RPG Adults
THE PROVIDENTIAL CHASTENING HAND OF GOD (III)
MONDAY, MARCH 20
1 Samuel 5:1-12
Psalm 76
“In Judah is God known:
his name is great in Israel.”
THE PROVIDENTIAL CHASTENING HAND OF GOD (III)
The Israelites had acted presumptuously in taking the ark from Shiloh to the battlefield. The ark was taken, and the battle lost. 1 Samuel 5 and 6 have no mention of Samuel. We do not know what connection he had with all these events or where he was, but we do know, from the summary given after he passed God’s message to Eli, that “the LORD revealed himself to Samuel…by the word of the LORD” (1 Sam 3:21). 1 Samuel 4 told of the capture of the ark, and chapters 5 and 6 tell of the return of the ark.
“When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon” (1 Sam 5:2). We have been looking at “Men God Used” and this chapter reveals to us the sovereignty and omnipotence of God. God chooses to use men out of His own sovereign will and wisdom. He empowers them and uses them by His grace, but He is not bound by them or to them. What if there is no one to be used? Chapter 5 answers this question. The Philistines probably attributed their victory to Dagon and placed the ark in subordination to Dagon in the house of Dagon. But their god, whom they thought had wrought on their behalf a great victory, was found fallen and mutilated in the morning. It was their duty to raise up their god and put him back in his place. Their source of strength needed them in order to return to his place. His hands were cut off (no strength), and his head too (no wisdom). They collected the stump and restored it to his place.
“But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them…” (1 Sam 5:6). The ark of God, on the other hand, had no one to attend to it; and the Israelites were scattered and defeated and Shiloh left desolate. Yet, without any human intervention or assistance, the ark of the LORD would “go again to his own place” (1 Sam 5:11). By the time the ark came to Ekron, the Philistines knew that it was the God of Israel who was plaguing and slaying them. They did not know what to do, but they did know that the ark needed to go back to its place. Man cannot fight against God. The pride of man will be humbled, and the power of God will be known.
THOUGHT: God’s power to punish, destroy or reward is unlimited.
PRAYER: “I need Thee, oh I need Thee, every hour I need Thee.”