1 SAMUEL LESSON 5


     We will begin this lesson with I Samuel 5:1 "And the Philistines
took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod."

     We remember, from a previous lesson, that Ebenezer was where the
Israelite camp was. Now, that Israel has lost the battle, and the
Philistines killed the priests, the Philistines have taken the ark.
The following is, probably, speaking of this same thing. Psalms 78:60
" So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent [which] he
placed among men;"  Psalms 78:61 "And delivered his strength into
captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand." Psalms 78:62 "He gave
his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his
inheritance." Psalms 78:63 "The fire consumed their young men; and
their maidens were not given to marriage." Psalms 78:64 "Their priests
fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation."  Ashdod was
one of the five most important cities of the Philistines.

     I Samuel 5:2 "When the Philistines took the ark of God, they
brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon."

     Dagon was the Philistine false god of fertility of the earth.
The statue of this false god was a man to the waist and a fish to the
tail. The tail of the fish symbolized the need for water to a
bountiful crop. The ark symbolized the presence of God. To put the ark
by the side of this false god, is blasphemous.

     I Samuel 5:3  "And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow,
behold, Dagon [was] fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark
of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again."

     Even this false god, Dagon, had to bow to the presence of the One
True God. The people should have realized why this happened, but they
did not. They set this statue of the false god up, again, at the side
of the ark. The false god had fallen down prostrate before the symbol
of the LORD, the ark.

     I Samuel 5:4 "And when they arose early on the morrow morning,
behold, Dagon [was] fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark
of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands
[were] cut off upon the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left
to him."

     This was an interesting thing to happen. The head and the palms
were not broken off, but cut off. Not only were they cut off, but
placed at the entrance of the threshold, where all who entered would
have to see them. This completely defames this false god. It not only
destroys his existence {cut off head}, but destroys any work he might
do {the palms of the hands}. This false god had been defamed and
dismembered by the presence of the Spirit within the ark.

     I Samuel 5:5 "Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any
that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in
Ashdod unto this day."

     These evil people did not even stop worshipping this false god
after this happened. They just stopped walking on the threshold of the
entrance of the place they worshipped. They are so blind.

     I Samuel 5:6 "But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of
Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, [even]
Ashdod and the coasts thereof."

     This is a plague that God sent upon these evil people. "Emerods"
means tumors. Some believe they were tumorous hemorrhoids. In some
other places, it means eating ulcers, or the diseases of Egypt.  It
really does not matter what it was, it was terrible enough to kill
many of them.

     I Samuel 5:7 "And when the men of Ashdod saw that [it was] so,
they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for
his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god."

     They have finally realized that this, and the problem with their
false god, are because they have the ark of God. They would like to
get rid of the ark of God, and perhaps, the plague will leave. They do
recognize that the God of Israel has brought this upon them. It does
look like they would realize that Dagon is a false god, but they do
not.

     I Samuel 5:8 "They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of
the Philistines unto them, 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 about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of
Israel about [thither]."

     This is another of the 5 most important cities of the
Philistines. Philistia was governed by 5 princes. These 5 main cities
were the headquarters of these princes. The Philistines would like to
keep the ark, as long as it is in some other city, except their own.

     I Samuel 5:9 "And it was [so], that, after they had carried it
about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great
destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great,
and they had emerods in their secret parts."

     These tumors that the men of the city of Gath got, when they
moved the ark there, were just as terrible as they had been in the
last city. This plague was definitely caused by the presence of the
ark in their city. They have committed a terrible sin, by taking the
ark.

     I Samuel 5:10  "Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And
it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites
cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of
Israel to us, to slay us and our people."

     This is the third of the five important cities of the
Philistines. It was no different here. The people began to cry out for
the ark to be removed from their city. They are afraid of the ark.
They are aware that the power the ark represented, was more powerful
than they could handle.

     I Samuel 5:11 "So they sent and gathered together all the lords
of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel,
and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our
people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city;
the hand of God was very heavy there."

     Their was death and the plague in every city, where the ark went.
Now, they have called all the princes together to get permission to
send the ark back to the Israelites. There were many dying from the
plague, and those who lived had the emerods.

     I Samuel 5:12 "And the men that died not were smitten with the
emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven."

     This was a cry of despair. It was a cry for help. Their false god
could not help them against God. The prince of Ekron does not want the
ark. He wants to send it home, and stop the plague.































                        1 Samuel 5 Questions


1.  Where did the Philistines first take the ark?
2.  Quote Psalms chapter 78 verses 60 through 64.
3.  Ashdod was one of the ________ most important cities of the
    Philistines.
4.  Where did they put the ark for keeping?
5.  Dagon was the false god of ____________.
6.  What did it look like?
7.  What did the fish part of the statue symbolize?
8.  The ark symbolized the presence of ________.
9.  When those of Ashdod arose the next morning, what did they find?
10. Even this false god, Dagon, had to bow to ________.
11. After they set the statue of the false god back up, what did they
    find the second day?
12. Where were the palms of the hands found?
13. The false god had been __________ and __________ by the presence
    of the Spirit within the ark.
14. What do the priests and the Philistines do even today, when they
    go to the temple of their false god?
15. What plague did God send on Ashdod?
16. What does "Emerods" mean?
17. How bad was the plague?
18. What conclusion did the people of Ashdod come to about the ark?
19. Where did they send it next?
20. What happened there?
21. Where was the third place they sent the ark?
22. What did the people there cry out?
23. Why did all the lords of the Philistines gather for a meeting?
24. What happened everywhere the ark went?