Text: 1 Samuel 5:1-12
Memory text:
āHe who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.ā Psalmsā¬ ā2ā¬:ā4ā¬ āNKJVā¬ā¬
āā
Some people paint God as too serious as to laugh. In fact, they consider those who laugh as being unspiritual but take the morosely looking face as a sign of spirituality. What an ignorance!
God is holy and humorous. He is a consuming fire, yet He creates fun out of every threat. Nothing creates laughter out of God as the threats of the enemies. Imagine how you will laugh if a toddler boasts of beating you up! Thatās how God laughs at the raging of His created beings against Him, like in Psalm 2:4, āIn heaven the LORD laughs as He sits on His throne, making fun of the nations.ā (GNT)
Similarly, in our text today, God demonstrated His humorous nature. As a result of the sins of Eli and his sons, God brought judgment upon the whole nation of Israel by giving them up to the Philistines (1 Sam 2:34). Thus, Israel was defeated, the two sons of Eli were killed, and the ark of God was captured and taken to the house of Dagon.
The ark represented Godās dwelling place, and it was highly revered, in view of the holiness of God. However, rather than repenting, the sons of Eli carried the ark to the battlefield as a āgood luck charmā.
Dagon, the god of the Philistines, means the fish god and believed to be the father of Baal. They believed that Dagon was superior and more powerful than Yahweh, the Almighty God (Judg 16:23). They brought the ark to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon to prove that.
Even though God wonāt manifest His power to defend sin, yet He will always defend His glory. He wonāt allow His glory to be mocked or His name to be defiled by the enemy. So, God disproved them and made them laughing stocks. In the morning, Dagon had fallen with his face on the ground, a sign of reverence and submission to the Almighty. Unable to rise up, they carried Dagon to its place again! The next morning, he had fallen again, but now, head and hands broken off, a proof of the superior authority and power of God! And having broken the hand of Dagon, Godās hand punished Ashdod and the surrounding cities with boils, tumors, and hemorrhoids!
Friends, you are Godās dwelling place and the ark of God today (1 Cor 3:16-17). God will do much more for you. Your captors will be made laughing stocks. He will ravage and punish them and all their associates severely. The Almighty will defend His glory and His name in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Prayer points
1. Father, I am called by Your name, please, defend Your glory in my life and make my enemies laughing stocks, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, please, arise in anger to ravage and strike all my troublers and set me free from their captivity, in Jesus’ name.
Todayās declarations
1. I am the ark of God, and the Almighty God will defend His glory and name in my life.
2. I laugh because the threats of my enemies create laughter in God, who sitsĀ inĀ theĀ heavens.
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