Beyond the Visible: God is at Work

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Have you ever felt like God was absent in your darkest moments? The ancient story of the Ark of the Covenant's capture reveals a powerful truth that transforms how we view seemingly hopeless situations.

When Israel's most sacred object was seized by their enemies, it appeared to be a devastating defeat. But behind the visible circumstances, an invisible battle was unfolding. As we explore 1 Samuel 5, we discover what happens when the symbol of God's presence enters enemy territory. The Philistines proudly displayed their trophy in their god Dagon's temple, but woke to find their massive stone idol mysteriously toppled, face-down before the Ark, its head and hands broken off. Meanwhile, painful afflictions spread through their cities wherever the Ark traveled.

This fascinating narrative illustrates how God works in dimensions beyond our sight. Just as gravity remains invisible yet undeniably powerful, spiritual realities operate around us constantly. The story foreshadows Jesus himself, who would later appear defeated in death only to rise victorious, making a public spectacle of the enemy's presumed triumph.

What appears as defeat on the surface often masks God's greater purposes. When circumstances seem to contradict God's promises, remember that multiple dimensions are at play. The Philistines had an opportunity to recognize the true God's power and repent, but instead tried to distance themselves from His presence – a mistake we often repeat when confronted with truth that challenges our comfortable idols.

Where in your life might God be working in ways you cannot yet see? Join us as we unpack this remarkable story and discover how to recognize God's hidden hand in our most challenging circumstances. Connect with us at [e-mail] to share your thoughts or questions!

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Shalom to you and your home.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
we've been taking some time looking into the book
of 1 Samuel and right now we'rein chapter 5.
This chapter has in it some ofthe more telling things
concerning the plan of God thatwas taking place behind the

(00:29):
scenes, how God was doingsomething that wasn't
necessarily obvious to the nakedeye or to the uninformed or to
the uninformed.
But what he was really up to issomething far greater than the

(00:50):
way things looked on the surface, and that's often the case in
life.
There are things that are goingon behind the scenes that we
don't really have theopportunity of seeing, because
what's going on in the spiritualworld isn't always visible to

(01:14):
the naked eye.
But there are things that aretaking place on a multi-level
fashion all throughout life.
Dimensions are at play that wedon't always see, but just

(01:40):
because we don't see themdoesn't mean they don't exist.
I don't see gravity, but I seeit in operation, just like I
don't always see things in thespirit realm, but I see the
operation of that realmimpacting the world that I live

(02:03):
in.
And so we're looking at that inthis particular chapter and
it's really full of meaning and,as it goes with the other
portions of 1 Samuel, it's astory man and I love stories and
we're picking up this storyright now where the Philistines

(02:28):
captured the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God's presence
for Israel, and it is taken awayfrom Israel and it is brought
into a foreign land.

(02:48):
And we're picking up in chapter5, starting at verse 1, and
Scripture says after thePhilistines had captured the Ark
of God, they took it fromEbenezer to Ashdod.
They carried the Ark intoDagon's temple and Dagon was the

(03:14):
demigod that they served, thefalse god that they turned into
an idol.
Dagon, half man, half fish.
They carried the Ark intoDagon's temple and set it beside

(03:35):
Dagon or the image of Dagon.
When the people of Ashdod roseearly the next day, the people
of Ashdod rose early the nextday there was Dagon, fallen on

(03:55):
his face on the ground beforethe ark of the Lord.
They took Dagon and put hisface on the ground before the
Ark of the Lord.
His head and hands had beenbroken off and were lying on the

(04:16):
threshold.
Only his body remained.
This is why, to this day,neither the priests of Dagon nor
others who enter Dagon's templeto Ashdod step on the threshold
.
The Lord's hand was very heavyupon the people of Ashdod and

(04:40):
its vicinity.
He brought devastation uponthem and afflicted them with
tumors.
When the men of Ashdod saw whatwas happening, they said the
ark of the God of Israel mustnot stay here with us because
his hand is heavy upon us andupon Dagon, our God.

(05:02):
So they called together all therulers of the Philistines and
asked them what shall we do withthe Ark of the God of Israel?
They answered have the Ark ofthe God of Israel moved to Gath?
So they moved the Ark of God ofIsrael.

(05:23):
But after they had moved it,the Lord's hand was against that
city, throwing it into a greatpanic.
He afflicted the people of thecity, both young and old, with
an outbreak of tumors.
So they sent the Ark of God toEkron.
As the Ark of God was enteringEkron, the people of Ekron cried

(05:45):
out they have brought the arkof the God of Israel around to
us to kill us and our people.
So they called together all therulers of the Philistines and
said send the ark of the God ofIsrael away.
Let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our
people.
For death had filled the citywith panic.

(06:07):
God's hand was very heavy uponit.
Those who did not die, wereafflicted with tumors, and the
outcry of the city went up toheaven Interesting, interesting.

(06:30):
They bring the Philistines,bring the Ark of the Covenant,
of the covenant of Israel, intoDagon's temple, which they would
do with all of the otherdefeated foes.
They would bring artifacts fromtheir temples, from the other
gods, demigods, into the templeas a sign of victory, and they

(06:55):
brought the Ark of the Covenantin to do the same.
Except, except, this was notjust any ordinary piece of
furniture.
This was the very symbol ofGod's presence.

(07:17):
It was a picture of what thingslook like in heaven, and it was
a picture of it being made onearth.
The kingdom come.
The will of God be done in theearth, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Jesus taught us to pray thatway, and so the Ark was brought

(07:41):
into Dagon's house, dagon'stemple.
And Dagon was not just a smalllittle statue, that's 10 feet
tall, like you'd see in a park.
This statue was huge.
We don't have the exactmeasurements, but speculation

(08:02):
has it that it was over 30 feettall and probably 5, 10 feet
deep.
It was a huge piece of stone,and so when it fell, it fell
hard and to get back up took alot of effort, but there was no

(08:27):
one in that temple when thatstone idol fell, except the Ark
of the Covenant.
Who was it that tipped thatstatue, that idol, that figure,

(08:48):
who tipped Dagon over?
I believe that it was the verypresence of God that was the
foretaste or forerunner of theLord, jesus, himself tipping
over Dagon, much like Jesusbeing taken captive by the

(09:21):
Romans and crucified, taken intoa tomb and resurrected right in
the face of the enemy.
Satan Jesus, overcoming thingsjust like the ark.
Satan Jesus, overcoming thingsJust like the ark, overcame

(09:44):
Dagon in his temple.
That's a powerful thing, man.
We see Jesus all throughout theOld Testament and we see Jesus
here.
Jesus here Tipping over Dagonmaking a public spectacle of him
.
And the people were inflictedwith tumors.

(10:06):
Some transcripts giveindication that the tumors were
of the nature of a bubonicplague type or a hemorrhoid type
tumor, things that would affectthe private areas.

(10:27):
And interesting that it wouldaffect the private areas because
that area, for the Philistinesand all of the other tribes in
the area, their sexual activity,their practices of worship

(10:52):
involving sexual activity, bothin the area of prostitution but
homosexuality and bestiality,the use of the sexual organs,
was a thing of pride and it wasin that area of their life that

(11:21):
they were inflected with tumors.
If it was the bubonic plague,the bubonic plague affected the
areas of the groin and of thearmpits.
If it were something differentand just hemorrhoids, massive
hemorrhoids and boils can affectthe entire region around one's
private parts, and what we dowith our private parts matters.

(11:52):
It's a very important thing howwe handle that area of our life.
Ultimately, it is an expressionof intimacy and of how we go
about demonstrating that, aswell as procreation.
But when it's used in aperverse fashion, it brings

(12:19):
about a type of consequence,judgment, if you will.
And they experience they,meaning the Philistines,
experience the judgment of God.
The hand of God was heavy onthem, not in a glorious way, but
in a corrective way.

(12:41):
A demonstration of thesupremacy of God, the God of
Israel, the supremacy, I willsay the supremacy of Jesus, the
supremacy of God, our Father,god the Son, god, the Holy
Spirit, god, god Almighty, but ademonstration of Jesus Before

(13:07):
Jesus was born, of a virgin,because we see his footprint all
throughout the Old Testament,various times, various places
where there's a theophany ofJesus, a pre-appearance of him,

(13:29):
giving us a foretaste of what isto come, and now we have that
given to us as a sign of thetimes that we're living in.
We are living in a time in whichGod is demonstrating his power

(13:55):
in an even greater fashion thanhe did when he tipped over Dagon
, and the Philistines didn'twant anything to do with that,
which is a mistake, because itwas actually an opportunity for
them to repent, to change, toembrace something that was

(14:24):
better than the idols that theywere serving idols that they
were serving but they chose toremain in a place of devotion to

(14:44):
inferiority versus changing,acknowledging that they've been
wrong, asking God to forgive andto receive his grace and his
mercy and become people alignedwith him.
But they wouldn't.
But they wouldn't.
And a word to the wise ifyou're listening to this and

(15:10):
you're in a place where you'vebeen serving yourself as your
own God or you've beenexperimenting with other gods,
you're going to find out they'reinferior.
And my desire for you, ourdesire for you, is that you

(15:33):
would change your mind andchange your ways, that you would
turn, you would repent, youwould acknowledge that you've
been searching out things thatare inferior, whether it be you
or other, sources in which youtry to gain some sense of

(15:58):
meaning in life.
The only meaning in life thatone's going to find is in
relationship with God ThroughJesus Christ, being transformed
by the power of the Holy Spirit,being given newness of life,
the free gift of eternal life,by placing your faith, one's

(16:22):
faith, in the finished, completework of Jesus.
What he accomplished on thecross, he did because we
couldn't accomplish it on ourown.
He accomplished it for us.
And when we believe that, whenwe acknowledge that that's step
number one that allows us tobegin a life where we can walk

(16:46):
in the Spirit as citizens of thekingdom of God, let's not make
the same mistake that thePhilistines made and that they
simply wanted to get rid of God.
Let's embrace whatever changeis necessary, and in that change

(17:15):
we find relationship with Godand with one another.
Hallelujah, let's pray, father,thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, father, thank you,thank you, thank you, thank you,
god.
Thank you for revealing to usthings that we could not see on

(17:38):
our own.
But when you show reality to us, something happens, a change
takes place.
You give us the opportunity tochange, and I thank you, holy
Spirit, I thank you for the giftof eternal life found in Jesus.

(18:03):
Jesus, you're amazing.
Thank you for providing for uswhat we couldn't accomplish on
our own.
We honor you as King of Kings,as Lord of Lords.
We thank you for setting upyour abode within us and giving

(18:30):
us the opportunity to abide inyou.
Thank you, we honor you and westand here in your name and we
declare it to be true.
We say amen, amen, amen, amen,amen.
All right, folks, we love you.
If you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel

(18:53):
free to drop us a line atlifearoundthefire, at gmailcom
that's our email address or youcan type in lifearoundthefire
and look us up on the web.
We would love to hear from youIn the meantime.
God bless you.
Adios amigos.