13. The Ark in Captivity; or, God's Presence Unwelcome to the Sinner

Chapter 13 - The Ark in Captivity; or, God’s Presence Unwelcome to the Sinner

ALTHOUGH, for wise designs, God , had allowed the ark to be captured, and even taken into an enemy’s land, He watched over it, that it should not be destroyed. Its absence from Canaan would eventually be a dispensation of mercy to His people in freeing their hearts from the blind superstition with which they had regarded it; its sojourn in Philistia was to be marked by a series of judgments on the heathen who knew not God. It was first carried to Ashdod, or Azotus, and placed as an offering in the tem­ple of Dagon, chief of the Philistine deities. 1 Sam. v. and 6:1-18. But" when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow," an amazing spectacle greeted their astonished sight: "behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord."

They had placed the foreign shrine in their temple to do homage to their god; and, lo! their god was prostrate before it in the attitude of adoration or subjection. Will­ing to believe, or to pretend, that this had been an accidental occurrence, "they took Dagon, and set him in his place again." Another morning they entered the temple, half-fearing, half-hoping, and eagerly wondering what would be the result; when, "behold, Dagon was fallen" as before "upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; "---yet not as before, for "the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands, were cut off"---the seat of intelligence, and the instruments of power;---an emblematic proclamation of the truth, that false gods "are altogether brutish and fool­ish," while the Lord Jehovah is He who "hath made the earth by His power, and established the world by His wisdom." A piteous spectacle did the fallen idol present, "When the captive ark Maim’d his brute image, head and hands lopp’d off In his own temple, on the grunsell-edge Where he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers.

Dagon his name, sea-monster, upward man And downward fish."

When, therefore, it is stated that "only the stump of Dagon was left to him," we perceive that he was shorn, not only of his supposed divinity, but likewise of the small resemblance he bore to something like humanity. Terror might well strike the heart of his priests and worshippers: but, alas! conviction reached them not. From that day forth, they forbore, on entering their temple, to tread upon the threshold; but they refrained not from their accustomed worship. They only added a new superstition to their old idolatry; a supersti­tion, which was long continued, and which though they meant it not---served in reality to perpetuate the remembrance, and to furnish an evidence, of Dagon’s overthrow. The persistence of the people in idolatry, after such manifest proofs of Jehovah’s power, called down upon them His avenging rod. Diseases of two diverse kinds, painful and pes­tilential, were sent forth; and "the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod." Yet for all this they repented not. "Dagon, our god," were the words that still fell from their lips. They rightly traced their affliction to the God of Israel; "His hand is sore upon us." But they were unwise in the resolution they formed; "the ark shall not abide with us." Better were it to have said, "We will put away our idols, we will serve Jehovah, we will seek to retain His presence, and if possible to enjoy His favor." "The ark of the God of Israel," they call it;---not a god itself, as they had once esteemed it. They had learned some­thing, by having it in their possession. They had found that it bore no idol form, that it contained no graven image. A simple, though a costly chest, they no longer thought it an embodiment or representation of Deity. If they had looked within, which we can scarcely doubt, the most they could have seen would be two written tables, a vase containing an omer of some mysterious food, and a singular almond ­branch; but nothing that indicated a divinity. The attitude of devotion, which marked the cherubic figures, precluded the idea that these were objects of worship. The sacred coffer, though one for which the God of the Hebrews had shown himself jealous, was manifestly in itself nothing more than a coffer, connected in some way with the religious belief or religious practices of Israel.

Whatever it might be, it was to be dismissed from Ashdod. But what to do with it, now became the ques­tion. Blindly supposing that Ashdod might, for some cause, be a residence peculiarly ob­noxious, the lords of the Philistines voted for its transference to one of their other cities. The experiment was tried in reference to Gath; but on the Gittites were similar judgments inflicted. Again God "smote his enemies, and put them to a perpetual reproach." Ps. Lxxviii. 65, 66. From Gath the ark was removed to Ekron; and here the cry resounded, "They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people." Reluctantly did they receive the unwelcome visitant; and eagerly did they entreat its removal, when upon them also came the same afflictive dispensations. Gaza and Askelon appear to have shared a like fate; and thus for "seven months" were the fenced cities, with their neighboring country villages, successively made the depositories of the mys­terious and fatal prize. But the further it was carried, the more widely was God’s power manifested; and the more He was resisted, the more grievous were the outpourings of His wrath. At length a council of the priests and divin­ers was convened, who reproached the lords of the Philistines with hardening their hearts, and advised them without delay to make suit­able preparations for the restoring of the ark to its rightful abode. Instead of receiving a ransom, they were to pay one. A conciliatory present was to be sent, consisting of golden emblems in commemoration of the means used for their punishment. [It is considered probable, that mice had been allowed to overrun the land; that hence a famine had been in­duced, and that this had occasioned the deadly pestilence, Thus the images of the remote cause were made to stand for symbols of the effect.] These were to be in sets of five, to correspond with the number of the Philistine lords, and were to be deposited in a coffer by the side of the ark. Ignorant of the mode prescribed for its conveyance, a new cart was provided, to be drawn by two milch kine, on which had come no yoke, according to the universally prevalent idea an idea, neither untruthful nor unsuggestive---­that to God’s service should be brought that "which had not been already used, and in part worn out, in the service of the world, but which was thus wholly, and from the first, con­secrated to heaven."--[Trench’s Hulsean Lectures, 3rd edit., p. 219]. The cattle were to be left unguided, that they might choose their own path: if they went Canaanward, it was to be considered an indication, that thither they must convey their burden: if they took an. opposite route, it would be concluded that the recent calamities had not been sustained for the ark’s sake, and that they might yet retain it as a memento of their signal triumph over the Hebrews. Thus, to the very close, were they loath to own Jehovah’s power; thus were they perseveringly anxious to lay hold on every pretext which could make them think it was only "a chance that happened" to them. And when they had followed it, and witnessed its joyous reception, "they returned to Ekron the same day," idolaters still, despite the means of enlightenment which had been afforded to them.

We might enlarge here on the presence of God among the heathen, and note how there are seasons when He causes the light of truth to arise upon the nations who have long sat in darkness; how this always results in a demon­stration of His superiority,---the idols of every land, like those of Egypt, and like Dagon him­self, being "moved at His presence;" and how, in many cases, a persistent refusal to cast away the vain objects of their fathers’ worship has been followed by judgments on the idolaters, ­many a race having been exterminated, and many more brought into subjection under a foreign dominion, to the intent that all the nations of the earth might learn to "give glory to the God of Israel." But it is more important to remember, that we have heathens at home; and to them this subject will equally apply. For more than "seven months" has God been contending with some of these. Yet are they idolaters still. Perhaps, reader, you are among their number. Perhaps self, or your kindred---per­haps worldly pleasure---or, it may be, worldly wealth---or worldly fame---is your idol. Has it never been overthrown? have you never been compelled to see it prostrate in the dust? You may have set it again in its place. Have you never seen it once more laid low? have you never seen it crippled? have you never seen it held up to execration? have you never had a glimpse of its deformity? You may have shuddered for the moment. You may have retained a constant impression of the disas­trous event. But have you not hardened your­self against conviction? have you not clung to your idol still? You may have been brought into affliction. Did you not imagine that some outward change would suffice to turn away the cloud of wrath? The hand of God may have continued to be heavy upon you. Did you not try to persuade yourself that it was "a chance"?

You may at last have been brought to tremble at His presence: have you ventured to deem that presence unwelcome? have you wished to put it from you? have you dared to say, "The ark shall not abide with us? " Oh! pause and bethink you what this means, what it includes, and what it will involve. If, like the Gadarenes, you beseech the Lord Jesus to withdraw, He may take you at your word, and refuse to exercise toward you His healing power. If now you say, "Depart from us, for we desire not the know­ledge of thy ways," He will hereafter say to you, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever­lasting fire." Remember that there is a "Woe" against all those who strive with their Maker. There can be no doubt as to the issue of the contest. He will be, He must be the victor; but is it not better that He should be glorified by you than upon you? is it not better that you should yield Him a willing service, than that you should be crushed beneath the rod of His power? Is it not better that you should learn to rejoice in His presence than to dread it? Rise, then, and betake yourself to His footstool; own His power; seek His mercy through Christ; ask for the gift of His spirit to make you what He would have you to be; confess that other lords have had dominion over you, but resolve that henceforth you will make mention only of His name; and adopt as your own those unequivocal words of self surrender, "The dearest idol I have known, Whate’ er that idol be--- Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee."