1 Samuel 5:1-5 – Real power is found in God

Whether we know it or not, everything we experience in life is never without a spiritual purpose. God uses every occurrence that happens to us in life to help us align and adjust in our relationship with Him. Nothing that we ever experience in life is ever outside of the permission of God. Victory or failure should cause us to return to God and to either give thanks or to evaluate and realign our relationship with Him respectively. The defeat of Israel even with the presence of the Ark of the Covenant helps us to see that any defeat in life is never about the absence of God but the presence of sin in one’s life. God was dealing with the sin that was prevailing in Israel, especially in the leadership. Their defeat is not a lack of manpower or skill but the presence of sin.

Know it or not, everything had a spiritual dimension to it. So, we see in the defeat of Israel as God’s dealing with His people. While the Israelites presumed on God, the Philistines defied Him. They brought the Ark they had captured from Ebenezer to Ashdod. There they placed it in the temple of Dagon, a deity they worshiped. In seeking to ascribe honor to the Ark by placing it among their deity, they had unwittingly denigrated God. Which deity could be placed on par with the true God? So, during the night, Dagon fell on the ground with its face downward. The deity of the Philistines was paying homage to the true God. When the people of Ashdod found Dagon on its face, they thought nothing of it, so they replaced it in its position as before. What happened was that they found him again  on the ground the next morning. This time its head and hands were severed from its body. Now they had a headless and handless deity, one that could neither think o nor act. What happened was more than the destruction of a man-made idol. It was the collision of spiritual powers, God’s against Dagon. And the latter had been defeated. Who can stand against the true God? Verse 5 mockingly describe the fear of the Philistines. It says, “Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day”

God is dealing with us all the time. So, let’s be sensitive to His dealing in our life. When we walk closely with Him and be circumspect in our steps, we cultivate discernment. When we are sensitive to God, we will be able to identify His dealing with us. Realize also that when we are in a relationship with God, we will encounter conflicts with the self, world and the devil. There is a collision of powers. If God is for us who can stand against us? For we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Let’s stand our ground and live for Him!