Pam Padgett ... teacher
Psalm 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
As I thought about God being above all gods and doing whatever He
pleases, I recalled how God strongly showed His power to the Philistines
when they took the ark of God. In various ways God showed that He is
above all and able to do what He wills.
Their god (Dagon) fell on its face before the ark of the God .....
1 Samuel 5:2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they
brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 And when they
of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his
face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and
set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow
morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the
ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands
were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to
him.
God afflicted and destroyed the Philistine people, as the ark of God was taken from one city to another.
1 Samuel 5:6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of
Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod
and the coasts thereof. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so,
they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
1 Samuel 5:8 ... Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto
Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9
And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
1 Samuel 5:10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came
to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out,
saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to
slay us and our people. 11 So they sent and gathered together all the
lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of
Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and
our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
The Philistine people asked priests and diviners what they should do
when they sent the ark of God back to the children of Israel. One of the things they were told was to give glory to the God of Israel.
1 Samuel 6:5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
When they were ready to send the ark of God back, they began
questioning whether it had been God who had brought the destruction on
them. God showed them, according to their own test, that these things
had been of Him ...
1 Samuel 6:9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own
coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not,
then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a
chance that happened to us. 10 And the men did so; and took two
milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:
11 And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with
the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh,
and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside
to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went
after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.
God strongly showed the
Philistines that He is above other gods and does that which pleases
Him.
While considering these things, I thought of how in our lives, we see various "gods" of this world "bow down"
before God and be torn down when we believe what God has said. For
example ...
Trusting in money is torn down as we believe and conform our lives to But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
Wisdom of this world is torn down as we believe in and conform our lives to Let
no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this
world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of
this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of the wise, that they are vain. (1 Corinthians 3 18-20)
And, by believing and acting according to the word of God, we praise God and confess that He is above all.