1 Samuel 5

CHAPTERS 5 AND 6THEME: Judgment of God upon PhilistinesChapters 5 and 6 describe the experience of the Philistines with the captured ark of the covenant in their possession. They learned there was no merit in the arkit was by no means a good-luck charm. Because of it “…the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them” (1Sa_5:6). Their idol Dagon was toppled and broken; the men developed a strange illness and many died. Deadly destruction followed the ark wherever it was taken. The Philistines, fearing for their lives, returned the ark to Israel, carried on a cart to a field of Beth-shemesh.

1 Samuel 5:1

When the Philistines captured the ark, they thought they had something good in their hands; but, every time they set it up in the house of their god Dagon, the idol would fall over. Now I want to submit something to you that I don’t think you will find in any commentary. When the presence of the ark of the Lord in the house of Dagon caused the idol to fall over and nothing was left but the stump, I believe this reveals God’s sense of humor. God was revealing to the Philistines that their god was powerless in His presence. I think this shows that the Lord has a real sense of humor in doing this sort of thing, because it really annoyed the Philistines. They soon saw that there was no merit in their having the ark. In fact, it was a very real danger to them.

1 Samuel 5:6

Thinking these calamities might not be coincidental, they send the ark to another city of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 5:8

I do not mean to be irreverent but everyone was passing the buck. Finally there was a meeting of the lords of the Philistines and they decided to send the ark back to Israel. God had sent judgment upon the Philistines. The Philistines had one question, “What shall we do with Israel’s ark?”