Make no mistake, the Ark of the Covenant was not a lucky rabbit’s foot. It was not a ho-hum religious relic. It was not a souvenir. The Ark was all about the God of the covenant. A God who is holy, a God who is unique, a God who is supreme. If the Israelites don’t understand that, if the Philistines don’t understand that… God Himself will make it known.

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 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. 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. 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. I Samuel 5:1-4

The Philistines had captured the Ark and taken it home. Now, why are they putting it in the temple to their god, Dagon? According to John MacArthur’s Bible Commentary, “The placing of the ark of God in the temple of Dagon was supposed to be a sign of Dagon’s power and Yahweh’s inferiority, a visual representation that the god of the Philistines was victorious over the God of the Hebrews.”

God is so awesome. They think He is inferior, that he has been beaten by Dagon, so God knocks their idol on its face, bowing down before His dwelling place. Obviously the Philistines don’t get the message the first time, and they simply pick Dagon up and put him back. (I wonder what their explanation was for this?) Next day, he’s knocked down again – this time with his head and hands cut off, a common sign of victory over a dead enemy. (see 2 Sam. 4:12)

Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” God is utterly unique. He is the one and only creator of all. He is the God who is holy, holy, holy. No one is like Him. No one can claim the glory and honor that are due to God alone.

Permit to me quote from one of our posts back in Joshua, “You Can’t Add God to your Pantheon“:

“In their polytheistic mindset, they [the Israelites] wanted to just add God to the pantheon of other gods that they worshipped. He wouldn’t mind, right? They’re still serving Him too, so why would it matter? Maybe He could even be the “chief” God of the pantheon! Serving Him sounds like a great idea, especially in light of the promised blessings. Purging their lives of the other ones… that would be too extreme.

This speaks to me loudly about our postmodern culture today. God, Jesus, salvation, the Bible and it’s ‘inspiration,’ messages of hope and peace; maybe even going to church, doing community service… those all sound like good things! But, if you start making claims about the exclusivity of serving God – that you cannot serve Him and the other gods we worship – then you are being extreme. Unreasonable. Intolerant.”

God is so holy he will not tolerate the other gods we try to squeeze into our lives. Out of His holiness and also out of His love for us and the exclusive relationship He longs to have with us, He will knock the other idols present in our hearts off their pedestals. Over and over again. He alone is worthy.

“There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.”
1 Samuel 2:2

*Pictures from wikipedia.org