When the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant, they take it as a trophy to their god, Dagon. The next morning, in a pattern that will be fulfilled when the Lord Jesus returns, the Philistines discover that their god is bowing prostrate before the LORD God of the Israelites. Thinking this may be due to chance, they set Dagon upright again, only to discover the next morning, not only has he fallen before the LORD, but Dagon's human looking head and hands have broken off, leaving only his fish-like torso.
In spite of these manifest judgments from the God of Israel, the Philistines keep the Ark for seven months. But in each city, terrible plagues come -- rats and tumors (Jewish scholars tell us that this Hebrew word should be translated hemorrhoids rather than tumors). Jewish tradition states: "Because when the people would relieve themselves, mice would attack the bleeding hemorrhoids" (Radak in loc., _The Stone Edition Tanach_ (2001), 656).
In spite of seven months of agony, the Philistines still wonder if all of this evil that has befallen them is due merely to chance (1 Samuel 6:9) -- after all, when people look at life under the sun, excluding God and his eternal purpose from their thinking, things often appear to happen merely by chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). So the Philistines come up with an ingenious test, placing the Ark on a cart drawn by two cows who have recently given birth and fencing in their hungry calves in Philistine territory, away from Israel.
Contrary to nature, the milk-filled cows abandon their babies and carry the Ark back to Israel. Nothing is ever left to chance. We are under the benevolent hand of our God.
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After serving Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Louisiana, Bob was honorably retired on Sunday, September 27, 2015, and given the title "Pastor Emeritus." This was forty years to the day after he became their pastor.
He now works for the Presbytery of the Gulf South as...
