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Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than your burnt offerings.
Bible Chapter Studies
1A0I SAMUEL CHAPTER 5
We left off in the last Chapter — I Samuel 4, with the Israelites and Philistines at war with each other; and presently, the Philistines, because of Israel’s forsaking Father, are having the upper hand. So far, the Israelites in two battles with the Philistines, have lost 34,000 men. Also, The Judge and high priest, Eli, because of the loss of the Ark of the Covenant and his two sons, has also died and returned Home to Father. So, the Philistines have the Ark of God in their possession. This then, brings us to a Chapter that I enjoy very much.
Where do our emotions come from? From our Father! Many times in His Word He displays His emotions. You could say, to use a human term, that He wears His emotions on His sleeve. We can read of Him being angry at least 26 times in the first five Books alone: GENESIS through DEUTERONOMY. He becomes pleased and takes pleasure when we do righteously. He hated Esau, yet, He loves us; and at times, we can also read of His sense of humor. In this Chapter, I Samuel 5, we will be reading of Father’s humor, for in His anger at the Philistines at setting His Ark in the house of their false god (lower case “g”) Dagon, He is going to teach them a lesson on how to properly handle and treat His precious things.
With that introduction being said, let’s go to Father and ask Him for His Blessings on our Study of His Word: “ Father, I come to You right now and ask that You Oh LORD Lead me and Guide me as I try and teach Your Word, don’t allow me to mis-teach or mis-lead Your Children. We, Father, also come to You as a group who desire to Learn Your Word, to thank You for inviting us to Your table in order that we might be able to partake of and receive Your Spiritual Meat, and Father, as we prepare to dine on the sustenance which sustains our inner man, we ask that You Oh LORD open our ears and eyes, that we might be able to hear and see your Truths, open our hearts and minds and prepare us in order that we may receive Your Truth. We Pray for Your Understanding of Your Word, we seek Your Knowledge in Your Word, and most importantly Father, we Pray for and desire Your Wisdom from Your Word, in Jesus’ Precious name we Pray, thank You Father, Amen.”
5:1-7:2 ARK IN CAPTIVITY TO THE PHILISTINES
(Introversion and Alternation)
5:1-2 Captivity in Philistia.
5:1-2 CAPTIVITY IN PHILISTIA. (Repeated Alternation)
5:1 From Eben-ezer to Ashdod.
1A1
I Samuel 5:1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. —> After the Israelites foolishly brought the Ark of God to the frontlines falsely believing that the “Ark” would save them, or that Father—because they brought His Ark to the frontlines—would save them; the Philistines kill Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and capture the Ark, and then bring the Ark from Eben-ezer, or “stone of help” to Ashdod meaning “a stronghold” or “fortified.”
Ashdod is one of the five confederate cities of the Philistines, situated about 30 miles from the southern frontier of Palestine, 3 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, and nearly midway between Gaza and Joppa. It was assigned to the tribe of Judah in Joshua 15:47; but, was never subdued by the Israelites. Its chief importance arose from its position on the high road from Palestine to Egypt. It is now an insignificant village, with no memorials of its ancient importance; but, is today still called Esdud.
5:2-6 Judgment on the Ashdodites.
1A2
I Samuel 5:2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. —> Big, big error here on the part of the Philistines. You don’t take something from the one and only True Living God, Eloah, and place it in or next to your false god and think things will be OK.
Here is how foolish or stupid these Philistines are, for in I Samuel 4:7, they said they knew how He had fought for the Israelites and brought them up out of Egypt. Let’s read it again: I Samuel 4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God is come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. —> These Philistines were afraid of YHVH, and rightfully so; for, they knew how powerful and mighty He is, listen to what they say in the next verse: [4:8] Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. —> They knew it was YHVH that smote the Egyptians with the plagues and yet they are still ignorant enough now, to bring His Ark to their “fortified” city and place it in the house of their “make-believe” god - Dagon. What do you think Father will do?
Dagon=“A fish,” apparently, the masculine—notice, I said “apparently”—as this false fish god wasn’t very masculine at all against our Father, ELOHIM. In Exodus 25 we read of the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, and placed atop the Ark is the Mercy Seat where Father sits in Judgment of His children. When these foolish Philistines put His Ark in the “house of Dagon,” they actually put Him in there in the presence of their fictitious “fish” god. Father humbled their fish god and was showing these unbelievers of Ashdod that He alone is the only True Living God, ELOAH, and there are no other gods except Him.
1A3
I Samuel 5:3 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.
—> Father was present in that temple in Ashdod; for the Ark of the Covenant was not the presence of Father, but it was His place of abode here on earth. The blessed artifacts that Father had set before man to remind them of His faithfulness and love for us were all stored in the Ark of the Covenant. They were reminders of His Word and Promises which he gave to His People, the Israelites. They were not intended for the heathen; yet, through the failure of the high priest, Eli, and the priesthood—Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas—and their indifference, here sat the Mercy Seat of God before the god Dagon, and Dagon simply could not stand before the true God.
The mercy seat is where Father gives His mercy to all those who will call out to Him and ask it. Yet even today, people will not call out to Father for mercy, even when it is there before them to freely ask for. In His presence, these Philistines’ false god fell on its face, and when they entered into the house of Dagon the next morning, they saw their god lying there on its face in the dirt before the Ark of YHVH. And they had to set it in an upright position again, for it had no powers to set itself upright.
1A4
I Samuel 5:4 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. —> All that was left of the image of Dagon was the stump; the human portions were completely cut-off and removed from the fish portion.
Do you think these Philistines have gotten the message yet that Father—ELOAH—is The One and Only True Living God? No, sadly for them, they have not. Even though they are seeing with their own eyes, they believe not. All it took was for one non-believer to tell them that they could beat the Israelites and their God; and they gained the courage to stand and fight. Today is no different, for many today still just cannot see Father and His majesty, His splendor. Today, we have those one or two atheists and homosexuals standing and telling the other nonbelievers—“there is no God, only humanism, therefore do as your flesh desires for there are no consequences”—and others just follow along because they now also have courage to stand against Father and His ways. They will find that when they too awaken — open their spiritual eyes either upon death or at Jesus’ return, that their gods of humanism, sodomy and such will likewise be broken. The good news for them, is that when Jesus does return for His Second Advent, they’ll have one thousand years to accept Him and His ways.
1A5
I Samuel 5:5 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. —> Father was finally getting their attention that their god Dagon could not stand in His presence and after they removed the human portions, no one who from then on entered into the house of Dagon stepped on the threshold, they all jumped over it for they were afraid that they too might have their hands and head cut off.
1A6
I Samuel 5:6 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. —> Destroyed them=This translates back to the Hebrew meaning that Father got their attention, He really astonished or scared them because in the Strong’s Concordance, this is Hebrew Word number: H8074, - שָׁמֵם, - shâmêm, pronounced - shaw-mameי, and means: A primitive root; to stun (or intransitively grow numb) , that is, devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense): - make amazed, be astonied, (be an) astonish (-ment), (be, bring into, unto, lay, lie, make) desolate (-ion, places) , be destitute, destroy (self) , (lay, lie, make) waste, wonder. Total KJV occurrences: 89.. Yes, it could also have meant that He destroyed them; but, when combined with the rest of the verse, you see that Father did not kill them, only truly got their attention so that they no longer wanted His Ark in their presence.
How did Father amaze them? By giving every one of them emerods, or what we today call hemorrhoids. And, I mean, they were deep, painful hemorrhoids; so bad, that none of them any longer wanted His Ark in their city.
5:7-8 From Ashdod to Gath.
1A7
I Samuel 5:7 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.” —> These Philistines took a beating for their taking the Ark of the Covenant as one of their spoils of war and bringing it to Ashdod. They knew exactly where their trouble was coming from, and Who was at the cause of their discomfort. The fact that Dagon’s head and hands were broke off showed that Dagon had no power for them anymore; and with all the inhabitants having their hemorrhoids, it shows us that Father does have a sense of humor.
1A8
I Samuel 5:8 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. —> The Philistines no longer wanted their prized possession of Father’s Ark. Where they thought they were giving homage to their god by putting His captured Ark in its presence, He showed them He is the mighty One. Now they all wanted to get it out of Ashdod as quickly as they can, and in any way possible. So where do they take it? To another one of their cities, Gath—meaning “a wine press,” one of the five royal cities of the Philistines, and also the native place of the giant, Goliath.
5:9 Judgment on Gathites.
1A9
I Samuel 5:9 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. —> It didn’t take long; over night in fact, that all the men of Gath awoke with the same condition as the Ashdodites — a major eruption of hemorrhoids. They like the Philistines know where their trouble is coming from; therefore, they also don’t want Father’s Ark in their possession very long, so they take it to Ekron—torn up by the roots; emigration. Word is quickly spreading concerning Father’s Ark and His Power.
All the cities where Father’s Ark was taken underwent a great destruction and Father did it all without any help of man. The lesson that we are to learn from this, is that Father can get along quite well without our assistance. He controls all things in the universe and even down to the sickness that came upon these men. Father works in natural ways. He gives the victory where it belongs, and when Israel did not pray to Him for victory, Israel became losers. The Philistines were heathen believing in false gods and not in ELOAH; and because of their unbelief, when He came into their presence to show them His great power, instead of changing their beliefs, they instead desired that the presence of God be removed from them. Likewise also, the Israelites did not go to Samuel to ask Father for a victory, nor did they even consider if what they were doing was in the interest of Father’s Will or Plan.
The elders of Israel wanted the Ark of the Covenant only as much as the heathen wanted their god—as a tool for their sorcery. They replaced Father with symbolism, and also placed His creation over Father, putting more store in the artifacts than the Creator. It is Father Who does the saving, not those things that represent Him. In reality, He was being very generous with these Philistines, because in Israel if anyone touched His Ark or tried to carry it, they were dead. Father knew of the Philistines’ ignorance concerning His laws which He placed on His People and that they did not apply to these heathen Philistines.
5:10 From Gath to Ekron.
5:10-12 Judgment of Ekronites.
1A10
I Samuel 5:10 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.” —> The word had spread, and when these Ekronites saw the Gathites bringing Father’s Ark to them; they knew it meant their destruction as well; therefore, they wanted no part of it.
Father laid out in minute detail to the Israelites exactly what was to be done with His ark — how it was to kept, and who could and could not come in the presence of His ark. To go against His ways meant receiving His punishment of disease and or death; however, to follow His ways in detail meant receiving His blessings. This applies even to us today, for Father has laid out His plan for the age of the flesh that we live in, and when we follow His ways, which even includes the health or “eating” laws, than we can expect to receive His blessings. Likewise also, to go against those ways — even in ignorance, will only end in sickness and trouble.
1A11
I Samuel 5:11 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: ” for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. —> The hand of God was very heavy there=The Ekronites called all the governments of all the cities of the Philistines to meeting to say “Let's get this Ark of the Israelite God away from us, for His hand is too heavy and the toll too high! ” They all knew exactly where their trouble came from, there was no confusion in their minds, for they knew exactly Whose hand was upon them. They knew their god was good for nothing, for that old fish statue lay on the temple floor with its head and hands broken off, and all that was left was the image of a dead fish. Father is exacting His toll on these heathen all by Himself and He didn’t need Israel or any man to fight His battles for Him. The entire world is His creation, and He can and does use the things of nature—earthquakes, sickness or any other means He desires—to see that his plan is carried out to the final detail. Father loves His people and He will use us as long as we work within the instructions of His plan, which is His Holy Word.
1A12
I Samuel 5:12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. —> As all the men of the households were dying or coming down with their painful piles and sickness, the Philistines’ cry was heard by our Father in heaven. Father works in wondrous ways, and He uses those things that are natural to bring about His will.
Almost, I said almost, this whole thing can be traced back to the ministry. It all goes back to Eli and his two sons and what they were doing in the temple when the people came to offer their sacrifices: they stole from the men and the women, they raped. Father again used these Philistines to get the attention of the Israelites. When they took His Ark from the temple and brought it to the front battle-lines without His permission, He then allowed the Philistines to capture it. He also got the Philistines’ attention, and now they know firsthand of His great power and want, at present, no part of it.
We’ll pick it up in the next Chapter, I Samuel 6, to see what happens next.
Sept 2012, Updated: Aug 2021.
This Bible Study was written by Scott Reis and is provided in order to be used as a private Bible Study Tool. Therefore, it may be copied in whole or in part and shared for private Bible Study; however, it may not be reproduced and published as an original work.
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