God Is In Control

God Is Still In Control

11/23/16

I have heard this phrase used all my life and it is one of both comfort and security that should bring the truth to our lives in all circumstances.  But the question remains of do we actually believe this statement and the consequences that it brings?  From the passages in the Bible to present day scenery it is hard for me to believe that humans rely on this phrase as they should and not how we want it to be.  Yes, God is in control of everything and everything is done according to His approval, but what if we would make things a tad bit easier for God?  We can do this by first understanding His Word and then applying it to our lives on a daily basis and not just an occasional hindsight.

I cannot question the fact that my life has been under the influence of God and that He has had His hand on my life since the days before my conception.  I am still mind boggled about why He has allowed me to escape many dangers over my lifetime but I do know that I am sure thankful to be alive and to be listening to His voice so that others may have the opportunity to know God as well.  As I sit back and ponder some of the things that I did when I was younger, and then compile them with the genetic markers of my physical body and I cannot help but think that I am a lucky boy to still be breathing.

I am not saying that I did some really stupid acts when I was younger but some of the ideas, thoughts, and actions that I could have acted upon could have riled me enough to have taken a totally different route.  As I also look back and see what God has done in my life I cannot help to know that His hand was on my life for specific reasons and due to the heart that was created in me, I now have the opportunity to share God’s love, trust, truth and mercy to others.  But I cannot help but wonder how much protection I would have needed if I had always walked the straight and narrow and skipped out on many of those ridiculous shenanigans that I tried to pull off and those that I completed.  I guess all of us in the western world can say that we did some stupid things in our past, but have ever given thought to how many times God has saved us from our own destruction and what if we had not fulfilled those wild aspects and made our compilation a little bit thinner?

Yes, God is ultimately in control of what occurs in our lives and through His gift of choice we keep the “guardian” angels busy watching out over our actions.  It has been said numerous times that the Bishops love to dance where angels fear to tread and it is through this statement that I am grateful that God is in control; I can just imagine God sitting on His throne giving a face palm to Himself and wondering how much longer He must protect me.  To God be the glory and thank you, Jesus, for your ever-loving kindness and protection over my life and the lives of my family.  It would seem like a person who has been born and raised in church would understand a few concepts that could protect him/ her/ them simply by not participating in some worldly activities.  But what happens when these born and raised people chose to either skip or ignore certain principles that God’s Word directly addresses what then?  It is through these times that when we try to use God for our own glory He allows certain issues to continue but as we shall see in this article God is still God and He shall always act like it accordingly.

We have a wonderful example of this type of “God control” in 1 Samuel Chapter 5 which demonstrates what occurs when humans try to place God into His box and then believe that once there He is contained thereafter.  This is the 2^nd part of the 1 Samuel series that God laid in my heart and it is so relevant to today’s society and how the Church believes concerning God.  As we have just learned in 1 Samuel Chapter 4, Israel had gone to battle with their enemy the Philistines and had lost the first skirmish and lost thousands of men.  Then, the Israeli army brings in the Ark of the Covenant and proceeds to continue the battle with the Philistines but this time they lose 30,000 men, lose the Ark to the Philistines, and in the midst of the battle and its aftermath fulfill a prophecy concerning the High Priest and his house.

There is no question that the defeat of Israel in this battle was utterly devastating and that their hopes and hearts must have been questioning God and the presence of the Ark when it did not do what they believed it should.  It is a common human trait to doubt and question their foundations – and in some cases violently react against them – when things do not go as they are planned, but in truth when things do not go our way we should stop and think about why those things did not go according to our plans and then ensure we do not make the same mistakes again in the future.  In this case, it is obvious that Israel’s heart was not centered on God and having Him the #1 subject in and of their lives.  Just by the way they handled the Ark is enough proof to justify why they lost.

Now, we come to the results of that battle and what occurred after the Israelites and Philistines went back to their respective places of inhabitants.  What I find most disturbing about this passage of Scripture is that I see a number of parallels of what are ongoing in our world today concerning God and how we treat His presence in our lives and what He will do if we do not change our hearts towards Him.  1 Samuel 5:1-2 says a lot about the Philistines and how the world works and treats God.  It states: And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it unto the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.”

These two verses tell a huge story that will be written about in a future article but it the spirit and conjecture that the Philistines portray here that grips their land for the next foreseeable time period and one that should awaken our hearts because the same setting has already begun in our world and nation today.  Israel used God to try and obtain an advantage over an enemy in the manner in which they deemed necessary.  They looked at God’s presence as being with them but did not place Him first in their lives and how they treated God in this setting is quite clear.  As the Israelites brought the Ark into battle the Philistines talked about its presence, God and His powers, His works in the past and what might become of them, yet while quoting Israel’s past missed a huge element about the One that they were referring. 

Now, the Philistines captured the Ark and took it back with them and it is a common reaction of a victorious side to claim coup, jump up and down, call the opponents names, etc.  We have witnessed this type of celebration after high-profile sporting events, elections, new foundings of corporations, battles, and wars during our lifetime and since we are talking about humans in these two verses we can assume the same emotions would be displayed as well.  The Philistines take the captured Ark to their capital city and then immediately place it in the same room as their god Dagon.  The god of the Philistines had its own room of worship, its own setting and it was this room that served as its permanent placement.  It was considered to be a sacred place and one that was treated with the utmost of respect, a centerpiece of worship if you wish.

The Philistines in their triumphant glory take the Ark of the Covenant and not only set it in the same room as their Dagon but also set it right next to it.  Here we have a beautiful example of a bad idea that humans make on a routine basis simply because just a few short hours earlier when the battle was raging the leaders of the Philistines made a remarkable case against fighting the Israelites through an example of their history.  The only problem is that from the time they made that statement and at that moment when they set the Ark down next to Dagon they forgot a very important detail about the Israelites time in the desert. Painfully, it is also a detail that this nation, the Church, and all other modern societies have made as well and if we do not change this setting quickly, our entire setting shall change according to God’s authority.

1 Samuel Chapter 5:3-6 has some very important detailed information about the certain detail that the Philistines overlooked, did not believe, or even care about and what we are currently doing today.  This passage states: “And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again.  And when they arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.  But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.”

God allowed the Philistines to set the Ark inside the same room as their god Dagon for it was the choice of the Philistines to do this act.  But the detail that they forgot and we can honestly say that they either forgot or ignored this detail because of the words they used during the battle a few hours before.  The leaders quoted from the Israelites history of when they were being delivered from Egypt and how God saw them through this time of wandering in the desert.  The leaders quoted this detail and probably had it in their heads about this detail but did not really believe in it because when they placed the Ark next to Dagon, they blatantly disobeyed the detail.  What is this detail?  Can you guess?

We all know the story about the Israelites wandering in the desert and we all know that God called Moses up to the mountain and gave him the Ten Commandments.  The detail that the Philistines ignored was the very first commandment that God gave and it is proof that those commandments were not just for the Israelites to obey but a stern and holy warning to anyone else who decided that their ways were above God’s.  In Exodus Chapter 20:1-3 the detail is given when God states : “And God spake these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

We have a tendency to believe that those words from God were directed only towards the Israelites and that they should have no meaning to our lives today.  Clearly, the Philistines knew about those words but had the exact same incorrect belief about those words as we do.  It is also proof that God meant those words to every nation back then and today for we cannot forget that once God sets into motion anything, He cannot change that motion because He is the defining source of the word complete.  1 Samuel 5 states that after the Philistines placed the Ark – God’ dwelling place – in the same room as Dagon and more specifically right next to him.  God did not strike the people who did this down, He allowed it for He had a point to make.

The point that God was going to make was His fulfillment of the consequences of Exodus 20: 3 if one did not believe what He said in that passage and that is exactly what God did during the night while everyone celebrated, rejoiced, slept after their grand victory.  The passage in 1 Samuel 5 states that when the people came in the next morning into the room where Dagon resided that this statue had fallen over face first and laid completely broken.  It states that his head was off and that the palms of his hands were off and that only a stump remained.  The people stood up the statue of Dagon and left it there as is and then they must have taken a hard look at their handy work that now lay wasted and in ruins.  There must have been some type of security detail assigned to that room for God’s Word says that no one had entered the room during the night and that the scene was not noticed until the next morning.  Kind of reminds me of another setting in the New Testament when Jesus walked out of the tomb and proved that there are no other gods before Him as well.

We have recently learned that God has no equals nor does He have a rival for He has never lost.  He proved this status to the Philistines when they placed the Ark of the Living God next to a god who cannot hear or see even though it had a head and a body with physical features.  Interestingly, when the account was given concerning the condition of Dagon, there was no mention of any damage to the Ark as to say that no damage was present at all, which means that the battle that took place between God and Dagon was over before it even began.  God proved the intimate detail that Philistines forgot about that there was no god before Him and that whoever places any god above God that they shall be rendered useless and defeated completely.

God literally made the statue of Dagon worthless and rendered his presence and meaning useless to that culture.  It should have been apparent to the Philistines that their god was not a god but an idol that had no life what-so-ever and therefore had no authority over their lives.  But the Philistines did the next thing that the majority of humans do and that is to hide the truth from everyone else and carry on with life even though the truth shall follow their next steps.  The Philistines could have ended things here and separated themselves from the Ark or better yet, repent of their sins and accept God as their one true God and live according to His Word that they evidently already knew about.  Once again, this setting is eerily familiar to our lives today.

The truth about this passage is that the Philistines believed that they had captured God and the authority that He had with the defeat of Israel.  What they failed to recognize is that they may have captured the dwelling place of God but in no way did they capture god Himself.  God continued to manifest His supreme authority over all the world even when many believed He was “in captivity”.  What I find hilariously sad is that the Philistines even voluntarily and through their own triumphant status carried God to their own god’s house and God defeated it with no problems at all.  Even when Israel was defeated in battle by their enemy, the victors could not capture God.

Oh, how we are continuing to play out this passage in 1 Samuel Chapter 5 today.  As the Philistines carried God into their palace to gloat their victory, so does the Church today when we personally bring the world’s gods into our heart and place them next to God in the Temple He built for Himself.  We allow ourselves to be consumed with the world and place its gods in the center of our hearts and then believe we can sit God next to them and thumb our noses at Exodus 20:3.  As God tumbled Dagon to the ground, so shall He complete this exercise inside us as well and that is a guarantee.  The only difference is that while the Philistines had no inkling to take away Dagon, we do have the opportunity still to allow God to push over and to destroy our gods before He must do it on His own terms first.  The difference being that when God does it on His own He will do it without us being involved, and if we give Him permission to do such cleaning then we will be involved and shall understand exactly what needs to be cleaned and He will take care of the restoration process at the same time.  This is a HUGE difference in the manner that God completes assignments, but no matter what condition He must operate, He shall complete his mission.

The Ark of the Covenant was created by God as a way to inform those around it that the inhabitant was the true Way and Light of the world and not some caged creature that was always subject to the creations.  God is not a denominational icon that needs to be displayed to the public so that they can declare that person, group, or nation as godly or as Christian.  The Ark of the Covenant which represents God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit should dwell inside your heart and be the beat that keeps your eternal communication with the origin of that heartbeat intact.  Instead, Israel decided to forego God’s plan and went with their own way and placed God into that Ark literally and therefore lost all connection with God.

If one believes that this loss on the battlefield is not devastating enough, wait until God shows us the next part of this story because it too has a direct lineage to our lives today.  God wants our hearts and the only way that He can show us true life and hope is if we turn our lives over to Him completely.  He Word guarantees that He shall be with us during all trials and tribulations but unless we place Him first in our hearts He will be there but not act because of how we view His presence in our lives.  God loves you Church!! And He wants nothing less than your health and prosperity in order so that you can do what His Son commanded us to do.

It is vitally important that we remember that when we believe that we have God under control or placed in the back corner of our heart that He is still in control of every bit of detail that you shall face.  God has been so faithful and just to have allowed a few warning shots to cross our bow, but there will come one day that God shall be an observer to our calamities if we do not turn our hearts back to Him.

DLB