1 Samuel 5:1-6:121And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. 2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. 6But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. 8They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. 10Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. 11So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. 1And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. 3And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 4Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 6Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? 7Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: 8And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 9And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us. 10And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: 11And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 12And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. (1 Samuel 5:1‑6:12).
Although God must judge His people and allow them to reap the folly of their evil ways, He will not allow their enemies to despise His glory and presence among them. Thus when the Philistines boasted over Israel’s defeat, and over the ark of God which they had taken from them, the Lord soon showed them that He will not give His glory to another. That night, when they had set the ark of the true God in the house of Dagon their idolatrous god, He let them know that He was greater than their idol made with men’s hands. When they arose the next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark. However, the foolish Philistines put Dagon back in his place again, as though this were only by chance. The next night their idol fell on his face again, and this time his head and his hands were broken off.
Nor was this all. God caused the men of the city to have emerods, and they suffered greatly. They decided, therefore, to remove the ark of God to Gath, but there again the people were smitten with a great destruction.
The Philistines of Gath then sent the ark to Ekron, but again the hand of God in judgment was manifested, and many died there. Many, too, were smitten with emerods. God often has to deal with His own, but when unbelievers despise His power it is a serious thing. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:3131It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31).
At last the Philistines came together and decided to send the ark of God back to the land of Israel, for the hand of God was heavy upon them during the seven months they kept it in their land. They gathered their priests and diviners together therefore and asked them what they should do. They replied that the ark of the Lord should be sent back to the land of Israel, and with it golden emerods and golden mice as a trespass offering, because of their sin in taking it. They recalled how the Egyptians, many years before, had hardened their hearts against God and His people, and how they never had any relief from His judgment until they had let the people go. The priests and diviners suggested that they should make a new cart and put the ark upon it. They should then take two milch kine which were never under a yoke, and harness them to draw the cart, tying their calves in the stall at home. If the animals, without even a driver, took the ark back to the land of Israel, then they would know that the hand of God was upon them. If the animals would not go, but stayed by their young calves, they would know it was only chance that had brought upon them all the trouble of which we have just spoken. They knew that it would be altogether contrary to natural instinct for them to leave their young, and draw the cart.
When they had made the cart, therefore, and tied the cattle to it, the animals, controlled by their Creator’s unseen hand, set out for the land of Israel, lowing as they went. They never turned to one side or the other, but went all the way to Beth-shemesh in the land of Israel. The lords of the Philistines followed the ark, wondering at what they saw. Oh, how wonderful is the power of God which was so manifest here! Even the dumb animals obey the hand of God, but poor blind man refuses to submit. “Who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered?” Job 9:44He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? (Job 9:4).
ML 05/09/1954