Words of Encouragement

  This page is dedicated to bringing encouragement and insight to God's people and reaching the lost for Christ.

December 28, 2022

1Samuel Chapter 5.

The Allure of Idols

I recently read the narrative relating to the capture of the Ark of God by the Philistines.

The narrative is a result of a war between Israel and the Philistines. In chapter 4 Israel had set themselves in Ebenezer to do battle with the Philistines. During the first battle 4,000 Israelites were killed. The people reacted to the slaughter with the idea of bringing the Ark of God into their camp from Shiloh. In 1st Samuel 4:4 it is recorded, “So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.”

Before we commend the Israelites for turning to their God for help, it is better for us to look at their rationale for bringing the Ark with them.

Keep in mind that Israel has been warned by God, by prophets, and by judges that they were to have no idols. But let’s look at verse 3,” And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” (1Sam 4:3)

Please note that the people believed that the Ark of God would save them. How disheartening to realize that God’s people had become so used to idols of those around them that they no longer considered the unseen God as their God. They were looking upon the man-made article as their deliverer.

What is it about idols that attracts mankind’s thoughts and worship? I do not have a theological explanation, but I can offer that we live in an environment of substance we can sense; we see, feel, smell, and hear what is around us. It requires less from us to believe in what we can see, hear, taste and touch. Faith and hope in the unseen, unfelt, unheard, require a lot more effort from us.  

Back to the narrative.

Israel brings the ark of God into their camp, and they are so jubilant. They are anticipating a great deliverance because now they have their God among them.

To their great horror the Ark of God did not bring them the great victory they expected. Instead verse 10 reveals, So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty-thousand-foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

The defeat of Israel was complete. The army could not stand. The Ark of God that they had put all of their hope in was captured. And God’s priests were slain.

Can you imagine the despair? The terror? Not only were 30,000 soldiers dead but now the very source of their courage and hope is gone, taken in the midst of the defeat. For generations the children of Israel had journeyed to Shiloh from wherever they lived to gather in festive acknowledgement of their God in the place where he had chosen to place his name. They brought their sacrifices, their offerings, their tribute to Shiloh where God himself would meet with them in the tabernacle. And now the tabernacle is empty, the Ark of God is gone.

I am so grateful that my relationship with the God of creation is not based on an artifact. No one can take my God from me. No one can separate us because he lives within me. I am his and he is mine.

But such was not the case for many in Israel.

But I want to get back to the purpose of relating the narrative.

Chapter 5 of 1Samuel we see the Philistines take the Ark of God and set it in their temple with their God Dagon. Verses 1-5 relate the story of how the Philistines set the Ark of God next to the statue of Dagon in the temple in Ashdod.

The next morning when they come out to worship Dagon, they find Dagon lying face down. They raise him and set him again in his place.

Again, the next morning when they come to worship Dagon, not only is he fallen again before the Ark of God, but his head and his hands have been severed from his body.

I wonder how did the Philistines choose to explain away the fact that Dagon had fallen on his face? And then again how did they rationalize the severed hands and head?

It was not the falling of their God that prompted them to rethink their actions in bringing the Ark of God into their temple. Verse 6 and 7 relate what really caused them to recognize that they might have made a big error in bring the Ark of God into their temple. “The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.”

His hand is hard against us and Dagon our God Selah

The Philistines recognized the power of the God of Israel and yet they still chose their idol of stone. They recognized that it was the anger of the God of Israel at work in their lives. Yet they chose to hold fast to their confidence in Dagon. An image made with their own hands.

Why could they not relent from their worship of an inanimate object in favor of the true and living God who has demonstrated his great power. The Philistines knew the stories of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. They recognized that it was not the Israelites themselves that they had to fear but their God and yet they could not let go of their idol worship.

Once again, I do not have a theological explanation. What I have come to understand about us as mortals is that we strive against anything that lifts itself up above us. We strive for mastery. We strive to be our own self-made man or woman. We rebel against anyone who attempts to subject us. These characteristics in and of themselves are not necessarily bad but when we apply them to the creator of all things and raise our fists against the one true God who loves us and desires that we come to him in humility and love, it becomes destructive and leads to an eternal separation from God. Unlike the misunderstanding of God’s eternal judgement, we do not go into oblivion and just cease to be. We are created with eternal souls that will be eternally condemned if we do not yield to the God who offers us a place in his eternal kingdom. There have been and will be many who will not accept this as a reality. And yet there will be some who will want to know how they can be delivered from the condemnation of God.

It is important therefore that all of us who have come to put our trust in the eternal God prepare ourselves to share with others the hope we have within us.

If you are reading this and recognize that you have rebelled against a loving God who sent his son to die (on the cross) for your sins, you are a prayer away from forgiveness and eternal acceptance.

Dec. 27,2022

Father, I thank you for the timelessness of your Word and your Promises. I pray you will use these words to encourage your children as they grow in their relationship with you. I pray that you will work in the heart of every person who does not know you as Lord to bring them to yourself, through Jesus Christ our Lord.