Do we worship God or Dagon?

Recently there has been a lot of talk about who we worship. Do we trust in God or do we worship someone or something else.

An interesting case of who do we worship was found in 1 Samuel 5:

The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron

1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.

3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

6 The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.

The end result was them loading the ark onto a car and sending it back to Israel.

In this world like in ancient times we have many “gods” that we can bow down to. We may not think of them as gods but like the old days they can take God’s place in our lives if we let them. Often times even the best of us have done so. Sometimes we can even trust our health and science over what God had over creation and full reign thereof. That in itself can be a god to us.

Dagon wasn’t just an average god, it was an idol worshiped by many cultures but for the Philistines it was considered the Father of all gods, or the god of self sufficiency. In some cultures they worshiped Dagon as a deity that allowed them to be self made people or their own gods in a way. To leave the Ark in the room where it was, showed that they felt the true God was under Dagon and wanted Dagon to deal with him. As we see, God had other plans.

By doing what God did he not only exercised his authority over a false god but showed that his wrath soon followed this disrespect. God does not like competition in any form, especially a false god. He is a jealous God. He does not want anything above him in our hearts including ourselves.

It the 20th and 21st Century we have seen the rise of so much technology and scientific breakthroughs, in the same those things we started to rely on and in the same period the world as a whole has suffered the most more than any other time in history. Our technology has led to people questioning basic biology, increased loneliness, increased mental illness, high crime, and global destruction.

This is the same as Dagon in the way that God will mock our gods but then show you how jealous He is by reacting to our choice to put something over him. This can be anything including people and our own abilities. Sometimes we claim to know God but like Dagon, the god we constructed was one of our own liking with traits we want him to have not the ones the real God has.

Most assuredly God will act when something will interfere with the relationship he has with you. It may not happen immediately because he gives us opportunity to change and see error. At some point of his choosing he will respond. Eventually the Philistines became an extinct people conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. They ceased to exist as a people by the time Jesus Christ was born.

Interestingly the Philistines were so enamored with their fake god that they did not bow down to the real one, even after all these things happened. Instead they chose to rid themselves of his presence. The same thing this world is trying hard to do even now.

Keep this in mind in your daily life that you are not your own, you were bought with a price. You belong to God and Jesus Christ is who you follow. Do not erect anything above that relationship. It’s not a slavery to sin like this world has for us but of one of simplicity rest and holiness. One that can only be experienced with a closeness to the one who created us. God gave us everything and in turn as Christians we are to use these things for his glory not our own.

Happy Sabbath!

Your brother in Christ,

Steve Koenig