“They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, ‘Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.’ For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.” (1 Sam. 5:11)
When the Philistines took the ark away from Israel, they must have celebrated it as a tremendous victory. The assumption that their god, Dagon, was stronger than Israel’s lasted until Dagon lost his head (see earlier in the chapter). God smote the Philistines left and right to send them a message – I am not just the God of Israel, I am the God.
Though it is true that God has a special eye for His people (Jews of the Old Testament and today, Christians), that does not make Him exclusive. He is still everyone’s God and He went out of His way to remind Philistia of that important reality.
God is everyone’s God. He sent Jesus to die for the whole world (Jhn. 3:16) and He will judge the whole world by that same Son (Acts 17:31). His love and His law are universal to all and the beauty of His intelligent design is found in nature and science to remind all of us He exists (Rom. 1:20).
“Jesus said to her, ‘…I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (John 20:17)
Matt. 4:4 #Biblebites