Sunday Sermon Series 1st Samuel - March 24, 2023

Hello my friends! Today I have drawings from a sermon I heard back on February 12, 2023 at NW Gospel Church. The title is When God Comes To Town. You can listen to that sermon here. The scripture covered is 1 Samuel 5:1-7:1.

At this point in the story the Isrealites brought the Ark of the Covenant with them to a battle without being told to (by God), and it is captured by the Philistines who bring it back to Ashdod (as a trophy, or prisoner of war) and put it in the temple of Dagan (the father of Baal). The next morning the Philistines find that Dagan had fallen face down. So they took Dagan and propped him back up(verse 3). The next morning Dagan is on the floor again, only this time the head and hands have been broken off, only his trunk was left intact. From this point on the Philistines changed their religion to say that no one may step on the threshold of the temple where their god lost his hands, head and feet to Yaweh. Yaweh alone is God.

The Ashdod were then stricken with a plague of tumors. And they got together with the lords of the Philistines and decided to send the Ark to Gath. But God inflicted the people of Gath with the plague, so they sent it to Ekron, where the people panic. They've been following along, they know what is going to happen to them. So they decide to send the Ark back to Isreal. The Philistines are learning that Yaweh is sovereign. God can and will take care of things Himself. We are living in His world.

So the Philistines send the Ark back, making 5 golden tumors, and 5 golden mice as a guilt offering. They put the Ark and the offerings in a cart yoked to a couple of cows (listen to the sermon to hear Pastor Andrew lowing like a cow) who headed straight the border at Beth Shemesh.

C.S. Lewis: "The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquiial. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock."

No sinner can stand before the Lord, this holy God. We learn about God's judgement in this message, and also about Jesus' provision. Grace, and mercy. This is not the end of the story. There is so much more to this message, that I cannot cover here so be sure to listen to the full sermon.

I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan