1 Samuel 5:1-8 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.
Theme: FROM ICHABOD TO EBENZER:
#VI: “The Ark of God Goes Visiting” (Adapted from a sermon series by Pastor E. Schaller - 1964-65 Journal of Theology)
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus,
Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? This question came to mind this last week when we heard a talk show host trying to excuse his behavior. His conservative audience had scolded him for being interviewed in a magazine that publishes images of nude women. The host defended his action saying that if Jesus were alive today, He would have been interviewed by the same magazine because Jesus went were the sinners were. How would you react to such a statement? Well, there are really two parts to the statement. The first is that Jesus would have been interviewed in a magazine that existed to break the 6th Commandment. And such a statement is ridiculous and borders even on blasphemy.
The other point he made, that Jesus went to where the sinners were, should be clear to all. We heard in our Gospel lesson that the Pharisees were shocked and appalled that Jesus spent time with well-known “sinners” and even ate with them! Jesus had a valuable lesson to teach. He did go to sinners, because He came to save sinners! If Jesus avoided all sinners He would have stayed in heaven! But His purpose in going where the sinners were, was not, as I suspect was the case with this talk-show host, to gain publicity for Himself. He went to where the sinners were to call them to repentance and to save them from their sins.
With that, we return to our question. Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? Our text for today gives us another Scriptural example of God reaching out to the idolatrous heathens to lead them to repentance and saving faith in His name. As we continue in our sermon series, “From Ichabod to Ebenezer” let us consider how the ark of God goes visiting. May the Holy Spirit work through His Word to enlighten our hearts and minds that we may be zealous in reaching out to the heathen and show to them that there is no other God, but the Triune God!
WHY IT WENT VISITING
When God gave the command to Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, He did it with a specific purpose in mind. In the directions God gave, He said to Moses, “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Ex 25:21-22) IN the Ark would be the Law which God had given and which the Children of Israel had vowed to obey. The terms of the covenant they had agreed on. IN the ark were the 10 Commandments. ON the Ark would be the mercy seat, where God would meet with His people. ON the Ark was the Gospel as God announced mercy to His repentant people.
But last Sunday, we heard how the people came to despise the true purpose of the Ark of the Covenant and began to look on it as a good luck charm. As they headed into battle with the Philistines, the priests carried this ark into battle believing that the Ark itself would give them the victory. Thus they showed their disdain for the living God and contempt for His covenant with them. God granted the victory to the heathen Philistines and the Ark was captured. Ichabod, the glory had departed from Israel.
WHERE AND WHERE IT WENT VISITING
It is quite interesting to see where the ark of God goes, when it goes visiting. We read in our text that the Philistines took the ark of God into the temple of their god Dagon. Dagon was their god which symbolized the fruitfulness of the sea. The statue had the head and hands of a human, but the torso and tail of a fish. They brought the ark of God to this location because they viewed their victory over Israel as a victory over Israel’s God too. They put this trophy of this defeated God next to their god, Dagon. This showed how these idolatrous people viewed the God of Israel - as if He were no different than the god they had formed with their hands. In fact, since they defeated Israel, the Philistines probably viewed the God of the ark as being inferior to Dagon.
It is amazing that God would allow this, isn’t it? After all, we read about the same ark in 2 Samuel that when it was being transported at one point that the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out and took a hold of the ark, that God struck Him dead. Yet, here the Philistines put the ark of the covenant into the temple of a false god and there was no bolt of lightning from heaven to stop them!
This does not seem like a fitting place for the ark of the covenant at all! A symbol of the living God placed on the same level as an idol fashioned from man’s imagination and by his hands? But God uses this as an opportunity to reach out to this people and show them that there is no other God, but One.
After the ark’s first night in the temple of Dagon, the inhabitants of Ashdod entered the temple to find the statue of their false god flat on its face before the Ark of the Covenant. It was as though Dagon was worshiping the God of the ark. The people thought it might just be a coincidence and set their statue upright once again. After the ark’s second night in the temple of Dagon, there was no denying what was going on. The people of Ashdod entered the temple in the morning and once again found the statue of Dagon lying on the earth before the ark. Only this time the head and the hands of the statue had broken off.
The message God was sending this people was clear. It is the very thing that Paul told the Corinthians, “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.” (1 Cor 8:4b) Dagon was nothing but something they had thought up with their minds and fashioned with their hands. Dagon could do no thinking with its head and no working with its hands. Dagon could not remove one sin. Dagon could not rescue them from death and hell. Nor did Dagon even promise to do any of those thing. These are things that only God could do. Only Jesus’ death on the cross could atone for sin. Only Jesus resurrection from the dead could promise deliverance from death. And only faith in Jesus Christ could assure of deliverance from hell and the gift of eternal life. Dagon was nothing before the ark of the living God.
This may seem like a strange place for the ark of God to go visiting - a temple? But God wanted to get the attention of the people and show them that Dagon was nothing, and only He had any power to save. The Philistines had before them everything they needed to know about the living God. IN the ark was the Law, the Law by which is the knowledge of sin. ON the ark was the mercy seat of God - the good news of forgiveness and mercy in the promised Messiah. If only the Philistines knew to look there!
Next weekend we will be holding our Mission Festival service. And the question may arise as to where we should go with the Word of God? Sometimes we feel that having a church and holding regular worship services should be enough to attract the heathen. Here in church, like the ark, the Law and the Gospel are preached. Sin is condemned and for the repentant, forgiveness is promised for Jesus’ sake. But like the Philistines, what unbeliever knows to look into the ark to find out more?
In a way, we also are like the ark. We too know the Law and the mercy of our pardoning God. From childhood we have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. And we need to go visiting as well. Rather than waiting for unbelievers to come to us, we need to go to them and sow the seed of God’s Word. With God’s Law the idols that man has set up in his heart will crumble to the earth. The false gods of money, sex, power, pride, alcohol, and self. These are nothing and cannot save from eternal death in hell. None can overcome sin. None can overcome death. This is only something Jesus can do.
Unfortunately, when we go visiting with God’s Word many will react as the Philistines did. They recognized that the LORD God was behind the humiliation of their god and the cause of a plague among them. God intended to cause them to look to Him as the only true God. After all, this is the same God who said, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’” (Ez 33:11) God was actively at work among the heathen Philistines that they might turn to Him in faith and live!
Though the people recognized that the LORD God was doing all this, they wanted nothing to do with Him. Verse 7, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Get the ark out of here! We want nothing more to do with this God. Many react the same way when God visits them with His Word. Jesus told us as much in the parable of the sower and the seed. Some view God and His word as being too harsh and want nothing more to do with Him. They would much rather keep their false gods and carry on their merry way to hell. Though this be the case, we must not become discouraged. The ark of God must continue to go visiting to the heathen as the seed of His Word is sown.
Is there any place God would not go to share His glory? While Jesus would never have been interviewed in a dirty magazine just for sake of publicity, He would visit with a harlot and a tax collector to call them to repentance and share with them the hope of eternal life which He alone could give. God would even allow His most holy symbol on earth to be brought into a idol’s temple that He might witness His power and deity to them. May God help us to always cherish His Word and take the Gospel visiting with us wherever we go! Amen.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
1 Samuel 5:1-8 "Ichabod to Ebenezer: Part 6 - The Ark of God Goes Visiting"
1 Samuel 5:1-8 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.
Theme: FROM ICHABOD TO EBENZER:
#VI: “The Ark of God Goes Visiting” (Adapted from a sermon series by Pastor E. Schaller - 1964-65 Journal of Theology)
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus,
Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? This question came to mind this last week when we heard a talk show host trying to excuse his behavior. His conservative audience had scolded him for being interviewed in a magazine that publishes images of nude women. The host defended his action saying that if Jesus were alive today, He would have been interviewed by the same magazine because Jesus went were the sinners were. How would you react to such a statement? Well, there are really two parts to the statement. The first is that Jesus would have been interviewed in a magazine that existed to break the 6th Commandment. And such a statement is ridiculous and borders even on blasphemy.
The other point he made, that Jesus went to where the sinners were, should be clear to all. We heard in our Gospel lesson that the Pharisees were shocked and appalled that Jesus spent time with well-known “sinners” and even ate with them! Jesus had a valuable lesson to teach. He did go to sinners, because He came to save sinners! If Jesus avoided all sinners He would have stayed in heaven! But His purpose in going where the sinners were, was not, as I suspect was the case with this talk-show host, to gain publicity for Himself. He went to where the sinners were to call them to repentance and to save them from their sins.
With that, we return to our question. Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? Our text for today gives us another Scriptural example of God reaching out to the idolatrous heathens to lead them to repentance and saving faith in His name. As we continue in our sermon series, “From Ichabod to Ebenezer” let us consider how the ark of God goes visiting. May the Holy Spirit work through His Word to enlighten our hearts and minds that we may be zealous in reaching out to the heathen and show to them that there is no other God, but the Triune God!
WHY IT WENT VISITING
When God gave the command to Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, He did it with a specific purpose in mind. In the directions God gave, He said to Moses, “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Ex 25:21-22) IN the Ark would be the Law which God had given and which the Children of Israel had vowed to obey. The terms of the covenant they had agreed on. IN the ark were the 10 Commandments. ON the Ark would be the mercy seat, where God would meet with His people. ON the Ark was the Gospel as God announced mercy to His repentant people.
But last Sunday, we heard how the people came to despise the true purpose of the Ark of the Covenant and began to look on it as a good luck charm. As they headed into battle with the Philistines, the priests carried this ark into battle believing that the Ark itself would give them the victory. Thus they showed their disdain for the living God and contempt for His covenant with them. God granted the victory to the heathen Philistines and the Ark was captured. Ichabod, the glory had departed from Israel.
WHERE AND WHERE IT WENT VISITING
It is quite interesting to see where the ark of God goes, when it goes visiting. We read in our text that the Philistines took the ark of God into the temple of their god Dagon. Dagon was their god which symbolized the fruitfulness of the sea. The statue had the head and hands of a human, but the torso and tail of a fish. They brought the ark of God to this location because they viewed their victory over Israel as a victory over Israel’s God too. They put this trophy of this defeated God next to their god, Dagon. This showed how these idolatrous people viewed the God of Israel - as if He were no different than the god they had formed with their hands. In fact, since they defeated Israel, the Philistines probably viewed the God of the ark as being inferior to Dagon.
It is amazing that God would allow this, isn’t it? After all, we read about the same ark in 2 Samuel that when it was being transported at one point that the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out and took a hold of the ark, that God struck Him dead. Yet, here the Philistines put the ark of the covenant into the temple of a false god and there was no bolt of lightning from heaven to stop them!
This does not seem like a fitting place for the ark of the covenant at all! A symbol of the living God placed on the same level as an idol fashioned from man’s imagination and by his hands? But God uses this as an opportunity to reach out to this people and show them that there is no other God, but One.
After the ark’s first night in the temple of Dagon, the inhabitants of Ashdod entered the temple to find the statue of their false god flat on its face before the Ark of the Covenant. It was as though Dagon was worshiping the God of the ark. The people thought it might just be a coincidence and set their statue upright once again. After the ark’s second night in the temple of Dagon, there was no denying what was going on. The people of Ashdod entered the temple in the morning and once again found the statue of Dagon lying on the earth before the ark. Only this time the head and the hands of the statue had broken off.
The message God was sending this people was clear. It is the very thing that Paul told the Corinthians, “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.” (1 Cor 8:4b) Dagon was nothing but something they had thought up with their minds and fashioned with their hands. Dagon could do no thinking with its head and no working with its hands. Dagon could not remove one sin. Dagon could not rescue them from death and hell. Nor did Dagon even promise to do any of those thing. These are things that only God could do. Only Jesus’ death on the cross could atone for sin. Only Jesus resurrection from the dead could promise deliverance from death. And only faith in Jesus Christ could assure of deliverance from hell and the gift of eternal life. Dagon was nothing before the ark of the living God.
This may seem like a strange place for the ark of God to go visiting - a temple? But God wanted to get the attention of the people and show them that Dagon was nothing, and only He had any power to save. The Philistines had before them everything they needed to know about the living God. IN the ark was the Law, the Law by which is the knowledge of sin. ON the ark was the mercy seat of God - the good news of forgiveness and mercy in the promised Messiah. If only the Philistines knew to look there!
Next weekend we will be holding our Mission Festival service. And the question may arise as to where we should go with the Word of God? Sometimes we feel that having a church and holding regular worship services should be enough to attract the heathen. Here in church, like the ark, the Law and the Gospel are preached. Sin is condemned and for the repentant, forgiveness is promised for Jesus’ sake. But like the Philistines, what unbeliever knows to look into the ark to find out more?
In a way, we also are like the ark. We too know the Law and the mercy of our pardoning God. From childhood we have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. And we need to go visiting as well. Rather than waiting for unbelievers to come to us, we need to go to them and sow the seed of God’s Word. With God’s Law the idols that man has set up in his heart will crumble to the earth. The false gods of money, sex, power, pride, alcohol, and self. These are nothing and cannot save from eternal death in hell. None can overcome sin. None can overcome death. This is only something Jesus can do.
Unfortunately, when we go visiting with God’s Word many will react as the Philistines did. They recognized that the LORD God was behind the humiliation of their god and the cause of a plague among them. God intended to cause them to look to Him as the only true God. After all, this is the same God who said, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’” (Ez 33:11) God was actively at work among the heathen Philistines that they might turn to Him in faith and live!
Though the people recognized that the LORD God was doing all this, they wanted nothing to do with Him. Verse 7, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Get the ark out of here! We want nothing more to do with this God. Many react the same way when God visits them with His Word. Jesus told us as much in the parable of the sower and the seed. Some view God and His word as being too harsh and want nothing more to do with Him. They would much rather keep their false gods and carry on their merry way to hell. Though this be the case, we must not become discouraged. The ark of God must continue to go visiting to the heathen as the seed of His Word is sown.
Is there any place God would not go to share His glory? While Jesus would never have been interviewed in a dirty magazine just for sake of publicity, He would visit with a harlot and a tax collector to call them to repentance and share with them the hope of eternal life which He alone could give. God would even allow His most holy symbol on earth to be brought into a idol’s temple that He might witness His power and deity to them. May God help us to always cherish His Word and take the Gospel visiting with us wherever we go! Amen.
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