Title Root 3, Ashdod/Joshua 11:21-23
"The words of Samuel were preached to all Israel, and Israel went out to fight the Philistines, and encamped by Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. About four thousand men were slain" (1 Samuel 4:1-2).
In the battle between Israel and the Philistines, Israel was defeated with 4,000 casualties. Why did we lose to these strangers? Israel thought of the Ark of the Covenant that parted the Jordan River and destroyed the walls of Jericho. We thought that if we had the ark of the covenant, we would surely be able to win. When the Ark of the Covenant entered Israel's camp, Israel was full of morale, and the Philistines were terrified. But again, what was the result?
“The Philistines struck, and Israel was defeated, and each fled to their tents, and the slaughter was so great that thirty thousand of Israel’s infantry fell” (1 Samuel 4:10).
Thirty thousand people died that day. When Alexander set out to conquer the East, his number was thirty-five thousand. A very large number are dead. Not only the soldiers died, but the ark of the Covenant, which was so precious to Israel, was taken from Israel. The place where the ark was taken was Ebenezer, and the ark was moved to Ashdod, a land that Joshua had not conquered.
“The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. The Philistines brought the ark of God into the hall of Dagon and laid it beside Dagon” (1 Samuel 5:1-2).
This incident terrified Israel. The ark of the LORD's oath was taken, and they did not know what to do. Today we will look at why the battle was recorded as a defeat for the Israelites and an important message to us.
In 5:1, Israel took the Ark of the Covenant from Ebenezer. Ebenezer means 'God has helped us up to this point'. Up to this point, up to now, we have kept the ark of the covenant, and God has kept it. There is no better explanation than this passage that the future is not promised by helping this point, from the past to the present. Yesterday's victory and today's victory do not promise tomorrow's victory is the battle of the life of faith. The battle of Ashdod is the battle where the ark of the covenant of the LORD was taken from the place where God had come from, and the ark of the covenant was taken into the hands of the enemy. Also, the name Ashdod means 'fortress', interestingly. The enemy's fortress is not only not destroyed even with the strongest power of the Israeli army, but rather is humiliated by being captured.
The Ark of the Covenant was stolen from Ebenezer, so it fell into the hands of the enemy and the glory of God fell to the ground. However, it is recorded in chapter 5 that God did not fail this war because he was inferior to Dagon. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was placed in Dagon's temple, and the next day the Philistines found that Dagon's arms and legs were cut off and only his body was lying face down in front of the Ark. Moreover, pestilences and many calamities occurred, and in the end the ark of the covenant of God was sent back. Then it becomes clear that in this battle of Ebenezer, the victory of the battle is not because Dagon is greater than Jehovah, but because the people of Israel, whom the Lord cares for, have a reason why they cannot win.
Did you win yesterday because of the grace that God helped you with? That was yesterday. I hope yesterday's victories are not remembered as playable today. Yesterday's victory was yesterday and today is a new day. As of today, there is only the battle of believers who must fight before God. Don't insist on playing today because you won yesterday. This battle is called the battle of Ebenezer. Don't replace today and tomorrow with what you have helped so far, and what you have helped until yesterday. We must learn the principles for victory today and tomorrow because of the help we received yesterday. The battle of Ebenezer is the story of how I obtained the victory in the life of faith and what I have won today in the past. It is the symbolism of the ark of the covenant of God that appeared in this battle of Ebenezer today. The life of faith is ultimately a battle I have to live with, not a battle to be replaced. This is not a battle to take over the Ark of the Covenant, but a battle where I have to stand on God's side. The life of a believer is not a battle between religiousization and the formation of faith, but a battle I have to fight today on God's side.
A goal is always to look with a straight line of sight. But getting there requires a sense of reality. Reality is a blessed stage where I can visibly unfold living according to God's word. Why is it a condition of compromise? Our fight today is right here. Reality is by no means talking about the elements of compromise. We have a direction to go. If there is a barrier, you have to turn around or go over it. When it gets blocked, it goes back, and when it gets bigger, it flows and flows like the tenacity of water, and it is called faith to keep moving forward toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever obstacles they encounter, they crawl through, turn around, and go over the places they want to go, which is called reality. One of the appearances of this reality is typically presented to us in the name of success and to us in the spirit of happiness. This is the stage. The conditions of this stage are revealed to us. This is the stage. The condition of this stage is that success means having great power in the world, and it is presented in front of us in the form of temptation and as a condition of compromise.
We receive these demands from God in our religious life.
“If it is required to betray God, let us not do it, even if it means giving up our lives.” This is what we call martyrdom. That is why all believers call this martyrdom. However, he said, "Even if I don't believe in Jesus, I have to send my child to a first-class university." When a robber asks, "Would you give up your life or money?", he said he would give his life. It has become a society where money is more precious than life. Our reality is the only stage where we can show and prove our love for God. But what are we replacing this with?
The reason for their failure is that the people of Israel replaced their fight of faith at the battle of Ebenezer. In other words, they did not come to church to live a religious life, not listen to the Word, study the Bible, and pray. How is your battle going? If your past has become a factor that makes your present and future lazy, there is nothing more terrifying than this.
“To make known Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the partaking of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, that I may somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already obtained it or that I have been made perfect, but that I have been captured by Christ Jesus. I am pursuing it, brethren, but I do not think that I have yet taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and grabbing what is ahead, I press toward the goal for the reward of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:10-) 14)"
For a believer, his past does not guarantee his present. My past is the people who should become important principles and experiences for today's war and tomorrow's war. Now, for the rest of my life, the church must be a group of people who are becoming more and more certain about how to win.
“I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, for all our fathers were under the cloud and passed through the sea, and belonged to Moses, and all were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But God was not pleased with the majority of them, and they perished in the wilderness. lest you become revelers as some of them do, as some of them do not, as it is written, The people sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play. Some of them committed adultery, and in one day Twenty-three thousand are dead. Let us not commit adultery with them, for some of them were tempted by the serpent as they were, and let us not be tempted as they were, some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer. Do not grumble like we did, for these things that happened to them are a mirror, and are written as our warning when we meet the last days” (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).
The history of the people of Israel is the same as this record. Although it has a miraculous past, it always records the history of falling. No matter how many miraculous experiences you have had in the past, you say 'now is always now'. If you don't take God's side now, you'll always be beaten. This is the history of Israel. No matter how great miracles you have had in the past, you will not have as many as Israel. Remember, though, that they were taken captive to Babylon. Remember that they rejected Jesus Christ, and for 2,000 years, they were despised and despised by the world's people, and they were marginalized. Even though it had the blessed miracles of the great Old Testament, God never had mercy and sent him away. Today is today's fight. Tomorrow is tomorrow's fight again. Don't just dream of yesterday. The Bible says:
“Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Don't think that yesterday will be easy today. Because of that, you must win today.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to you, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). "
There are things to study today, things to prepare for today, and things to do homework today. It is pointed out in the Bible that 'I have to pull out of my heart rather than have any form of faith to come from the part I have to cross'.
It's a very good thing to get here today. God has brought you this far. He is the God of Ebenezer. However, no stakes should be driven here. You always have to push So far, I want to recommend that you win 'up to where I always stand'. 'Up to this point' should not be the past. Where I stand must always be Ebenezer. That fight must be yours. And reality is necessary as a stage to prove it. None of those who believed in God and walked this road closed their eyes in sorrow and clamor. However, among those who sat down and 'burst' to God, there was a clamor that made our ears ache. The Bible records from Genesis to Revelation. Now it's up to you to decide. Keeping in mind that God does not allow us to walk on the path we should take, then we must make a decision on our own for the sake of your life.