¶ Welcome to Starting Right
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day
¶ The Old Testament's Appeal
right . In my personal devotional time , I've been reading through the Old Testament and I recently began the book of 1 Samuel . Now I need to tell you I really love the Old Testament . I love the stories , I love the characters , I love the way God worked .
It just amazes me what these people went through and how God was so faithful and powerful in their lives . Even when they messed up themselves , god was there for them and I really enjoy it . It really speaks to me , it encourages me . I love the
¶ Israel vs Philistines Battle
Old Testament . Well , in 1 Samuel there's a story that takes place in chapter 4 and chapter 5 . Let me just tell you about it . Israel as a nation spent much of their time at war with the people around them , and one of their most common adversaries were the Philistines . They fought them many , many times .
Well , in chapter 4 , israel had just lost a battle to the Philistines . So they said to themselves well , let's go get the Ark of the Covenant and bring it with us . And if the Ark of the Covenant is with us , that means God is with us , and surely we can't lose the battle . So they went and brought the Ark of the Covenant to where they were .
The problem was , when they went to battle , Israel lost . And not only did they lose the battle , they lost the Ark of the Covenant . The Philistines
¶ Dagon Falls Before God
captured it . In chapter 5 , verse 1 , it says this After the Philistines captured the Ark of God , they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod . They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon . Now , let me just stop there for a moment .
Dagon was the Philistine god , and by bringing the Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant into Dagon's temple and placing it beside Dagon , they were stating that Dagon was the superior god . And in chapter 5 , verse 3 , it carries on .
But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning , dagon had fallen on his face into the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord . Dagon had fallen on his face into the ground in front of the ark of the Lord . So they took Dagon and put him up in his place again , but the next morning the same thing happened .
Dagon had fallen face down before the ark of the Lord again , and this time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway . Only the trunk of his body was left intact . The God
¶ The Philistines' Plague Problem
of Israel was not to be trifled with or be made to look less than any other god , and so , when the Ark of the Covenant was in Dagon's temple , god destroyed Dagon , but he didn't stop there . Verse 6 tells us this . Then the Lord's heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors .
The story goes on to tell us that the people of Ashdod , they became so terrified of God that they sent the Ark of the Covenant to Gath , but there God also inflicted that city with tumors .
So the people of Gath took it to Ekron , and when the Ark arrived at Ekron , the people were in a complete panic and they had to figure out some way to send the Ark back to the people of Israel so that
¶ Fear of the Lord
they wouldn't become afflicted and infected with the problem . The scripture tells us that the Ark of the Covenant , this Ark of God , stayed in the Philistine country for seven months and all during that time there were tumors that were brought upon the Philistine people and then finally , it was returned to Israel .
To me , that's one of the great stories of the Old Testament . It tells us that you can't play games with God . God is not some good luck charm that you can ignore and then bring him out when you need to , and neither can he be manipulated or toyed with .
The Philistines thought that having the Ark of the Covenant with them meant that they would now have God's favor , that they would be able to use this power , this mighty power that this Ark of the Covenant had shown . But they didn't realize how much the mocking of Israelite's God by bringing him before Dagon would really upset God .
The story really speaks to us about how great God is , how powerful God is . He deserves not only our obedience and our love , but he deserves our respect . And throughout the Bible we are told to do something very specific . We're told to fear the Lord .
And to fear the Lord means that you are in awe of His power , that you are actually afraid to be outside of His will and of His covering , because away from Him there can be no blessings working in your life . Proverbs 1.7 says Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge .
Our relationship with God must be based upon an understanding that he is this almighty , all-powerful God who loves us , who works in us and through us . But he is not to be trifled with , he is not to be mocked . We cannot attempt to manipulate Him to do what we want . We are simply to live in obedience and devotion to Him .
I hope you have a great day , my friends . Take care . We will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for joining us today and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right with Danny Mac .