seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 5:1 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. 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” 11 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. 12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Here's the link to the commentary for these verses.
There was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD: Had the glory of God departed? Not at all. God was more than able to glorify Himself among the Philistines and their pagan gods. God made this statue bow down in worship before Him.
He ravaged them and struck them with tumors: What were these tumors? Older commentators often describe them as hemorrhoids, and newer commentators often describe them as signs of the bubonic plague.
This is another of my favorite stories from the Old Testament.The Philistines captured the Arc. They carried it to the Temple of one of their gods. Dagon was a "fish god". Part of him was human and part of him was fish. He couldn't walk away. He had no legs. The Philistines set the Arc so that Dagon was lording over it. The next morning, Dagon was face down... tail in the air.
They hefted him back up and set up the scene again. When they went back the next day; Not only was Dagon on his belly, his head and hands were broken. Not only were the head and hands broken... they were over by the entrance of the Temple. The head and hands didn't just fall off, they were removed and moved. The torso of the "fish god" was all that was left... and it was belly down in worship.
No human destroyed that block of whatever Dagon was carved out of. Well, no one but God, that is.
So, they moved the Arc out of Ashdod and moved it to Gath. The people broke out in tumors. The people demanded it be moved again. At the end of this story, their "fish god" Dagon was destroyed and the Arc was about to light in Ekron.
The Arc seems to have taken on a life of its own. It tore the fake god Dagon limb from limb. It caused tumors in all humans as it was moved around.
Know what tumors are? They are a mutation of the gene that causes accelerated growth of the cells.
The "fish god" Dagon was a fertility god. I wonder... did the tumors affect the fertility of the Philistines?
Without the head, hands, and arms, Dagon was just a dead fish.
The humans who would have come to the Temple to worship the fish broke out in tumors.
Did the dead fish Dagon bring on cell mutation? Nope... It was the Arc!
