Today’s
Scripture Reading (February 19, 2019): 1 Samuel 5
Formula One racing driver, Fernando Alonso, argues “I would
not be happy if I had many trophies at home and people think I don't deserve
them.” Trophies are supposed to be a recognition of our accomplishments. You
can actually go out and buy trophies in a
store, but I am not sure why you would want to make the purchase. A purchased
trophy just proves that you could walk
into a store with money in your pocket. Winning the trophy is what matters. It
means that we have sacrificed something in order
to excel and accomplish some feat in our lives.
The Philistines worshipped the god Dagon. Dagon was
a merman; a half human and half fish god who was
associated with fertility and agriculture. The description that we have
of Dagon is that from the navel up, he bore the form of a man, but from the
navel down, he was a fish. Dagon was believed to be the father of Ba’al. In
ancient mythology, it was Dagon who discovered both grain and the plow. And in turn, he passed that knowledge on
to those who followed him.
As the Philistines defeat Israel, part of the
understanding was that this was another example of the superiority of Dagon
over all other gods. And the gift of the Ark of the Covenant was even more
proof that this was true. Israel had lost control of their holiest and most
precious possession. From the point of view of
the Philistines, the tabernacle in Shiloh was built to house the Ark of the
Covenant, and now it was just an empty place with no tenant, just as the Temple
built to honor Dagon would be empty and useless if the image of Dagon was stolen or destroyed. Without the Ark of the
Covenant, the Tabernacle was now empty, and
Israel was without a God.
So the Philistines take the Ark of the Covenant to
the Temple of Dagon and place it inside the Temple beside the image of their man-fish
god. But the Ark was not intended to be an additional object of worship in the Temple
of the merman. The Ark of the Covenant was nothing more than the trophy that
had been awarded to Dagon in reward for
his triumph over both Israel and her God.
But the events that were about to unfold would
reveal that Dagon was not worthy of the trophy that had been presented to him. Dagon didn’t deserve to stand in front of
the God of Israel, a reality that God would make clear to the Philistines.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 6
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