1 Samuel 5:1-6: a reflection

1Now the Philistines had taken God’s ark, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2The Philistines took God’s ark, and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6But the LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

The Philistines capture the ark of God in battle and, in triumph, set it in the temple of their god Dagon, as if to display the LORD as a captive trophy before their idol. But the next morning, they find Dagon fallen face-down on the ground before the ark. They set the idol back up. The morning after, Dagon has fallen again, and this time his head and hands are broken off on the threshold. The idol cannot even stand in the presence of the living God.

Notice the quiet, decisive demonstration. The Philistines thought they had captured the LORD and could set him beneath their god. Instead, their god topples, prostrate and then shattered, before the ark. Without a word, without a battle, the living God shows that the idol has no strength to stand in his presence. What the Philistines worshiped as a god falls broken before the true God they thought they had defeated.

There is assurance here about the living God and the idols that seem to rival him. The idols of any age, the forces, ideologies, and gods the world sets up and bows to, cannot finally stand before the living God, however triumphant they seem for a while. Dagon looked secure in his temple, until the ark came, and then he lay broken on the threshold. Whatever false gods loom large in your world, or tempt your own heart, they cannot stand before the Lord. Do not fear them or bow to them. The living God topples idols; give your worship to him alone.

Lord, the Philistines set their idol above your ark, and Dagon fell before you, prostrate and then broken, unable to stand in your presence. When the idols of my world loom large and seem secure, remind me that they cannot finally stand before you. Guard my own heart from bowing to false gods, and topple every idol that would rival you in me. You alone are the living God; you alone deserve my worship.