WHEN DAGON FELL ON
HIS FACE
1 Sam. 4,5
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. My son John Wesley got married yesterday. During the reception they had 2 couples who’d been married over 50 years tell how they’d stayed married. The women said, “Have lots of patience.” The men said, “Do what she says.”
2. The women’s speaker was lecturing on marriage and asked the audience how many of the women wanted to “mother” their husbands. One raised her hand.
“You want to ‘mother’ your husband?” the speaker asked.
“Mother?” the woman echoed. “I thought you said ‘smother.’
3. Someone asked how much it cost to get married. One man responded, “Forty-five dollars for the license and your income for the rest of your life.” It’s a life commitment!
B. TEXT & THESIS: 1 Sam. 4:2-18; 5:1-12
1. 4:2 Israel was defeated by the Philistines…. 3 The elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring [allow] defeat…today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh. 5 When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. 8 “We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues…9 Be strong, Philistines! Or you will be subject to the Hebrews. Be men, and fight!” 10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and…the slaughter was very great; Israel lost 30,000 foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 12 A Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was [the Priest] Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. 14 Eli…asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?” The man told Eli, 16 “I have just come from the battle line…17 Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died.
5:1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it…to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold. 6 The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod… he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. 7 …They said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they moved the ark of the God of Israel [to Gath]. 9 But…the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, 11 “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it… 12 and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
C. THESIS
1. We're going to look this morning at how God is the Living God; He is able to uphold his own Name & honor. He’s not a fabrication of human ingenuity; He’s independent.
2. Secondly we’re going to see what happens when God comes into a human life; He turns things upside down and refuses to allow sin to stand unchallenged.
3. Let’s dig into the Word together as we look at "When Dagon Fell On His Face."
I. WHY THE ARK WAS TAKEN
A. ISRAEL’S RABBIT FOOT
1. Israel had been defeated by the Philistines. Instead of 1). Seeking God for the reason, 2). Praying, or 3). Checking to see if they had sinned, Israel sent off for their heavenly rabbit's foot or good luck charm -- -- the Ark.
2. The Ark was a small wooden box, covered with gold (4’ x 2’) with two Angel figures on the lid. This "Ark" represented the very presence of God.
3. Good luck charms aren't all they're cut out to be: take a rabbit's foot for an example; it sure didn't help the rabbit! Supposedly, 20 million people in the United States have one!
4. The Hebrews thought they could never be defeated in battle if they had the Ark. But they were trusting in a box instead of God.
B. OUR MISPLACED TRUSTS
1. We put our faith in the wrong things.
2. Many trust in:
a. Someone else's prayers to get them through/rescue them -- but not their own prayers;
b. Some benevolent work to make them acceptable to God,
c. Trust in their own goodness, or their accomplishments in the past.
3. These (above) are no different than the Israelites trusting a box to help them win (life's) battles. Our Battle will be won only by prayer and faith in the Living God. Have you taken that step?
C. PHILISTINE’S PERCEPTION OF ISRAEL’S GOD
1. “We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues…” (4:8).
2. It’s amazing that sometimes people who don’t serve the Lord have a better opinion of God than God’s people! The Israelites might have forgotten the power of God displayed in the Egyptian plagues, but the Philistines had not!
3. The Lord Jesus marveled at the faith of the Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion. Let’s be sure we preserve the facts of how mighty and awesome our God is too!
D. WHY WAS ELI AFRAID FOR THE ARK?
1. Eli was afraid that God would fail! There are times when it looks like God may have failed. Recently, thousands of Christians have been killed or had to flee their homes in the Middle East.
2. Has God failed? No. In many time periods Christians have been widely persecuted. But God is greater than persecution!
3. This story shows that our God – the Living God – doesn’t need to be propped up, but is well able to take care of Himself.
II.WHEN THE PHILISTINES SHOUTED
A. CELEBRATION IN THE CAMP
1. If you've watched an NFL game you've seen what the players do in the Endzone after touchdowns: Strut, Gyrate, Shake, Jump up & down, Yell, Spike the ball, Run around.
2. That's what the Philistines had done after their two great victories over the Israelites, and probably more now when the foreign deity was captured. Probably the whole city of Ashdod was assembled to celebrate.
3. They brought the Ark -- as a trophy -- into the Temple of Dagon, and probably shouted, "Praise to the Mighty Dagon, who has defeated the God of the Hebrews, Jehovah." And they put the small box before the giant statue of Dagon, pictured as half man and half fish (a merman).
4. This scene reminds me of a humorous commercial a few years ago with the punch line, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" And mother nature would zap them with bad weather. It relates an accurate truth:
B. GOD IS NOT MOCKED
1. It's not a good idea to mock God! God is jealous for His Name. When the enemy boasts and gloats, that's good news for God's people because it will provoke God to vindicate his name! Paul wrote in the book of Galatians, "God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that will he reap!"
2. God will defend His honor. Never mix the sacred and secular. Do not tell jokes about God. Always be respectful towards God's name and the Bible.
3. ILLUSTRATION.
a. A notorious atheist had a considerable following in a certain town. He liked to brag and make a public scene when he would blaspheme against God.
b. One day, when he was being particularly stupid, he challenged God, if such a Being existed, to meet him in the woods and fight him.
c. The day came and he went to the woods, stayed a few hours yelling and throwing things, and then returned home, gloating more than ever that, if there was a God, He hadn’t shown up.
d. What he didn’t know was, when he'd been in the woods, a tiny gnat had bitten him on his eyelid. That night it swelled up and blood poisoning set in. Within a day or two he died! God had used the weakest and tiniest of creatures demonstrate that He is not to be mocked!
III. COMING OF THE ARK: PICTURE OF CHRIST COMING INTO SOUL
A. ARK INTO IDOL TEMPLE =CHRIST INTO HUMAN SOUL
1. Christ finds our hearts dark and under the dominion/power of sin.
2. Imagine Dagon and God in the same heart! It would be impossible for them to remain that way long. “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” 2 Cor. 6:14-15.
3. The two forces will inevitably conflict. They are as different as:
Light and Dark Good and Evil
Fire and Water Heat & Cold
4. Be assured: God will ultimately triumph. "Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound."
5. Dagon fell upon his face. Notice, that Dagon didn't 1). Lean over, or 2). Drop upon his side, or 3). Fall partway down, but FELL ONTO HIS FACE!. One translation says/adds, "showing the form of worship" (Theodoret).
6. The Ark was set at the foot of Dagon, but now Dagon lay at the foot of the Ark!
7. Your Dagon could be:
a. Your Fear to surrender all to Christ.
b. A cherished sin you don’t want to give up.
c. Your love for the world and its favor and pleasures.
Either you're going to put the Ark out of your Temple (your body), or your Dagon is going to fall before the Ark.
7. Be assured: "Don't think that God is the Ruler in your heart if you still have idols in your life!" The two cannot coexist. Put your Dagon down before the Ark this morning.
B. SETTING DAGON BACK UP
1. Represents the Battle in the soul between Sin and Truth. New converts often revert to old ways temporarily. They become discouraged! Satan will tempt us to set up Dagon again!
2. It works out for the good -- humility, tenderness, gratitude.
3. The Philistines took ropes and pulleys and pry bars and with great exertions, put the huge lump of marble back on its stand. But God had no trouble toppling it again that night.
4. This second time, the fall of Dagon was worse than the first time. This is a picture of sin’s influence broken over the believer.
5. Sin may trouble you, but it shall not prevail over you. "Sin shall not have dominion (Lordship) over you." We can't, as Christians, live in and delight in Sin.
6. We may sin, but to love sin is not in the believer, but is deadly antagonism between truth and sin.
IV. THOUGH MAIMED & BROKEN, DAGON STILL HAS A STUMP LEFT
A. WATCH THAT STUMP! (Sin-nature)
1. Some say that they no longer sin (as if to say there is no stump left). Not true -- and puts us off our guard.
2. Beware/be watchful: The Stump can Regrow!
a. Job said of a tree cut down, "At the scent of water it will bud."
b. Do you have victory? Your warfare is not ended. It is a life-long struggle.
3. ILLUSTRATION. [danger of sin]
a. As part of a circus act, a man would place his head in a tiger's mouth! He advanced to the Tiger and the Tiger opened his mouth. While the crowd watched in a breathless wonder and horror, the man thrust his head into the open mouth; pause a moment, then slowly withdraw his head from the place of danger and back from the cage. As he shut the door of the cage, the lion leapt against the bars with terrible force.
b. Such a foolish stunt got a lot of publicity, but many people wondered how long it would be before that someday that man would pay for his foolishness. Their utterance was fulfilled. In a small town in northern Pennsylvania the man met his doom. While his head was in the tiger's mouth, those powerful jaws closed on him and before several bullets into the Tiger's life the man was a corpse.
B. DON’T TOY WITH THE STUMP
1. Stump (sin) is still part of the monstrous, vile image. Sin = deadly. Don't play with sin.
2. We're full of gunpowder (sin) and only need a spark from the devil to explode. There’s already enough of the devil in us, without sending out invitation cards. Don't fraternize with the enemy.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: “INVADING HELL!”
1. In India, Behar State, was a young Indian man named Sonjay who got saved. His father was a high-ranking Hindu priest over several Temples.
2. Sonjah wanted to start a church, but couldn’t find a building. One large Hindu Temple had three floors.
3. On the 1st floor is the Temple worship center with the large idol where the worshippers burn incense and offer fruit. On the 3rd floor is a storage area for weapons.
4. But the second floor was not being used at present, so Sonjah decided to start his church there on the second floor.
5. The Christians were afraid to come to this church since it was in the Hindu Temple. The Hindus, however, said, “This is in our Temple, so we’d be glad to come!” And many of them did.
6. So on the 1st & 3rd floors of this Temple were the worship of the Hindu gods, and in between, a church where Hindus were getting saved and filled with the Holy Spirit! Sonjah is now a successful pastor because he invaded Hell!
B. ALTAR CALL
1. How many of you have felt like God had failed you? You saw defeat and couldn’t imagine why God would allow that?
2. Do you have any Dagons lurking around in your life? Any parts of your old life which still exert power over you?
3. Is God’s absolute Lordship over your life challenged by some worldly influence? If Jesus isn’t Lord OF ALL, He isn’t Lord AT ALL!
4. Salvation Call.
