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Tag: Book of 1 Chronicles

Dagon

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in 1 Chronicles, 1 Samuel, Judges, Old Testament Groups, What’s new?.

Who was Dagon in the Bible?

Dagon was the chief deity of the Philistines, and the worship of this pagan god dates back the third millennium BC. According to ancient mythology, Dagon was the father of Baal. He was the fish god (dag in Hebrew means “fish”), and he was represented as a half-man, half-fish creature. This image furthered an evolutionary belief that both men and fish had evolved together from the primal waters. Dagon may also have been the provider of grain. So Dagon was similar to many other idols in that he personified natural forces that had supposedly produced all things.

There are three places where Dagon is mentioned in the Bible. The first mention is Judges 16:23, where we are told that Dagon was the god of the Philistines. The Philistines offered “a great sacrifice” to Dagon, believing that their idol had delivered Samson into their hands. First Chronicles 10:10 mentions a temple of Dagon in which the head of King Saul was fastened. Then, in 1 Samuel 5, Dagon is brought to humiliation by the True God of the Israelites.

What an interesting story is found in 1 Samuel 5! The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, and they “carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of [the city of] Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold. The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, ‘The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god’” (verses 2-7). Who says God does not have a sense of humor? This has to be one of the more funny passages in the entire Bible. For further reading, see 1 Samuel 6 for the account of the Philistines’ attempt to solve their dilemma—with golden rats and golden tumors (or, as some translations put it, “golden hemorrhoids”)!

Dagon figures into the story of Jonah, as well, although the deity is not mentioned by name in Jonah’s book. The Assyrians in Nineveh, to whom Jonah was sent as a missionary, worshiped Dagon and his female counterpart, the fish goddess Nanshe. Jonah, of course, did not go straight to Nineveh but had to be brought there via miraculous means. The transportation God provided for Jonah—a great fish—would have been full of meaning for the Ninevites. When Jonah arrived in their city, he made quite a splash, so to speak. He was a man who had been inside a fish for three days and directly deposited by a fish on dry land. The Ninevites, who worshiped a fish god, were duly impressed; they gave Jonah their attention and repented of their sin.

Sons of Jacob

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Malachi, What’s new?.

Who are the sons of Jacob (Malachi 3:6)?

Malachi 3:6 states, “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end” (NASB). Other translations, such as the New International Version and the New Living Translations, have “descendants of Jacob” instead of “sons of Jacob”; in any case, the reference is to all Israelites. The sons of Jacob are indeed the Israelites, and this verse underscores God’s faithfulness, even amid times of judgment.

The book of Malachi starts with an expression of God’s love, and He reinforces this by contrasting the fate of the “sons of Jacob” with that of Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Notably, the entire book of Obadiah prophesied the downfall of Edom, and during the period of Malachi’s writing, Edom was completely obliterated (Malachi 1:2–5). The Israelites should have faced a similar fate because of their heinous sin, but God preserved a remnant among them, honoring His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. An example is Genesis 28:13–15, in which God assures Jacob

I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

God’s deliberate use of the expression sons of Jacob appears to harken back to the covenant He established with the patriarchs, particularly Jacob. Therefore, His love for Israel and His mercy extend not from their goodness, but from His faithfulness. This devotion is evident in the writings of other prophets, even in the face of outright rebellion. In Jeremiah 33:25–26, God proclaims

This is what the Lord says: “If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”

Just as the natural, unchanging laws govern the cycle of day and night, so does God’s faithfulness endure unchanging. This is encouraging news for both the sons of Jacob and believers who cling to Christ’s offer of redemption. If God remained faithful to the Israelites despite their rebellion, owing to His covenant with their forefathers, how much more steadfast will He be to us, with whom He has entered into a covenant through the sacrifice of His Son? Christ remains our only source of hope, and due to God’s unwavering faithfulness, we find assurance that our hope is not in vain.

Touch not God’s anointed

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in 1 Chronicles, Psalms, What’s new?.

What does the Bible mean when it says not to touch God’s anointed?

The command to touch not God’s anointed is found in two places in Scripture: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15). These passages are sometimes used in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles to defend certain preachers from criticism. Preachers who promote themselves or their ministries as “anointed” warn their would-be critics, “Do not touch God’s anointed!” Of course, this helps to insulate them from scrutiny and allows them to spread falsehood and bad theology unrestrained.

Others take God’s command “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” to mean that Christians are promised protection from all bad things.

Both of the above interpretations of “Do not touch my anointed ones” ignore the context of the passages in question. The “anointed ones” in these passages are not modern-day Pentecostal preachers. And the Bible never promises that God’s prophets, anointed ones, children, or other faithful believers will never suffer harm from evil people. As Jesus explained to the Pharisees, “God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute’” (Luke 11:49).

Here is the context of 1 Chronicles 16:22: David is publicly praising God by giving a condensed review of the miraculous history of Israel. He cites some of the miracles God performed to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (1 Chronicles 16:15–18, referencing Genesis 50:24 and Exodus 2:24). Through these miracles, God created a nation of Abraham’s descendants that would bless the entire world (see Genesis 12:1–3). No one and nothing could prevent God’s promise from being fulfilled, even against all odds.

In the verses leading up to God’s command “Do not touch my anointed ones,” we read this:
“When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings” (1 Chronicles 16:19–21).
This passage refers to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When “they” (the patriarchs) were few in number, they lived as wandering strangers in a strange land (see Hebrews 11:9). Through all their travels and travails, God protected them, increased their number, and prevented the powerful rulers of the lands where they stayed from harming them.

For example, God protected Abraham twice while staying in hostile nations whose kings lusted after his wife. Neither king laid a finger on Abraham or Sarah but instead sent the couple away unharmed and even enriched them (Genesis 12 and 20). The same happened to Isaac (Genesis 26). Jacob arrived in Paddan Aram with nothing, but he left with vast riches (Genesis 31); after all his dealings with his unscrupulous Uncle Laban, Jacob said, “God has not allowed him to harm me” (verse 7).

So the point of 1 Chronicles 16:22 (and Psalm 105:15) is that nothing and no one can derail God’s will; God had a plan for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He refused to let the kings of Canaan and Egypt injure them: “For their sake he rebuked kings: ‘Do not touch my anointed ones’” (1 Chronicles 16:21–22). The patriarchs were His prophets. They were His “anointed ones”; that is, God chose them to accomplish a specific work in the world.

David, who orchestrated the praise of 1 Chronicles 16, applied God’s command not to injure God’s anointed to his own situation. King Saul was trying to kill David at one time, and David and his men were on the run. One night, David’s men came upon Saul and his army while they were sleeping. Abishai rejoiced that they had the advantage over their enemies and suggested they kill Saul then and there. But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless? . . . As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down. . . . But the LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed” (1 Samuel 26:9–11). It is God who takes vengeance, not we (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).

The command from God “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” was for a specific group of people for a specific time: God preserved the patriarchs from physical harm. The prophets of the Old Testament have given way to teachers in the New (see 2 Peter 2:1). No one today can properly quote 1 Chronicles 16:22 to deflect criticism or silence challengers. No apostle in the New Testament ever told anyone “Do not touch God’s anointed” as a means of insulating himself from critique.

The fact is that all believers today are God’s anointed. We are all set apart for the work God is accomplishing in this world (1 John 2:20). “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21–22).

Since all believers are God’s anointed, does this mean that His command “Do not touch my anointed ones” keeps us from all harm? No, believers still suffer the effects of living in a fallen world. But, at the same time, believers know that God is 100 percent in control, and He can easily protect His children. Whatever happens to them is allowed by Him. Satan himself can’t lay a finger on God’s children without God’s explicit permission (see Job 1:12; 2:6). So we trust God in everything. No matter what happens in our lives, we trust that God is in control and will equip, empower, and protect us to complete His plan for us: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV).