Worship God Alone
I Samuel 5:1, “Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.”
The Philistines fought with, and beat the Israelites. When the Philistines won the battle they took possession of some of the riches of Israel. I’m sure they knew the importance of the ark to the Israelites, and they probably took it because they wanted to humiliate the Israelites. They probably thought that by taking the ark they were separating the Israelites from God, and in the mind of many of the Israelites they were; but the ark was just one dwelling place for God. Yes, the Lord had commanded Moses to build the ark, but the ark was only a symbol to represent the glory of God. The full majesty of God cannot be contained in any man-made object.
When the Philistines captured the ark of God they put it in the house, or temple, they had built for their God. They were saying that their god, Dagon, was equal to the almighty God. When we compare anything to God, and say it is of equal value that is a sure way to invoke the wrath of God. Many people take the wrath of God lightly, but just as God has ultimate love and He also has ultimate wrath. Just read about the Egyptian plaques!
Jesus showed us the wrath of God when He entered the temple and witnessed the people there making a profit from the worship of God. By this these people were saying that money was just as important to them as God, and Jesus overturned tables to reject this idea. God is God, and He alone is worthy of our worship!
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Father God, I thank You for proving Your love to me by the sacrifice of Your Son, and I ask that You would help me avoid Your wrath by always regarding You as holy. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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Yes, You Can Ministry 