DCLM Daily Manna 24 May 2026: Supremacy of God Over Dagon
KEY VERSE
“And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him” (1 Samuel 5:4)
BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 5:1-5
The Philistines brought the ark of God from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon [their idol].
3 When they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
4 But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had again fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and [his] head and both the palms of his hands were lying cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left him.
5 This is the reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
READ OTHER DCLM DAILY DEVOTIONAL HERE
Reverend James Johnson, a prominent Anglican clergyman, identified idolatry as a significant obstacle to the spread of Christianity in parts of West Africa, in the 1880s. In his biography, Holy Johnson, he lamented, “It is not easy work to root out heathenism from the minds of our people; at the sound of every heathen drum they seem to think fondly of olden days”
In our text, the Philistines defeated Israel, captured the ark of the Lord, the symbol of God’s presence in Israel, placed the ark next to the image of Dagon to demonstrate the supposed superiority of Dagon over Jehovah. Similarly, Dagon was the chief idol in Mesopotamia at the time. It was variously worshipped as the god of fertility, protection god and their creator. The expectation of the Philistines and the symbolism was reversed when Dagon was toppled, and its hands were cut off, thus illustrating the inability of idols to create or save.
Today, people worship idols in various forms. These idols are not restricted to carved images or statutes. As Ed Stetzer, an American expert on mission studies, observed, idolatry exists whenever we look to someone or something in the world around us to save or satisfy us. Another great man of God declared, “If you love anything better than God, you are an idolater; If there is anything you would not give up for God, it is your idol; If there is anything you seek with greater fervour than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol, and conversion means turning from every idol.”
Although mankind has always been tempted to place idols on the same pedestal as Almighty God, yet, the Lord will always prove His supremacy. God declares, “I am the Lord, that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another; neither my praise to graven image.”
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Vain religions produce counterfeit gods
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Galatians 4-6
DCLM Daily Manna 24 May 2026
