"So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died."
The Philistines were mighty men with a mighty fear. They heard the children of Israel shouting for the Ark of God had entered the camp. They were unintelligible concerning the things of the God of Israel, but they did know one thing; His fame. They knew that God or whoever Israel's gods were were the ones or One that plagued Egypt. God's fame was spread throughout all of Israel and beyond its borders.
But, despite their knowledge, they continued on with the process of defeating Israel... or they thought they did. The Philistines had the audacity to capture the Ark.
This was a time of sorrow for all of Israel, but little did they know what God was in the midst of doing. To Israel, the glory had departed, but to God, the glory was coming back. Israel lost the battle but God fought the good fight and won the battle behind enemy lines!
The Ark was captured and brought before Dagon, the Philistine god. They placed it there that the God of Israel might be found worshiping the god of the Philistines. This was a very foolish move.
After day one, the Philistines came in their temple to find Dagon face down on the ground before the Ark of God. Do they not know? Worship the LORD all ye gods!
Therefore, they set Dagon back up. After day two, they found Dagon on the ground once more! This time, both palms of his hands and his head were broken before the Ark of God!
Listen folks! The battle is not yours, the battle is the Lord's! He does the job a lot better than we can! Israel failed but the God of Israel sure didn't! Perhaps, He got the job done!
The Ark traveled behind enemy lines and fought Israel's battle. Once again, the Lord is proven victorious!
Ever wonder why we fail sometimes? IT's God's platform to be Victorious and Glorious in our trauma.
Also, Jesus proves to be God manifest in the flesh. According to the Gospel accounts, He entered death, hell, and the grave and conquered all.
Our God is the God that fights our battles behind enemy lines!
