1 Samuel 5 There Are No Other Gods
The Word
Isaiah 45:4-7 (CSB) I call you by your name,
for the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen one.
I give a name to you,
though you do not know me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
there is no God but me.
I will strengthen you,
though you do not know me,
so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make success and create disaster;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
The Passage
1 Samuel 5 (CSB)
1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,2 brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it next to his statue.
3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
4 But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, Dagon’s head and both of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.
5 That is why, still today, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory and afflicted them with tumors.
7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because his hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.”
8 So they called all the Philistine rulers together and asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?” “The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they moved the ark of Israel’s God.
9 After they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against the city of Gath, causing a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors.
10 The people of Gath then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!”
11 The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. Let it return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them.
12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
The Study
1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,
2 brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it next to his statue.
There Are No Other Gods: The Head of Every Other Religion is a Demon
Exodus 20:2 (CSB) I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
1 Corinthians 10:20 (CSB) No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!
Deuteronomy 32:16-17 (CSB) They provoked his jealousy with different gods;
they enraged him with detestable practices.
They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known,
new gods that had just arrived,
which your ancestors did not fear.
3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
4 But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, Dagon’s head and both of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.
5 That is why, still today, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.
There Are No Other Gods: The Demons Know Who God Is
Exodus 20:3 (CSB) Do not have other gods besides me.
Luke 8:27-33 (CSB) When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me! ” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places. “What is your name? ” Jesus asked him. “Legion,” he said, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss. A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission. The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
James 2:19 (CSB) You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe — and they shudder.
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory and afflicted them with tumors.
7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because his hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.”
There Are No Other Gods: The Wages of Our Idolatry is Death
Exodus 20:4 (CSB) Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
Romans 6:23 (CSB) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (CSB) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
8 So they called all the Philistine rulers together and asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?” “The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they moved the ark of Israel’s God.
9 After they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against the city of Gath, causing a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors.
10 The people of Gath then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!”
11 The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. Let it return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them.
There Are No Other Gods: We Cannot Worship Any Other Gods
Exodus 20:5 (CSB) Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
1 Corinthians 10:14 (CSB) Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
Psalms 97:9-10 (CSB) For you, LORD,
are the Most High over the whole earth;
you are exalted above all the gods.
You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his faithful ones;
he rescues them from the power of the wicked.
John 6:66-69 (CSB) From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you? ” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
There Are No Other Gods: The Lord God is Holy and Steadfast Love For His People
Exodus 20:6-7 (CSB) but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.
The Song
Isaiah 42:5–9 (CSB)
5 This is what God, the LORD, says— who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it—6 “I am the LORD. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
7 in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the LORD. That is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
9 The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.”