Regretting their Success

I Samuel 5:1-6:1

“And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.” (I Samuel 5:1)

One can only imagine the elation the Philistines felt after capturing Israel‘s God, (or so they thought).  They had expected to be wiped out like so many others had, not to win such a victory.  They took the Ark to Ashdod to commemorate and celebrate their accomplishment.

“When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.  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.” (I Samuel 5:2-3) 

The Ark was placed in the temple of Dagon to protect it while they decided what to do with it.  The next morning the statue of Dagon had fallen over as if it were worshipping the Ark.  Unsure why the statue had fallen over, the people of Ashdod set it back up and went about their business.

“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.  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.” (I Samuel 5:4-5)

When they came into the temple the second morning, they found statue again fallen as if in worship, but the hands and head had been cut off and were laying on the threshold or sill which supported the building.  Clearly this was not just a coincidence or the result of the ground settling. It made quite an impression and from that time forward, the priests and worshippers of Dagon avoided stepping onto the sill.

“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.  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.” (I Samuel 5:6-7) 

The problems didn’t stop with the damage to the idol.  God destroyed them, and caused them to develop painful emrods or what many believe to be hemorrhoids, not only in the city, but in the surrounding countryside.   If so, this is the first and only epidemic of hemorrhoids on record.  In fact the word actually refers to swellings or tumors under the skin and probably indicates that they had bubonic plague.  Blaming keeping the Ark, Ashdod’s leaders informed the rest of the Philistines they would not keep it any longer, because they did not want God angry with them.

“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.  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.” (I Samuel 5:8-9)

The Philistine leaders weren’t convinced that the Ark was the problem and recommended that it be taken to Gath.  In Gath they experienced an even more severe destruction and outbreak of swollen lymph nodes.   The people of Gath concluded that the people of Ashdod were right and decided to get rid of the Ark.

“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.  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.  And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.  And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.” (I Samuel 5:10-12)

When they brought the Ark to Ekron. The people there accused them of trying to kill them off and refused to allow it into the city.  They called the all the Philistine leaders together and demanded that the Ark be sent back to Israel because even though it hadn’t been allowed into the city, they were still getting infected with many deaths, and even the survivors suffering from the hemorrhoids.  The people were praying God would bring an end to the plague.  After seven months, they were willing to do almost anything to stop it.

Capturing the Ark turned out to be one of the worst mistakes the Philistines had ever made.  They were not celebrating their victory any more.   People frequently find that what they thought was a blessing was a curse instead.