The Philistines took the ark from Ebenezer to Ashdod and put it into the house of Dagon, their god. It was placed beside Dagon and when the people had gone there early in the morning, Dagon had fallen on its face before the ark. In effect, Dagon was on his face as if worshiping the True God represented by the ark. They set Dagon up again. Next morning the same had happened Dagon had fallen on its face, but this time its face and the palms of its hands had broken off, leaving just the torso. It was calamitous for the Philistines. The glory may have departed from Israel, God in His glory, was showing Himself to be greater than their god, Dagon. In a way, this was quite amusing to us as onlookers. They moved it around without success, but it brought them nothing but trouble, and in the end, they realised it was a curse to them. Imagine their horror at seeing their god bowing before The God with its head and hands smashed (v1-5).
God’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and He struck them with tumours and plague which probably involved mice or rats (see chapter 6). As a result, the men of Ashdod decided that having the ark of God, whilst it seemed a good idea at the time, was now more trouble than it was worth, therefore, they convened a meeting of the lords of the Philistines to decide what they should with it. They came up with the decision to take it to Gath (v6-8).
They did not get the message and when Dagon kept falling down and was smashed, they didn’t think that they should not have it, they merely moved it to another place, even though they knew that God was not pleased and that many suffered from the plague and infestation.
The same happened after they moved it to the city of Gath (v9) and again, when they moved it to the city of Enron (v10-12). They couldn’t get away from God, nor could they play games with Him. It was like passing the parcel, but the present was not very pleasant, to say the least, perhaps it was like in reverse, where if you’re left holding the object, you’re out.
Often, we are like that – we refuse to listen to God. We see God’s answer in His Word, but we think we know better and continue to disobey. Instead of submitting to His will, we try to move Him around to fit in with our plans.
“There was deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.” (V11)
The people of Enron complained that the ark had been sent on to them to kill them, and perhaps, they were not so wrong. They got together the lords of the Philistines and told them to send the ark back to its own place. What a pity, they didn’t respond to God’s presence by repenting of their sin as they could have done. It was no use to Israel unless they recognised the presence of God and repented of their sin. They had sought to use it as a good luck charm but failed miserably.
We must come to God in humility and reverence, confess our sin and repent of them. The presence of God is all around us, but many do not recognise Him and choose to go their own way and suffer the consequences. Paul says that ‘God’s presence is a fragrance of life to some and the aroma of death to others’ (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
