1 Samuel 5:7, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the time when the word of the Lord was precious and there was no open vision, when sin had shut out God's Holy Spirit from Eli and his sons, while the child Samuel remained true in the midst of evil and was commissioned as a prophet of the Most High with the message of condemnation to the house of Eli. The men of Ashdod and the Philistines recognized their afflictions as the hand and judgment of Israel's God upon them and upon Dagon their god, and concluded that the ark of the God of Israel could not remain among them. That recognition included the understanding that God's hand was severely against them and against Dagon, humbling their idol while afflicting themselves.

God's hand was upon them for taking and keeping His ark, which belonged to Israel. The judgment included a fatal disease attributed to the ark's presence, and destruction followed the ark from place to place. Moving it to Gath did not end the plague, which followed there and then spread to Ekron.

God's presence accompanied the ark to punish the disobedient Philistines with terror and destruction for defying His holy law, so that the ark they had captured in triumph became a burden and a curse to them. Its power as strength, salvation, and glory belonged to God's obedient people and not to the Philistines or to Dagon. The humbling and impotence of Dagon were exposed, with the fallen and mutilated idol showing that the living God is above every heathen god, bringing strength to the obedient but punishment to the wicked.

The Philistines had served as an instrument to punish unfaithful Israel, but they too faced judgment for their own sin. God may allow the wicked to triumph for a time, yet cherished iniquity brings His swift and sure judgment. Dagon's fate made the Philistines afraid to touch the ark or keep it near them, and their priests advised returning it with a costly trespass offering in hope of relief.