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Bible study · 1 Samuel 5:1-12

1 Samuel 5: The LORD's hand was heavy

Read 1 Samuel 5:1-12 before you meet.

In a few lines

Dagon fell before the LORD's ark twice, and the second time his head and the palms of his hands lay cut off on the threshold (5:4). Two verses later "the LORD’s hand was heavy" on Ashdod (5:6). In Hebrew hands and hand are one word, yad, and in the whole chapter no Israelite lifts one.

The verse to carry

“When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again.”

1 Samuel 5:3

To talk about

  1. 1. After Dagon fell, the people of Ashdod "set him in his place again" (5:3). What do you keep propping back up in your life, even after it has let you down?

  2. 2. The men of Ashdod said, "The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us" (5:7). Why do you think people push God away when he comes close, instead of turning to him?

  3. 3. In this chapter no one from Israel lifts a hand; it is "the LORD’s hand" that is heavy on Ashdod (5:6). Where do you need to trust God to act in something you can't change yourself?

Prayer requests