By: Obed Pineda
Upon returning home from a successful campaign against a rival nation, it was customary in the ancient east for the victors to place the treasures looted from the sacked temple into theirs. For the conquerors, this was a display of the dominance exuded by their patron god over the god of their foes on the battlefield. It was yet another layer of humiliation that would be added onto the shoulders of the already demoralized nation, intended to further subjugate them into submission. Depositing another temple’s treasure into their god’s temple was a symbolic gesture that represented a vanquished god kneeling and bowing before a superior and mightier god. In essence, it was a bold statement that proclaimed, “My god is better than yours” or, worse, “Your god favored us over you.” After all, the capture of a temple was understood to mean that a city’s gods had chosen the invaders over the inhabitants of the city. This meant that the populace of the sacked city no longer had gods in their favor that would protect them from the inevitable outcome that was to take place. Because their patron deities chose to forsake them by handing the city over to its new rulers, they no longer had any god that they could plead to, asking for mercy. Thus, this provides great insight that brightens our understanding of the event that ensued between the ark of God and the Philistine “god,” Dagon, in Ashdod (1st Samuel 5:1-8). After defeating Israel in the Battle of Ebenezar, Holy Writ reveals that “then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon” (1st Samuel 5:1-2). Following the train of thought of what the superstitious beliefs were during those days, it is highly probable that the Philistines believed that Jehovah God had made an alliance with Dagon. They most likely surmised that the God of Israel had chosen to move from Shiloh to Ashdod to become a new patron deity of their nation by Dagon’s side, totally forsaking Israel in favor of the Philistines. Placing the ark of God in Dagon’s house, next to the idol, implies that they had concluded that God would never again return to Israel, and therefore Israel would never rise again from this defeat. Verily, this bleak and erred understanding demonstrates just how little the ancient world was aware about the omnibenevolent nature of the only, true God. Truthfully, it reveals how uneducated the archaic world was in their entire knowledge of God. For this reason Jehovah God took it upon Himself to educate the Philistines about who is God (cf. Isaiah 41:21-29, 44:6-20, 46:1-13). The Holy Spirit declares that “when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again” (1st Samuel 5:3). It is wise to establish that Dagon was nothing more than a carved image; an inanimate statue fabricated by the hands of men. This fact is important to keep in mind when studying this pericope, lest we commit the grave mistake of believing that the statue of Dagon came alive and bowed before the ark of the Lord. The inspired penmen removes any possibility of his words being misinterpreted as an insinuation stating that a carved image had the power to come alive at night by clearly stating, “there was Dagon fallen on ITS face to the earth before the ark of the Lord” (1st Samuel 5:3a, emphasis mine). It is important to observe that every Scripture that speaks of God, always (ALWAYS!) uses the formal pronouns of Him, His, and He; never does the text speak of Him as an object! Therefore, when the inspired amanuensis utilizes the pronoun “its” in conjunction with the Philistine idol, he is brazenly declaring that Dagon is not a deity in any way, shape, or form. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit also unveils that “they took Dagon and set it in its place again” (1st Samuel 5:3b). Here, God was majestically shining His bright light upon the ignorance of the Philistines’ irrational worship of a statue (cf. Acts 17:30). The silent question being asked by Jehovah God to the dwellers of Ashdod in this moment was “Would a true god fall and bow before another?” followed up by, “Does a real god require man’s help to stand back up after ‘he’ has fallen?” Regrettably, they did not perceive the Divine intent of exposing the false god and overlooked the glaring reality before them. They foolishly persisted in making their idol Dagon equal to the Almighty Himself. Hence, “when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it” (1st Samuel 5:4). Indeed, the apostle Paul’s affirmation, “we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one” should have rung loudly in the understanding of the Philistines after this tremendous, irrefutable exhibition of true power (1st Corinthians 8:4). It must be acknowledged that God’s mercy was being manifested to the Philistines as well, because He was appealing to their reason by unmasking the fraudulent god and inviting them to reject their idolatrous ways and turn to Him. God’s destruction of Dagon’s statue was an act of love that extended the olive branch of peace to the Philistines. He was removing the item obstructing their view from His glory. Once removed, He was warmly welcoming them into fellowship with Him. Lamentably, they did not accept the Lord’s invitation and continued in their idolatrous ways bringing upon themselves the righteous punishment from heaven (cf. 1st Samuel 5:6). God had proven to the Philistines that there is no other god before Him, quickly eliminating any arrogant thought that their false god had been victorious over the God of Israel. He ensured that they fully comprehended that He had allowed them to lay hold of His sacred ark, with the purpose of reconciling Himself with them, by personally destroying the very object that stood in the way of peace between them. The Philistines, however, dismissed the Lord’s actions as loving, merciful, or peaceful fearfully asserting, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god” (1st Samuel 5:7). Tragically they chose to remain loyal to a statue rather than God. Israel repeated this error, with His temple, forcing God to destroy it, with the same intention. To be continued…