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Bible Teaching, Bible Study, Teaching, Verses, Sermons, online, mp3, classesA Bible Teaching Ministry of Galyn Wiemers


Daily Devotions, Evening and Morning Devotional

 

Sunrise on Temple Mount in Jerusalem; Back to Previous Devotion

March 25 - Evening

"After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 

Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 

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. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple
at Ashdod step on the threshold.

The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.  

When the people of Ashdod saw
what was happening, they said,

'The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and
on Dagon our god.'
 

So they called together all the rulers 
of the Philistines and asked them,
“What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”

They answered,
“Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.”

So they moved the ark of the God of Israel."

- First Samuel 5:1-8

Sunset on the Sea of Galilee; Click to go to next devotion  

Dagon Bows, but the Philistines Do Not Submit

   

The Lord's presence went along into the land of the Philistines with the returning victorious Philistine warriors. A detachment of Philistines troops pursued the Israelites to Shiloh where the Tabernacle of Moses was burnt to the ground and Shiloh was sacked and destroyed in a violent conflagration (documented by Jeremiah 7:12 and archaeology.)

The Philistines had five major cities each with a king (Ashdod, Gath, Ekron, Gaza, Ashkelon – Joshua 13:3). The head city was Ashdod about 30 miles southwest of the battle scene at Ebenezer. In a pagan temple to Dagon the Ark of the Covenant was set in front of Dagon's image as a trophy of Dagon’s victory over Israel and as Dagon's share of the plunder.

In the morning when the priests of Dagon opened his temple for services they found Dagon on his face before the Ark of the Lord. The message seems to be clear: Dagon had bowed his head to the Lord, and the Philistines should follow their "god's" lead or they would be defeated by the Lord. The priests of Dagon stood their god back up, and resumed their activities.

But, the next day they found Dagon again fallen prostrate in worship, but this time his image was decapitated and dismembered. Kings and troops conquered by their enemies in the battle field where often decapitated so that their head could be displayed as a trophy (1 Chron. 10:10). Likewise, the hands were also removed as a symbol of the defeated foes being left powerless.

Since Dagon's hands were holy to the Philistines the threshold that he had touched also became holy in the Philistine culture. So, instead of submitting to the Lord of Israel, the Philistines took this symbol of the Lord God Almighty's supreme authority and twisted it to mean that Dagon had chosen to touch the thresholds of the all the doors in Ashdod in order to sanctify them, making the thresholds sacred. (Zephaniah 1:9 condemns those who followed this teaching 400 years later in 625 BC.)

  Christian Quote from Church History
"God was the first ever missionary when in
Genesis 3:8 he went out in search of two sinners who had rebelled against Him in order to bring them back into fellowship with Him."
- Eddy Ho
Something to Ponder??
In 1517, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, came to the Wittenberg area to begin
the sale of indulgences (the removal of sin granted by the Church to individual
believers who purchased the indulgence and were given a paper document
after the purchase). Tetzel’s motto was, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,
the soul from purgatory springs” and taught that repentance was not necessary
since the indulgence itself provided forgiveness. Pope Leo X needed the money
for the building of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.
 
Hebrew and Greek Word Study   Facts and Information

Pater (Gr) – Father (Eng) – pater is a Greek word that means “nourisher,” “protector” and “upholder.” Pater can refer to the closest ancestor or to a distant forefather. Pater is also used to refer to:
- a mature believer in 1 John 2:13
- the originator of a belief system in Romans 4:11-12
- a spiritual leader in 1 Corinthians 4:15 and Acts 7:2
- God in relationship with a believer in John 1:12; Ephesians 2:18 and 4:6

 

Excavation of the city of Shiloh has revealed that it was not a typical residential city, but one that was used as a sacred temenos (or, sacred enclosure). Archaeology shows that Shiloh was destroyed in a fierce fiery conflagration apparently by the hands of the Philistines around the time of the
1 Samuel 4
(Details here, here, here,
and here.)

     
Confession to Action   Facts and Information
Do I merely hear or know God's word, but do not understand it? Do I hear, but do not obey? 
I will listen and apply the truth of God's word to my thoughts, words and deeds today.
  "If you take your neighbor
to court,

    do not betray another’s confidence,
or the one who hears it
may shame you

    and the charge against
you will stand."
- Proverbs 25:9-10
     
Read the Bible in a Year; Bible Reading Program
Read one chapter each day to read through the narrative portion (or, the story line) of the whole Bible Genesis-Acts in one year. Read the General Text of the Bible Read the Complete Text of the Bible in a Year
(morning only) 1 Samuel 1 Joshua 11
 
Prayer for Today
Personal Prayer Church Prayer Item National Prayer Concerns World Prayer Concerns

Medicare

Time of refreshing

Unemployment

Cambodia
 
Photo of Jerusalem; Pictures of Israel Bible Map and Diagram

Robinson's Arch, Jerusalem

A natural tunnel blocked shut with rocks near the entrance into ancient Jerusalem through the water system used by Joab to access the Canaanite city for David in 2 Samuel 5:8 and 1 Chrnoicles 11:4-6.
(See a diagram detailing this blocked natural tunnel here.
See details about the Gihon Springs here.)
(click on image for larger size)

Nehemiah's Wall in Jerusalem 445 BC
  Coins of Herod Archelaus - He was Herod the Great's son who ruled Judea and Herod's kingdom after his death.
(click on image for larger size)
   
Details and Explanation of Sets & Reps Devotional System Here Make a donation to support Generation Word Bible Teaching Ministry
   
 
 
 
Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening.
 

 
 
 
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Generation Word - Bible Teaching Ministry   Generation Word - Bible Teaching Ministry