EVERY KNEE WILL BOW
I Samuel 5:4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.
Israel had taken the Ark of the Covenant into battle, because they hoped that it would help them defeat the Philistine army. I believe that because they trusted in the ark rather than God, God allowed the Philistines to capture the ark and take it back to their land. Once there they took it to Ashdod, and set it in their temple dedicated to their idol Dagon. It was here that their idol fell face down before the Ark of the Covenant. After setting it back up the next day it had fallen over again, but this time the statue of Dagon had its head and hands broken off. After this happened the Lord brought devastation and tumors afflicting the people, so they then took the ark to Gath, Ekron, Gaza and Ashkelon where tumors continued to come on the people living in those cities. After the five rulers consulted their priests, it was decided to send the ark back to Israel. When they did, they decided to make a test of it to see if what had happened was really from God.
They put the ark on a new cart, with two cows that had never been yoked together and had caved. Then they let the cows loose to see if they would take the ark back to Israel on they own. Well, although they had made the test hard the cows went straight to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh in Israel. There seventy Hebrews look inside the ark and God killed them. After that the ark was given to Abinadab’s to be kept.
The Lord is Almighty God and there is none like him. For all who rebel from him or attempt to fight against him, they will surely pay the price! God will not be trifled with. God will respect a person’s free will to rebel from him, but that doesn’t mean that there will not be consequences. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The Philistines certainly found this out, and so did the Egyptians. And just as they saw with their idol of Dagon following down before the ark, the kings and people of the Philistines did the same as God’s judgment broke them.
Romans 14:10b says, “ For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. As it is written: ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So each of us will give an account of himself to God.” We see this in Revelation 20:11-14 where there will be a Great White Throne Judgment for all people. It will be there that everyone will fall before Jesus and come under his judgment. It will be there that all creation including Satan and all the fallen angels will acknowledge what it says in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” For those who reject Jesus and mock his name they will spend eternity in hell, where Jesus said there will great weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matt 13:42)
Hebrews 10:29-30 tells us, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’” It is strange that people would put more importance in things like the Super Bowl than preparing to stand before God on Judgment Day, but the sad fact is they do and don’t think a thing about it. The thing is everyone will some day, and everyone will fall before Jesus. They will fall before him because they love him or fear him, but we will all fall before him. What so many people can’t comprehend his the reality and terror for all who reject him. As broken as the idol of Dagon was before the Ark of the Covenant, so much more will they be.
While this devotional is very bad news to those who continue to set up their own idols in their life, it is even better news for those who love Jesus. Our judgment will not be for our sins, because Jesus will have atoned for them. Our time before Jesus will one of happiness, love, reconciliation and blessing as Jesus receives us as his long awaited beautiful Bride! Oh, happy day, Oh happy day it will be for all who love and trust in Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we rejoice that you are Lord of lords and King of kings. It brings us great joy knowing that everything has been put under your feet and you are God. How we long to be with you soon and forever more. We are sorry that everyone doesn’t trust and love you, but we do! We praise your Holy Name!
