In last week’s blog, I wrote about the Ark of the Covenant. It had been captured by the Philistines. They placed the Ark in the temple of their god Dagon. They thought the Ark was just another god. But, Dr. Phil would ask them – How’s that working out for you? The Philistines kept the Ark for 7 months and suffered the entire time. The problems began immediately after the Ark was placed in their false god’s temple. When the Philistine faithful went to worship their god Dagon, they discovered that their god had fallen to the ground, prostrate before the Ark. They placed their god back on its feet and left for the day. “But the next morning, the same thing happened – Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway.” 1 Samuel 5:4 NLT
Wouldn’t you think that would get the Philistines’ attention? Does a real God have to be picked up off the ground? Does a real God break apart and his head and hands fall off? Does a real God have to be glued back together? But instead of looking at the situation honestly, they pronounce the dirt where the body of Dagon landed to be holy ground and that threshold becomes a sacred area. Kind of bizarre.
So this is what the God of Israel did. He who broke off the hands of the fake god, now lifts His hand against the Philistines ... “Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors. When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, ‘We can’t keep the Ark of God of Israel here any longer. He is against us!’” 1 Samuel 5:7 NLT
They ended up moving the Ark to the Philistine town of Gath. They too were overcome by a plague sent from the Lord. Then they moved the Ark to the town of Ekron. “…but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, ‘They are bringing the Ark of God of Israel here to kill us too!’ The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, ‘Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.’ For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town.” 1 Samuel 5:10-11 NLT
The message of the Ark in the land of the Philistines is that God is never defeated. Only God is all-powerful. To answer Dr. Phil’s question, it wasn’t working out well at all for the Philistines. In fact, it was an utter catastrophe. The Philistines devise a plan to return the Ark of the Covenant back to the Israelites because they didn’t want it anymore! The Philistines discovered that the Ark of the Lord was a greater power than they had ever seen – a power that they could not control. May we have a new awareness of the awesomeness of God - His power and authority are unmatchable.