1 Samuel 5:1-5 – God Still Rules …. Over False Gods
The defeated god, Yahweh (the LORD), is set before the victorious god, Dagon. Dagon was one of the main gods of the Philistines, apparently ruling over grain, vegetation, and fertility. All in Ashdod were to marvel at his triumph over Yahweh, Israel’s God. Even the mighty Egyptians had not been able to do this (see Exodus!). But the next morning Dagon is fallen, face down in the dust, bowing before Yahweh. This is the position of worship and adoration. The god needs a hand up. The next morning, he hasn’t just fallen over, his head and hands have fallen off. This looks like a wartime execution, like the Philistines would have carried out countless times on their defeated enemies. In the battle of the gods, poor Dagon really lost his head. One writer says, “Dagon gets the god-ness knocked out of him”.
Here, with no-one to fight his battles, it is just Yahweh versus Dagon, ‘mano-a-mano’. Yahweh is the away team, Dagon has home advantage. Yet Dagon ends up headless on the floor. God still rules, even over false gods.
3,000 years ago they believed Dagon sent blessings and happiness. Most people in the West don’t look to idols of wood and stone anymore, but they still look for someone else, or something else, apart from God, to send blessing, peace, prosperity, and happiness. Our worship, love, service, and energy are directed to seeking happiness, blessing, security, and peace from romance, relationships, money, leisure, and popularity. Dagon is still worshipped. He just has different names. He still has temples. The stadium temples hold tens of thousands of people at their weekly services, where they sing together. The shopping mall temples enable all of life worship seven days a week. The online temples enable next-day delivery of ‘happiness’ and an echo chamber of empty praise from ‘Friends’. How easily these gods are defeated. For example, a tiny virus – and all the world’s idols lie broken at the feet of Yahweh.
Questions
- How have we seen the modern day Dagons broken by recent events?
- Who or what is your Dagon – who or what are you looking for peace, prosperity, and happiness?
Prayer Points
- Confess your idolatry and acknowledge God as the only, living and true God.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.