Judges 16:23-24 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands." When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain."
Again, God is still a literary force to be reckoned with - His use of irony makes me chuckle. The Philistines are praising their god for giving Samson over to them - when we all know that God has Samson right where he needs to be. Makes me LOL. In all seriousness though, let's not forget that in going about these things the way Samson did, even though God put him where He needed him to be, it left the door wide open for those who do not worship the one true God to be led astray to worship false gods. How easy it was for them to believe that their god had brought victory to them.
Now that I've mentioned the irony - let's talk about this whole 'god' issue. The god they worshiped at this moment in time was called Dagon. Half-man, Half-fish. First of all, the Philistines ate fish. How are you going to eat something that your god is supposed to be half of, surely there had to be a rule about this somewhere. Secondly, Dagon was the god of fertility and crops. So, in essence, food and sex. Isn't it "ironic" how people will worship something that fits in line with their lifestyle. "It's not wrong to indulge in gluttony by filling up so full that no one else has any - Dagon is the god of crops and surely he would want this for me." "Infidelity can't be wrong, Dagon is the god of fertility, I should be able to spread my seed to as many women as possible".
As if that line of thinking isn't enough, Dagon isn't the only god. He is only god over those two things. There are other gods for other things. How would you keep them all straight and who decides which one is more important? I'm going to let you know the truth - there's only one God. These other gods . . . not real. Philistines had it wrong, so does everyone who's not worshiping the one true God. Why would you want to worship five different gods for all the different areas of your life? Isn't it comforting to know that our God is God over everything and all aspects of your life?! He isn't compartmentalized into one section of your life. He doesn't 'fit' into how you want to live - He shows you how to live for Him.
3 comments:
I love how you are breaking the Samson story into smaller easy to digest parts. I never looked at it this close before. I like it. I find it interesting how many false Gods there have been through the ages but only one has stood the test of time. Another great post. I can't wait to see what is next.
Amen Dorothy! There are times I am so guilty of attempting to fit God into my plans rather than follow His plans. Why would I want to serve a god who is the same as me? The god who adapts to our image is not a god at all. Our God is God.
we've all missed it before; missed God's best and then like Samson we realize we are in the "enemy's camp." As you so beautifully show the celebrating of his captors was far too premature.
Yes, they had him right in the place of their gods, but that ended up being key strategy for the demonstrative overthrow.
I'm encouraged when I find myself missing the mark. Right there in the middle of the mess: call out to God, repent and with flow of Holy Spirit I can be strategically in place for overthrow.
Great writing...thank you and know I treasure these insights. Keep them coming.
Kay Martin
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