Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The Lord's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; He brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?"
They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
But after they had moved it, the Lord's hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people." So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, "Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people." For death had filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy upon it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
1 Samuel 5:6-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Philistines believed they had defeated the Israelite God when they defeated the Israelite soldiers and captured their hallowed ark. These same Philistines were well aware of the power of Israel’s God and how the ark was representative of Him. They knew that this God of Israel had “struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert” and yet they still chose to disrespect Him and the ark that represented Him by placing them before their god Dagon. And we know God had said that there would be no gods before Him.
And so it should have been of little surprise to the Philistines, or to us either as we study this passage, that they came under God’s judgment and suffered great affliction. The Lord had ensured the Philistine god Dagon ended up broken and prostrate before Him. Now He was going after the Philistine people.
We read where the “Lord's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity”, bringing “devastation upon them” and afflicting them with tumors. The men of Ashdod quickly figured out the source of the problem saying, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." And so they came up with a solution after conferring with the “all the rulers of the Philistines”. They decided to move the ark of God to another Philistine city called Gath.
Once the ark arrived in Gath, “the Lord's hand (went) against that city, throwing it into a great panic” as “He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors”. Thus Gath suffered the same fate as Ashdod and so the city quickly dispatched the ark to yet another Philistine city called Ekron.
The people of Ekron weren’t real thrilled to see the ark of God enter their city crying out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people." They were obviously aware of what had happened in Ashdod and Gath and knew that a similar fate would await them. Ekron wasn’t interested in adopting Israel’s God as their own. They were just interested in getting rid of the ark because “death had filled the city with panic” and “God's hand was very heavy upon it”. Scripture tells us that “those who did not die were afflicted with tumors and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.” Such was the depth of Ekron’s suffering. “So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, ‘Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.’ “
The Philistines thought their problems would be solved by getting rid of the ark of the God of Israel and in doing so ridding themselves of their hardship. In other words, instead of accepting God and choosing to follow Him, they chose to reject Him and send Him away.
How often are we just like the Philistines? We choose to turn from God in our lives and when we face His discipline, we tend to choose to further distance ourselves from Him even more. In the time we should be drawing nearer to Him, repenting from our wrongs and receiving His pardon and loving forgiveness, we instead blame God for all our troubles and harbor feelings of contempt for Him.
It’s sad to think that all the Philistines had to do was fall prostrate before the God of Israel like their idol Dagon ended up. Had they just repented and vowed to adopt the God of Israel as their own God it would have been so much better for them. But they didn’t and so they suffered the consequences of their choices.
Friends, we need to learn from their errors or be faced with like circumstances. For there is a definite warning within the words of this passage for all believers and non-believers. God, the almighty and infinite Maker and Creator of all things will not accept being rejected by the people He made. And thus He demands and deserves nothing short of our full acceptance and obedience to Him…now and forever.
My prayer is that we will one day heed these words of the Lord from the Book of Isaiah as He says to us all:
"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear. They will say of Me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.' " Isaiah 45:22-24a
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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