The Ark of God Brings Misery and Plague On the Philistines Who Disrespect It (1 Samuel 5:6-12).
What happened in the house of Dagon was not the only thing that was to trouble the Philistines. Soon a dreadful plague was sweeping through Ashdod, and the result was that the people of Ashdod pleaded that the Ark be removed from Ashdod. The situation was seen as serious enough to bring together the five Tyrants of the Philistines, and they decided to remove it to Gath, where it was paraded through the streets in celebration. They still had not learned their lesson that it was not wise to claim victory over YHWH. The result was that a great plague also swept through Gath.
Then they sent the Ark to Ekron. This was not a centre of Dagon worship, but was famed for the worship of Baal-zebub. Perhaps then there would be no problem there. But the people of Ekron wanted none of the Ark and protested. Their fears proved only too right for soon the plague was sweeping through Ekron with the result that they pleaded with their Tyrants to return it to Israel. The Ark of the God of Israel was clearly not happy in Philistia.
It is possibly significant that when the Ark was returned to Israel it was accompanied by an offering of five golden tumours (or plague boils) and five golden rodents. This might be seen as suggesting that the plague was in fact caused by flea infected rats. Whether they were actually in the Ark in the first place (there was no plague in the Israelite army, and although they would not of course have looked into the Ark, it is difficult to think that the plague ridden rats would not have got out and infected others had they been there), or whether they entered it while it was on its way to the house of Dagon (the Ark might well have been set down in the fields after it had been opened by curious soldiers while the Philistine army rested) we do not know, but the rats must have rapidly multiplied and spread their fleas among the local population of rats in order to bring about these dreadful effects. We must remember that these events did not all take place in a few days. The Ark was among the Philistines for seven months (1 Samuel 6:1).
Analysis.
a But the hand of YHWH was heavy on those of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumours, even Ashdod and its borders. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore on us, and on Dagon our god” (1 Samuel 5:6-7).
b They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath.” And they carried the ark of the God of Israel there. And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of YHWH was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and tumours/boils brake out on them (1 Samuel 5:8-9).
c So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came about that, as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people (1 Samuel 5:10).
b They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people.” For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there (1 Samuel 5:11).
a And the men who did not die were smitten with the tumours/boils, and the cry of the city went up to heaven (1 Samuel 5:12).
Note that in ‘a' tumours smote men throughout Ashdod so that they cried for the Ark to be removed, and in the parallel tumours/boils smote men in Ekron so that they too cried, this time to Heaven, for its removal. In ‘b' they called together the Tyrants of the Philistines to deal with the matter, and meanwhile the city suffered great discomfiture and in the parallel they did the same, and the same thing occurred. Centrally in ‘c' the people of Ekron declared their recognition of the power of the God of Israel to slay them.
‘ But the hand of YHWH was heavy on those of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumours/boils, even Ashdod and its borders.'
Now not only Dagon but the whole people were made aware that YHWH was among them, for many died, and many others were smitten with tumours/boils, and the effects of the plague reached out to its very borders. The hand of YHWH was heavy upon them. This idea of YHWH's hand being heavy upon the Philistines is continually stressed. See 4:8 (prophetically by the Philistines who thought it limited to the battlefield); 1 Samuel 5:6-7; 1Sa 5:9; 1 Samuel 5:11; 1 Samuel 6:3; 1 Samuel 6:5; 1 Samuel 6:9; 1 Samuel 7:13. Compare also Exodus 9:3; Deuteronomy 2:15; Judges 2:15. YHWH was intervening personally in the situation.
‘And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore on us, and on Dagon our god.”
The result of this was that they determined to get rid of ‘the Ark of the God of Israel'. They recognised what He was doing both to them and their god. It is a sign of the blindness and darkness of men's hearts that instead of this making them realise how useless it was to trust in Dagon and how wise they would be to trust in the God of Israel, they instead sought to expel Him from their country. They did not seek to propitiate Him. They did not want a God Who would actually do things. They were no doubt aware of the demands that the God of Israel made on His people. After all a good number of Israelites were their vassals.
‘They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath.” And they carried the ark of the God of Israel there.'
So their leaders called on the Tyrants of the Philistines to determine what should be done. This was a matter that had to be decided at the highest level. After all the Ark was there at the direct command of the five Tyrants and it represented their great victory. The Tyrants consulted together and determined that the Ark should be sent to Gath. Perhaps they considered that the gods of Gath would put up a better show. So they carried the Ark of Israel there.
‘ And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of YHWH was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and tumours/boils brake out on them.'
They still prided themselves on having captured the Ark so it was paraded through the streets in a victory celebration, but the only result was that YHWH smote the men of the city ‘both small and great' so that none was exempt. Many died, and others were smitten with tumours or plague boils.
‘So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came about that, as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.'
This time the decision was made more quickly and the Ark was transferred to Ekron, whose main god was Baal-zebub who had somewhat of a reputation (2 Kings 1:2). Perhaps the God of Israel would find it more difficult to cope with Baal-zebub. The people of Ekron, however, were not convinced, and protested at the idea of the Ark coming to Ekron. Their leaders cried out that the Ark of the God of Israel had been sent among them to slay them and their people. However the decision of the five Tyrants had been made and the Ark duly arrived in Ekron.
‘They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay not me, and my people.” For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.
And there again there was a great plague, and many died, and many others were covered in tumours/plague boils, and the plague was even more deadly than in Ashdod and Gath. ‘The hand of God was very heavy there.' And they petitioned the five Tyrants to remove the Ark from among them and send it back to Israel so that no more may die. For their hope was that once He was back in His own place the God of Israel would cease to demonstrate His anger.
“That it slay not me, and my people.” The words are put into the mouth of a spokesman (or the Philistine Tyrant) for effect.
‘ And the men who did not die were smitten with the tumours/boils, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.'
Meanwhile large numbers died, and even those who did not die were smitten with tumours/plague boils, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. This may simply be a general vague description indicating that their own gods had proved useless, or it may be intended to indicate that they prayed to the God of Heaven for mercy (compare Exodus 2:23).
There were a number of important lessons to be learned from these experiences. To the Israelites it had been made clear that while they were living in disobedience it was no use trying to manipulate YHWH by ritual methods. His protection depended on their true worship. To the Philistines and later to the Israelites it was being made clear that in spite of the Philistine victory it was still YHWH Who ruled over the affairs of men, and that it was dangerous to seek to trifle with what was His. Was His throne offered as a trophy to Dagon? Dagon would fall before it in obeisance and suffer utter defeat. Would the Philistine cities parade His throne among the people so that they could deride the God of Israel? Then the God of Israel would smite them with the plague. For while Israel may have been defeated, YHWH had not. He was merely biding His time.