Good morning,
Where do we put our trust?
First Samuel 5 tells us of the Philistines encounter with the ark of the covenant.
The Philistines defeated Israel and took the ark of the covenant. They assumed that whoever had the ark, had the power the ark provided. They were sorely mistaken.
Dagon, a Philistine god, is destroyed before the ark of God
“When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon 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 upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.” (1 Samuel 5:2-4)
Hand of the Lord against Ashdod
“But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.” (1 Samuel 5:6-7)
Hand of the Lord against Gath
“They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. (1 Samuel 5:8-9)
Ekronites realize the arks destructive power
“Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.” (1 Samuel 5:10-11)
The Philistines trusted in idols. God destroyed their idols. God showed them that the ark of the Lord does not have powers for military victories. Rather, possession of the ark meant death, destruction, and disease.
First Samuel 6 records the Philistines return of the ark to Israel.
If we choose to rebel against God, we will suffer God’s judgement.
Unbelievers need salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Christians need to repent and ask God for His forgiveness. Then continue to serve God.
Tomorrow we will witness the return of the ark to Israel.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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