1 Samuel 5: The Almighty God

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! -1 Samuel 5:1-3

The Philistines quickly learned that owning the ark without honoring its God was a major problem. The day after they had placed it in Dagon’s temple, their idol Dagon was facedown on the ground.

After two days of these strange events, people began to worry. Disease spread. The people began to fear the ark’s power. What was God trying to communicate?

Foremost, God’s power was revealed as greater than the gods of the Philistines. The Philistines may have been able to defeat God’s people, but they could not overpower Israel’s God. In the end, this fear led to reverence of Israel’s God and a return of the ark.

One of interesting aspects of reading through the Old Testament is the focus on fearing God. Today’s believers often see God as a friend, but rarely as one to be feared. Yet great harm comes from a low view of God. Let us tremble at God’s power today, realizing His great power created us, sustains us, and we are wholly dependent upon Him.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.