1 Samuel 5:6 - Meaning and Application

The fall of Dagon, if the Philistines had learned from it, could have led them to repent of their idols and humble themselves before the God of Israel. Instead, God went on to punish them for the insults done to his ark and for their stubborn loyalty to their false god, even after they had clear proof of his power. The Lord had lifted up his hand, but they would not see it, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 26:11). Since they would not see his glory, they had to feel the weight of his hand.

The hand of the Lord was heavy on them (1 Samuel 5:6). He not only proved their folly, he also sharply punished their pride. He destroyed many of them by sudden death, probably those who had most celebrated the ark’s capture. This is separate from the sickness that struck others. At Gath, Scripture calls it a great destruction (1 Samuel 5:9), a deadly destruction (1 Samuel 5:11). It also says plainly that the men who were struck with emerods, a painful disease in the private parts, were not the same ones who died in the other judgment (1 Samuel 5:12). They had boasted of the great slaughter their sword had brought on Israel (1 Samuel 4:10). But God showed them that, even if he did not choose to use Israel’s sword against them, he had a sword of his own. When he sharpens it and takes hold of judgment, he can bring vengeance on his enemies (Deuteronomy 32:41-42). Those who fight against God, his ark, and his people will surely be ruined in the end. If warning does not win them, destruction will.

Those who were not destroyed were struck with emerods (1 Samuel 5:6), in their most private parts (1 Samuel 5:9). The pain was so severe that the cry went up to heaven (1 Samuel 5:12), meaning it was heard far and wide, and perhaps that in their misery they cried out, not to Dagon, but to the God of heaven. The psalmist later described this judgment by saying that God struck his enemies in their rear parts and put them to lasting shame (Psalm 78:66). Emerods, or piles, may have been even worse then than they are now. Scripture also lists this kind of disease among the curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:27). It was both painful and shameful, a fitting disease for sinful pride. By it, God humbled them and put them to shame, just as they had treated his ark with contempt. The disease spread through Ashdod and the surrounding countryside. In the same way, when people treat God’s ordinances lightly, many become weak and sick, and many die (1 Corinthians 11:30).

The men of Ashdod quickly saw that this was the hand of the God of Israel (1 Samuel 5:7). So they were forced to admit his power and rule, and to confess that they were under his authority. Yet they still would not give up Dagon and submit to the Lord. Instead, once they felt pain in their own bodies, they were ready to speak against God. Rather than make peace with him and welcome his ark on better terms, they wanted to be rid of it, like the Gadarenes who asked Christ to leave after they lost their pigs. A worldly heart, when it suffers under God’s judgments, would rather push him away than make peace with him and have him as a friend. So the men of Ashdod decided, The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us.

Then they decided to move the ark’s place of imprisonment. They called a great council and asked all the rulers, What shall we do with the ark? In the end, they agreed to send it to Gath (1 Samuel 5:8). They seem to have thought the problem was the place, and that the ark might be easier to live with somewhere else, farther from Dagon’s temple. So instead of sending it back where it belonged, they only moved it to another town. Gath was a city known for its giants, but strength and size could not protect them from pestilence or emerods. The men there were struck, both great and small (1 Samuel 5:9), both little men and giants alike. No one was too great to be reached by God’s judgment, and no one too small to be missed by it.

At last they were all tired of the ark and eager to get rid of it. It was sent from Gath to Ekron, and since it came by order of the rulers, the people of Ekron could not refuse it. Still, they were angry with their leaders for sending them such a deadly gift (1 Samuel 5:10): They have brought it to us to kill us and our people. The ark held the tablets of God’s law, and faithful Israelites welcomed God’s word as something sweet and life-giving. But to uncircumcised Philistines, who stayed set against God, it was dreadful and unwanted, a smell of death leading to death. So the people quickly called another assembly to decide how to send the ark back to where it belonged (1 Samuel 5:11).

While they were talking about what to do, God was already carrying out his judgment, and their efforts to escape it only spread it farther. Many died among them. Many more suffered horribly from the emerods (1 Samuel 5:12). What could they do? Their joy over taking the ark had quickly turned into grief, and they were now as eager to get rid of it as they had once been to seize it. God can easily make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all who try to lift it (Zechariah 12:3). Those who fight against him will soon have enough of it, and sooner or later they will learn that no one hardens his heart against God and prospers. Wealth gained by fraud and injustice, especially by stealing from God, may be swallowed greedily and held as a sweet taste for a while, but it must be brought up again. Until then, the sinner will have no peace in his belly (Job 20:15-20).