1 Samuel

Father God, we thank you for bringing us together.

We thank you for gifting us in different ways

and for the chance to serve one another when we gather like this.

Lord, I ask right now that you would speak, that it would be your words,

and that as we look at these passages in 1 Samuel,

that we would see you more clearly,

and the result would be we would love you rightly.

Amen.

Sometimes perception doesn't line up with reality.

And this can be sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad ways.

It could be that you are driving and your perception is

that the gap is small enough for you to get through,

and reality may not be that.

It could be something more personal.

Your perception might be that you need to lose some weight

to be attractive to other people,

but the reality might be far from that.

Perception and reality don't always line up,

and that's a problem if it's true of how we see God.

If we are following a God who's more something that we've designed

in our own mind, a version of God, if you like,

than it is the God of the Bible,

then we set ourselves up for a fall.

In 1 Samuel, Israel has been told that judgment is coming

as we work through these first four chapters,

and we've seen the judgment in chapter 4 that we read last week

and in chapter 4.

They've been told God's not happy,

but if you get to just before the bit that Ali read out,

at the end of chapter 3,

even though they've been told judgment is coming,

from where they sit, their perspective is a little bit different.

Everything still seems to be going okay.

They're about to lose a significant battle,

but if you just, the day before the battle even,

they're living in the country they want to live in.

Hophni and Phinehas are eating well as priests.

They've got lots of girlfriends,

so they're happy with how things are going.

Everything seems fine,

and so they hear God, judgment's coming,

but their perspective is,

we don't actually believe you,

because life's good.

And so their perception and their reality don't line up.

Even though God's been revealing himself to Israel

right throughout their history,

instead of listening,

they've kind of modelled their own version of him.

They've come up with what they think he is like

and how they think he should act,

and what they've done

is they've made him accountable to them

instead of the other way around.

They've kind of set what they think should be his agenda,

and basically what they think God should do

is whatever they want and when they want it.

So if they want protection in a battle,

that's what God is required to do.

If they want food or riches,

that is what God is required to do.

And the result, of course,

of having that sort of a God

is they shout with confidence

when he enters the army's camp.

Even having lost battle,

they get very, very excited.

I remember when I was much younger,

and I really emphasise much younger

because this story's a little on the embarrassing side,

much younger,

I got invited to a formal with a girl that I kind of knew.

She was a fairly attractive girl,

but I didn't know her very well,

and so it struck me as a little bit strange

that she had invited me to her formal.

Now, the way my brain processed that was,

I must be a pretty attractive guy.

Attractive girl asked me to the formal,

I don't know her well,

so she doesn't know if I'm funny or interesting

or boring or arrogant, as the case was.

So, my conclusion was,

I must be attractive.

Now, what this did was

mean that I was very relaxed about the whole event.

I thought, she's so into me

that I don't have to put any effort into this formal,

I'll just rock up.

And so, the date of the formal came around,

and so to prepare myself,

aesthetically, I went for a surf.

And then I got out of the water

about 20 minutes before I had to be at her house,

went past a mate's place,

picked up a suit that sort of fit,

put a shirt on without a tie or a bow tie

or anything like that.

Didn't really feel like wearing leather shoes,

so I put my just skate shoes on,

on the bottom of the suit.

I thought, well, you know,

she's into me,

so it's not going to be an issue.

And I arrived at the front door of her house,

thinking she's just going to be so excited

that I'm here.

She's probably feeling really privileged,

she's probably been counting down the days,

she's probably got a calendar on a wall

with crosses through it.

And I walked in,

and she kind of looked at me,

didn't say anything,

and walked into the next room.

And I discovered that she had spent

three hours at the hairdresser,

had a headache because her hair

was a little bit too tight,

was looking amazing

in a fantastic formal dress

and other things.

And actually,

she wasn't that into me,

she just had a ticket,

and the guy she'd asked couldn't go,

and she thought,

why not ask Sam?

He seems nice enough.

The problem when we have a false perception

is that it leads to false confidence.

If we have an understanding

of something that is incorrect,

we can set ourselves up for a fall.

And in the same way,

Israel has this perception of God

that He needs them,

rather than the other way around.

They've kind of figured out

that God is somebody

who is as much dependent on them

as a country and on their army

as they are a nation

that's dependent on Him.

And so they set themselves up for a fall.

And what God does in this passage

is really important.

It's more than just judgment

on Hophni and Phinehas,

which we looked at a couple of weeks ago.

We see the true character of God

come out in these verses in chapter 4.

God would rather be shamed.

That's what's happening here.

Even though we know otherwise,

everybody who heard about this battle

would have assumed that God lost.

It's what the Philistines thought.

It's what the other nations around

would have thought.

God would rather be embarrassed

than confirm Israel

in their wrong perception of Him.

He could have won the battle

and everybody else would have

continued to think God was great,

but he was more interested

in correcting Israel's wrong perception

because God answers to no one.

He doesn't answer to Israel.

He doesn't answer to you.

He doesn't answer to me.

And He has His own agenda.

Just because we might think

we know what God wants

and we know when God's going to work

or how God's going to work,

He has His own agenda.

And it's been His agenda

since the beginning of creation

and it will be His agenda

until Jesus comes back.

It's this.

God wants to reveal His glory

and He wants to call people

into a relationship with Him.

A right relationship,

not a relationship

where we invent

what we think God is like,

a relationship where we know Him

and we worship Him

and we obey Him.

And if you're following

a version of God

that has more to do

with what you think

than it does to do

with what God

has shown Himself to be like,

then on one level

you're following a false God.

You could even say

you're not following any God at all.

And the problem with that is

a false God or a fake God

can't do anything for you.

There's this scary

but amazing passage

in the New Testament

where these people

are really confident

that they've been following God.

They talk about the miracles

they did in God's name.

They talk about

all the good deeds they did

and at the end of the passage

Jesus says,

get away from me,

I never knew you.

If you have a fake idea

of God

close enough

is not good enough.

There's great confidence

for those who know God

and His power in their life.

That's what we looked at last week.

At the confidence we have

with God's presence

and power working through us.

But there's only pain

and frustration

if instead of following

the God of Scripture

you're following some sort of God

that you have control over,

that you dictate to,

that you instruct.

We need to look to the reality

of who God is

as He has revealed Himself

not as we decide

or we make up.

The first danger

when perception and reality

are different

is that false perception

leads to false confidence

and false confidence

leads to disaster.

But the second danger

when we have perception

and reality

that don't line up

concerning God

is the issue

that the Philistines face

in chapter 5.

If your vision of God

is not the real vision of God,

is not true reality,

then you will end up

replacing God

with a cheap substitute.

The Philistines

had a vision of God

if you like,

a perception of Him

which assumed

that He had to defend Israel.

That was their understanding

of how God's work.

It's Israel's God

so He's bound,

He's like contractually obligated

to win the battle for them.

And so we know

they had a dodgy view of God

because just in the last chapter

they figured they could beat Him

just by manning up.

So granting them

a little bit of grace

that they're not very sharp,

they assumed

God's Israel

had to do certain things.

They had an idea

of how God's worked,

they had an idea

of how their God's worked

and so they projected that

onto the God of Israel

and so when they win,

for them

that confirms everything.

Suddenly the God of Israel

Israel is pretty weak

because he's being beaten

by their God.

That's their process

and so they bring

the ark

which represents God,

they stick it in their God

Dagon's temple

almost like a trophy

to show off

how much better

their God is.

Now the problem

with having wrong perceptions

of God

is that

when He doesn't live up

to those expectations

that we have

which are wrong expectations,

then we start looking

somewhere else.

for somebody

to meet those needs.

But we somehow feel

like we've been let down

so we start looking

for something

or someone else

that we can trust in

and in the end

we settle for something

less than God,

something less powerful

than God,

something that is actually

unable to help us.

Now on one level

I want to be sympathetic

to the Philistines

in this passage

because

our perceptions of God

are not very dissimilar

to theirs.

When we started this series

in 1 Samuel

looking at chapter 1

we asked the question

where is God

when things go wrong

in my life?

That was our starting point

as we got into this book

and it resonates for us

because we know

when things are bad

we want to shake our fist

at God

and say fix it.

Say this isn't fair.

If you're God

and you're good

and you're powerful

fix this.

When life is hard

we're tempted

to look for something else

to satisfy us.

We're tempted

to find identity

in the job

that we have.

We're tempted

to be fulfilled

in relationships

or in significance

or in money

or in power.

When things aren't

going well

we sometimes think

alright God

you failed

I'll find something else.

And that is exactly

what Israel does.

Things have gone wrong

and so the Philistines

assume Israel's God

must be even lower

than their God

Dagon.

But look at how

God responds

in verse 1.

After the Philistines

had captured

the Ark of God

they took it

from Ebenezer

to Ashdod.

Then they carried

the Ark

into Dagon's temple

and set it

beside Dagon.

When the people

of Ashdod

rose early

the next day

there was Dagon

fall on his face

on the ground

before the Ark

of the Lord.

They took Dagon

and put him back

in his place.

But the following

morning when they

rose

there was Dagon

fallen on his face

on the ground

before the Ark

of the Lord.

His head and hands

had been broken off

and were lying

on the threshold

only his body

remained.

That's why to this

day neither the

priests of Dagon

nor any others

who entered

Dagon's temple

at Ashdod

step on the threshold.

God's response

to being put on par

in fact being put

under this God

Dagon

is that the people

wake and find Dagon

flat on his face.

In fact

this powerful

victorious God

Dagon

needs his people

to lift him up

and put him back

where he's supposed

to be.

And just to make

sure that we're

really clear

the next day

he's not only

on his face

again

but he has no

hands

and no head.

God's making

an example

of this pathetic

other God

which literally

hours earlier

the Philistines

would have been

celebrating

confident in.

this Dagon

is now

headless

handless

and helpless.

He has no power.

He can't do

anything

he can't say

anything

and next to the

God of heaven

he's pathetic

he's just a statue.

The God of the Bible

is not like us

he doesn't think

like us

he's not accountable

to us

and he doesn't

always work

in the way

that we would

expect him to

but that doesn't

mean he stopped

working.

It doesn't

mean he has

lost power

it doesn't

mean he's

beaten

he doesn't

require an

army to

defend him

he doesn't

need to be

put back in

his place

when he

falls over

he doesn't

need his

people to

stroke his

ego so

that he

knows that

he's

loved

Israel's

God

our God

needs

nothing

even

without the

army he

is quite

capable of

defending

himself

look at

verse 6

the Lord's

hand was

heavy upon

the people

of Ashdod

and its

vicinity

he brought

devastation

upon them

and afflicted

them with

tumors

when the men

of Ashdod

saw what

was happening

they said

the ark

of the

God of

Israel

must not

stay here

with us

because

his hand

is heavy

upon us

and upon

Dagon

our God

so they

called together

all the

rulers of

the Philistines

and asked

them

what shall

we do

with the

ark of

the God

of Israel

and they

answered

have the

ark of

the God

of Israel

moved to

Gath

so they

moved the

ark of

the God

of Israel

now it

basically cycles

on

issues

bump it

to the

next town

more issues

bump it

to the

next town

but I

want to

show you

a couple

of things

really

importantly

Dagon

had no

head

and no

hands

and straight

away we

hear about

a God

who does

have the

power to

act

did you

notice

that

Dagon

has his

head

and hands

removed

and in

verse 6

the first

thing we

hear is

that the

Lord's

hand

is heavy

upon the

people

of Ashdod

the writer

sets this

up on

purpose

in one

corner we've

got headless

handless

Dagon

the cheap

substitute

God

and then on the

other side we have

Yahweh

Israel's God

whose hand

is active

and heavy

and powerful

in judgment

on the

Philistines

the Philistines

are even

worried for

Dagon

now

quick send

God away

because Dagon

is struggling

while this

God is

around

God wins

the victory

that Israel

can't

he's not

just a

passive

bystander

while all

this is

going on

he used

the Philistines

to bring

judgment

on Israel

but now

he's showing

the Philistines

what true

reality is

just as he

would not

give in

to Israel's

false

perception

he will

not allow

the Philistines

to assume

that they

are more

powerful

than he

is

he will

not let

them think

that Dagon

is some

great and

mighty God

and so

true reality

in the words

of Hannah

from chapter

2

there is no

one holy

like the

Lord

there is no

one like

our God

all creation

is his

all creation

answers to

him and

not by

strength

will one

prevail

when our

perception of

God doesn't

line up with

reality

it's easy

to settle

for a

cheap

substitute

when we

put wrong

expectations

on God

and then

feel like

he's let

us down

we are

tempted to

look for

other

substitutes

but unfortunately

wherever we

look we get

disappointed

because all we

find are

headless

handless

helpless

powerless

cheap

imitations

if our

perception of

God is

wrong

then like

Israel

it starts

to damage

the way

we interact

with him

the relationship

gets distorted

if God is

somebody who

needs my

help

then serving

him as

part of a

ministry or

church in

my life

obeying him

becomes something

that I do

for his

benefit

as a

favour to

him because

I'm just

that kind

of person

if God

is someone

who needs

my help

then instead

of trusting

him with

my life

I'll look

after me

and then

once that's

done I'll

see what

God needs

but the

reality of

God is

shown here

again in

this passage

it's shown

over and

over through

all of

scriptures

and throughout

human history

God is in

control

God is

sovereign

he is

all powerful

all knowing

his love

is beyond

measure

and he is

good

and anything

that I offer

to God

any service

any obedience

is for my

sake

not for him

anything that

I do for

God is a

gift from

him for

me

the opportunity

to obey

him

the opportunity

to know

him

the opportunity

to serve

him

the opportunity

to give

finances

all of it

is a gift

from God

for me

because our

God needs

nothing

all creation

is his

already

all creation

will answer

to him

ultimately

and so we

must not

let our

perceptions

block our

view of the

reality of

God

when we see

who he

really is

we get

released from

these delusions

of self

importance

and instead

we can replace

that with the

joy of security

in a God

who is good

and a God

who is in

control

when perception

and reality

don't line up

we get into

trouble

but that begs

the question

how do we

focus on

reality

how do we

avoid the

perceptions

which our

society is

filled with

well let me

suggest two

things

I'm sure that

many of you

are familiar

with the

story of

Troy

whether you're

familiar with

the mythology

version or the

Brad Pitt version

doesn't really

matter

the point

of it is

that the

Greeks are at

war with the

Trojans

and the

battle's been

raging and

raging and so

the Greeks

come up with a

plan

let's pretend

that we've

left

let's leave

this statue

of a horse

as like an

offering

and they

stick some

soldiers hiding

inside it

and the

Trojans come

down to the

beach the

next morning

and think

we've won

we're fantastic

let's take

this statue

up inside

our city

walls

and celebrate

this victory

that we've

had

and sure

enough that

night the

soldiers sneak

out open the

gates and the

entire Greek

army descends

on Troy and

destroys it

two things when

it comes to

focusing on

reality beware

false victory

just like the

Trojan Israelites

marched off into

battle in chapter

four assuming

that victory was

good

assuming that

victory was

guaranteed because

up to this

point life was

going fine

up to this

point nothing

bad had

happened and

so they

assumed that

meant God

endorsed the

way they were

living they

assumed that

meant everything

was fine it's

the same with

the Philistines

they win a

battle against

Israel and

they assume

that means

Dagon is

equally powerful

with Israel's

God but

both times the

victories proved

to be false

proved to be

short-lived

Israel's confidence

is defeated by

the Philistines

and in turn the

Philistines are

afflicted by

God

beware false

victories

so often in our

lives and in the

lives of those

around us we

let our

situation and

our circumstance

dictate our

perception of

God

so if life is

good that means

God's good

that means God's

happy with me

if life's bad

either God's

powerless to fix

it or he's not

good or he

doesn't care

and so our

situation dictates

what we think

God is like

but learn the

lesson from

Israel beware of

false victories

don't let the

situation dictate

your circumstance

there is another

parable that Jesus

tells in Luke 16

about a rich man

and a beggar

the rich man is

wealthy and the

story describes him

as being someone who

enjoys fine foods

and fine things in

all of his life

and Lazarus is a

beggar who sits

outside this rich

man's house

begging for

anything even the

scraps from this

rich man's table

and to look at the

two it would be

easy to guess that

maybe God is happier

with the rich man

than he is with

this beggar

even the dogs

lick the sores of

Lazarus

and then it fast

forwards to the

end

Lazarus sits in

heaven with God

and the rich man

is in hell

begging for

relief

God is good

God is powerful

and he is

fulfilling his

plan whether it

looks like that to

us or not

his will of

revealing himself

and calling people

into a relationship

with himself

will not fail

no matter how

it looks

we must be

careful

not to be

convinced by

false victory

even as Israel

fails to be the

instrument that

reveals God to

the nations around

he is still

revealed

we finished last

week with a sad

conclusion from the

woman giving birth

that the glory has

departed Israel

just a couple of

verses later we

find that glory being

revealed in the

temple at Ashdod

God reveals that he

is still in control

he is still more

powerful than

whatever else anyone

may put their trust

in regardless of

how it might look

God is fulfilling

his plan and

purpose and even

in our world which

denies that God is

even there God

will have his way

even in a world

full of wrong

perceptions about

God eventually all

will see him all

will recognize him

all will bow before

his majesty and

his holiness

how do we focus on

reality we beware of

false victories

and secondly we look

to the place where

God has revealed

himself we look to

Jesus in Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 says that

in the past God

spoke to our

ancestors through the

prophets at many

times and in various

ways but in these

last days he's spoken

to us by his son

whom he appointed

heir of all things

and through whom he

made the universe

the sun is the

radiance of God's

glory and the exact

representation of his

being

Colossians 1

the sun is the

image of the

invisible God

John 1

no one has ever

seen God but the

one and only son who

is himself God and

is in closest

relationship with the

father has made him

known

in Jesus you see God

shining brightest

if you want to see

the reality of God

there is only one

place to look and

that is where God

has shown himself

and that is in

Jesus his power

his love his

righteous judgment

his patience with

sinful people his

provision his

faithfulness it's all

on display in Jesus

life and death on

the cross now for

everyone else the

cross looks like the

moment where God

loses for the

Romans at that point

that was where they

stamped out this

annoying little sect

that was starting up

this new church this

new religion for the

Jewish leaders they

finally got rid of

the competition for

Satan he thought he'd

won as Jesus hung

there dying it looked

like God was either

powerless or he didn't

care but beware false

victory in the empty

tomb God is vindicated

not even death can stop

God's plan not

not soldiers not

plotting politicians

not rebellious people

nothing can stop the

will of God

nothing can stop what

he is doing and his

will is that all

might see his glory and

honor him as God

that is his plan that is

his desire and the joy

for us is that the

reality of who God is

far exceeds any

perception that we

might invent God is

more loving than we

hope God is more

powerful than we

imagine God is more

in control than we

can begin to

understand our false

perceptions of God

fall so far short of

who he really is the

watered-down versions

miss out on so much

goodness and holiness

and love and mercy if

your perception of God

doesn't drive you to

your knees in humble

dependence on his

power while at the

same time drive you

into the air leaping

for joy and singing

with thankfulness in

light of his unfailing

love then look again

look again at Jesus

look again at the

empty cross and the

empty tomb look again

at the risen Savior look

again at God because

the reality far exceeds

any perception that we

could invent far exceeds

any vision we might

hope for look again at

Jesus

Father God we thank and

praise you that you

have chosen to reveal

yourself that we don't

have to guess at what

you're like but God we

want to confess that when

things don't go our way

when things aren't

exactly the way we want

them to be that so often

we begin to doubt you

God help us to see in

Jesus the limitless love

that you have for us

help us to trust your

goodness and your power

and your sovereignty

God if there are blind

spots in our vision of

you if there are things

that are wrong about the

way that we see you and

the way that we love you

and the way that we

follow you show us

Jesus help us to see you

clearly so that we might

love you as you deserve

and so that we might

know the joy that is

only found in the one

true God

Father we thank you that

in Jesus we pray

confident

in Jesus we know that it

is done

in Jesus our hope is

secure

Father open our eyes

help us to look again

Amen

Amen

God right

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen