Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / October 8, 2026 - 1 Samuel 5 & Proverbs 17: 17-20

Transcript

October 8, 2026 - 1 Samuel 5 & Proverbs 17: 17-20 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tyler Sanborn, Student Ministry Director at Compass Bible Church South Valley.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Thursday, October 8th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Samuel five.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: When the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: But when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashdod to this day.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory, and when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon, our God.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: They answered, Let the Ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: So they brought the Ark of the God of Israel there.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So they sent the Ark of God to Ekron.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: But as soon as the Ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought around to us the Ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: They sent therefore and gathered together 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, that it may not kill us and our people.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: The hand of God was very heavy there.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs seventeen verses seventeen through twenty.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever loves transgression loves strife.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: He who makes his door high seeks destruction.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: As we look to our text in 1 Samuel 5 today, the Philistines must be feeling good.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: They have secured a landslide victory over Israel, and now they have the Ark of the Covenant.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And what they see in the Ark of the Covenant is a new shiny trophy.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And they're taking this trophy back home to a temple, and they're gonna set it next to a mermaid or a merman-like god.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Dagon.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Dagon has is a false god and has a lower half of a fish and an upper half of the likeness of a man.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And they set the Ark of the Covenant next to this false god, Dagon.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see pretty quickly what happens when you disrespect and feel like you have some kind of upper hand or advantage, any kind of pride against the God of Israel.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not sure if the Philistines have quickly forgotten what happened with a certain man named Samson, the thousands of party guests that were in a house that collapsed when God granted Samson's final request and gave him his strength back in order to allow him to literally tear the house down, uh the house that was there to mock the God of Israel and to celebrate a victory, uh the victory over the the Israelite judge Samson.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we see this plan of of celebration and exaltation of this false god Dagon blow up in their faces, and we're gonna see how Dagon falls down the the next morning after the Ark is placed in this temple and place the Ark next to Dagon, Dagon is found face down, fallen over next to the Ark of the Covenant, or before the Ark of the Covenant, as we see in verse three.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe they think it's a coincidence or some kind of prank, who knows, but they reset Dagon, this the statue of this false god, and what happens next.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's you're not you're not listening, Philistines, you're not getting it.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Dagon is inferior, Dagon is prostrate, decapitated, and missing hands as they are chopped off and laying before the Ark of the Covenant, and the people of the Philistines are concerned.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: They are they're frightened by the sight.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the author looking looking back into history would speak about this as some time has passed, and the author of uh 1 Samuel is saying, not even the priests of Dagon who enter the house, they they don't they don't even walk where this false god fell, they don't even get near this event.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe it's some superstition, or maybe they genuinely fear the power of the God of Israel.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of three cities of Ashdod, of Gath, and of Ekron, and the men of these cities are dying.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if they're not dying, they are getting disease or plague spread around.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all because the Ark of the Covenant is present.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: They move, they move the Ark around, seem seeking to uh avoid and uh rid themselves of their troubles, of the death and destruction, the calamity that has fallen upon them for bringing the Ark of the Covenant to their cities as a trophy, as uh as a spoil, and death follows.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Destruction and plagues follow them.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: The hand of the Lord was against the city in Gath, and the hand of the Lord was very heavy in Ekron, and the people are crying out to send away the ark of the God of Israel.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then take a look at that in verse 11, and there's panic, a deathly panic throughout the whole city.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's chaos and there's great fear and terror happening because God is sending a plague, he's sending tumors.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now we have to be thinking about the comparison in this temple, this house of Dagon, where the ark originally lands.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be thinking there's this divine showdown, air quotes divine, because this these false gods aren't actually legitimate, they're not actually gods, because we can look to passages like Exodus 15, 11.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's none like him.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's none that compares to the power, to the might, to the majesty, to the insight and strength of the God of Israel.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's no one that compares, and there's no one beside him.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 89, verses six through eight, we see this question posed.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Who among the heavenly heavenly beings is like the Lord, a God greatly to be feared in the counsel of the holy ones, and awesome above all?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Who are around him?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is no one, nothing, no one, there is no comparison, there is no second place, they're all illegitimate contenders because there is only one God.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: All the gods of the peoples were man-made, crafted into the image of things that the creation would see.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And the God of Israel is the one true God, the eternal, self-existing God, not made by the hands of anyone or anything.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And his power is unimaginable, his insight goes beyond comparison.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: No one is wise like God, no one sees like God, and no one assesses the hearts like the God of Israel.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So this competition really isn't a competition.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: This uh, this foolish act that the Philistines make is leading to chaos, calamity, and and terror as fear is reigning in their hearts.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we turn to our Proverbs section for today, we're zooming in on relationships right out of the gate.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: A brother is born for adversity, and a friend loves at all times.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we we think about biblical friendship, we assess and try to understand how it is that God has made human beings, and it's to have a certain connection and relation uh with the creator and also with with other people, with mankind.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is a gift and a grace from God that we would be able to uh connect and to uh to love one another, and uh a good friend is hard to gumpy.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: A faithful friend uh is a rare occurrence in this world, and a friend loves at all times.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: We think about fair weather friends, friends that are that are here and there when times are good and uh they're gone when the the going gets uh tough.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: When we look to the later chapters in first Samuel, we will see uh a friendship, a brotherhood uh blossom between David and Jonathan, and they become connected and uh they have a God-honoring love for one another, and they both desire to honor and please the Lord, and they they both have a desire to uh to serve and love one another.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Jonathan and David, King David, will be going through much adversity, much much challenge and trouble in their time as friends, and our verse also draws our attention here in 17 to adversity and how a brother is born for that help, for that time of need where things are getting tough.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: A brother is born for adversity.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: We are not meant to live our lives in solitude, we're not meant to live our lives void of the encouragement and help that God provides through friendships, through through siblings, through spiritual siblings in our lives.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: We are uh a relational people uh made in the image of God who relates to his creation, uh speaking with them, directing uh them, walking with them in the garden.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we see a God that is communicating, who's who's leading, who's directing, and uh we as mankind are made in his image, have the ability to communicate and to care and to to direct and advise one another in light of what God has said and what God would direct us to do.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: One who lacks sense gives a pledge.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: We've spoken about this idea of uh co-signing or giving your name as an agreement to pay a debt uh for a neighbor for somebody else.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it it's it's better to, in these cases, to give a loan without interest or uh to give a just a fixed amount than to sign over with your name and say, I'm going to pay whatever debt.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you default on a payment, if anything comes, um I I got you covered.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes these decisions come with outlandish interest rates, and it's just a foolish business practice to be making these kind of pledges, even for someone like your neighbor who we're called to love, who we're called to live in in harmony and unity with uh in this world.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: We we don't do that.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's better to uh it's better to give a a loan or some kind of gift uh in order to help someone out, but uh it's a foolish decision.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: You lack sense when you're signing over and giving a pledge or giving a security on behalf of somebody else.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever loves transgression loves strife.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: He who makes his door high seeks destruction.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh this idea here with the second part of verse 19 is drawing our our minds to those who would build lavish things just for the sake of getting attention, for the sake of uh flexing, if you will, or or posturing a certain lifestyle that's that's lavish and uh and lush.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's uh this person is seeking seeking their end.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't live, uh we don't live for this life, though God has blessed uh a handful of people with incredible riches and incredible wealth in this world.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's a great responsibility and duty that we have to steward it well uh and to use it wisely.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And we we see in the scriptures that we can't love both God and money, for we will uh hate one and and we will love one rather and despise the other.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we need to be a people that that that live a life that is uh honoring to God, whether we are uh rich or poor.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a way to do it right.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's a way to to live a life and work and and build uh build wealth and and build a successful business, uh, but to do it in a way that that seeks attention uh for the fact that you just have the money is not the way to go.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And our final verse today a man of a crooked heart does not discover good, and one with dishonest, a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 20 addresses God's heart towards those who are crooked in heart, those who are dishonest or um bear false witness or liars, and these people they do not discover good and they they reap what they sow, they fall into calamity.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: In Revelation chapter 21.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's a second death that occurs, and those who are cast um into the lake of fire and sulfur, uh, liars are those who are in the mix there, those who are uh who are practicing a falsehood.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: These people are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: So a man of crooked heart does not discover good.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's no good that comes from a heart that is not straight, not pure, not seeking to please the Lord.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: But in this sense, the crooked heart is distorted and stained and lives for itself, for its own pleasures, pleasures and its own desires.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's bent out of shape and not in its right alignment, as God would desire and design uh and instruct us from his word.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's no place in this world for liars, neither, neither in the next, as God of all truth uh is only speaking truth.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if we are to please him, we are to have honest lips and honest tongue and accurately represents uh the God that that speaks and bears all truth.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: There is no there is no darkness, there is no lie found in God, and in his people, he calls us to live lives that are uh full of integrity and honesty.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible sv.org.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.