The Revenge of the Ark

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. The Israelite soldier's eyes darted across to the opposing hilltop. Despite the cover of night, the mere sound was a reminder of the Philistine's sprawling camp, exuberant with confidence. We can't just sit here in the wake of defeat. 00:00:20 Speaker 2: It's madness for us to simply wait. 00:00:22 Speaker 1: For the Philistines to take us out completely. 00:00:25 Speaker 2: And what do you suppose we do? 00:00:27 Speaker 3: Say we bring back the Ark of the covelet year if the Lord is with us in battle. The Philistines were undoubtably fall like grasp before the. 00:00:36 Speaker 1: Sight, but in their fervor they had failed to reflect on the true nature of their defeat. God's presence hadn't left Israel. It was their hearts that had drifted far from the Lord as a fleet of ships lost to the raging seas. As the Philistines neared the Ark, panic ripped through the Israelite ranks like wildfire. The Philistines surrounded the Ark completely. Hoffni and Finnah has turned to flee, but were quickly trampled by the fleeing soldiers. The Ark of God has been captured, and all glory has departed. 00:01:21 Speaker 4: Power cannot be caged, and holiness will not bow to human pride. Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel, i'm l Extein with international fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. The ark of the Covenant cloaked in the mystery of Heaven's power and revered as a dwelling place of the divine presence. But what happens when it falls into the wrong hands, when a people who neither honor its weight nor understand its purpose seek to wield it for their own ends. Today we find a story unlike any other in the Hebrew Bible, a story of power uncontained, justice unexpected, and holiness unyielding. And it begins right here, with a defeated people, a captured arc, and a journey that will change everything. 00:02:18 Speaker 1: The city of Ashdod was a jagged, crudely hewn city tucked under the mountain's edge. The countryside gave way to stone houses and temples jetting out of the earth. The endless movement came from merchants haggling over goods in the marketplace and clanging blacksmiths with smudged brows hunched in their forges, but normalcy had been disrupted. At the arrival of news from the battlefield, citizens of every age chattered about the Philistine's swift victory over the Israelites and the unexpected plunder making its way back. Trumpets blared at the city's edge, thumbs, footsteps beat with pride as soldiers paraded into Ashdod. The Ark of God glistened at the front of the triumphant march. At the mere sight, the people of Ashdod cheered with raised fists. To them, it was a sure sign that their god, Dagon had defeated the God of Israel. The soldiers proudly filed through windy city streets to flaunt their victory. The ark bounced up and down as its bearers irreverently carried it towards the Temple of Dagon. The Philistines laughed at the juxtaposition of Israel's god being carried in this small capsule into the grand house of their own God. The temple doors were thrust open out poured billows of smoke along with the thick aroma of burning incense. The priests murmured prayers were quickly halted at the arrival of the soldiers. They scurried through the room and instructed the soldiers to place the ark before the idol that sat in the center of the room. The idol towered grotesquely looming over the temple. It had been intricately carved to resemble the half man, half fish form of dagon Ah. 00:04:14 Speaker 5: So the Israelite god has come as our captive, a fitting faith for the God of slaves Ah. Place it here as an offering to Dagon. I expect he shall multiply our crops. 00:04:29 Speaker 1: For such an offering. The soldiers dropped the ark with a heavy thud. The priest turned with raised hands to address the party. 00:04:38 Speaker 6: Zakh Arath el Dagon. 00:04:41 Speaker 5: He has delivered the Israelites into our hands and brought us their more sacred treasure. 00:04:48 Speaker 1: The god who. 00:04:49 Speaker 5: Decimated the Egyptians has been ruined under. 00:04:52 Speaker 2: The great power of the Philistines. 00:04:56 Speaker 1: The priest turned back to the monstrous idol and bowed his head low. His was the first voice to begin a rising chant of praise to Dagon. The sound reverberated through the hall of the temple. Their cries of empty worship were carried off into the abyss, but the ark, silent and unyielding, rested in the dark shadows of the idol. At that moment, the people of Dagon were allowed to celebrate, but Jahue would not be mocked, a lesson all Philistines would soon learn. As dawn broke the next morning, the priests entered the temple to begin their rituals. The previous day's events added a buzz of excitement to their preparations. They dressed in oceanic green robes and adorned themselves with scale head dresses. They garnered their tools and entered the temple with anticipation. But a shocking sight awaited them. While it once proudly stood imposing itself over the worshipers of the temple, the statue of Dagon lay face down before its pedestal. The Ark of the Covenant sat precariously above the broken idol. It now seemed that Dagon lay in worship before the Ark. The priests gasped in disbelief and hurried over to the statue of Dagon with frantic movements. This is nothing but coincidence. 00:06:30 Speaker 5: Dagon's strength remains unmatched. The fact that we possess the Israelite's Ark is evidence office. 00:06:37 Speaker 1: His nervous laughter hinted at even his own confusion, which aired on the side of worry. With grunted efforts, they slowly raised the statue upright. As he watched, the head priest blinked rapidly and scratched at his beard as he collected his thoughts. Once the statue stood back in its place, the priest reassured them the others that Dagon's power remained intact. They went on with their usual routines, but the unease lingered unspoken. The following morning, the priests returned to the temple with unease. Though they had done their best to convince themselves that yesterday was only an unfortunate accident, they arrived to have their worst fears confirmed. Just as it had the day before. The statue of Dagon had toppled from its stand, Only now the idol was chipped and scattered in pieces across the floor. The hands of Dagon had snapped off and were thrown in opposite directions. While the head of Dagon rested face down at the threshold of the temple. The head priest knelt on the ground and cut the fractured face in his hands. This this is no mere accident. When other priests entered the temple, the chance to control the narrative was lost. They gasped in horror, no undared speak above a whisper, asking what kind of sorcery lay within the ark that sat ominously in the center of the room. Seeds of fear had been planted the day before, and now they were beginning to sprout like weeds. The head priest rose to his feet slowly. His terror seized him as the truth spilled from his lips. 00:08:28 Speaker 5: The God of Israel is here, and he has humiliated urp God. 00:08:33 Speaker 1: The scene was the first piece of undeniable evidence that the idol of their god was not only powerless before the presence of the God of Israel, but lay at his mercy. The priests had cleaned up the fallen statue of Dagon and quickly ordered a new one to be erected in its place. Yet no one knew what to do with the ark. Every priest dreaded the idea, dear of coming near it, let alone moving it. They had decided by unanimous vote to leave the ark in its place, hoping that the worst was over. But as days passed, news of a strange sickness spreading through the south end of town had made its way throughout the city. Dozens of people had reportedly been afflicted with painful tumors, and their suffering grew by the hour. Within the week, all of Ashtod was stricken by the horrendous plague. They had seen illness spread before, but it was soon realized that this was no ordinary pestilence. The Lord of Ashdod sent messages to the other lords of the Philistines in desperation. Several days later, they gathered with haste as panic festered within each one. The leader of Ashdod solemnly looked around the room. Their faces were pale and drawn. Many had pulled up their tunics over their mouths and noses out of fear of inhaling the disease that beset the city. 00:10:04 Speaker 7: Lords of Felictia, welcome. As you know, we have been plagued by the Israelite god. We must be rid of this blasted arch. Within a month, there will be none left alive. 00:10:18 Speaker 6: Ah, does that god of slaves really have power over Dagon? 00:10:25 Speaker 7: The statue of Dagon has been crushed, Our people have been plagued. There's no other explanation. 00:10:33 Speaker 6: Then why not destroy it? 00:10:35 Speaker 7: And that might even more curses. No, the people of Akron can do it within their borders. 00:10:42 Speaker 2: The kingdom of Eshdad will have none of it. 00:10:46 Speaker 1: The Lord of Akron leered at the Lord of Ashtod before scanning the others. But it was the Lord of Gath who spoke up, the same captain that had claimed the ark in battle. 00:10:57 Speaker 2: The kingdom of Goth shall receive it. All men are made of bronze. 00:11:03 Speaker 7: Do you think your men are stronger than Dagon? 00:11:07 Speaker 2: H Have you seen my son, the Titan of Gas. We have been blessed by Dagon. We will stand where the men of Ashdod have fallen. 00:11:18 Speaker 7: If it were under other circumstances, I'd challenge you to erkadeem battle of honor, But I need that out of my kingdom. 00:11:26 Speaker 2: You take it. The warriors of Gath will take the ark. 00:11:33 Speaker 1: The confidence of Gath's leaders was admirable, but misplaced. As soon as the ark arrived in their city, they were soon struck by the same plague that had befallen Ashdod. The ones proud warriors and ferocious men of Gath were reduced to trembling men. Outcries of suffering poured into the streets like rattles of death. The leaders of Gath met and reasoned with themselves about what to do with the ark. They chose not to give the other cities the same courtesy that had been received from Ashtod. Instead, they were determined to send the ark out of the city immediately, and decided to have it presented to Ekron before the end sun fell beneath the planes. The ark was carried off. As it sat atop a wagon drawn by cowering men, it seemed to taunt them with its mysteries. The ark arrived at the gates of Ekron, but made its way no further into the city. Hundreds of Ekronites had surrounded the entrance and shouted with disdain. The leaders commanded the guards to keep the ark outside the city while they called for a council with the other Philistine lords. Regardless of their attempts to protect the city, Ekron, too felt the wrath of the lord. No city walls or armed guards could stop his hand of judgment. As the plague swept through the people of Akron in their waiting, the lords convened with the same trepidation as before. Each man was even more desperate than before to protect his own city. 00:13:13 Speaker 6: We cannot keep the ark. Both Ashdod and Gath nearly perished because of it, and if it wasn't for me, Akron would have followed suit. We cannot expect any one of our cities to risk taking the thing. We must return it to the Israelites. No one here dared deny that their God's hand is heavy upon us. Unless we want to endure his wrath any longer, we must rid ourselves of his presence. 00:13:46 Speaker 1: One of the priests nodded his head slowly and squinted at the Lord of Akron. 00:13:51 Speaker 5: We see that it is necessary to seek deliverance for the Philistines. Therefore, if you send away the ark back to its people, do not send it empty. The terrors that we have endured are by. 00:14:03 Speaker 8: No means distinct from his judgment. By all means, return it to him. But you must do so with the trespass offering. Do that and you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 00:14:21 Speaker 6: And is this tress as offering that we shall return to him? 00:14:25 Speaker 5: You shall cast five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. But the same plague was on all of you and your lords. Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage this land. 00:14:46 Speaker 1: The lords bowed in acceptance of the advice, but the priests were not finished with their warnings. 00:14:52 Speaker 5: And you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will lighten his hands from you, from your gods, and. 00:15:01 Speaker 8: From the land. 00:15:03 Speaker 1: The morning of the ark's departure was thick with tension. The cows were securely yoked to the cart. They snorted and pulled as their calves were taken away to be penned. Next, the ark was carefully loaded by shaking hands. The Philistine lords watched intently as the cows began to move. They held their breaths as they approached a fork in the road. Should the cattle pull left, they could rest easy, knowing their pains were nothing more than chance. But should they pull right, then there was no doubt their troubles were from the righteous God of Israel. The cows continued lowing as they steered the car towards the border of Israel. Without hesitation. They continued steadfast on a straight path as though they were being guided by an unseen hand. The Philistines followed the cart from a distance with a mixture of fear and or. In the fields surrounding Beth Shemesh, golden grains swayed and rustled in the warm breeze. Sickles were swinging rhythmically as the crop fell to the ground. In the distance, two cows drew near. They groaned as the cart behind them tugged at their shoulders. Some of the harvesters stretched their backs and watched. They saw no drivers guiding the cart, save for five men who trailed the cart at a distance. They waited in confusion before noticing the cargo that followed the cattle. Ecstatic murmur filled the ears of the workers. 00:16:42 Speaker 3: Is that it can't be the Ark of God has returned to his people. 00:16:48 Speaker 1: Some of the men raced towards the cart, as others darted towards Beth Shemesh to alert the leaders there. The cows were released from their harnesses and led to the nearby states. The ark was delicately removed as the burdened cart creaked. They placed the ark on a large nearby stone. The other men returned with some men from the city. They had brought with them incense and burnt offerings, and promptly offered them up to the Lord in thanksgiving and praise. They bowed in reverence as their hearts tinged with joy at the miracle they had beheld. However, a large group of men couldn't contain their elation. As smoke drifted high into the air. They called for the ark to be opened. Some of their hands moved for the seat of mercy that enclosed the ark. They pulled the lid open with hopes of seeing what glory lay within, But to their dismay, the ark burst with a brilliant and blinding light. The men who had been intrigued with the ark's contents were thrown back and hid the stony ground like rag dolls. Those who were spared stepped back and fell to their faces. Just as he had displayed to the Philistines, God was reminding his people that no one could escape his perfect judgment. One of the men lifted his head off the ground and spoke with a quivering voice. 00:18:17 Speaker 3: See here, brothers, who was able to stand before the Lord, send messages to kirryak Jahim, tell them the Philistines, and brought the Ark back to us, and most importantly, as to whom shall we send the Ark away from us, they shall take. 00:18:32 Speaker 2: It with them. 00:18:35 Speaker 1: The Ark was dutifully carried to kirriat Jaharim. It was brought to the house of Abinadab, a reverend man who had devoted himself to caring for the Ark. He consecrated his son Elieza to guard the Ark and did so faithfully for twenty years. For two decades, the ark remained in Kirriat Jaharim, though it was no longer in the Taberna, its presence served as a reminder of God's holiness and power, a testament to his unstoppable will. Losing the Ark had sobered the Israelites to their misguided ways over the years they had wandered from Him. But with the Arc back in Israel, day by day, their hearts were turning back to him. 00:19:29 Speaker 4: Can you believe it? The Ark of the Covenant, the very seed of God's presence among his people, was taken captive. For a moment, it seemed like God's glory had been diminished, that our enemies had triumphed not over Israel, but over God himself. But the story didn't end. There, the Ark itself became a character in this drama, revealing that God needs no human defender. He is more than capable of upholding his name and his holiness un him his own. And this isn't just a story of defeat and triumph. It's a reminder, a reminder that our God cannot be contained, manipulated, or mocked. When the Ark was captured, it wasn't just a military defeat, It was existential For the Israelites. The Ark wasn't just a symbol of God's presence. It was his presence, the place where the invisible God made himself known in this visible world. So when the Philistines carried it away, they weren't just plundering a sacred object. They were, in their minds, dethroning the God of Israel. But the God Israel is not like the gods of the other nations. When the Philistines set the Ark in the temple of Dagon, what happened? Dagon, their God, toppled over. They propped him back up, only for him too all again, this time shattered. His head and hands were severed. It's a striking image, a headless, handless idol, lying prostrate before the arc. But this wasn't just about Dagone. This was a statement about the nature of all of idolatry. We don't worship statues anymore, not in the literal sense, but idolatry it certainly hasn't gone away. In Idol is anything that we place at the center of our lives, hoping that it will give us what only God provides, security, purpose, and meaning. It might be wealth, relationships, or reputation. It might even be religion itself. The rituals and systems that we create to box God in and make him manageable could sometimes turn into an idol. But every idol, like Dagon, eventually falls. It's only a matter of time before our false gods betray us. Wealth disappears, relationships falter, reputations crumble, Even religion, when stripped of its connection to the living God, becomes empty. This story challenges us. What idols have we propped up in our lives hoping that they'll stand firm. What are we relying on to give us what only God can provide. This brings us to another layer of the story. Why did the Lord allow the ark to be captured in the first place? Why did God allow his name to be defamed. Jewish tradition often speaks of hester panin which in Hebrew literally translates to the hidden face of God. It's the idea that at times God might seem to withdraw, to hide his presence, and he allows events to unfold that appear to contradict his will, and we have to ask ourselves when he does that why. It's not because he's absent, but because he's working at a deeper level. He hasn't disappeared, but he knows more than we do. He's hiding himself because he's working at a level that we often can't see until much later. The ARC's capture wasn't a defeat. It was way for God to reveal his power, not just to Israel, but to the Philistines as well, not just to the faith full, but to the faithless as well. It's a truth we see echoed throughout the Bible stories we're studying each day, from Joseph in prison to the exile and Babylon, and it's a truth that calls us to trust that even when the ark is gone, God is always here. There's a moment near the end of this story that I find very interesting and I think that you will too. The Bible tells us that the Israelites of Baitshmish were severely punished because they didn't show proper respect to the Ark when it rested in their city. But what was it that they did that brought us about God's very angry reaction. The Bible doesn't say, But Jewish tradition has a number of suggestions, and I'm going to share one of them with you today. Some of our sages note that when the Arc arrived in bits Shemesh, that's a town in Israel that still exists today, the people working in the fields prostrated themselves as the Arc passed by. And it might seem like this is giving the Arc respect, but the sages say the people kept working. A simple symbolic bowing down was not nearly enough respect for the Ark that contained the tablets that God himself gave to Israel at Mount Sinai and would change history forever. Surely such a momentous occasion deserved taking time off of work to rejoice in the chosen people's great fortune and the holiness of the Ark. And doesn't this lesson kind of apply to us today? My friends? Sometimes doesn't work get the better of us, and we forget about God. Yes, work is very important, especially work that is holy and godly. But just as we cannot place idols above God, we shouldn't forget Him because our busy daily lives either. So what does it mean for us today? It means that we need to take holiness seriously, not as a list of rules, but as a way of life, a way to get closer to God himself. It means we need to examine our lives for idols, those things that we rely on more than God. But most of all, it means embracing the paradox of God's holiness, that He is both near and far, both comforting and challenging, both a consuming fire and a fountain of life. This story is a reminder of who God is, uncontainable, unfathomable, and utterly holy. 00:26:00 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Yile Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot Com app to day. This Prey dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Cayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. 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