Invincible

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 4:12-8:22

1 Samuel 5:2

Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.

Here is a great picture of God’s greater purpose in the midst of peril. We often can’t see God’s plan played out when our problems present themselves. We can’t always understand the deeper workings of God’s hand whose ways are higher than our ways and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Is 55:9). Somehow His plan will always prevail even through our most precarious predicaments.

The Philistines had defeated Israel and captured the ark. The symbol of the presence of God had been taken. The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. The Philistines held that their god Dagon had brought their victory. To honor him and to dishonor the God of Israel they placed the ark in Dagon’s temple as a token of victory. The night pasted. The morning broke. Dagon had toppled down and lay before the ark. They raised him back up. The night came. The day dawned. Dagon again fell before the ark, this time with his head and hands broken off. Decapitated and dismembered he lay before the Lord’s presence.

This narrative declares several truths about the Lord. First it declares the singularity of the Lord. He alone is God and there is no other. The Lord is not one of many, but the One. It is not Jesus plus, but Jesus alone. He is a jealous God (Deut 6:14-15). As such, none can come alongside Him or rule with Him. He will have no other god beside him or before Him (Ex 20:3). He alone deserves all the glory and honor that befalls the one true and living God. He alone is to be worshiped. All praise is to be ascribed to Him. He alone is God. Dagon fell on his face before the presence of the Lord. The stone god lay worshiping the singular God. So will be the fate of all who oppose the Lord. One day, as with Dagon, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Is 45:23; Phil 2:10-11).

Second it declares the sovereignty of God. He is in control. It might have seemed that things were outside God’s control when the Israelites were defeated and the Ark was captured, but that was not the case. God is always in control of all events in His creation and the actions of His creatures. Nothing is outside His perfect plan. In reality the capture of the ark was permitted as His punishment for the sinfulness and rebellion of His people. It was taken to visibly depict that His presence was no longer with His people. It was also taken to declare His supremacy over all other gods, specifically Dagon, the false god of the Philistines. His purpose was not constrained or thwarted by the captured ark but displayed in it. The defeat of His people and the false god Dagon could not dismantle His divine plan to declare His supremacy in all things. The headless Dagon displayed his inability to control or counsel his followers. With his head detached, he had no ears to hear their prayers, no eyes to see their situation and no mouth to advise them. He was deposed and disabled.

Finally, this story displays the superiority of God. He is all powerful. None can stay His hand. Dagon was powerless before the presence of the omnipotent One. Nothing and no one could keep him upright. He lay prostrated and none could prevent it. He was powerless to right himself requiring the priests to place him upright again. Even the second night there was no capability to constrain his collapse. He fell again. God’s power prevailed over the lifeless and listless idol. His hands to help his followers were severed. He had no power to aid himself or his followers. He had no ability to respond. He was impotent and incapable of action on his behalf or theirs. His worshipers were left without a deity to direct or deliver them. They were hopeless and helpless.

Several applications present themselves for our encouragement. We can affirm that our God alone is in control of all things even when our life seems out of control. We can attest that He alone is worthy of our worship and adoration. We can assert that He is mighty to topple any idol that arises to oppose us. We can profess hope in His singularity, sovereignty and superiority to help us despite whatever may befall us. Unlike Dagon, our God is invincible.

Today thank the Lord for the reminder that He alone is God. Thank him that He is large and in charge of all things. Ask Him to help you trust Him when trouble tells you not to trust. Ask Him to help you topple any “idol” that seeks to set itself alongside Him. Thank Him that He will work out what you don’t see working out.