gospel because the Ark and the tabernacle Represent the ministry of Christ in God.

We know this God takes it very seriously anyone who would Tamper or corrupt the gospel ministry. So with that as background, let's begin reading. This is 1st Samuel chapter 5. It's a short chapter. So Let's read the whole thing 1st Samuel 5 verses 1 through 12.

Dagon Falls Before the Ark in Ashdod

Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the Ark of God they brought it into the house of Dagon and said it by Dagon. 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. 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. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon Nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 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 The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us for his hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our God. Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines.

What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?

Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.

So they carried the Ark of the God of Israel away. 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.

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.

They have brought the Ark of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people.

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines.

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 and the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors. And the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The False God Dagon and the Jealous Lord

Okay, so it says that the Philistines they took the Ark of God from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Ashdod was one of five cities of the Philistines where they Obviously had a temple to their primary deity, which was Dagon.

Now remember the Philistines lived on the coast of the Mediterranean and because they lived on the coast their God little G Was the God of the sea so Dagon? He was basically half man half fish. So the Philistines were idolaters.

They worshipped this idol this fish God. But they also worshipped other deities. They worshipped Baal and it was believed that Dagon was the father of Baal. So they sort of would rank their gods from least to greatest which is a very common thing for pagans to do.

Because pagans the heathen have all sorts of deities, right? You think of Greek mythology? They had a god of love. They had a god of war. They would have got a god of this a god of that the Hebrews on the other hand.

From the time of Abraham Isaac and Jacob there was only one God who is to be worshipped and that is the Lord Lord and all capitals if you notice that in your Bible. Capital L capital O capital R capital D.

This is the sacred name of God Jehovah or as people speculate that it would be pronounced Yahweh nobody's really sure. But the biblical authors and translators throughout history, they just rendered this as the Lord.

So the Lord is the one true God. He is the creator of all things. Bale is no God at all Dagon or any other deity they were false it was a death and dumb idol that the people were bowing down to and They had many Gods many idols but for God's people and in reality there is only one God.

That is the Lord and now the Lord is going to demonstrate this. He's gonna make it very clear that Dagon is no God at all. Verse 2 it says when the Philistines took the Ark of God. What did they do they brought it into the house or the temple of Dagon and they said it Right next to Dagon.

So this is a terrible idea. And of course their purpose in doing this is for the idol of Dagon to stand Victorious over Jehovah right that this was the the picture they're trying to set up that. Hey, look our God is greater.

That's what they're saying but the true God because he is the Lord the only God He says about himself I am a jealous God, this is what God told Moses that God is Jealous, the Lord will not give his glory to another so he's not gonna let this fly and By the way, I hope we can all understand that because jealousy the word jealousy has negative connotations today.

But God is a jealous God and this is a good thing. Here's why because he is the creator of all things He is not he is not pleased when somebody gives worship or veneration to a hunk of metal or a carved Image a stone that represents a D.

I mean imagine that Here you have this block of wood That's carved out and to this grotesque figure of half man half fish and there's and this is God. This is God. Can you imagine how God in heaven is looking at this?

That is God. No, no. This is not happening. I will not Give my glory to another so God is a jealous God because he is worthy of all honor and praise. So what does God do? He is not going to allow this to stand, you know No pun intended so verse 3 when the people of Ashdod when they woke up early in the morning They went to the temple and there was Dagon Fallen on its face and the the idol just fell over face down right in front of the ark of the Lord.

What a statement God caused Dagon to fall over as if Dagon was on his face worshiping the Lord. This is a great picture. And of course the ark again, it's symbolic of God's presence. So Dagon is face down prostrate Before the God of the Hebrews.

So when the Philistines see this, I mean, they don't know what happened. I'm sure it seemed odd. I'm sure I'm sure they wondered a little bit like this doesn't look too good, but They do what most people would probably do.

They just assume that Maybe there is a little earthquake or something happened. This is just a coincidence let's just pick the idol back up and that's what they did they took Dagon and Set it in its place again.

But verse 4 says the next day when they rose early in the morning, they went to the temple of Dagon and now Not only is the idol again falling down face down on the ground in front of the ark of God now its head was broken off and its hands were broken off.

Only Dagon's torso was left. Okay, so so now it's clear. This is no accident the God of Israel Knocked him down and cut off his head. So now they're afraid. You see in the ancient world. This is how you made sure an enemy was dead.

You cut off his head later on when Israel faces the Philistines and This part often gets left out of the because this is a Bible story people read to children. This part gets left out sometimes, but if you read the story of David and Goliath, of course, Goliath was a Philistine.

What does David do he uses the slingshot? But once Goliath follows falls over David then runs over he takes Goliath's sword and he cuts off his head so that Sends a message of course to make sure make sure that the person is dead.

What did God do? He cut off Dagon's head? So this Frightens the Philistines they realized that the Lord God of Israel he is The true God not that they worshiped him and and this is true even Today, I think there's a lot of people who realize that God is the true God.

It doesn't mean they worship him in the end times in the tribulation period people are gonna see miraculous signs from heaven. They're gonna believe that the true God of Israel exists the God and Father of Jesus Christ exists.

But what are they gonna do? They're gonna curse him. So just because the Philistines recognize this It doesn't mean they repent and turn to the Lord. No, they're just interested in getting this arc. Let's get this arc out of here because this is not gonna go well so verse 5 says therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor those who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

And of course the term to this day refers to whenever the author wrote for Samuel. But now they're going to regret All of this that they did verse 6 says the hand was heavy up on the people. So not only was their God little G destroyed now, the people of the city are starting to get sick.

They're getting tumors. Okay, so many people they just died. Those who survived had these tumors. We're not exactly sure what it was something like sores. Boils some believe this could have been an outbreak of the bubonic plague.

Which we know is carried by rats and mice or the fleas that were on the rats. This is how it spreads. So the rats are going to be referred to in the next chapter. So that may be what's going on. Either way, it doesn't really matter whether it's the rats that spread it whether it's the plague whether it's something something else something supernatural.

Here's the thing. God is sovereign. This is a plague a judgment from God and we know that the Lord uses both natural and supernatural. The natural and the supernatural to accomplish his will so either way whatever it is the tumors the death God was involved and it was because of the Ark so the Philistines They they figure it out God struck the people the people of Ashdod were getting sick.

They recognized it's because of the Ark. As soon as it showed up in town bad things started to happen. So naturally they want to send it away. So they get together with all their leaders and they say in verse 8 what shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel.

Now it's again overlaid with gold they could have Done all sorts of things to the Ark, but they're afraid they say Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath now Gath. By the way going back to Goliath.

Goliath was from the city of Gath so Ashdod Gath these are all the cities of the Philistines. So they say okay, let's get it out of Ashdod and we'll send it away to Gath. It's like oh gee. Thanks. You know that the people of Gath are gonna appreciate this I mean with friends or countrymen like this who needs enemies so you can guess how this Worked out verse 9 it says so it was after they had carried it away.

That the hand of the Lord was against the city. That is the city of Gath with a great destruction and he that is the Lord Struck the men of the city both small and great and tumors broke out on them. Therefore.

Now the people in Gath, okay, what now what do we do with the Ark? So it says they sent the Ark of God to Ekron another Philistine city so it was as the Ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites they cried out as soon as they saw this because no doubt word had spread as soon as they saw the Ark.

Coming towards them they cry out and they say they have brought the Ark of the God of Israel To us to kill us and our people. I Mean this makes no sense at all. Oh, let's send it to another Philistine city.

People there start dying at the great destruction. Well, let's send it to another one of our cities. So that city can be destroyed this makes no sense. So the people don't learn and what's really curious is that they know the power of the Lord.

You remember when God? Laid waste to the kingdom of Egypt and that was a few hundred years ago. But the word of that had spread far and wide it was legendary. The Philistines knew and heard those stories.

They knew that the God of Israel was far more powerful than their God and they knew Egypt that was destroyed. It was far more powerful than the Philistines. So, you know, what are they thinking? And what do they think they're gonna do if the Lord did that to Egypt what is he gonna do to us?

So they just keep sending the Ark from city to city and it just wreaks havoc and destruction and people are dying. And this is their own people that are dying. So This is insanity. But I think the application here and starting to wrap up this study.

Application is that when people are in sin remember the Philistines are the enemies of Not just the Israelites. They're the enemies of God's people. Therefore. They're the enemy of God. They are rebelling against the God of heaven.

So the application is when people are in sin when people are rebelling against God. Their behavior often is irrational. People who are in sin what they do often doesn't make any sense. Resisting God in and of itself is Nonsensical.

Do you really think you're going to win? Do you really think this is going to turn out? Well, it won't it can't. Yet people do it and when people resist God when people rebel against God, here's the thing.

They're only harming themselves and Others and that's what we see with the Ark. They are harmed. They send it to one of their own cities. They are harmed. They send it to another one of their cities. They're only harming themselves and others and that's what sin does so in making application to the gospel.

Because remember the Ark of the Covenant it represents the gospel ministry. The mercy seat on top of the Ark that's where the blood was applied representing the blood of Christ when people Tamper or mess around with the Ark.

It's a symbol of people messing around and tampering with and corrupting the gospel. I Said last time the Lord has a zero tolerance policy concerning this. God will not be mocked. Galatians chapter 1 the Apostle Paul talks about those who would corrupt the gospel.

Whether you add something to it, whether you take something away from it. Anyone who preaches any other gospel adds to the gospel tampers with the gospel? Paul says let them be anathema even if it's an angel from heaven.

So God takes this very seriously. 2nd Thessalonians 1 says when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in Flaming fire. He will take vengeance on those who do not know God and On those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's how serious God takes all of this. Now, I know there's somebody somewhere thinking. Maybe they don't know any better. Maybe they're misguided, but there's somebody thinking that you know, the Ark.

The Ark of the Covenant, it's a box. Yes, it's important. It's overlaid with gold. I realize it's an important object, but it's still just a physical object. Why is God reacting like this people are dying?

They're getting tumors. Why is God? reacting like this. Why does he take it so seriously how the Ark is treated because in one sense How you view the Ark or how they viewed it and how they treated the Ark is how they viewed and treated God.

God must Be regarded as holy. This is what we see in the Old Testament. God is Unapproachable. The only thing that makes God approachable is His grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. But God must be regarded as holy in the ministry surrounding the Ark.

It must be kept pure. God gave his instructions. He expects the people to follow those instructions when they don't. They're punished. Today we have the gospel. We have the instructions when people deny it or corrupt it.

They're punished. So God How he viewed the Ark is how he views the gospel. It must be kept pure and What is the gospel it is salvation by grace through faith not of works lest any man should boast. It's all about Jesus, you know the Ark of the Covenant.

It's pointing to Christ. The gospel is all about Christ. You cannot be saved by going through rites and rituals and doing this and doing that. No, it's all about Christ. Christ the Bible says Died for our sins.

He was buried and he rose the third day and it was all done according to the Scriptures. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing can be taken away From it. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Scripture says to all who believe so to corrupt.

Resist or deny the gospel is to spurn the God who ordained the plan of the gospel from The foundation of the world so in a very real sense. This is what the Philistines were guilty of. Did they understand all the details?

No. But here's what they were they did understand this they showed contempt for the God of Israel and by doing that By showing contempt for the God of Israel. They showed contempt for the only God there was their creator.

Instead they chose to worship a a grotesque idol half-man half-fish. So they showed contempt for the only true God and when people resist the gospel when people reject Christ. What are they doing? They're rejecting the only God That exists.

This is what the Philistines were guilty of. They tried and to make matters worse. They tried to make the God of heaven by taking the ark and bringing it into the temple of Dagon. They tried to make the God of heaven bow down to Dagon and This is what happened as the result first.

Samuel chapter 5 closes with these words a sober warning to anyone who had tried to corrupt or deny the gospel ministry. It says for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city the hand of God was very heavy there and The men who did not die were stricken with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven.