1 SAMUEL 5 - IDOLS FALL BEFORE GOD
1 Samuel 5
“The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel.”
That is a sad statement that you never want said over your life. In Psalm 51 while King David was confessing his sin of adultery and murder, he prayed, “Cast me not away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” For the child of God, the presence of God is everything; his glory is our good. We live to be near the presence of God, and when we are not, we are keenly aware of our emptiness. But for the adversary of God, the presence of God can be a terrible thing.
The Philistines were direct responsibility for the glory of the Lord departing from Israel.
They captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod (v. 1). They treated the ark of God like a trophy prize for defeating the Israelites. They brought the ark of God, which contained the presence and glory of God, and set it up next to Dagon (v. 2). Dagon was a Philistine idol who looked half fish, half man.
The Philistines put the ark of God next to Dagon as if they were able to co-exist as equals. As if it needed to be noted, the God of Israel is the only true God, while the god Dagon was only a false idol. God is not to be set with other “gods” as if he was an “equal with” or “one of many” other gods. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. There is only one God. He alone is God, the creator of all things. There shall be no other god before him.
The Philistines unknowingly were breaking God’s first commandment of the Ten Commandments. They didn’t understand that the God of Israel does not hang out with people’s idols. God does not tiptoe around idols; he knocks them to the ground. Each day the people of Ashdod would come in to find their fish head god knocked over like it had been forced into a posture of worship. Every time they tried to set their idol back up, God would knock it down again (v. 3-4).
It is always futile to try to set up idols in our lives. We can set up our idols and God will take them down. We can set them up again, and God will take them down. God does not wink or nod at the idols set up in our lives; he destroys them. Idols fall before God. Hopefully we will see that only God is worthy upon the first, second, or third time that he destroys our idolatry.
The Philistines scrambled to get the ark of God out of their cities.
God was wrecking havoc on their people by giving them tumors (v. 6-10). Many commentators suggest that the tumors were actually anal hemorrhoids. I guess you could say that unrepentant idolatry is a pain in the rear. The hand of the Lord was heavy on the idolaters causing a deathly panic among them (v. 11). The hand of the Lord administers the presence of God. For those who love and honor God, the hand of the Lord is a blessing. For those who want to continue in their idolatry, the hand of the Lord is fearfully avoided.
How do you see the hand of the Lord? Does God’s presence bring you peace or fear? If you turn from your idolatry and worship the only One who is worthy, his hand upon you will be a blessing. If not, good luck with those “tumors”.