“And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.” (1 Samuel 5:1)
The Philistines had a god called Dagon. The Philistines kept the idols of other gods around the altar to Dagon. The Philistines put the Ark of God around the altar to Dagon.
The next morning the priests of Dagon entered the altar and saw that it had toppled over, face down, toward the Ark of God. Accident? Maybe. They put Dagon back on his altar.
The next morning the priests of Dagon entered the altar. Not only did Dagon fall over, but this time Dagon’s head and both palms had been cut off. Not an accident.
God has a sense of humor when he smites someone. The people of the Philistines, their lords, priests, and sorcerers developed huge debilitating hemorrhoids. The Philistines create the first game of “Hot Potato”.
They moved the Ark of God to other cities in an attempt to get rid of it. As the Ark moved so did hemorrhoids. The Philistines took the Ark to Ekron and the people there cried out that the Ark of the God of Israel would kill them. So, God killed many of them and those that didn’t die suffered from huge hemorrhoids.
For seven months the Ark of God traveled through the land of the Philistines. The lords of the Philistines asked their priests and diviners about how to get rid of the Ark.
“3And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.”(1 Samuel 5:3-4)
The Philistine lords had golden hemorrhoids and mice made. They put these in a coffer next to the Ark of God. They built a wooden cart and had it pulled by a milk cow. They set the cow and cart on a road that went to Bethshemesh. The cow and the cart continued alone.
When the people of Bethshemesh saw the Ark of God they rejoiced. They made a sacrifice of the cow, and opened the coffers and sacrificed on the golden hemorrhoids and mice. Then they ignored God’s commandment about opening the Ark. Which they did, God smote 50,070 men. God does not play favorites when it comes to his commandments.
Stay Tuned…
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