June 26, 2025
Last week, we read about the Israelite’s defeat at the hands of the Philistines. Even worse than the horrific slaughter was the capture of the Ark of God. This was ancient Israel’s most deeply religious artifact. To be in the presence of the ark was to be in the presence of God. It was nothing less than God’s throne. But now it has been captured by the Philistines and placed in the temple of their god, Dagon.
Doubtless, the Philistines looked at the ark as a victory trophy. A mighty symbol of their power and the power of their god. Their god had defeated the Israelite God. Placing God’s ark in Dagon’s temple showed how dramatic the defeat had been, and how the Israelite God had no choice but to submit to Dagon.
What the Philistines don’t understand is that Dagon is a graven image. A human construct. Not a divine being but a work of flesh and blood. Even the capture of the ark, precious symbol that it is, in no way limits God’s power.
Maybe they begin to glimpse this fact the next day when they come in and find Dagon has fallen off his pedestal. Either Dagon has been struck down or he has recognized the true God’s sovereignty and bowed down before God in submission.
Undeterred, Dagon is soon propped back up. The next morning, the Philistines return and find that this time not only has Dagon fallen, he has also lost his head and hands as well. He now has neither a head for thinking nor hands for acting. What good is a mindless, actionless God?
Dagon the God is a non-god. He has been dethroned, robbed of power and dignity. The God of Israel, who had appeared to be defeated, has quietly and inscrutably made a powerful point. There is only one God, the God of Israel. No other power comes even close.
We live in a society frequently tempted to worship human power. We can manipulate both nature and other people. We can influence our future both psychologically and physically.
Yes, we can do wonderful things that benefit untold numbers. We can also unleash untold horrors. Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, racism, classism, apartheid, terrorism, war, environmental destruction. These are heady powers indeed.
Our infatuation with our own abilities sometimes shows up in our churches. We imagine God’s grace is dependent on our efforts. We assume our priorities are also God’s priorities. We get so busy doing things for God we fail to notice what God is doing around us.
This story of the ark reminds us God’s hands are constantly at work exposing the impotent idols in our midst and directing us to the real power at work in the world. When our programs, missions and ministries become efforts to manage and control God’s grace for the sake of our church, we run the risk of finding our efforts reduced to powerless torsos with neither heads nor hands.
In his commentary on 1 Samuel, Walter Brueggeman writes:
The phrase ‘They rose early in the morning’ (v. 4) calls to mind the Easter formula of the Gospels (Mt 28:1, Mk 16:2, Lk 24:1). Like those women in the Gospel narratives, the Philistines came to the temple ‘early the next morning’ expecting to find a triumphant Dagon and a defeated Yahweh (God). In the Gospels, they came expecting to find the power of death regnant and the defeat of Jesus. In neither case did the morning visitors find what they expected.
The expectation of both the Philistines and the women in the Gospel failed to recognize that the power for life belongs to God.
For Easter people like us, the message is the same as it was for the Israelites and the Philistines so long ago. The hands that make the difference between life and death belong to God. What our hands do must be decided in the light of that truth.
God’s peace to us all, Pastor Ken