God’s Supremacy Over Idols (1 Samuel 5:1–5)

If you were on the opposite side of a war, with God against the Philistine false god, would God destroy you?

You might ask, “Hold on now. This is Christianity after all.” You know—love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness—all the things that are genuinely good about Christianity. If you are new to Christianity, you might wonder how a God of love can be against you, destroy you, or conquer you.

God is loving precisely because he does not tolerate your sin. A holy God does not tolerate sin, and you and I cling to idols—things that captivate our hearts, things that we exalt over God. An idol is anything that we make more important than God in our lives. If you worship something other than God, God will not tolerate it. God will conquer the idols. He is supreme over the idols, and that is what we shall see in our text.

Consider 1 Samuel 5. Before we examine this passage, let me point out some background details. We are in the middle of three chapters—chapters 4, 5, and 6—where the main character of the story is the ark of God. If you do not remember what the ark of God is, the ark is a wooden box covered with gold. The ark is unique because God’s presence, his power, and his blessing were made known through the ark. This is how God made himself known to his people.

Looking at chapter 5, v. 1 begins: “When the Philistines captured the ark of God.” We need to examine the previous chapter briefly to understand what led to this point.

At the beginning of chapter 4—vv. 1–2—the Israelites suffered a devastating loss to the Philistines in battle, losing thousands of soldiers. In v. 3, rather than consulting God for guidance or repenting of their sin, the Israelites reduced God’s ark to a lucky charm. They superstitiously believed that the ark would give them power to win their battles. They were using God to secure victory.

What happened next? Look at vv. 10–11. The Israelites dragged the ark into their next battle, but God would not be used or manipulated. Unsurprisingly, the ark of God was captured by the Philistines. Israel experienced an even more devastating loss of soldiers, and God brought judgement on the faithless priests.

In our text, we shall examine the first five verses of 1 Samuel 5. We shall see a battle taking place between God and the Philistine god Dagon in the temple of Dagon. We shall spend our time thinking about idols.

An idol, as I mentioned, is anything we exalt over God: success in our jobs, our boss’s recognition, abundant money in the bank, material possessions, our houses, our cars, and many other things. We also elevate people around us into idols—these are just a few of the many idols we create in our lives.

We are all attached to idols—things that captivate us, grab our attention, and distract us from God. There is a daily competition between God and your idols. The question is: who will win? Who will triumph in the end?

Here is our question and our main point for this study: Who is the greatest? We shall discuss God’s supremacy over idols in these five verses.

Look at v. 1: “When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.” Ashdod was one of the five major cities of the Philistines.

Verse 2 states: “Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.” Dagon was a false deity that the Philistines adopted when they settled in the land of Canaan. Placing the ark of God in Dagon’s temple was intended as a sign of Dagon’s superiority and God’s inferiority. It was supposed to represent visually who was victorious in the war.

Verse 3 reveals: “And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD.”

God is fully sufficient. He does not need anyone to fight his battles for him. The Israelites lost repeatedly to the Philistines, but God is not a loser. God will be victorious. The war is not over. The picture here is Dagon bowing before God. God brought down Dagon to show the Philistines who is supreme.

Beware: God will also bring down your own idols. Whatever is competing for your worship of God, God will not tolerate it.

We cling to our idols not just because of the idol itself, but because of what the idol gives us. Perhaps you are a parent and want to look good in the eyes of others. You want perfectly obedient children so that you can have esteem amongst your congregation or neighbours. Perhaps you are an employee and want success at your job for security and self-worth. Maybe you are a student wanting excellent grades because you desire a successful future. Perhaps you are single and want a boyfriend or girlfriend because it provides security, comfort, and self-esteem.

The list continues of different idols, and it is not merely the idols themselves, but what the idols provide us: the desires attached to the idols—comfort, security, control, reputation, self-worth, success, and so forth. When we pursue our idols, we often chase desires in ungodly ways.

What are your idols? Consider for a moment: what things are competing for your affections and worship of God? If you are uncertain, let me suggest some questions you can ask yourself to identify the idols competing with God for your worship. What gives meaning to your life? What would devastate you if it were taken away? What dominates your time and attention?

Children might discuss with their parents what they think your idols are. Your parents have watched you throughout your life and will be able to identify your idols quite readily. They have a clear sense of what you have been wrestling with. It would be an excellent conversation about your idols and your struggles.

God will loosen the tight grip we maintain on our idols. He will do whatever necessary to capture our attention and our worship. Is there something God is doing in your life right now to loosen that grip? Often he strips us of our idols because he wants your exclusive worship, which means you will experience difficult times in this life because God will not tolerate competitors.

Are you fighting him rather than surrendering your idols?

Observe v. 3. What was the Philistines’ immediate reaction to Dagon having fallen? They simply restored him to his place. They put him back up.

We do exactly the same thing, do we not? God knocks down your idol. He allows you to experience difficulties. He strips you of that idol. What do you do? You restore it immediately. You reshelve your idol.

Suppose I am dismissed from my job. I genuinely valued my job because it provided meaning, identity, and self-worth. It supported my family. Losing my job disturbs me considerably. Why? Because I over-identified with my job. I made it into an idol. Often my job defines me more than my Christianity does. My identity as an employee, particularly if I achieved any degree of success, grips my identity, and God will not tolerate that. He will shake it loose.

God disrupts my life in ways I did not anticipate. He loosens the idol so I cannot maintain my grip on it. Consider other idols: children who do not behave as you hope, achievements you hoped to attain but did not, health you desired but could not obtain. The list continues of things you want that you would reshelve, yet God does not tolerate it.

Will you stop being so quick to reshelve your idols? When God shakes it loose, what do we do in our sinfulness? We pursue the idol nonetheless.

Look at v. 4: “But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.”

Like Humpty Dumpty who sat on a wall and had a great fall, with all the king’s horses and men unable to put him together again—our “Humpty Dumpty god” fell down. Rather than merely breaking apart, his hands and head were cut off, leaving only the trunk.

Why is this significant? This was not accidental. This situation mirrors a common practice of war where hands and heads were severed and taken as trophies of war. There should be no doubt among the Philistines about who is superior, who is in charge, who is supreme over this universe. Israel’s God is supreme. The hands and head were deliberately cut off, and they understood exactly what this meant.

This is God’s judgement over Dagon and also over the idolaters—the Philistines who worship that false god.

What about us? Because we reshelve our idols, sometimes God takes more drastic steps, destroying your idols to capture your attention. Suffering is one way he accomplishes this. None of us enjoy suffering, but it is God’s megaphone to gain your attention. God is declaring, “You are not worshipping me alone, so I shall capture your attention. I shall help you understand that I am exclusively your God.”

There is one true God, and he demands—he demands—our worship.

Consider Exodus chapter 20, the beginning of the Ten Commandments: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

We must stop making gods of things that should have no power over us. We must stop worshipping the creation rather than the Creator. If you are clinging to your idols, God demands that you release those idols and worship him alone.

Will you give your exclusive worship to God alone?

You might think, “I cannot surrender my idols. Do you realise how long I have been living this way? How long I have been dependent on these idols? How much of my life revolves around these idols?” It is not easy to surrender those idols.

Here is why you should surrender them: because God is supreme, and he will not tolerate those idols. We reshelve our idols, but God—make no mistake—will conquer them.

Each day, as this story tells us, the Philistines entered early into the temple of Dagon and discovered their false god on the ground—the first day and the second day. But as Christians, we remember Easter morning when the disciples arrived. While Dagon was defeated each day, our saviour was victorious.

When the disciples arrived early Easter morning, they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. They could not find their Lord Jesus’ body. What did they discover? They saw two angels who appeared and said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

We know the Saviour conquered death on our behalf. He conquered sin on our behalf. Because he lives, you are not trapped by that sin of idolatry. You need not abandon hope. You might feel conquered by that idol, but if you are in Christ, he has already defeated it. It is by the power of Christ that you can defeat the idols.

You need not despair. If your life is in a place where you feel it has a grip on you, turn to Christ and declare, “By the power of Christ, I can defeat that idol—not in my own strength, but by the strength he provides.”

Dagon’s hands and head were cut off. His power was defeated. Christ was cut off from the Father, but he rose in power three days later to conquer sin and death.

God’s Spirit continues to work in us as believers to help us daily as we battle idolatry. As those idols compete to capture our attention, we need not surrender or despair, because you are not doing this alone. If you are in Christ, your hope is that through the strength Christ provides, through the conviction of the Spirit, through the power of the word, through the help of God’s people, you can defeat those idols. They need not have victory over your life.

That is the gift of God’s marvellous grace to you. It is not anything we have accomplished, but it all rests on him. It all rests on what God the Father accomplished through the Son on the cross on your behalf. That is how you defeat idolatry. It is not anything within you, but it is all about him.

Hannah’s Prayer early in 1 Samuel is prophetic in how it foretells much of what happens throughout the rest of 1 Samuel. She prophetically predicted that God will bring low the arrogant and the mighty.

Let me conclude by sharing the story of someone you probably know: John Newton. Newton was a profound idolater. He was thoroughly pagan, and his life was radically transformed as he surrendered his idolatry and turned to Christ.

Newton grew up with a Bible-believing mother who faithfully taught him the scriptures. Sadly, at age seven, she died. He had a seafaring father, so at age eleven, his father took him aboard ship, and he began sailing with his father. He worshipped the ground his father walked on, but his father was far too busy for him.

Around age eighteen, he joined the British Royal Navy. On those ships, he befriended several men. One convinced him of atheism, so he completely turned away from God at that point. He was beginning to live for his idols and his idolatry.

He disliked the Navy and grew frustrated with it, often attempting to escape. The captain became exasperated with him. When a slave ship passed by, the captain sold him to that slave ship, and he ended up living in slavery for several years.

In 1748, his father arranged for his rescue. On the ship returning home, they encountered a terrible storm. The ship was overwhelmed with rain as the hold filled with water. The captain and Newton were attempting to empty it of water when Newton exclaimed, “If this will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us.”

He was startled. He had not thought about or spoken of God’s mercy in years. “Mercy,” he said, “what mercy can there be for me?” He wrote, “This was the first desire I had breathed for mercy in many years.”

As the story continues, the storm lifted, they cleared the hold, and that was the first sign of hope. Newton looked back and said, “I thought I saw the hand of God displayed in our favour that night.” That evening began his turn towards Christ.

When they reached shore, he found a church and a Bible, and he began reading that Bible. That marked the beginning of his turn towards Christ.

He became a pastor and wrote many hymns, the most famous being “Amazing Grace”:

Will you turn from your idolatry and trust in this merciful Saviour?

AMEN