Dagon is fallen
A gasp escaped the mouth of the wizened old man that stood at the threshold of the shrine that housed the philistine god. The man was trembling and he looked around for something to hold on to. He had been the priest of Dagon the powerful since his youthful days, and nothing had prepared him for the sight that was before him now.
He tried to pinch himself, hoping that this was a very vivid nightmare, the kind that happened to one when smitten with the fever. And he had been having the symptoms for the past three days, though it hadn’t be so severe as to cause something like this. Maybe old age had robbed him of the resilience he once had, he thought. But alas, this was no dream; this was real, and it was disturbing.
Dagon was fallen to the ground, but if that had been all, it would not have been a problem. Now that he thought about it, what happened yesterday was no coincidence. He had not thought much about it then, but now, it all made sense.
He had come in at dawn like he had in the last thirty years to make the morning sacrifice when he had seen Dagon lying face down on the earth right in front of the ark of covenant, the god of the Israelite that had been captured. He had thought that the lads that had brought in the ark must have knocked it off in their excitement after the victory over the Israelites.
The defeat was a historical one, the stuff of myths and legends. The fearsome ark of the Israelites that had overthrown so many kingdoms in the past was powerless to save them this time around and had been captured too. Maybe the Israelite god had been given too much credit.
The Israelites had actually given so much reverence to their god. The ark was a beauty to behold. It shone so brightly reflecting the sun’s brilliance and could not be looked at directly. It would be a prized possession, a worthy gift to Dagon.
Then he had simply put the god back in its place and had had a fleeting thought about how miniature it was compared to the ark of covenant. He had quickly banished the thought from his mind, while sending an appeasing look to Dagon, lest his thoughts be discovered and punished with instant death. He however had not been able to stop these thoughts all through the day- how awesome the ark of covenant was.
Now it dawned on him what had happened. It was a clash of power between the two gods and Dagon had lost. Yesterday had been a preamble, it had simply fallen face down before the Israelite god but today it had been crushed.
Strewn some few feet from where the god was lay its head, turned upward and facing the ceiling. For a few seconds, he thought he caught a look of anguish on its face, and shook his head to clear it. The two hands and feet were scattered across the room as if it was flung in anger, and were in pieces. The only part that remained on the pedestal was the stump. It was a gory sight.
The ark was gleaming brightly as the early morning sun shone on it, and it looked majestic and magnificent.
It would later be written in the annals of history, of the words of the God of the Israelites
“I am God, and besides me there is no other”
And believers in the God of Israel would tell the story in songs:
“Dagon fell before the ark of covenant in days of yore, so shall all my problems fall before him today’’
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Gods at war 1
Epilogue
It was in the fortieth year of Eli’s reign as judge in Israel, the children of Israel were getting ready to go to war with the philistines. There had been a long-standing enmity between the two nations and the truce had been broken. There had been a fight in the Israelites’ border on the South that resulted in the death of two men from the philistines, and their King was eager to slay thousands of Israelites in revenge.
He would not hear of talks of peace or be appeased with gifts. The previous victories of the Israelites were still fresh in his memory; he had lost his father and two brothers, and he had escaped with numerous bodily but thankfully no fatal wounds. His friend had not been so lucky, and had lost an arm.
Since then, he had been plotting his revenge and the Israelites had given him the perfect opportunity. Unknown to them, he had spies amongst them, his men that had disguised as strangers from another land and had settled among them, and over the space of five years had given him an exact picture of what was happening in the nation.
The Jews were known for their hospitality and openness to strangers and that had provided the freedom his men had to spy out the land without fear of discovery. Some had even married Jewish women and acquired land. He knew exactly where their strength lay and the best way to attack. The Israelites were lawless; they had no king or ruler, Yahweh-their god was their King, they boasted. Everyone did what pleased him and a judge-Eli, who according to his sources was an old man of eighty years, living in Shiloh and serving as priest, settled any scores or dispute.
He would never understand the Jews, and why they were so arrogant. He also knew better than to underestimate them. That had been his father’s mistake, and he had paid for it with his life.
He was coming against them with all his army, but he wasn’t going to pitch them in the battlefront all at once, he would divide them into three, with two parts coming from the flanks. The Israelites did not know what was in store for them.
When the battled were joined at the battlefront, the Israelite army was having the upper hand and the philistines were falling down in their scores. Then the King signaled that the trumpet be blown and the philistine army began to beat a retreat.
Unsuspectingly, the Israelite army pursued them only to realize that they had been ambushed and were trapped between two armies. It was a bitter defeat; four thousand of the Israelites died and many were injured. Israel had not recorded such a defeat since the days of Joshua. Something must be wrong.
Later that day, the elders of Israel gathered to deliberate. The room was filled with silence and all heads were bowed in grief. In each person’s eyes were reflected the question that was on the tip of every man’s tongue but which no one had the answer to: what went wrong?
Finally, Salmon the eldest spoke up. He opined that it was because the Ark of the Covenant had not followed them to the battle field, was the reason they had suffered such humiliation at the hands of the philistines; the uncircumcised, he spat with disgust. He reminded the others that the Ark of the Covenant had always been taken to the battlefield for every of Israel’s battle till then. They had neglected God, and he too had left them alone, he concluded.
Several heads nodded in agreement, and a unanimous decision was made to send for the Ark of Covenant to be brought from the temple in Shiloh, and to be accompanied by the priests.
It took great persuading to get Eli, the High Priest, to allow the Ark of the Covenant to be removed from its place. In his forty years as High Priest, the Ark had not moved from its place and access to it was once in a year. The messengers had prevailed upon him and he had agreed. Thus the Ark made its way to the camp of the Israelites in Aphek.
When the Ark of the Covenant entered the Israelites’ camp, there was great joy and shouting and many stared wide-eyed in amazement at its beauty. No one aside the High Priest had access to it and that was once a year. Now it was but a few feet from them glistering in all its glory. It was made of acacia wood, and overlaid with the purest of gold, and ringed on all its four corners where staves of wood also overlaid with gold were attached so that it could be borne on the shoulders of the priests.
Once it had been set up in a tent, the priests sacrificed to the Lord, offerings of sheep and ram and oxen. The people shouted as the smoke of the incense rose to the sky; God was now in their midst and the philistines were going to be annihilated. There was dancing and a loud feast from the evening till the early hours of the morning. They couldn’t wait for the morning to come to draw out the battle lines.
The battle lasted three days, and the Israelites were defeated. Thirty thousand people were killed and the Ark of Covenant was taken captive, after the two priests, Hophni and Phinehas were killed.
A sacrilege had been committed, an abomination. The people wailed and poured ashes on their heads. The implication of the captured ark was more daunting than the loss of lives. Their grief knew no bounds; the symbol of their God had been taken away.
The news of the captured ark was the death of Eli. He had been sitting on a stool when he received the news and he fell off and broke his neck. The result was fatal, he died more from a broken heart than from a broken neck, the glory had departed from Israel, and its light had been put out.
Even the newborn felt the impact, Eli’s daughter-in-law delivered before her time and in her dying breath named her son “Ichabod”--the glory had departed. He would grow to be a reminder of that black day when the light of the nation was snuffed out.
It was in the fortieth year of Eli’s reign as judge in Israel, the children of Israel were getting ready to go to war with the philistines. There had been a long-standing enmity between the two nations and the truce had been broken. There had been a fight in the Israelites’ border on the South that resulted in the death of two men from the philistines, and their King was eager to slay thousands of Israelites in revenge.
He would not hear of talks of peace or be appeased with gifts. The previous victories of the Israelites were still fresh in his memory; he had lost his father and two brothers, and he had escaped with numerous bodily but thankfully no fatal wounds. His friend had not been so lucky, and had lost an arm.
Since then, he had been plotting his revenge and the Israelites had given him the perfect opportunity. Unknown to them, he had spies amongst them, his men that had disguised as strangers from another land and had settled among them, and over the space of five years had given him an exact picture of what was happening in the nation.
The Jews were known for their hospitality and openness to strangers and that had provided the freedom his men had to spy out the land without fear of discovery. Some had even married Jewish women and acquired land. He knew exactly where their strength lay and the best way to attack. The Israelites were lawless; they had no king or ruler, Yahweh-their god was their King, they boasted. Everyone did what pleased him and a judge-Eli, who according to his sources was an old man of eighty years, living in Shiloh and serving as priest, settled any scores or dispute.
He would never understand the Jews, and why they were so arrogant. He also knew better than to underestimate them. That had been his father’s mistake, and he had paid for it with his life.
He was coming against them with all his army, but he wasn’t going to pitch them in the battlefront all at once, he would divide them into three, with two parts coming from the flanks. The Israelites did not know what was in store for them.
When the battled were joined at the battlefront, the Israelite army was having the upper hand and the philistines were falling down in their scores. Then the King signaled that the trumpet be blown and the philistine army began to beat a retreat.
Unsuspectingly, the Israelite army pursued them only to realize that they had been ambushed and were trapped between two armies. It was a bitter defeat; four thousand of the Israelites died and many were injured. Israel had not recorded such a defeat since the days of Joshua. Something must be wrong.
Later that day, the elders of Israel gathered to deliberate. The room was filled with silence and all heads were bowed in grief. In each person’s eyes were reflected the question that was on the tip of every man’s tongue but which no one had the answer to: what went wrong?
Finally, Salmon the eldest spoke up. He opined that it was because the Ark of the Covenant had not followed them to the battle field, was the reason they had suffered such humiliation at the hands of the philistines; the uncircumcised, he spat with disgust. He reminded the others that the Ark of the Covenant had always been taken to the battlefield for every of Israel’s battle till then. They had neglected God, and he too had left them alone, he concluded.
Several heads nodded in agreement, and a unanimous decision was made to send for the Ark of Covenant to be brought from the temple in Shiloh, and to be accompanied by the priests.
It took great persuading to get Eli, the High Priest, to allow the Ark of the Covenant to be removed from its place. In his forty years as High Priest, the Ark had not moved from its place and access to it was once in a year. The messengers had prevailed upon him and he had agreed. Thus the Ark made its way to the camp of the Israelites in Aphek.
When the Ark of the Covenant entered the Israelites’ camp, there was great joy and shouting and many stared wide-eyed in amazement at its beauty. No one aside the High Priest had access to it and that was once a year. Now it was but a few feet from them glistering in all its glory. It was made of acacia wood, and overlaid with the purest of gold, and ringed on all its four corners where staves of wood also overlaid with gold were attached so that it could be borne on the shoulders of the priests.
Once it had been set up in a tent, the priests sacrificed to the Lord, offerings of sheep and ram and oxen. The people shouted as the smoke of the incense rose to the sky; God was now in their midst and the philistines were going to be annihilated. There was dancing and a loud feast from the evening till the early hours of the morning. They couldn’t wait for the morning to come to draw out the battle lines.
The battle lasted three days, and the Israelites were defeated. Thirty thousand people were killed and the Ark of Covenant was taken captive, after the two priests, Hophni and Phinehas were killed.
A sacrilege had been committed, an abomination. The people wailed and poured ashes on their heads. The implication of the captured ark was more daunting than the loss of lives. Their grief knew no bounds; the symbol of their God had been taken away.
The news of the captured ark was the death of Eli. He had been sitting on a stool when he received the news and he fell off and broke his neck. The result was fatal, he died more from a broken heart than from a broken neck, the glory had departed from Israel, and its light had been put out.
Even the newborn felt the impact, Eli’s daughter-in-law delivered before her time and in her dying breath named her son “Ichabod”--the glory had departed. He would grow to be a reminder of that black day when the light of the nation was snuffed out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)