1 Samuel 5

1 Samuel 5

Although it was partly Israel’s fault for being careless with the Ark, the Philistines were also to blame for taking the Ark. In order to prove a point, they took away that which was most special to the nation of Israel. They had no intentions of worshipping the God it represented, and they did it purely for strategic purposes. God knew their hearts, and He knew that the Philistines had taken the Ark for all the wrong reasons. So He showed the His true power. The Ark had been placed next to an idol that represented their god Dagon. When the Philistines entered their place of worship the next day, the idol was on the ground bowing before the Ark. They did not seem to think much of it, placing it back where it belonged. Then, the next day, the idol was in the same position only with its arms and head cut off. Now while the people might have thought that someone had done this as a trick, Scripture does not say that this was done by some man. It is actually unclear as to how it happened, but it does seem to allude to the fact that this was a supernatural act by God.


God was showing the Philistines who He was (who He is). He is the only true God, and there are no other gods. Dagon was just a false god that these people had created. Dagon was nothing more than the different idols we create today in the 21st century. God is far above anything that we could ever create. He is also our Creator, and He deserves our worship. Whereas these people had created their own god to worship, God created His own people to worship Him. There is a big difference here.

The situation with Dagon did not seem to affect the people, so God took it one step further. He afflicted the people of that city with tumors. Through the pain, they finally understood that all the mysterious problems that they were facing were coming as a result of the Ark. They, at least in some way, recognized God’s power and knew that they did not want to endure His punishments. But instead of changing their ways and accepting God as the only true God, they got rid of the Ark, sending it to another city. This same situation repeated itself two more times, and ultimately the Philistines were prepared to send the Ark back to Israel.

Again, we can see two sides to this story. In one sense, God was taking care of Himself and Israel. He alone was able to make the Philistines return the Ark to Israel after they had stolen it. He did not use anybody else to carry out His plans this time. Instead, He used His power to prove His existence to the Philistines. But the Philistines responded in fear. They did recognize God’s power, but they were so focused on getting rid of the Ark that they did not take the time to recognize God. So while it appeared as if the Israelites were sure to get the Ark back, the Philistines lost a great opportunity to get to know God. They recognized His wrath and His power, but they missed seeing His love and provision for His children.

God’s desire is that people from every nation come to know Him. Some may argue that 1 Samuel 5 is an example of God’s wrath against a sinful nation, and while that is true, His love can also be sensed in this passage. God is concerned about His glory, about His name, and He desires that people from every nation worship Him. So while He was punishing the Philistines for taking the Ark, He was also revealing Himself to them so that they could come to know Him. If the Philistines had repented of their sins and come to God, do you think He would have rejected them? Absolutely not! He would have accepted them and included them in with His children just like He had done with Rahab and Ruth (who also came from other nations).

Matt