The Vindicating Power of God (1 Samuel 5:1-12)

4/25/2010 7:37 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The vindicating power of God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  1 Samuel 5:1-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2  Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3  When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4  But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5  Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

    6 ¶  Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7  When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god." 8  So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. 9  After they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote 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. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people." 11  They sent therefore and gathered 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, so that it will not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12  And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

            When I began reading the Bible through for the first time back in 1979 I first saw some of these stories like the one today, and many of them have become my very favorites such as the story of the Ark of God in the hands of the Philistines, but really it was God who, as always, was in control of this story, yet it is doubtful that any of the Philistines realized that the God of Israel was truly the God of all and over all.

            The Philistines had a great victory over the children of Israel, and it was because of the way that the children of Israel that God allowed the Philistines to have this great victory.  The Philistines think that it was their god Dagon who gave them this great victory and so they brought the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon, which was probably a very common thing to do in those days.  However the results were not what they expected for Dagon was found prostate before the Ark of God the next morning, and the morning after that his hands and head were cut off.  The Philistines got the clue that it was probably not the best thing for them to do to keep the Ark of God there so after a meeting of the lords of the Philistines they moved The Ark of God to another city, the city of Gath and more trouble happened there as people began to die and tumors broke out on them and they became more frightened so they moved it again and the same result happened.

            The Lord must have used rats to infect the Philistines for when they decided to return the Ark of God to Israel they made golden rats and put them on the cart that carried the Ark of God back to Israel.  There is speculation that the Lord gave the Philistines the bubonic plague but this is only speculation.  However they did receive a serious plague and it surely got the attentions of the lords of the Philistines, and I’m sure that this tarnished there great victory.  Deuteronomy 28:59-60 reads as follows, “58  "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59  then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 60  "He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.”  Now this was written for the children of Israel, however it seems that the Philistines got a dose of this punishment too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I actually think that what the Lord did to the Philistines was grace from Him in order to make them see who He is, but it does not seem like the Philistines saw it that way and rebelled against the Lord. 

            God is a God of grace, and yet He is also a God of judgment, and both of them bring Him glory.  I don’t want to see the discipline of the Lord in my life, and if I do see it I surely want to recognize it for what it is and respond in the correct manner so that I can learn from the mistakes that I make.  Job was allowed tested by the Lord, but did not do wrong, and so when I go through trouble I have to cry out to the Lord to show me if it is trouble like that of Job, or trouble because I am not following the way of the Lord and have sinned.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.    There is a Psalm and a Proverb that comes to my mind this morning.  Psalm 139:23-24 is the Psalm, “23  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24  And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

2.    The Proverb is Proverbs 3:5-6 from the KJV, “5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

4/25/2010 8:20 AM