sorrow, "Alas!", and "chabod", glory; "Alas, the Glory". No glory while the Presence of

the Lord is removed from Israel.

Israel had been heavily defeated by the Philistines at Aphek, and the Ark of God taken

by this heathen foe. We read something of the punishment meted out on Israel by them

in Psa. 78: 56-64.  Jeremiah also makes reference to this occasion in Jer. 7: 12

and 26: 1-9.  The loss of the Ark of God meant that He no longer dwelt among His

people. The mighty covenant God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had forsaken them. The

Ark was then taken in triumph to Ashdod, one of the five great cities of the Philistines.

Built on a hill close to the Mediterranean Sea, it was known as Azotus in N.T. times. In

Acts 8: Philip, having led the Ethiopian nobleman into the way of salvation, was

caught away by the Spirit of the Lord and found at Azotus (Acts 8: 40).

The Philistines considered the capture of the Ark to be their greatest achievement.

They carried it with care and placed it in the huge temple of their most popular god,

Dagon. They attributed their success in battle to the gods they worshipped, so when they

returned in triumph they placed their trophies before their altars, or hung them upon the

temple walls.  Dagon, and his so-called wife Derceto, were the chief divinities

worshipped by the Philistines. The upper part of this idol Dagon was shaped like a man,

and the lower part like the tail of a dolphin. In addition there was an Assyrian Dagon,

and among the priceless treasures dug from the burning sands of Iraq, the old Assyrian

empire, is a sculptured figure of this idol. It is depicted swimming through the sea in

front of the Assyrian warships; evidently cleaving a way for them and leading them on to

victory. Dagon was the "Baal of the sea, the Neptune of the ancient East". When we

remember that the Philistines were a maritime people, going down to the sea in ships and

invading foreign lands with their fleets, we can well understand how the worship of

Dagon had won the chief place among Philistine idols.

The Ark of Jehovah was accordingly placed at the feet of this venerated image as an

acknowledgement of his superiority over the God of Israel. They would remember the

humiliation this god suffered in the temple at Gaza when Samson called upon the name

of his God, and when superhuman strength came upon him, he dislodged the central

pillars which brought the mighty building crashing down, pulverizing to dust the huge

figure of their god, Dagon. The insulted Dagon could now be avenged by the perpetual

subservience of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The men of Ashdod, however, were about to receive a shock, for on the morrow, when

their priests entered the temple to pay their devotions to Dagon's image, they found their