I Samuel – 5
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Pain in the Posterior
(I Samuel 5:1-12)
Having handily defeated the Israelites, the Philistines took the spoils of war—the Ark of the Covenant—back to their pagan temple at Ashdod. Dagon, the fish-god of the Philistines, presided in iconic form over the great pagan temple. In order to insult Jehovah, God of Israel, the Philistines laid the Ark of the Covenant to rest at the “fins” of their fishy god (2).
As divine poetic justice would have it, the philistines discovered their fish god had fallen on its face during the night. Strangely, it lay prostrate, face down, before Jehovah’s ark. Not to be deterred from their insult, the Philistines propped up Dagon, once again subjugating the ark to him.
The next morning produced incontrovertible evidence that Jehovah was not pleased with the insult. Dagon—half man/half fish—had been cleaned, with his head neatly severed and the palms of his hands cut off (5). And, as if that weren’t enough, God “smote them with emerods.” Bible scholars debate the nature of “emrods,” with many claiming it was a physical anomaly somewhat like a boil on the skin. A good many of the older Bible scholars identify “emrods” etymologically as “hemorrhoids.” Whatever they were, the “emrods” became a pain (perhaps literally) in the Philistines’ posterior!
Isn’t it interesting that God would humble the military prowess of the Philistines with such a simple malady? Whether boils, tumors, or—most humorously—hemorrhoids, God has a way of abasing the pride of man.
Wisdom never mocks the holy things of God. Those who exalt themselves above God will one day meet with His wrath. Whether in this life or the next, every sin of blasphemy will meet its just punishment.
