This morning we’re going to look at a passage of Scripture that I have struggled with for many years; one that I have read time and again, and I couldn’t figure out how to apply it spiritually. It’s probably one that many of you have read before and came away feeling perplexed. But lately the Lord has impressed me to preach more on the topic of idolatry. I’ve been convicted that idolatry is a major distraction that Satan uses to lure us off the path to God. The devil will use any means possible to hinder our relationship with the Lord, and to keep us from spending time with Him. Now that God has impressed me to preach on idolatry, He has given me understanding of the passage that we’re about to examine. Are you ready for a really odd biblical account with a tremendous message?
Our Idols Must Fall Before God (vv. 1-3a)
1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3a And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD.
Back in 1 Samuel chapter 4 we read the full account of how the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant. So, why did they want it so badly? Why was it so important? To the Philistines, the Ark was an idol. It was a golden box with great power. It was one more thing to worship, and that’s why they set it up next to their chief idol called Dagon. Once the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the house of Dagon, the Philistines possessed two idols to worship; or so they thought. God wasn’t going to allow them to worship a box. The Ark represented God, but it wasn’t God!
The Philistines were immersed in idolatry. Let me share with you my favorite definition of idolatry, one that you may hear again. In the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster defines idolatry as, “Excessive attachment or veneration for any thing.”(1) The two key words here are “any” and “thing,” and this definition explains that “anything” can become an idol in our life. It doesn’t have to be a wood, stone, or metal image. It is something to which we devote the majority of our time, adoration or resources.
We read here how the Philistines sat the Ark of the Covenant down next to Dagon, and that “when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD” (v. 3a). What we must recognize first as we begin studying this passage is this: In the presence of Almighty God, idols must fall; including the idols in our own life.
Working to Maintain Our Idols (vv. 3b-5)
3b And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
Notice how the Philistines had to set Dagon back in place again. I wonder how hard this would have been? I couldn’t find any information on the actual size of Dagon; however, numerous drawings depict this idol as being really tall and made of stone. If these renderings are correct, then this statue would have been extremely heavy. It took a lot of time and effort in setting it back in place. In fact, the Philistines refused to set it back up for a second time. This was mainly because of their fear of the Lord; but you have to wonder if the effort involved played a part in deterring them from ever trying it again.
In pursuing our own idols, we have to put into them a lot of time and effort, as when the Philistines put forth time and effort into lifting up Dagon. This example of working to set the idol back in place can represent us being obsessed with maintaining our own idols. So, what are some ways in which we go about maintaining and serving idols?
Think about cars. A vehicle is simply a means of transportation; and if we viewed it as transportation, then we would settle for an ugly old beater. But in our society, a car is more than transportation. It’s a status symbol. If we drive a nice car we earn respect and feel like we fit in. But shouldn’t we be more concerned with God’s favor and how He views us? Also, when we buy a nice car we obsess over keeping it clean, pouring time and energy into washing and waxing. But if we had an ugly old beater, we wouldn’t put that kind of time and effort into it. So, our fancy car becomes an idol. We depend on it for self-worth and we give it more time than we give God.
You can make a similar case with owning a home. In fact, I don’t own an airplane yet, because of all that’s involved. I might one day; but believe me, I’m counting the cost. What’s the cost to my family as I give my time to flying and maintaining an airplane, instead of giving time to my wife and kids? What’s the cost to my spiritual life if my hobby takes away from the time I should be spending with God? These are questions we should all be asking with anything that consumes our time and resources. What about the purchase of guns and hunting? What about owning a motor boat and fishing? And so that I don’t just pick on the men; what about extensive and expensive shopping trips out of town, ladies?
Take some time to reflect and ask yourself, “What idols do I have in my life?” If you discover that you’re serving some kind of idol, then you should do as the Philistines did after they got tired of propping up Dagon. We read that they just left that idol lying there on the ground. If you feel like all you’re accomplishing in life is propping up some dumb idol that is consuming all your time and resources, and you feel completely spent and worn out, then just leave it there on the ground!
Our Idols Are Afflicting Us (v. 6)
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
So, what are we reading about? What happened here, and what are “emerods?” According to Wikipedia, “Emerods is an archaic term for hemorrhoids. Derived from the Old French word emoroyde, it was used as the common English term until the nineteenth century, after which it was replaced in medicine by a direct transliteration of the original Greek term haimorrhoides.”(2)
The website GotQuestions.org says, “The word translated ‘emerods’ in the King James Version comes from a root word literally meaning ‘to swell,’ and the Hebrew word translated ‘emerods’ literally means ‘mound’ . . . The context has led historians and Bible commentators to conclude that the plague of emerods was actually an occurrence of tumors, boils, or possibly hemorrhoids or ‘piles’.”(3) The Darby translation actually renders the Hebrew word here as “hemorrhoids.”(4) Now that we know what we’re reading about, from here on out I’m going to use the King James word “emerod.”
This is a strange thing to read about in the Bible. Right? So, how do take this information about a plague of emerods and apply it spiritually? Well, the emerods represent pain and affliction. When we work to maintain our idols, pouring time and energy into them, we are in essence being plagued. The more we work, the more it hurts. We work and work until our life begins falling apart spiritually, emotionally and physically. Our relationship with God begins to suffer, we become an emotional wreck, and the stress of it all can actually harm our physical health. To tie this in, modern research is finding that the medical condition mentioned in our text can be a physical manifestation of inner emotional turmoil.
We Keep Pushing God Away (vv. 7-10)
7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.” 8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath.” And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. 10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.”
Notice what the Philistines did when they became afflicted with emerods. They sent the Ark of the Covenant away from them into Gath, and many in Gath were destroyed and others came down with a case of those blasted emerods. So, the people of Gath sent the Ark away from them into Ekron. As harsh as it may sound, God was trying to get their attention through these plagues and hardships. He was trying to speak to them, but their initial response was, “Just get rid of this thing!”
The Ark of the Covenant represented God’s presence. Back in 1 Samuel 4:5-7, we read where the people of Israel shouted in excitement and expectation of victory when the Ark came into their camp. When the Philistines heard their shout from a distance, the text says they were greatly afraid and exclaimed, “God has come into the camp” and “Woe to us!” (1 Samuel 4:7). Deep down inside they knew that the Ark of the Covenant represented God’s presence; so, when they said to get rid of it, they were really saying, “Let’s get rid of God! We don’t want Him around here anymore!”
In our own life, when we get caught up serving idols, the Lord will try to speak to us and get our attention. There may be an inner voice of conviction (known as the Holy Spirit), that speaks to us saying, “Shouldn’t you be spending time with God this Saturday morning instead of running off to the lake?” Or, maybe God will speak to us through our kids as they approach us begging for a moment of our time. Or, perhaps the Lord will choose to stay His hand for a brief period and allow us to come down with some kind of illness; one that causes us to have to slow down. God is only trying to get our attention, but like the Philistines we often try to push Him away.
We Must Give Our Idols to God (vv. 11-12)
11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people”: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
The Philistines found out that you can’t get rid of God, and you can’t hide from Him when you’re living in sin. When we are living contrary to His will – and idolatry counts as living contrary to God – the Lord will let us know. He will speak to us so we can do what it takes to get right with Him and end the pain in our life. So, what was the solution for the Philistines? Well, rather than pushing God away by sending the Ark to some distant land, they were to send the Ark back to its own people. They were to send it to the Israelites who were God’s people and represented the Lord. This means they were sending the Ark of the Covenant back to God.
Why is this observation important? First of all, to the Philistines, the Ark of the Covenant was just another idol. They pushed God aside to view the Ark as nothing more than a golden box; one that had great power; and one they hoped would answer them when they cried out to it. So, by sending the Ark back to the Israelites, they were sending their treasured idol unto God.
Over in 1 Samuel 6:1-9, we read that they were supposed to send a trespass offering unto God along with the Ark. We read how their priests and diviners instructed them, “Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land” (v. 5), and the New King James Version elaborates how they also instructed them, “Then take the ark of the LORD and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go” (v. 8).
So, their priests and diviners instructed them to do what they did best; to fashion more idols. They made golden idols of emerods and golden idols of mice. Now, I must admit that from an artistic and visual standpoint, I’m struggling to envision what golden emerods must have looked like. But let’s apply this observation about sending these idols unto God.
If we are serving some kind of idol in our life, by now we have probably maintained it for so long, it’s as though we have poured our all into it; we have given it everything. The gold, which we see in the idols of emerods and mice, represents how the idol has become something of great value to us; but at the same time it may be afflicting us. When we have poured our all into an idol, and it has become something of great worth; the only way we can end the pain, heartache, and strife associated with trying to maintain that idol is to send it away unto God. We must give it to the Lord.
So what does it mean to give it to the Lord? In 1 Samuel 6:10-15, the priests and diviners of the Philistines further instructed them to hook up two milk cows to the cart, and we read this: “They laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods” (v. 11) and they sent it away (v. 8). We continue to read, “And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine [or cows as] a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone” (vv. 14-15).
So, when the Philistines sent the Ark of the Covenant back to the Lord – along with the cart and cows, and along with the golden idols of emerods and mice – what happened next? The ark was removed from the cart and returned to the people; however, the cart and cows, and even the golden emerods and mice, were offered on the altar unto God. They became a sacrifice.
So, what does this information tell us we should do when God convicts us that we are serving an idol; and when He convicts us that we are dedicating our time and resources to something other than Him? What the Lord wants us to do is to lay it on the altar; which symbolically means to allow that thing to be consumed by God. And when we lay it on the altar, it arises unto the Lord as a sweet smelling sacrifice.
Time of Reflection
So, in closing, let’s take some time to reflect on our lives and ask ourselves, “Do I have any idols in my life?” And when God lays something on our heart, we need to make a decision about it. Will we continue to hang on to that thing, whatever it might be, serving it at cost to our relationship with God, or at cost to our relationship with our family? Will we continue to let it consume us and eat away at our health and emotional stability? Hopefully, we won’t allow that idol to have any more reign over our life. We need to give it to God by laying it on the altar.
Jesus said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NKJV). Our desire to hang on to the things of this world – such as physical possessions, immoral concepts, or even sinful practices – is the same thing as idolatry. Jesus said that we must be willing to give up our grip on this world – and the sinful things that have a grip on us – if we are to ever receive eternal life in heaven.
If you’re here today knowing that you have never before confessed Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, then please let go of the idols in your life. Let go of the things that you deem as more important than Jesus, the things which you hold in esteem above Christ, and the things that you’re willing to pursue at the cost of losing eternal life. Surrender those things right now and lay them at the foot of the cross, and give your life to the Lord. Come receive the forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
NOTES
(1) Noah Webster, “Idolatry,” 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (San Francisco, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2002).
(2) “Emerods,” Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerods.
(3) “What Were The Emerods God Afflicted the Philistines With In 1 Samuel 5?” GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/emerods.html.
(4) Ibid.
