Dagon Was Fallen Upon His Face to the Earth
The sermon emphasizes the superiority of Jehovah over the idols of the heathen, encouraging believers to bring the Ark of God into their lives and let Christ take full possession of them.
F.B. Meyer emphasizes the confrontation between the Ark of the Lord and the idol Dagon, illustrating the supremacy of Jehovah over false gods. The fall of Dagon symbolizes the inevitable defeat of all idols when faced with the true power of God. Meyer encourages believers to invite the presence of God into their lives, assuring that the idols that have dominated them will fall away. This message serves as a reminder of God's ability to defend His greatness and the transformative power of allowing Christ to take full possession of one's heart. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a personal encounter with God that leads to the destruction of all that opposes Him.
Text
Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth
before the Ark of the Lord. 1 Sam. v. 3.
THE idols of the heathen represent demons who are their accepted gods, just as the Ark was the symbol of the presence of Jehovah. In the one case there was a material representation of the demon; but in the case of the Ark there was only a throne, the Mercy Seat; and no attempt was made to represent the appearance of the God of Israel. When placed in the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah shone between the cherubim; this alone spoke of the Divine Spirit who filled the apparently vacant throne. When the effigy of the fish‑god was confronted by the Sacred Ark, it was as though the demon spirit and the Divine Spirit had come into contact, with the inevitable result that the inferiority of the one ensured the crash of its effigy to the ground.
What a lesson this must have been to the Philistines ‑‑ similar to that given Pharaoh in the plagues of Egypt, and with the same object of leading them to see the superior greatness of Jehovah! How great the encouragement to Israel ‑‑ to know that God could defend his superiority! And how striking the prognostication for the future, when all the Dagons of the world shall be broken before the symbol of Divine power and love!
Bring the Ark of God into your life. Set it down in your heart, and forthwith the Dagons which have held sway for so long will one after another succumb. "The idols He will utterly abolish." Let Christ in ‑‑ that is the one need of the soul; and let Him take full possession of you. Then He will do his own work. Darkness cannot abide light; nor the defilement of the Augean stable the turning in of the water of the river.
Sermon Outline
- The Idols of the Heathen
- The Ark of the Lord
- The Confrontation
- The Lesson
- Encouragement to Israel
- Prognostication for the future
- Dagons broken before the symbol of Divine power
Key Quotes
“Bring the Ark of God into your life. Set it down in your heart, and forthwith the Dagons which have held sway for so long will one after another succumb.” — F.B. Meyer
“Let Christ in -- that is the one need of the soul; and let Him take full possession of you. Then He will do his own work.” — F.B. Meyer
“Darkness cannot abide light; nor the defilement of the Augean stable the turning in of the water of the river.” — F.B. Meyer
Application Points
- We can bring the Ark of God into our lives by setting it down in our hearts and letting Christ take full possession of us.
- The superiority of Jehovah over the idols of the heathen is a powerful reminder of God's power and love.
- Letting Christ in is the one need of the soul, and it will ultimately lead to the abolition of our idols and the defilement of our lives.