Fetching The Ark

But very often trouble is a call to humble ourselves and receive any correction God may have for us. When trouble comes we are to pray. When trouble comes we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.24 When trouble comes begin by submitting yourselves to God. There is a time to rebuke the devil. But that comes after we make sure all is submitted to the Lord. James sets forth this order, James 4:7, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” I have learned this by experience. If I don’t submit to God, the devil won’t flee from me. If I am fully submitted to the Lord, getting rid of the devil is pretty easy. Our first response to trouble should not be rebuking the devil. Our first response should be to talk with our heavenly Father and make sure there is nothing unsubmitted to Him. After I have done that, I may have to resist the devil. But the promise goes something like this. If I will submit to God, then I can successfully resist the devil and he will flee.

Of course, the Philistines thought they had really done something when they captured the Ark. They thought their gods had defeated Israel’s God. They brought the Ark back to their god, Dagon. Dagon was a half-man, half-fish idol.25 When they returned the next morning, Dagon was lying face-down before the Ark. They propped their god back up. But the next morning, Dagon had fallen again before the Ark. This time his face and hands were broken off. Only his torso remained intact. The judgement of God began to fall on the Philistines. God began to strike them with tumors. It could be translated hemorrhoids.26 At first, they thought they could solve the problem by moving the Ark to another city. But wherever they took it, the same judgement fell. In the end, they gladly returned the Ark to Israel with gifts as well.27 Unlike false gods, God can defend His glory whether people are there to do it or not. He is not something to be used and toyed with. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the Lord of glory, King of Kings, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End. Both the Philistines and the Israelites got some harsh lessons on the glory of God.

The key to victory is always submission to God. If we’re having a problem its often related to an area in our lives that needs to be submitted to God. Sometimes God will send a prophetic word to tell us what that is. More often He will speak to us from Scripture, and if our heart is tender we will know what to do. May the Lord give us victory over our enemies? Pray

Endnotes:

1 Cf. 1 Sam. 1:3; 2:12

2 Cf. 2 Sam. 6:6-7

3 Ps.111:10; Prov. 9:10. Cf. Ps. 36:1-4; Matt. 10:28; rom. 3:9-18

4 Cf. 1 Sam. 2:12-16, 29; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997-2014 by Biblesoft, Inc., (1 Samuel 2:13): “But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to them by the divine law (Ex 29:27; Lev 7:31-32), not only claimed part of the offerer's share, but rapaciously seized them previous to the sacred ceremony of heaving or waving (see the note at Lev 7:34); and, moreover, committed the additional injustice of taking up with their fork those portions which they preferred, whilst raw, in order to their being roasted.”