where is the chink in your armor?
Now that Samson was apparently powerless, the Philistines throw a big party complete with wine, revelry, and entertainment. It must have been quite a spectacle with several thousand people attending. Turns out the entire event was a religious celebration giving credit to the seductive victory as a divine salvation provided by a pagan god named Dagon.
Dagon is a West Semitic god of crop fertility, worshiped extensively throughout the ancient Middle East. Dagan was the Hebrew and Ugaritic common noun for “grain,” and the god Dagan was the legendary inventor of the plow. His cult is attested as early as about 2500 BC, and, according to texts found at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), he was the father of the god Baal. Dagan had an important temple at Ras Shamra, and in Palestine, where he was particularly known as a god of the Philistines, he had several sanctuaries, including those at Beth-dagon in Asher (Joshua 19:27), Gaza (Judges 16:23), and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:2–7).(*) Its believed that Dagon worship included human sacrifice, torture, and humiliation.
After enjoying a great feast with lots of wine they decided to partake in one of their spectator sports by having most infamous enemy provide public entertainment. Were not given great detail to all the ways they would engage him but its not hard to imagine such things as mocking, spitting, hitting, plucking his beard, and any other form of regional debasement. Not realizing his strength had returned they put him in between the two main support beams for this arena.
- How much do you accept the sovereignty of God in your life?
- Do you truly believe that the Lord our God is omnipresent and omniscient?
(*) https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dagan
Dagon is a West Semitic god of crop fertility, worshiped extensively throughout the ancient Middle East. Dagan was the Hebrew and Ugaritic common noun for “grain,” and the god Dagan was the legendary inventor of the plow. His cult is attested as early as about 2500 BC, and, according to texts found at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), he was the father of the god Baal. Dagan had an important temple at Ras Shamra, and in Palestine, where he was particularly known as a god of the Philistines, he had several sanctuaries, including those at Beth-dagon in Asher (Joshua 19:27), Gaza (Judges 16:23), and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:2–7).(*) Its believed that Dagon worship included human sacrifice, torture, and humiliation.
After enjoying a great feast with lots of wine they decided to partake in one of their spectator sports by having most infamous enemy provide public entertainment. Were not given great detail to all the ways they would engage him but its not hard to imagine such things as mocking, spitting, hitting, plucking his beard, and any other form of regional debasement. Not realizing his strength had returned they put him in between the two main support beams for this arena.
- How much do you accept the sovereignty of God in your life?
- Do you truly believe that the Lord our God is omnipresent and omniscient?
(*) https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dagan
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