God's Dominion

Based on 1 Samuel 4-6, Psalm 53

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God."
Psalms 53:1‭-‬2

In these next few chapters, we see just how much the enemies of God's people realized the reality of God & His power over all. When the Philistines took the ark of God in battle against Israel, God destroyed Dagon their god and made the statue bow to the ark! They believed & trembled...and the ark had to make it's way back to Israel...and the Israelites had to get back to believing & recognizing God's dominion just as much as their enemies!

"And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore." 1 Samuel 4:6‭-‬7

Before the Philistines won the battle & took the ark, they trembled at the shout in the Hebrew camp. They already knew God was there. However, the Israelites did have Eli's sons carrying the ark, and being sinful, they may have caused Israel to lose that battle and in turn lose the ark.

"And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain."
1 Samuel 4:11

When Eli heard this news, he was especially distraught over the ark. It pained him so much to know that it was taken. Eli fell over & died after hearing of all this, and his pregnant daughter-in-law was also just as troubled:

"And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child I–chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband." 1 Samuel 4:20‭-‬21

God is serious! God has dominion! Let's not wait until it's too late to realize it. God has abundant life ahead of those that understand He is in control! Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, the Philistines & men of Ashdod realized even more how our God had true dominion:

"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 upon us, and upon Dagon our god."
1 Samuel 5:7

Wherever the ark went, God showed forth His power. Dagon bowed! No person or god could stand against our God! He had dominion! There is so much comfort in knowing we can place it all in His hands!

"And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth–shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the Lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth–shemesh."
1 Samuel 6:12

So, the Philistines sent the ark back, and they did not send anyone to lead the kine back to the Israelites...they walked it there by the leading of The Lord! They stayed on the straight path, not looking right or left...this truly showed God was in control! And that's how we must be...going straight toward God, not getting distracted, and letting Him be in control...cuz either way, whether we submit to His plan or not, God prevails! So let's be on the winning side together with our awesome God!