God’s Heavy Hand

God is a God of justice. While His patience is very long, He will recompense judgment upon those who sin against Him (Deut. 7:23; Joel 2:13). He often uses third-party means to judge His own people after careful and prolonged warning (Jer. 7:25; 25:9; 26:5; 46:27, 28). This was true of his judgment on the house of Eli (1 Sam. 4; Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6, 9). The Philistines were His agents to judge His sinful priests. Having done so, He turned His wrath on the Philistines, first defeating Dagon in his own temple at Ashdod (1 Sam. 5:1-5). Then, His hand (signifying His acts of might and power) was heavy against the people—“He terrified [destroyed (KJV); ravaged (NASB); brought devastation on (NIV); Micah 6:13] and afflicted them with tumors” (v. 6). The exact affliction here called tumors is probably lymph abscesses of the groin or possibly a hemorrhoid-like abscess. The fact that it seems to be associated with a plague of mice (6:4, 5) also suggests that it may have been the bubonic plague common in the coastal region.

There were five city-states that composed the confederation of the Philistines in the south of Canaan on the coast of the Mediterranean: Ashdod, Gath, Ekron, Ashkelon, and Gaza. The Ashdodites complained to the five Lords of the Philistines assembled to evaluate the situation (v. 8). It was decided that the ark should be moved to Gath, a move which met with the same results, causing a very great panic. When the Lord afflicted the people of Gath, they sent the ark to Ekron but were met with loud protests (v. 10). Another meeting of the five serens or lords was called to answer the protest of the people of Ekron. Nevertheless, a deadly destruction spread throughout the city (v. 11; the ESV has “deathly panic”) killing many men and afflicting the rest to suffer from the horrible tumors (v. 12).

Seven months the ark remained in Philistia and the question persisted: “What shall we do to the ark of the Lord?” (6:1, 2). Everyone agreed it must be returned to Israel, but how was that task to be accomplished without inflicting further damage on Philistia? The priests of Dagon and the diviners were called to advise. This revelation emphasizes the level of disobedience that characterized the Philistines. Yet, they had no understanding of either the Creator’s expectations of them or of their failure in those expectations. As we stated before, the Philistines do not abandon their powerless and humiliated Dagon for the true God. They just want to get Him out of their lives. That is the true human condition with respect to God.

Without question, the level of thinking that permeates modern culture reflects the Philistine mindset. Having fallen under the judgment of God, as evident in the ceaseless barrage of bad news, the “lords” of the nation remain clueless as to the condition or the cause of the humiliation. Yet, the cries of men under judgment reach to the skies (v. 12) while they refuse to acknowledge the Lord in all things (Rom. 1:28-32).