They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside the idol of Dagon. But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord!
1 Samuel 5:2-3 (NLT)
Everyone remembers the famous line from the Wizard of Oz, “Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!” Dorothy, the main character in that movie, was afraid of being ambushed by fierce predators as she walked through a dark forest. However this lesson is not about animals; it is about idols, tumors and plagues.
Let’s begin this lesson by first looking at 1 Samuel chapter 4. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, went into battle against the Philistines. Unfortunately due to their unfaithfulness to God, the Israelites lost the battle. They panicked! Several of them got together and decided that the Ark of the Covenant would protect them, so they removed the Ark from the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle and carried it before them into battle. This did not work, and once again, the Israelites were defeated. Not only did the Philistines defeat the Israelites, they also captured the Ark.
The Ark of the Covenant was to remain behind a special curtain in the Tabernacle—the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26), but the Israelites disobeyed God’s command. They removed the Ark from its sacred place and treated it as if it was a lucky charm. The Ark was not a lucky charm: it represented God’s promises and instructions to the Israelites, and as such, the Ark itself did not hold any special powers. God was the power. He alone had previously helped the Israelites defeat their enemies.
Similarly, wearing a cross around your neck does not give you any special power. It is what the cross represents that empowers you.
Similarly, wearing a cross around your neck does not give you any special power. It is what the cross represents that empowers you.
I can imagine the Philistines shouts of enthusiasm after they captured the Ark, “Goody! Goody! Now we will win all of our battles because the gods of Israel will empower us.” Joyfully, the Philistines carried the captured Ark into their temple and placed it beside their idol Dagon. Dagon was one of the many gods that the Philistines worshipped. They believed that the more gods they accumulated the more power they would have. They were wrong!
The next morning when the Philistines entered the temple, they found their idol, Dagon, lying face down in front of the Ark. During the night, Dagon had fallen and bowed before the Ark so the Philistines picked the idol up again. The following morning when they entered the temple, they found that Dagon had again fallen down. This time the idol’s face and hands had broken off.
The Philistines completely missed the point. They thought that they could co-mingle the Ark with all of their other gods and become stronger. It did not work! Instead of bringing them power, the Ark brought them a plague of tumors (1 Samuel 5:6, NLT). In their worldly wisdom, the Philistines decided to move the Ark from their village into another Philistine village. But the same thing happened (1 Samuel 5:9-12). Each village that harbored the Ark was struck by a plague of tumors! Finally they wised up and returned the Ark to its rightful owners, the Israelites.
Like the Philistines, you cannot co-mingle God with any other gods (Deuteronomy 5:7). God is a jealous God and He will not share His place of honor with anyone or anything. He alone must be first place in your life and nothing can come before Him—not even a god of money or a god of fame (Deuteronomy 5:9) (Psalm 81:9).
Further, you should never be jealous and attempt to steal God’s blessings from His chosen people. The Philistines were jealous of the Israelite’s many victories and thought that they could steal God’s blessings by stealing the Ark. They learned a valuable lesson the hard way.
Many people hurt themselves by allowing jealousy to creep into their hearts. That jealousy may cause them to act against God’s chosen people. Miriam, Moses’ sister, did this when she became jealous of Moses and began finding fault and speaking out against him (Numbers 12). Like the Philistines, she too was punished for her wrong.
When God blesses someone around you, do you become jealous? Instead of becoming jealous, you should help them pursue God’s blessings by assisting them anyway that you can. If you help others attain God's blessings, you just might find yourself sharing in those blessings. So be careful in this forest of life and stay away from all the lions, and tigers, and bears. Do not fall for any idols, and tumors, and plagues. Oh My!
Three Key Concepts:
1. True worship of God means removing all idols out of your life.
2. Disaster can strike if you attempt to steal someone else’s blessings.
3. Religious symbols cannot duplicate God’s power, nor are they a substitute for obedience.
