Today, the idols held sacred and put on display in our culture will be demolished by the presence of the Lord. The assumed victories of these false gods will not stand forever. Truth will be used to bring them down to defeat.

A compromised priest named Eli had two sons. His sons were evil. They ate sacrifices that were offered to God and were sexually abusing women. Eli knew of his son’s evil acts and did nothing to confront them. As a result of the sins of Eli and his sons, they were killed in battle, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines. The Philistines took the Ark to the city of Ashdod, where it was placed next to the statue of their false god, Dagon.

Dagon was considered the father of all gods. Dagon’s father was Baal. Dagon was revealed as a merman with the body of a man on his upper torso and a fish from the waist down. He was the god who was being worshipped when Samson pushed down the walls of the temple of Dagon.

Those who worshiped Dagon thought their false god was more powerful than the God of Israel. The defeat of Israel in battle when Eli and his sons were killed was not a defeat of God. It was the punishment for Israel for allowing the nation to be led by an evil priest and his sons.

“After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon” (1 Samuel 5:1-2).

“But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So, they took Dagon and put him in his place again. But the next morning, the same thing happened. Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time, his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact.” (vs. 3-4).

Today, we see idols placed in our culture that people are worshipping while ignoring the power of God and His truth. These idols are present in our politics, our sexuality, and even in some of the theologies that are assumed to be true, but are false.

All of these idols will suffer the fate of Dagon. Each will fall in the presence of God, proving the way of the Lord is the only truth and worthy of our worship.

Just as it was for Eli and his sons who failed to understand God’s heart, so it is today for many in the Church. They see a temporary victory of evil as a reason to continue worshipping the false gods of their creation. These temporary victories are being used as a reprimand of God’s people to gain their attention and to once again place their trust in God, not in a false representation of truth.