1 Samuel 5:1-12
1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And 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.
4 And 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.
5 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.
6 But 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.
7 And 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.
8 They 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.
9 And 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.
10 Therefore 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.
11 So 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:a for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Israel’s First King
1 Samuel
Helen Pocock
Chapter 5
The *ark of God causes trouble for the *Philistines
v1 When the *Philistines stole the *ark of God they took it from Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. v2 They carried it into the *temple of their *god. The name of their *god was Dagon. They put the *ark next to the *idol of Dagon. v3 The next morning the people of Ashdod got up early and went to their *temple. They saw that Dagon had fallen down in front of the *ark of the Lord. He lay with his face touching the ground. So, they picked up Dagon and put him back in his place. v4 They got up early the next morning and went to the *temple of Dagon. Again, they found that Dagon had fallen down in front of the *ark of the Lord. He lay with his face touching the ground. His head and his hands had broken off. They were lying in the *temple doorway. Only his body was not broken. v5 Dagon’s priests and other people still go to the *temple at Ashdod. But since this happened no one will step on the doorway of Dagon’s *temple.
The *Philistines stole the *ark. They believed that they were stealing the God of *Israel too. They were very happy to have the *ark. But by the end of the chapter, they wanted to return it. They discovered that the God of *Israel is different from other *gods. He is very powerful. He does not live in the *ark.
Ashdod is about 48 kilometres (30 miles) south of where they had their battle. Every time the *Philistines won a battle, they stole the figures of the *gods of that nation. They put them in Dagon’s *temple. This showed that Dagon was more powerful than the other *gods. The Bible calls these figures ‘*idols’. The *temple was a building. People went to the *temple to praise Dagon. The *Philistines took the *ark of the Lord and put it in Dagon’s *temple. In the morning, Dagon was in front of the *ark, not next to it. He had fallen down in front of the *ark of the Lord. He lay with his face touching the ground (verses 4 and 5). Sometimes people do this in front of a king. This is how they give him honour. They show that the king is more powerful than they are. (People often *worshipped God in this way too.)
The *Philistines put Dagon back in his place. The figure of Dagon was probably on a high table. This made him look powerful and important. The next day he was lying in front of the *ark again. This was not an accident as it happened twice. But this time Dagon was broken. In those days, when men won a battle, they often cut off their enemies’ heads and hands. The *Philistines won the battle with the *Israelites. But God showed the *Philistines that he is more powerful than Dagon. Philippians 2:10-11 says that one day everyone will bend down to Jesus. They will admit that he is the most important God. Everyone will give honour to Jesus.
v6 The *Lord punished the people of Ashdod and their neighbours. They were very frightened. God made them suffer with a disease that gave them *tumours. v7 The men from Ashdod saw what was happening. They said, ‘The *ark of God must not stay here with us. The God of *Israel is punishing us and punishing Dagon our *god’. v8 So they called the *Philistine kings together. They asked the kings, ‘What should we do with the *ark of the God of *Israel?’
The kings answered, ‘Take the *ark of the God of *Israel to Gath’. So the men moved it to the *Philistine town of Gath.
v9 After they had moved the *ark to Gath, God punished the people in Gath. He sent great terror to them. Old and young people suffered with disease and *tumours. v10 So the people sent the *ark of God to the *Philistine town of Ekron.
When the *ark of God came into Ekron the people in the town shouted. They said, ‘They have brought the *ark of the God of *Israel to us. It will kill us. It will kill the people who live here’. v11 So they called the *Philistine kings together. The people from Ekron said to them, ‘Send away the *ark of the God of *Israel. Send it back to where it should be. If you do not do this, it will kill us. And it will kill all our people’. All the people in the town had terror because God was punishing them. v12 Many people died and the rest of the people had *tumours. So, the people of the town of Ekron cried aloud to heaven.
God punished the people everywhere that the *ark of God went. A ‘*tumour’ is a type of spot or lump. It grows very big in your body or under your skin. We do not know what disease the *Philistines had. We do not know where they had the *tumours. In 6:4-5, it says that there were also rats. A rat is an animal like a big mouse. Rats eat the food that people store. Rats spread diseases. In 4:6-8 the *Philistines remembered what the God of *Israel did in the time of Moses. Now God was punishing them. Everyone was frightened. The people in Ekron were so frightened that they prayed to God in heaven instead of to their own *gods.
Philistines ~ the Israelites’ main enemies at that time. They lived on the west side of the country of Israel.Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
temple ~ a special building where people went to praise false gods. Also the building that Solomon built in the town of Jerusalem. The Israelites went to this temple to worship the true God.
gods ~ gods with a small ‘g’ are all the false gods.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
gods ~ gods with a small ‘g’ are all the false gods.
idol ~ an object that people worship instead of the real God. People make idols from wood, stone or metal. An idol was usually an image of a person, animal or object. Idols are false gods.
worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Lord ~ the name of God in the Bible. The special name of God that he announced only to the Israelites (Genesis 3:13-15). It links God with his covenant (promise) to them.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
tumour ~ a type of spot or lump. It grows very big in a person’s body or under his or her skin.