The Philistines captured the Ark of God (Ark of the Covenant was a chest containing the Tablets of the Covenant between the Lord and Israel. It served as a throne for the Lord of Hosts (the Lord’s armies. On its cover were two cherubim, likely creatures with the body of a lion or bull, the head of a human, and the wings of an eagle.) When the Philistines captured the Ark, they treated it as a trophy and placed it in the Temple of their ‘god’, Dagon (great fish) (thinking it was a war trophy) After the battle and having captured the “Ark” they went to Dagon’s Temple and set the Ark beside Dagon. The next day, the Ashdonites found Dagon lying face down on the ground in front of the Ark. Certainly, they did not realize the power of the Ark’s presence. They picked up Dagon and set him up in his place. The next morning Dagon was again lying prone on the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord; but the head and both hands of Dagon were cut off (leaving only the fish part) lying on the threshold. Only his trunk (the fish part) was left. “The God” wanted to show them that even though they had son a battle, that didn’t mean that they had the last word or the final victory. The hand of the Lord lay heavy upon the Ashdodites. He struck Ashdod and its territory with hemorrhoids in their “secret parts.” The men of Ashdod saw how things were panning out (and not to their favor) they figured it out that they should not keep the Ark of God and to get it back to its own place. The hand of God dealt harshly with them and their god, Dagon. They called a big conference to determine what they should do. They said, “let’s move it to Gath”, a Philistine city. And they did it, but the Lord struck Gath. They were stricken with fear. The hemorrhoids “broke out.” (Psalm 78:66 “He smote His enemies in the hinder parts, in the rear—” Then they sent the Ark to Ekron, another Philistine City. The Ekronites didn’t want it and cried out, “they have moved the Ark of God to our city to destroy us.” Some scholars believe this was the bubonic plague, because it also translates ‘tumors’ characteristic of bubonic plague. The translations also mention mice which are known to spread it. Some believe the mice were swarming in the Philistine ships and invading their fields. Every city keeps insisting, ‘let us return the Ark to its own place’ so it may not slay us and our kinfolk. The panic of death pervaded the whole city so heavily had the hand of God fallen in the Philistine cities and the men who did not die were stricken with hemorrhoids (bubonic plague). They called together the priests and diviners (these were all idolaters serving and offering sacrifices to Dagon. Thanks for reading! Jeanette Grattan Parker is Founder-Superintendent Today’s Fresh Start Charter School 4514 Crenshaw Boulevard, LA 90043 323-293-9826 www.todaysfreshstart.org (Ask Dr. Jeanette TM) [email protected] Inquiring Minds Want To Know-All articles are copyright. All rights reserved. www.todaysfreshstart.org 323-293-9826. 4514 Crenshaw BL, LA 90043
