1 Samuel 5:7-12: a reflection

7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us, for his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” 8They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath.” They carried the ark of the God of Israel there. 9It was so, that after they had carried it there, the LORD’s hand was against the city with a very great confusion; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, so that tumors broke out on them. 10So they sent God’s ark to Ekron. As God’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to us, to kill us and our people.” 11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there. 12The men who didn’t die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Philistines have captured the ark of God in battle, and they think they have won, taken Israel's God as a trophy, set it up beside their own idol Dagon. But God will not be captured. Their idol Dagon falls before the ark and breaks; the cities where the ark is placed are struck with plague; the people cry out in terror and pass it frantically from town to town, until finally they beg, send it away, let it go back to its own place. They held the ark, but they could not hold God.

Notice the lesson buried in this strange, hard story. The Philistines imagined they could seize Israel's God, possess him, put him in a box beside their gods, on their terms. But God is not a trophy to be captured or an object to be controlled. He acted on his own terms, in their very stronghold, and they discovered they could neither manage him nor keep him. The One they thought they had captured turned out to be far beyond their handling.

There is a caution and a comfort in that. The caution: we too can be tempted to treat God as something we possess and control, to fit him into our systems on our terms, to imagine we have him managed. We do not. God is not ours to domesticate. And the comfort: the God who could not be captured or controlled by his enemies is not at the mercy of yours either. He is the living God who acts on his own terms, sovereign even in the enemy's stronghold. Do not try to capture God; bow before him.

Lord, you cannot be captured, controlled, or domesticated; you are not a trophy to be possessed on my terms. Forgive me when I try to fit you into my own systems and manage you. Teach me to bow before you as the living God who acts on your own terms, sovereign even where your enemies think they have won.