Jesus Christ brings down the entity that gives people what to think, feel, say, and do

1 Samuel 5:1-5

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

Part 1…This post.
Part 2…Ark of God and the chest of golden tumors and golden rats.
Part 3….Ark of God and the chest of golden tumors and golden rats.
Part 4….Ark of God and the chest of golden tumors and golden rats.
Part 5….Ark of God and the chest of golden tumors and golden rats.

• Ark of God removed from the rightful place and put into a Godless place.
• Ark of God brought into the house and set beside the false god.
• Ark of God brings down the false God.
• Today’s culture avoids the threshold where Jesus Christ brings down their false god.

Ark of God removed from the Israelites possession and put into a Godless place. “Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.” 1 Samuel 5:1

The Philistines lived outside the will of God and did not value the Ark of God as being anything sacred. They didn’t have a clue about the living God, His spoken word, nor of the Ten Commandments. Now, the Ark of God is in their hands after the Israelites were defeated by them, as described in 1 Samuel 4:5-11.

The Ark of God, which is the Ark of the Covenant, represents God’s presence and is part of the “scarlet cord” that points to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who atones for our sin. The Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the presence of God living in us through Jesus Christ who gives us the Holy Spirit. Inside the Ark was a gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the Ten Commandments, as described in Hebrews 9:4.

The gold jar of manna represents Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life and the manna of the Holy Spirit that we feed on within our soul. Aaron’s staff that budded represents Jesus Christ who budded with the Spirit of God as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit that buds within us to make us the temple of God. The Ten Commandments represents the word of God living in us, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” Hebrews 10:16

Today’s culture has removed the sacredness from God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and holds no respect for our body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. They have removed the presence of God as our Creator to serve the creature human being, “...who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” Romans 1:25

The picture below is something of what the Ark of God looked like, but I couldn’t find a perfect match. The figures on top are supposed to be Cherubim, not birds. They sit on top of the Mercy Seat. The Ark of the Covenant is about 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide and high, without measuring the Mercy Seat and Cherubim. The poles on the sides are how the Ark of the Covenant was carried. Exodus 25:10-22 gives a complete description of the Ark of the Covenant. “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” Exodus 25:21-22

Ark of God brought into the house and set beside the false god. “When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.” 1 Samuel 5:2

The house of Dagon is where the false god was set up that the Philistines served, and they set the Ark of God next to their false god.

The entity that gives people what to think, feel, do, and say is the false god of today’s culture. This entity is doing everything possible to create the image that it is God and is the presence of God within people. In a sense, the Ark of God has been set next to this entity within its house. God has created us to be the house of the Holy Spirit, but the false god of this world has turned the human body into the “house of Dagon”.

The entity giving people what to do, say, and feel wants to give the impression of being the ultimate word to live by, the source of emotional fulfillment, and to be the law of the land. This entity is the one “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Click for a post on the “man of sin”. This entity enables the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they say and do.

Ark of God brings down the false God. “And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.” 1 Samuel 5:3-4

The people of Ashdod quickly discovered that trying to place the Ark of God next to their false god, Dagon, had disastrous results. The statue of Dagon had unexplainably fallen in front of the Ark of God as if bowing down to the living God. The people decided to try again by returning Dagon to its place, and the next morning the result was even worse. The false god had again fallen in front of the Ark of the Covenant, this time with its head and hands broken off and only the torso intact.

When the presence of God lives in us through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, there is no room for the false god that gives people what to think, feel, do, and say. That’s because we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13

We filter our thoughts through Jesus Christ, we filter what we feel through His Spirit, we filter how we behave according to His word, and we filter our words to flow with grace and mercy. We do not allow the false god to conform us to a pattern that is habitually hostile to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. In that sense, the false god of “Dagon” is fallen and made to bow down to God through Jesus Christ.

There is persistence by today’s culture to keep the false god of this world in place within people’s thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors. As we followers of Jesus Christ keep our devotion to God as the temple of the Holy Spirit, the condition of “Dagon” becomes worse. Not only is the false God fallen, but its hands and heads become broken. Its head is broken because we are consistent in not allowing anti-Christian thoughts to influence our behavior nor to become the words we speak. Its hands are broken because we are consistent in not being a willing participant in the behaviors it tries to goad us into doing. The entity with power over physiology does everything it can to give us feelings and thoughts to speak and behave against the will of God.

Only Dagon’s torso was left of it. The entity with power over physiology to feed us thoughts and feelings to influence what we say and do will always be present. In a sense, this is its torso that remains intact although its head and hands are broken. What value does the false god have if the followers of Jesus Christ are not doing and saying according to the thoughts and feelings given to us?

Today’s culture avoids the threshold where Jesus Christ brings down their false god. “Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.” 1 Samuel 5:5

After seeing that the Ark of God brought the fall and destruction of their false god, Dagon, the people of Ashdod avoided walking on the threshold where the Ark of God was. The priests of Dagon and everyone else would step over that part of the doorway when entering the temple of the false god.

Today’s culture avoids walking on the threshold where the presence of God is as they serve the entity giving them what to think, feel, do, and say. This entity makes sure that people are not bringing their belief in God, their faith in Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit with them into their thoughts and feelings. This false god hardens the human spirit and conscience against Jesus Christ to enable the image of the beast to speak and live through people. As today’s culture avoids the presence of God to serve the false god of this world, they are groomed to the mark of then beast by what they say and do.

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11