Today’s passage: 1 Samuel 5:1-12
Helpful thoughts:
- The statue of Dagon suffered the same fate as Eli. They both fell over and broke their necks.
- Dagon was a god of weather and warfare. Dagon’s “decapitation” before the ark of God was a sign of God’s superiority.
- The ark went on a tour of Philistia, resulting in the people wanting to give it back!
- They came to understand they had defeated the Israelites, but not their God.
- We are reminded that Dagon did not give the Philistines their victory (He can’t! He doesn’t exist!), God did.
- Without a single Israelite around, God showed His power over the Philistine people and over their “god”. They were fearful of Him, but they did not repent. They only wanted to remove the ark so that they could carry on the way the had been.
Questions to consider:
- In what ways was God’s power and holiness put on display in this chapter?
- Did God need Israel (Or us) to display His power and glory? Who all benefits from our obedience and witness?
- Are there ways we look at God the same way the Philistines looked at Dagon? How might we be thinking about Him as a God of weather and warfare? Or a God of finances and physical health? God is able to do ALL things, but in what ways is He superior and all-together different than the idols we might stack up against Him?