1 Samuel 5:1-7:2 – Fatal Presumption, Pt. 2 The Journey of the Lost Ark Big Idea The importance of this section in the larger narrative of 1 Samuel is that it demonstrates the spiritual condition of Israel and her enemies. Neither Israel or the Philistines treat God with the worship and reverence He is due. This reveals the need for Israel to repent of their sins, which is what Samuel will call them to in the next lesson. Overview of the Passage Israel had lost the ark of the covenant to their enemies, the Philistines, who captured it and took it back with them. But God teaches the Philistines a painful lesson. The LORD is mightier than the false gods of the Philistines, and He plagues the Philistines with tumors. The lords of the Philistines transfer the ark from city to city with the same result. Eventually, they decide to get rid of the ark, to send it back to Israel. Israel rejoices at its return, but still show the same attitude of presumption and irreverence…and pay the price. The ark rests in relative obscurity, and twenty years pass by. Outline of the Passage • From Ebenezer to Ashdod (5:1-8a) • From Ashdod to Gath (5:8b-9) • From Gath to Ekron (5:10-6:11) • From Ekron to Beth-shemesh (6:12-21) • From Beth-shemesh to Kiriath-jearim (7:1-2) Read 1 Samuel 5:1-7:2 Commentary Boy, had Israel screwed up this time. They had been getting pummeled by their archenemies, the Philistines, in battle at Ebenezer. The last battle they fought had cost them 4,000 men (1 Sam. 4:2). What to do? The elders got together and came up with a plan. They would get the ark of the covenant from Shiloh and bring it to Ebenezer. They figured that having the ark of the covenant of the LORD with them would guarantee victory. Well, their plan worked…sort of. The Philistines were afraid (1 Sam. 4:7) when they saw the ark (which was the symbol of the presence of the LORD). They began to tremble, thinking that “a god had come into the camp” (1 Sam. 4:7). But they soon recovered, encouraging one another, basically telling each other to “man up.” Meanwhile, Israel was confident of victory. They went out boldly…and got defeated soundly. In fact, they got obliterated. 30,000 men were slaughtered. What went wrong? They had presumed upon God’s intervention. They had turned the ark, which was made to be a symbol of His presence, into an idol or a talisman. As if they could control the power of God by controlling where the ark went. Well, God had other plans… From Ebenezer to Ashdod (5:1-8a) The ark was captured by the Philistines. The Philistines brought the ark from the battle at Ebenezer to Ashdod, to the house of Dagon. Israel was wrong to think that they could manipulate God by moving the ark, but Philistia was wrong to think that the capture of the ark meant that the God of Israel was powerless. Ashdod was one of the five main Philistine cities, the pentapolis, along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. Ashdod was thirty miles from Ebenezer. DAGON Dagon was once thought to be a fish deity because of the similarity between the name Dagon and the Hebrew word for fish (dag). It now appears more likely that the name should be associated with the Hebrew word for grain (dagan), making Dagon an agricultural or fertility god. Dagon was the national deity, the head of the Philistine pantheon of gods. The worship of Dagon is attested as late as the Maccabean period (second century B.C.). The Philistines set the ark up beside Dagon. It was deposited in the temple as a sign of the inferiority and subordination of the God of Israel to Dagon. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Early the next day, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD! The fact that it was face downward shows a position/posture of worship. They took Dagon and put him back in his place. Any Major Events at “the temple of “god” that needs human help to be propped up is not a god Dagon” at all and should not be worshiped (see Acts 17:24-25). Early the next morning, Dagon had once again fallen face - In this passage, the LORD downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. But vanquished Dagon in his own this time was worse! “The head of Dagon and both his temple (in Ashdod), which was a premonition of things hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of to come. Dagon was left to him” (5:4). - Earlier, at the temple of The head and hands of Dagon’s statue landed on the Dagon in Gaza, Samson used temple threshold, rendering it sacred (in the minds of his his last breath to worshipers) and therefore untouchable. So, it became a demonstrate the power of God by toppling the support tradition of the priests of Dagon and everybody else who columns and crushing a entered the house of Dagon to not tread on the threshold multitude of Philistines (5:5). They should have bowed to Yahweh themselves, like (Judges 16). the Dagon statue, and they ought to have sought Yahweh’s - On yet another occasion, favor. Instead of drawing the right conclusion, however, however, the Philistines they instituted a new superstition. Since Dagon’s head and enjoyed a notable victory: hands had broken off at the threshold of the temple, they They hung up the severed decided that the threshold was now especially holy, and that head of Israel’s king Saul in a they should jump over it when going in or out. temple of Dagon, perhaps at Beth Shan (1 Chron. 10:10). While the priests of Dagon were having their rude awakening, the rest of the people of Ashdod were experiencing troubles of their own. “The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod” (5:6). The narrator now introduces a major motif in the account: the hand of the Lord (mentioned eight times in the ark narrative). While Dagon’s hands had been rendered helpless, the hand of the LORD was powerfully at work, bringing judgment. The Lord is not tamed by friend or foe. Refusing to be manipulated by Israel, God departed to the territory of Israel’s enemies. There, He demonstrated His sovereignty, causing the Philistines to feel the weight of His hand in judgment. “He terrified and afflicted them with tumors” (5:6). These tumors were called a “plague” (6:4) and were associated with mice (or rats) (6:4, 5). This has led commentators to suggest that the tumors might have been symptoms of something akin to the bubonic plague, transmitted by rodents. Both Ashdod and the surrounding area were afflicted (5:6). The men of Ashdod come to the conclusion that “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god” (5:7). It boggles the mind that a worthless idol would still be reverenced after the one true God has shown Himself mightier. All the lords of the Philistines gathered, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” (5:8). The lords of the Philistines were rulers of the Philistine league, who could cooperate in times of emergency. From Ashdod to Gath (5:8b-9) They decide: “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath” (5:8b). Gath was twelve miles from Ashdod. Possibly the reason for moving the ark was to see if the occurrence of the plague was a coincidence or truly the hand of the God of the ark. Their pride had been hurt, and they wanted to salvage their dignity. Unfortunately for the people of Gath, these strange events were not a coincidence. “The hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic” (5:9). New city, same story. “He afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them” (5:9). What to do? The lords of the Philistines decide to test this one more time… From Gath to Ekron (5:10-6:11) “So they sent the ark to Ekron” (5:10). Ekron was five miles from Gath, and was the closest Philistine city to the Israelite border. By this point in the story, the reader might be asking themselves what these Philistine lords could possibly have been thinking. Well, we know what the people of Ekron were thinking: They cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people” (5:10). “For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there” (5:11b). It seems that many people did die; and those who didn’t still had those pesky tumors to deal with. New city, same story. The people understood what the ark represented – the power of God breaking out against them. Call the lords of the Philistines! All the Philistine lords gathered, and the Ekronites begged “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place” (5:11). Unable to bear up under the heavy “hand of the LORD,” the Ekronites now plead that the ark be returned to Israel.