Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.
The Philistine lords throw a victory party, and they hand Dagon the credit for capturing Samson. That one boast turns a local defeat into a public claim about which god rules. It forces an answer the Philistines never expected.
Dagon had temples in the main Philistine cities. He turns up more than once in Israel's history.
The national god of the Philistines, whose main temples were at Gaza and Ashdod. Some trace the name to dag, "fish"; others trace it to dagan, "corn," making him a god of farming. This was the idol that fell to pieces before the ark of Israel. Later the Philistines hung the head of Saul in its temple.
Samson had failed, and his enemies had reason to celebrate. But they did not stop at Samson. They named their god as the one who handed him over.
But as for Samson, his dependence grows. He gets his weakness, and so he gets his strength. Then as to God's side of it. Ah, the Philistines always make mistakes. Satan always overreaches himself. The Philistines are now going to give the credit to someone else. They are going to give it to Dagon their god. So now it is not a question between poor failing Samson and the Philistines. It is a question between Dagon and God.
Israel had seen this pattern before, when the Philistines captured the ark of God.
The Philistines took God's ark from Israel. So long as it was a question between Israel and the Philistines, God lets His ark go. Israel had turned away from Him and were a sinful people; they had no right to the ark. But they carry the ark into the house of Dagon and set it before Dagon, as if admitting that Dagon rules. Then God must speak for Himself, as He always will, and Dagon falls. So when they hold a great celebration for Dagon and give him the credit for the victory over Samson, they are defying God. They are throwing in His face what they had done. Therefore God must speak. He does speak — and to great effect.
Samson is the one in chains, blinded and mocked. Yet the insult reaches past him.
Samson is now only a poor blind slave, the sport of the enemies of Jehovah. Let us not be mistaken about this. The enemy was more hostile to God than to Samson. To all appearance, the defeated Nazirite now stood as proof that the false god Dagon had beaten the true God. The lack of reality in Christians is the world's most powerful weapon against Christ. In despising the unfaithful believer, the world is really seizing its chance to despise Him.
(A Nazirite was someone set apart to God by a special vow.)
The boast forces God to answer. That answer comes through the very man they are laughing at. His losses turn out to be gains.
The Philistines call it the triumph of their god that Samson has fallen into their hands. So Jehovah must show Himself. Samson too, though blinded, begins to see more clearly than when the lust of his eyes held him captive. His chains set him free; his darkness gives him light. It is the goodness of God that leaves His people to the consequences of their sins. He does it so that the bitter fruit may condemn the tree, and so that they may find fellowship with Him by experience, however painfully. How much better to learn by His word through faith!
God defends His name, and He does not abandon the man who has ruined himself. Still, Samson does not escape untouched.
God remembers His own glory, and His poor servant humbled under the chastening of his sin. The Philistines gather to enjoy their victory and glorify their false gods. But Jehovah had His eye on all this. In his humiliation, the thought of the Lord had more power over Samson's heart; his Nazirite separation was regaining strength. … A slave and blind for life, his condition gives him an opportunity that his strength had never won for him. But he is blind and enslaved, and he must himself perish in the judgment he brings on the wickedness of his enemies. He had identified himself with the world by listening to it, and he must share the judgment that falls on the world.
- Credit misplaced. The Philistines hand Dagon the credit for a victory their idol never won. That boast, not Samson's failure, is what provokes God.
- Contest transferred. Once the credit goes to Dagon, the fight is no longer Samson against the Philistines. It is Dagon against God.
- God speaks. God lets His own people suffer for their sin. But He will not leave His name in an idol's temple — the ark had already proved that.
- The real target. An unfaithful believer becomes the world's weapon against Christ. The mockery aimed at Samson lands on God.
- Strength returned. Blinded, Samson sees. Chained, he is free. But he had tied himself to the world, so he goes down under the judgment that falls on it.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, even him who multiplied our slain.
In Dagon's temple the crowd is not just mocking a prisoner — they are worshipping. Their song gives their idol the credit for beating the man who wrecked their country, and that raises the real question: whose name gets the credit?
The moment the Philistines put their god's name on this victory, the dispute stopped being a local one. Commentators note that in doing so the enemy overplays his hand.
The Philistines always make mistakes. Satan always overreaches himself. They are now going to give the credit to someone else. They are going to give it to Dagon, their god. So now it is not a question between poor failing Samson and the Philistines. It is a question between Dagon and God.
The same pattern shows up with the ark of the covenant, the chest that stood for God's presence with Israel. The Philistines captured it and set it in front of Dagon.
While it was only a question between Israel and the Philistines, God let His ark go. Israel had turned away from Him and sinned, and they had no right to the ark. But the ark is carried into the house of Dagon and set before Dagon, as if Dagon were supreme. Then God must speak for Himself, as He always will, and Dagon falls. So when the Philistines hold a great feast for Dagon and give him the credit for the victory over Samson, they are defying God, pure and simple. They throw in His face what they have done. So God must speak. And He does speak — how powerfully!
A Nazarite was a person set apart to God by a vow, with uncut hair as the mark of it. Samson, blind and in chains, looked like proof that Dagon was the stronger god — and one writer turns that on God's people.
His enemies have blinded him. To them, at least, this proves that Dagon is stronger than God! Have not God's people done the same? Have they not fallen into the hands of the uncircumcised? Have they not lost their Nazarite separation by mixing with worldly people? And so, by accepting the evil, they testify without words that evil is greater than good, and that the world holding them captive is stronger than God.
The feast goes on as if God had nothing to say about it. Yet He was remembering two things there, and neither one was Dagon.
The Philistines give their false god the credit for their success. God remembers His own glory, and His poor servant humbled under the discipline of his sin. The Philistines gather to enjoy their victory and glorify their false gods. But Jehovah had His eye on all this. In his humiliation, the thought of the Lord had more power over Samson's heart; his Nazarite strength was returning. Who would fear a blind and suffering prisoner? But who in this world knows the secret of Jehovah?… He had joined himself to the world by listening to it, and he must share the judgment that falls on the world.
Samson's lowest moment is that he becomes the entertainment. One writer sees the same thing happening today.
They gather in huge crowds to hold a feast to Dagon, and they want Samson to entertain them. How low that man Samson has sunk, to be the entertainment for the Philistines! … I see a gifted man, a man who can speak well, a man who knows the Scriptures. I see him — shall I say it? — playing up to a worldly spirit in the professing church… Many a man who looks like a real Samson is really a poor, blinded slave of the Philistines.
The judgment that followed fitted what the crowd was doing.
It was fitting that such an awesome judgment should fall on the Philistines just then. They were enjoying the humiliation of a man who had once been strong and had lost his strength. More than that, they were offering sacrifice to Dagon, their idol, and so insulting and challenging the God of heaven and earth. Their god had no power to deliver them from a catastrophic end under the judgment of the God of Israel.
- Credit misplaced. Once Dagon got the credit, the fight was no longer the Philistines against a fallen man. It was Dagon against God.
- Credit demanded. Give an idol God's honour to His face, and God answers for Himself. He did it when the Philistines set the ark before Dagon, and Dagon fell.
- Credit lost. A believer tangled up with the world preaches without words. The message is that evil beats good, and that the captor beats God.
- Credit hijacked. A gifted speaker can end up amusing the very crowd his gifts were meant to resist. The man who looks like a Samson may be the blind slave.
- Credit restored. God remembered His own glory and His humbled servant. The feast that insulted Him ended with Dagon unable to save anyone in the building.