Real People – Real Problems
A study of 1 Samuel
Part 4b
“Knowing God”
“The Philistine view”
Last week we began a series within a series in our Real People- Real Problems series
Called Knowing God
I would venture to say a more accurate description to the problem being addressed is “Not Knowing God”
We saw last week how the nation of Israel under the leadership of men who obviously did not know God fell away from The God of the bible
The god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
The I Am
They through their disobedience
Had taken God for granted
They had ignored his holiness by worshiping foreign idols and the things of God
They had blamed him for their problems that came though their own disobedience
And they had glorified everyone and everything except God
And as a result the thing they had treasured most
The Ark
The things of God
Had been taken from them
When we think of God as a lucky charm
As a force we can control
As a inconvenience except when we are in a bind
We like the Israelites
Have a problem with knowing God
I mean really knowing God
Today
I want to look at how the Philistines
The enemies the Israelites
The enemy of God
Viewed God
And how their misguided views
Caused them to not know God either
And compare the misguided views of the Israelites with the Philistines
In order see how we often view God from a wrong perspective and have trouble knowing him as well
Our text for today continues in 1 Samuel
Beginning in chapter 4
Let me quickly recap
The Israelites went to war with the Philistines- again
They carried the Ark of God with them without permission or direction from God
The Israelites were massacred
The Priests killed
The Ark captured and Eli the High priest died as well
The nation of Israel was in a tight spot
The Philistines thought they were eating high on the hog
But we will soon see that they were eating real low
Down along the bottom of the hoofs
1 Samuel 4:10-11
10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.”
Here is where we get into wrong thinking number two about God
Often our wrong thinking causes us not to really know God
We have misguided views
Unrealistic expectations
Sometimes prompted by wrong teachings
Sometimes by our own ideas
But
Many times by our complete disregard for a desire to know God personally
Let me read verses 1 and 2 of chapter 5 for you then we can dig in
1 Samuel 5:1-2
“After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon.”
Let me tell you
The Philistines were excited
They had just had an overwhelming victory over their enemies
Their god- Dagon
Had defeated the same god who had destroyed the Egyptian army The one who delivered the Israelites form captivity
The Powerful God who parted the Red Sea
And they now possessed that God
The God of Israel
Right here in a box
To be used at their disposal- at their will
You see the Philistines
Did not know God
They only knew what they had heard
And they thought by capturing the Ark
They had captured God
And they also though because they had captured him
He now had to do their bidding as well
He was simply another tool in their arsenal of gods
The Philistines worshiped many gods
Dagon – a half man half fish considered to be the god of rain and fertility
And his girlfriend
Ash-er-ah, or Ash-tor-eth who was considered to be the goddess of lust- sex- reproduction ext.
Being the most prominent
It is said that those who worship Dagon also believe Baal
A better known false god to be the love child of Dagon and Ash-er-ah
Also as a side note
This may be the first place we see the misguided view of evolution also, as the Philistines worshipping a half fish half man god believed the man and fish had once been united and thought he theory of evolution had not yet been brought to light
This tells me and should tell you
That
The Lies of Satan transcend time and definition
Back to our study
The Philistines were used to worshiping things
So this god of Israel in this golden box was a great prize to them and another weapon in their arsenal that they could control even command
Or so they thought
It is clear that they did not know Our God
The God of the bible
Or they would have left that box right where they found it
Listen
In many ways we can be guilty of similar issues due to our lack of knowledge about who God really is and how he really works
Let me stomp just a bit this morning
Some of you will get bruised others will go unskuffed
God is not a force we control
He is not just another tool in our belt
We can’t force God to do our bidding by clicking like on face book
You have all seen these posts
If you love Jesus click ---like-- and you will receive-------Blessings- Money- ????
We can’t buy the blessing of God
With works , by clicking a button
Or
Though giving money to con artists
Just send 99 dollars and 33 will get you a health blessing some will cry
And 33 will get you a wealth blessing
And 33 will get you a family blessing
Others call it planting a seed
I could go on and on with the lies of the little “g” gods
We can’t add God to our list of little gods
To use at our whim like
Horoscopes
Lady Luck
Superstition
We can’t form God into our own image
And we cannot create God
He created us!
You see when we do that
We like the Philistines have a very narrow view of who God is
What he does and does not do
We have a very narrow view of his mercy
His grace
His love
His majesty
If you know God
I mean really know God
Then you know he will not play second fiddle
To the other gods in your life- whatever that might be
We saw last week how the Israelites placed their faith in the ark
And God took it from them
Not out of meanness
He took it to cause them to refocus their affection on him- their creator
To shift them back to center
To cause them to realize that he alone is Holy
He alone is God
He alone is worthy of worship
God’s word says God is a jealous God
And we sometimes get confused about that
Because we think of jealously from a human perspective
The county songs about baseball bats and windshields from scorned girlfriend kind of Jealous
What he means is
He will not put up with us worshipping anything other than him
The meat will sometimes rot in our teeth as the quail did in the dessert
He will destroy or remove the object of our affection
Or sometimes
He will just sit back and let us make our own mistakes
Waiting patiently for the wheels to fall off
And then being there to pick us up when we fall
The Philistines did not know God
So they took the Ark and placed it in their temple before their fish god
And their whole lives started coming unbolted
Verses 1-3
“After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 3 But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again
They placed what they believed to be God- God in a box
In front of one of their many gods
In a place of submission to Dagon
And God
Knocked their fake god down
Verses 3b-4a
“So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. 4 But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD again.”
They were not getting the clue
Once again
Because they did not know God or his nature
Verses 4b-5
This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
This time God almighty busted up their fishy little nothing God
Knocked his head right off
Busted off his hands
And sent a signal to the Philistines
I can tell you
They should have packed up the Ark and got it as far away as possible
But
Always a but right
Always a better plan
They just kept on thinking of God as another tool
So God showed them more
Verse 6
“Then the LORD’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.”
God unleashed his vengeance and wrath on them
They did not know God
But they attempted to use God for their own purposes
They did not know God but they tried to keep him in a box
They did not know God but they still tired to control him
Once again they should have shipped the Ark straigt back to Israel
But
Their pride
Their selfishness
Their own wants and desires prevented them from doing so
So they sent it to another town
Verses 7-8
7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath.”
We don’t really want it but we don’t want to get rid of it either thinking
Still they were not in control
Because they still did not know God
They still did not respect God as the creator
The one and only
Verse 9
9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the LORD’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
And still they kept it
Sometimes people can be so dumb
Maybe just oblivious to what is right in from to them
Instead of changing their view of God
Instead of sending the Ark away
They still tried to maintain their control over him
They still wanted the power
Even though they had no idea how to use it
How to unleash it
So once again they moved it
Or tired to move it
Verses 10-12
10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it[b] will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
Finally someone woke up and smelled the coffee
We don’t want it they cried
Already the sickness had started
Already just being in the presence of
And not knowing
Honoring
Worshipping God
Had caused a major problem in their lives
They Kept the Ark for seven more moths and finally they started making a plan to return it to the nation of Israel
We will take a look at that plan
On another day
In another sermon
But for today
I want to focus on wrong thinking about God and ultimately how we can get to know God better
And not make the mistakes of the Philistines or the Israelites
The Israelites had taken God for granted
The Philistines placed much value on him but in the wrong way
The Israelites viewed God as a lucky charm
They believed just because they were who they were God owed them something
The Philistines on the other hand believed that by capturing the Ark
----The things of God---
That they had power and dominion over God and all the power that he has
Both views are results of not knowing God
We take him for granted by placing him on a shelf only to be used when we need something
Only when we are in a bind
Only on Sunday or Wednesday
We often cry out God get me out of this mess
Or God give me this or that
While never seeking him the rest of the time
God wants to be a part of our lives
Not just our spiritual lives
He wants to be involved in every part of our lives
Sometimes we act more like Philistines
We believe that because we call on his name
We are entitled to all he has
All wisdom
All knowledge
All everything
Whatever we want
Whenever we want it
Both are wrong thinking
And both once again
Are due to lack of knowing God
God is in control
We are not
Taking him for granted is not getting us closer to knowing God
But neither is the sense of entitlement that some get from lack of knowledge or wrong knowledge about God
Next
The Israelites rejected the holiness of God
They should have known better
They had priests
They had the scrolls- Parts of the Old Testament as we know it
They had access to the truth
But they did not fear God
They had lost their reverence for him
They choose instead to disregard his holiness
The Philistines on the other hand
Feared God
But in a Halloween
Scary monster kind of way
Not in reverence
They recognized the holiness of God ( in a weird kind of way)
But they minimized it by just adding him to their list of gods
Placing him on the same level
Actually a little lower
Than
Their gods
They recognized the power
They feared the power
Remember back in chapter 4 how they panicked at the sight of the Ark and the sound of the shouts
But they thought by possessing the Ark
They would control the power --so they fought harder
Next
The Israelites blamed God for their problems
We sometimes do that also we covered that pretty well last week
The Philistines on the other hand seemed to be completely blind at first to the fact that God was the very cause of their problems
We can make those same mistakes
I told you last week we must take responsibility for our actions
Take the blame for our mistakes
Ask ourselves did I cause this when things go wrong
But part of that is seeing if the wreck is a discipline from God
Many times the answered to that is yes as well
God was causing the problems in the Philistines lives
Due to their unbelief in him as the One true God
Due to their view of him as a power they could control
Many times we cause wrecks in our lives by our disobedience
And God pours out discipline on us
Sometimes the only way we will look up to God is to be laying flat on our backs
And repentance
Is the answer
Going the other way
Confessing
Admitting
And asking forgiveness
The Philistines finally realized their problems were from God
But they never repented
They sent the Ark away
They got God – as far away from themselves as possible
Sometimes
When we are choosing sin
And the wrecks are happening
We run as well
I have said many times
I do not believe a true
Bona Fide Believer in Jesus Christ
Can sit and listen to Holy Spirit led– biblical teachings week after week
While living in sin and not make one of two choices
Repent – change- stop
Or RUNNOFT cause it is getting too hot
Too personal
Blaming God
Or running from God are not the answer
Coming to God
Admitting
Confessing and
Repenting arte the answer to forgiveness
And to knowing God
Lastly The Israelites gave glory to everything but God
To the Ark’ the priests
The army
Themselves
They obviously did not know God our their purpose which is to glorify the God who created them
We discussed finding our purpose a few weeks back and saw rthsast that is our purpose as well
Coming to salvation
And glorifying God in all we do
Ironically
The Philistines suffered the same view
They glorified the Ark
They Glorified Dagon
They Glorified Ashtoreth
They glorified the Army
Later on I Samuel we will see they glorified their Heroes
Goliath and his brothers
They never glorified God
Common problems with a different cause
The Choose to not give God the glory
They knew he deserved it
They had been taught
But the made a bad choice and it cost them plenty
The Philistines on the other hand
Did not give God the glory possibly out of ignorance
They may have had no idea
Still it cost them plenty
Where are you today?
Do you know God?
Serious taking him for granted like Israel
Or trying to control and manipulate him like the philistines
Are you blaming God for your problems like his people?
Or Oblivious to the fact that your problems may be an attempt to get you back on the path
Are you disregarding the holiness of God or maybe just mininimizing it
Maybe you have been giving glory everywhere and to everything but to God
Maybe you are looking to the world
To yourself
To anywhere else in an effort to know God
Here is how we know him
Right here
In this book
Not in a box
But in a book
God’s word
In these pages is the way of knowledge
Is the way of truth
Is the way of life
If you want to know God
You can meet him in his written word- it’s all here
And thought his living word
Jesus Christ
John 14:6
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Let me close with this
Proverbs 2:1-6
My child,[a] listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
You want to know God
Really know God
Jesus the living word
The Holy Bible the written word can show you how
Hear- Listen- Respond and Know
Close from the heart
Pray
