Eli's Problem (2) Idols Fall
Once the Philistines had carried the covenant box to Ashdod, Death had the freedom to work there. God’s wisdom had been rejected, so his presence was gone from the covenant box. I presume that the spirit called Death went with it because he wanted to be the spirit that controlled the box once the people had made it into an idol.
The Philistines put the covenant box in a temple beside their god called Dagon. That night he fell off his stand. They put him back, and the next night the same thing happened. Dagon’s arms and head broke off (1 Sam 5:1-5). The Philistines symbolise the people of the world who oppose God’s work in the world. They have set up false gods and philosophies, and tried to make them equal with him, but they are ineffective (no arms), because they cut people off from God (the head).
Because they rejected God, the Philistines were vulnerable to the spiritual powers of evil. The writer of Samuel says that God’s hand was heavy on them, but this is a two-agent world view. It was actually the hand of the spiritual powers of evil that was hard on them, because they had no spiritual protection.
The spiritual powers of evil brought devastation upon them and struck them with tumours (1 Sam 5:6) (the Hebrew word is also used for a mound of earth or fortress). The covenant box was sent to Gath, but the same thing happened there. The spiritual powers of evil were heavy on that city too. The city was thrown into a great panic. The people of the city, both young and old, were afflicted with an outbreak of tumours (1 Sam 5:9). These cancers affected young people. This is why it was so shocking. However, this is consistent with the prophecy to Eli warning that lives would be cut off in their prime.
When the covenant box was sent to Ekron, the same thing happened there.
Death filled the city with panic/confusion; his hand was very heavy on it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumours, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven (1 Sam 5:11-12).“Death” is the name of a powerful spiritual being (Cosmos Dominator) who loves killing and destroying people. He gained a hold on the city and released a pestilence amongst the people. Those who were not killed by the plague were afflicted with terrible cancers. (Interestingly, the Philistines seemed to know that the plague was spread by rats (1 Sam 6:4)).
Ignored Instructions
When pastors-leaders fail to apply God’s instruction for building the church, the spirit of Death gains access to their people, and the people of the world in the place where they live. This is probably the reason that cancer is currently rampant amongst younger people in the western world.
The covenant box was built according to the plan revealed by God on the mountain, whereas Dagon was a creation of humans. An idol made according to the wisdom of men was made equivalent to a box built according to a plan revealed by God.
God wants his church built according to the plan that he revealed in the New Testament. Pastors have rejected that plan and built according to human wisdom. The statement that “the hand of God is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” (1 Sam 5:7) implies that the spiritual powers of evil will be heavy on a church built according to human plans.
I presume that the plague of cancers that is currently attacking young people is the result of the failure of the pastors to follow Jesus’ instructions for building the church and the failure of the prophets to challenge them. This failure has allowed the spirit called “Death” to establish a stronghold in the church and the nation, and is doing his evil work.
Jesus gave his disciples clear instructions to his disciples about how he wanted his church to operate, and the Holy Spirit taught them how to do it. The early church applied Jesus’ instructions and had amazing success in reaching the world. However, once the church was successful, it gave up some of Jesus’ ways and replaced them with human ideas about how it should operate, but in the process, we have lost the spiritual protection that Jesus’ instructions provided.
We make excuses for our defeat, but we have not realised that our failure to follow Jesus’ and the Holy Spirit’s instructions has allowed Death to establish a stronghold because we have undermined the spiritual protection that is provided when we do things his way. Five human practices, which are contrary to Jesus’ instructions for the church, have undermined our spiritual protection.
The church in the book of Acts was led by elders (always plural) (Acts 13:1; 14:23). They guarded the flock which the Holy Spirit had called them to oversee and shepherded (verb) the people that Jesus had bought with his blood (Acts 20:28). Yet, the modern church had decided that the church should be managed by professional executive-pastors. They are given different titles: apostle, senior pastor, senior leader, but this is irrelevant because the role simply does not exist in the New Testament. Having a paid professional running programs to support the members of the church leaves them, and the people under them, vulnerable to attack by the spiritual powers of evil.
Jesus prayed that his people would be one, as he and the father are one (John 17:21). Paul said that there is one body, one spirit and one hope (Eph 4:4). He prayed that the elders would equip the people so that the body of Christ would be built up until we all reach unity in the faith (Eph 4:12-13). Yet modern churches are happy to perpetuate divisions by organising into different demonisations, and post-denominational churches brand themselves to distinguish themselves from other churches. Unfortunately, this division leaves the church vulnerable to the spiritual powers of evil. Real spiritual protection comes through unity.
The modern church tells people to come to church at least once a week, ideally on Sunday, for their entire lifetime. In contrast, Jesus told his disciples to go into the world and share the gospel in the way that he had taught them. They expected the people of the world to see what the Holy Spirit was doing amongst them and be drawn to Jesus. The early church always took the gospel into the streets and market places and the Holy Spirit confirmed their words with signs and wonders. This public visibility is why the gospel spread so quickly and the church grew so fast.
The modern church has rejected the “go strategy” and does all the important stuff at the front of the meeting on Sunday. The worship service has become the focal point of all its efforts. If people want to see God at work, they have to come to church to see the Holy Spirit moving through the pastor or guest preacher at the front of the meeting. Most of the people of the world never see the Holy Spirit working, because they will never go to a church meeting. (Strangely enough, Jesus never commanded his followers to hold worship services. Rather he expected their entire lives to be an act of worship).
The church says come.
We cannot go into the world without the fulness of the Holy Spirit in our midst. If we are not able to go out in his strength, we should wait together and cry out for him to fill us afresh. We should ask him to show us any obstacles that we need to remove. Gathering together to wait for the Holy Spirit is the only reason for not going into the world as Jesus commanded.
Jesus says go.
He also said wait;
until you have received power from on high.Jesus never suggested that disciples could be trained by sitting and listing to a weekly sermon, as it rarely changes a person’s behaviour and seldom changes their attitudes or character. Jesus had a different way of training disciples.
He took people with him and did the things that he wanted them to do while they were with him observing. Sometimes they would get bold and join in.
Afterwards, he explained what he had done and why it was effective.
Once they understood his approach, he sent them out in pairs to do what he had shown them how to do.
Once these people were confident in doing his work, the pair could spilt and take two less experienced people out with them to learn how to do Jesus’ work.
Individualism is so pervasive in western culture that we don’t realise how much we have been entrapped by it. Jesus worked the other way round. When he sent his disciples to do even the most trivial tasks, he sent them in pairs. He did this so they could provide spiritual protection for each other. Too many Christians are defeated by the spiritual powers of evil because they are trying to serve God on their own. We can only reach our true fulfilment in Jesus if we are part of his body. That can only happen if we are joined together with other members of his body as the fingers are joined to the hand. This joining together cannot be achieved by meeting for an hour on Sundays; it will require the interaction of living life together. The fullness of the Spirit can only be experienced in a group of people who love and trust each other. The best protection from spirits like Death comes from being part of a thriving body of believers.
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