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The Philistines took away the ark
from Ebenezer, where the battle was fought, and carried it to Ashdod, and
put it in the temple of their idol Dagon. The Philistines thought
that the ark was an idol like Dagon; but God soon showed them that it was
very different. When the
Philistines came into the temple on the morrow morning, they saw Dagon
fallen down before the ark; and they took him, and put him up again.
But the next day, they found Dagon fallen down again, and his hands and
his head broken to pieces. Who had done this? God did it, to
show the Philistines how powerful He was, and that their idol god could
not stand before His holy ark. God punished the people too of Ashdod
with a dreadful plague; and they were very much frightened, and said, the
ark should not stay with them any longer, because it hurt them and their
god Dagon. Many people say
in their hearts, "We do not want God: we do not like to pray,
and to think of Him, and to serve Him; we like our pleasures best, we like
the world best." These people are like the Philistines, who
sent away the holy ark, because they liked to serve Dagon better than the
true God. Where did the ark
go? The Philistines sent it to Gath; but there God punished the
people with the plague, and then they sent the ark to Ekron. When
the people of Ekron saw it coming, they were frightened, and cried,
"Take the ark away; we fear a plague will come with it; send it back
to its own country." The ark was seven months in the
Philistines' country, and many people died of the plague which God sent. At
last, the Philistines said, they would send the ark home: for they
saw that the God of Israel was stronger than they, and they could not
resist His power. So they made a new cart, and put the ark into it;
two kine drew the cart. They took the right road to go to the land
of Israel: they did not stand still; they went straight on, without
turning to right or left.
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