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January 2 - 1 Samuel 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is.
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  Tuesday. It is only the 2nd of January.
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  The year is still so fresh. Forget the new car smell.
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  It's still got the new year smell, doesn't it?
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  Well, I hope it does for you as well As for me.
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  Here we are. It's a Tuesday.
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  You are listening to the podcast, which means we are
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  going to continue to read God's Word.
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  And this is a short chapter. It's only 12 verses long, and
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  this is a chapter that reminds us that God is always in
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  control, even when it feels otherwise.
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  Back in the day, back in the ancient Near East, when nations
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  would fight against each other, they didn't believe that it was
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  military prowess that would win them the battles.
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  They believed that it would be the power of their God versus
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  the power of the other God. And whichever God was the most
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  powerful, they would win. And so when the Philistines
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  defeated Israel, they literally thought our God is more powerful
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  than the Hebrew God. And so when they took the Ark of
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  the Covenant, they were thinking, hey, now the Hebrew
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  God is going to have to be subservient to our God.
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  Except friends, you and I know that's not how it works.
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  And so this is God asserting His authority even though he has
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  been, quote UN quote, captured against His will.
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  It is a glorious, glorious story when we see that God's plans
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  often go a little bit further sideways than what we think they
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  will, but always according to His will.
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  So, friends, let us read together First Samuel, Chapter
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  5. After the Philistines captured
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  the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at
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  Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. They carried the Ark of God into
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  the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon.
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  But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning,
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  Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the
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  Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him
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  in his place again. But the next morning the same
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  thing happened. Dagon had fallen face down
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  before the Ark of the Lord again.
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  This time his head and hands were broken off and were lying
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  in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was
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  left intact. That is why, to this day,
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  neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the Temple of
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  Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
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  Then the Lord's heavy hands struck the people of Ashdod and
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  the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.
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  When the people realized what was happening, they cried out.
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  We can't keep the ark of the God of Israel here any longer.
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  He is against us. We will all be destroyed along
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  with Dagon our God. So they called together the
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  rulers of the Philistine towns, and asked what should we do with
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  the Ark of the God of Israel. The rulers disgusted and
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  replied, move it to the town of Gath.
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  So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.
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  But when the ark arrived at Gath, the Lord's heavy hand fell
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  on its men, young and old. He struck them with a plague of
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  tumors, and there was a great panic.
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  So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron.
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  But when the people of Ekron saw it coming, they cried out.
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  They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us
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  too. The people summoned the
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  Philistine rulers again and begged them, Please send the Ark
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  of the God of Israel back to its own country or it will kill us
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  all. For the deadly plague from God
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  had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the
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  town. Those who didn't die were
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  afflicted with tumors, and the cry from the town rose to
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  heaven. Our gracious and mighty God, we
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  worship you today. At the start of this New Year,
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  we place everything at your feet.
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  Anything that we have elevated to the status of God in our own
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  lives. Just like Dagon, we break off
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  its head and its hands and we lay it down before you.
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  You are sovereign. You alone not only rule the
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  galaxies and the future and our world, but our lives as well.
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  And so here we stand, Lord, and we give you our lives.
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  We give you the year ahead and pray that your will be done
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  here. That whatever your plans are for
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  this world, for your Kingdom, that you would lead us to play
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  our part in your story. Because our story fits so snugly
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  on the palm of your hands and your story, so we surrender
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  everything to you. How mighty loving Father and
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  God.