The Story of the Ark in the temple of the Philistine god Dagon makes it clear that, despite what has happened to Israel and the Ark, God is still sovereign. The loss of that battle with the Philistines was not an indication that God’s authority and power had failed but that his people had failed to live in God’s authority and power. We don’t always know why God allows bad things to happen. It is not always because we did something wrong. But sometimes, when our life seems to fall to bits, it indeed should be a wakeup call to the fact that there is something wrong with us. As I said, we shouldn’t always assume that this is the case, but we should always be prepared for God to use any means to wake us up if we have gone stray and have refused to acknowledge this. The loss of this battle to the Philistines was just such an occasion when God was giving his people a wakeup call. The capture of the Ark was not an instance of God not being sovereign, but an instance of God exercising his sovereignty. That is confirmed in these remarkable occurrences in the temple of Dagon. Ironically, the Philistines are quicker to acknowledge the sovereignty of God than the Israelites. They get the message. How willing are you to hear what God might be trying to say to you?
Ask God if there is anything he wants to deal with in your life.
Read 1 Samuel 5
