a. They brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon: No doubt, the Philistines were jubilant, and confident in the superiority of their god over the God of Israel. They faced the God of Israel in battle and believed their god Dagon delivered them and defeated Israel. Now, the ark of the covenant of Israel’s God stood as a trophy in the temple of their god Dagon. The victory seemed complete.
i. Dagon was represented with a half-man, half-fish figure, and was said to be the father of Baal. “This deity was a personification of the generative and vivifying [life-giving] principle of nature, for which the fish with its innumerable multiplication was especially adapted, to set forth the idea of the giver of all earthly good.” (Keil and Delitzsch)
b. There was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD: Had the glory of God departed? Not at all. God was more than able to glorify Himself among the Philistines and their pagan gods. God made this statue bow down in worship before Him.
i. God will glorify Himself. Sometimes when men disgrace the glory of God, we fear God will go without glory. We think the glory has departed. But when men and women will not glorify God, God will glorify Himself.
c. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it: Imagine the horror of the Philistine priests when they entered the temple of Dagon the next morning. They not only saw their god bowing down before the LORD, they also saw the image broken. It was hard to account for such an accident two days in a row, and for the broken head and hands of Dagon.
i. After seeing the superiority of the God of Israel, these Philistine priests had a choice. They could turn from their weak, inferior god Dagon and begin serving the mighty, superior LORD of Israel. Or they could make a religious tradition instead. They chose the religious tradition: Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
ii. These Philistine priests, like men confronted with the truth today, rejected God despite the evidence, not because of the evidence. They wanted to believe it was an accident.
iii. How could they believe something so ridiculous? Because worshipping the LORD instead of Dagon meant a huge change in thinking and behavior. The Philistine priests were unwilling to make those changes. It was easier when they took Dagon and set it in its place again. Setting Dagon up and gluing him together is easier than changing your life and your thinking. (Guzik)
Changing Your Life!
Jesus was clear when he explained to Nicodemus that you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. Some Christians balk at that term, but to us that are born again it’s a “changing your life” experience. It doesn’t happen all at once but slowly, with the help of the Holy Spirit you begin changing your life and your thinking to become more Christ like.
You start asking yourself WWJD, (what would Jesus do) before reacting to things in life. People notice that change and begin to wonder, why you are different?
”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”“ John 13:34-35 NKJV
Brethren, do they know you are His disciple?
Blessings
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