1 Samuel 5:11

_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._ They sent - i:e., the magistrates of Ekron....

6-12 The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines; he not only convinced them of their folly, but severely chastised their insolence. Yet they would not renounce Dagon; and instead of seeking God's mercy, they desired to get clear of his ark. Carnal hearts, when they smart under the judgments of God, would rather, if it were possible, put him far from them, than enter into covenant or communion with him, and seek him for their friend. But their devices to escape the Divine judgments only increase them. Those that fight against God will soon have enough of it....

Verse 1 Samuel 5:11. _SEND AWAY THE ARK_] It appears that it had been received at Ekron, for _there was a deadly destruction through the_ _whole city_. They therefore concluded that the ark should be sent back to Shiloh....

EXPOSITION THE ARK OF GOD IN PHILISTIA (1 Samuel 5:1). 1 SAMUEL 5:1 THE PHILISTINES TOOK THE ARK OF GOD. The silence of Scripture is often as remarkable as what it tells us. From Psalms 78:60-19; Jeremiah 7:12; Jeremiah 26:9, we gather that from Aphek the Philistines marched upon Shiloh, and having captured it, put all whom they found there to the sword, a

SO THEY SENT AND GATHERED TOGETHER ALL THE LORDS OF THE PHILISTINES,.... As the men of Ashdod had done before on the same account, 1 Samuel 5:8 AND SAID, SEND AWAY THE ARK OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL; as these lords were united in their government, and made one common cause of it against Israel, one could not dispose of this capture without the consent of the rest; otherwise the lord of Ekron, with his princes, were clearly in it that it was right and best to send it away out of any of their principalities: AND LET IT GO AGAIN TO ITS OWN PLACE; to the land of Israel and Shiloh there, though to that it never returned more: THAT IT SLAY US NOT, AND OUR PEOPLE; that is, all of them, for great numbers had been slain already, as follows: FOR THERE WAS A DEADLY DESTRUCTION THROUGHOUT ALL THE CITY; a mortal disease went through t

6. THE ARK IN THE HANDS OF THE PHILISTINES AND ITS RETURN CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The ark in the house of Dagon (1 Samuel 5:1)_ 2. The Philistines smitten by Jehovah (1 Samuel 5:6) The ark was brought to Ashdod, the leading city of the Philistines, and set up in the temple dedicated to Dagon, the chief god of the people. It was half fish and half man, the symbol of fertility. Before this idol the ark was set up. In their blindness they imagined that Dagon had conquered the God of Israel. The next morning they found Dagon fallen with his face to the earth before the ark. It was the Lord who did it and not an accident. The next morning the whole idol-image, except the fish-part, is fallen upon the ground. “The head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold.” T

1 SAMUEL 5. THE ARK IN THE PHILISTINE CITIES. 1 Samuel 5:1. Ashdod. 1 Samuel 5:8. Gath. 1 Samuel 5:10. Ekron: see Joshua 11:22; Joshua 13:3; p 28. 1 Samuel 5:2. Dagon: see Judges 16:23 *. 1 Samuel 5:3. The Ark is thought of as possessing marvellous inherent powers; it brings disaster on

_and gathered together all the lords_ A second council of state was held, but the protest of the Ekronites was not listened to. The league was unwilling to part with the trophy of its victory. _a deadly destruction_ A DEADLY PANIC: dismay caused by the fatal character of the disease....

_The Ark in Ekron._ 1 Samuel 5:10-12 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. 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. 7. _Where was Ekron? 1 Samuel 5:10_ Ekron was about eleven miles from Gath. It had belonged at one time to Judah ...

THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES 1. Ashdod] on an elevation overlooking the Philistine plain midway between Gaza and Joppa, and 3 m. from the Mediterranean. Its importance consisted in the fact that it commanded the high road from Palestine to Egypt....