Links for today’s readings:
Read: 1 Samuel 4 Listen: (3:56) Read: 2 Timothy 2 Listen: (3:17)
Reflection: Treating God Like Dagon
By John Tillman
After a military loss, Israel’s leaders ask a good question but come to the wrong conclusion. They ask, “Why did the Lord bring defeat…?”
This could have been a good moment. We have seen better versions of moments like this. When Israel lost battles in the past, good leaders sought the Lord through repentance, weeping, and offerings for sin. (Joshua 7.3-13; Judges 20.26-28) That doesn’t seem to be what happened here.
Instead of going to God, Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant, the throne of God, to the war camp. Despite what Indiana Jones said, the Ark is never mentioned as a weapon carried into battle. At Jericho, it was there at God’s direct instructions, representing his presence. However, scripture doesn’t describe the Ark being involved in the battle. (Joshua 6.15-20) In Saul’s camp, the Ark is there explicitly for the purpose of seeking God’s will and is not carried toward the action. (1 Samuel 14.17-20) Presumably, in Joab’s camp, it served the same function. (2 Samuel 11.10-11)
However, in this war camp, Israel cheered instead of confessed because they were after power not communion. They didn’t seek God as a source of wisdom to follow, they fetched him like a weapon to wield. They made God a tool or a prop to deliver invincibility. They treated him exactly as the Philistines treated their gods. And the Philistines recognized that “a god has come into the camp.” (1 Samuel 4.7)
There are many false gods in our culture. The Philistine’s god was Dagon. He was one of the “Baals,” sometimes called Baal’s father. His powers and promises? Prosperity. Growth.
Do you notice powerful cultural forces that promise prosperity and growth in family, business, or politics? If it makes promises like a god and demands loyalty like a god, it’s probably idolatrous, even if it’s not literally a spiritual force of evil. If it quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. Beware.
Israel didn’t start worshiping Dagon here, and we probably wouldn’t knowingly worship our culture’s false gods. However, Israel did treat Yahweh like the Philistines treated Dagon and we might fall into the trap of treating God like cultural “gods.”
Sometimes the real spiritual danger is not being captured by other gods but treating Yahweh as if he is one of them. Do you treat God in the same way you treat a winning political or business philosophy? Are you after God’s presence or his power?
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. — Psalm 52.8
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: When God Shakes Our Foundation
Why would God treat his own Temple like Samson treated the temple of Dagon?
The people worshiped other idols alongside God…
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