Over the last couple of days, I’ve been reading in 1 Samuel 4-7 about how the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites (this takes place well before the time King David put the Ark on a cart that we talked about in the blog: Not Quite Indiana Jones, But Just As Deadly!). It was a time before the Israelites had demanded that God give them a King, so that they could be like all the other nations. Even back then, there was the temptation to conform to society, to want to blend in and not be the odd one out!
The Ark signified the presence of God, and when the Israelites were following the commands of God, they were pretty much invincible, so their enemies managing to capture it, would have been the unthinkable. It was evidence that God was no longer present in their midst, but it wasn’t that He’d abandoned them, rather that they’d turned their backs on Him. Likewise, our enemy will try to attack our quiet times with God, our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we’re vulnerable when we’re tempted to miss it one day because we’re running late, or because we’re not feeling well and would benefit from that extra half an hour in bed. God doesn’t abandon us, it’s us who turn slowly away from Him.
The Philistines take the captured Ark back to the city of Ashdod and realising that it was Holy, they placed it in the only holy place they had, the temple of their god Dagon. Dagon was a half man, half fish and was the principle deity worshipped by the Philistines. (A little aside, the people of Nineveh worshipped Dagon! Interesting how God sends his messenger Jonah in a giant fish to call them to repentance, they’d have been open to listen to a man who’d survived living inside a fish.) When they entered the temple the following morning, the statue of Dagon had been pushed over. You can imagine the panic, as they rushed around trying to stand it back up again. The following morning as they enter the temple, the first thing that they see is the head and hands of Dagon in the doorway. Being careful not to stand on them, they go inside to find the decapitated and handless statue lying prostrate on the floor.
I love the image that even though the Philistines had defeated the Israelite army on the battle field, their god was no match for Yahweh. No man made god, statue or image of one can stand in the presence of God. God could have removed the Ark, destroyed the whole temple and killed the Philistines (as He’d done previously through Samson), but He chose not to. Instead He showed that Dagon was just a lump of carved stone that couldn’t move or defend itself.
It doesn’t take the leaders long to decide that they don’t want the Ark in their city. They quickly ship it off, but it’s soon on a tour of all the major cities, as wherever it goes the people begin to develop tumours, become really ill and die. After a while of this happening, they come to the decision that they’re being punished by the God of the Israelites, so they decide that they must send it back. So they load it on a cart being pulled by two cows and they just let it go. The cows just follow the track and head straight back to the Israelites.
The Israelites are excited at the Arks return and turn back to God. Samuel instructs them to rid themselves and their homes of any foreign gods and to fully commit themselves to God. In 1 Samuel 7:4, it’s recorded that they put away their Baals and Ashtoreths! They don’t get rid of them as they were told to, they just hide them away! We read many stories throughout the Bible of the people not 100% following the instructions they are given. They’re happy to pay lip service and to partially do what they’re told, but they always want to keep some control for themselves. But God is looking for obedience!
But let’s be honest here, it’s not just in the Bible that we see evidence of this, I’m sure that we’ve all reacted in similar ways in the past. How many of us, as children (& probably as adults as well), when told to tidy our rooms, did we find it easier to push the stuff under the bed, rather than put it away? We say that we’re following God and commit our lives to Him, but we won’t surrender everything to Him, there’s always something that we hold back.
God is looking for obedience from each of us today! I’d urge you to watch this short video of Keith Green performing his song ‘To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice’. His ad-libs before the song are as hard hitting as his lyrics! We have been challenged to examine each area of our lives, as we continue to pursue the Time2 vision!
Be prepared to be challenged!
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