Jentezen Franklin Daily Devotional (June 5, 2025) Sin’s Power Is Broken.
“When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!” 1 Samuel 5:2-3
In 1 Samuel, there is a remarkable story about an idol that the Philistines called “Dagon.” The Philistines created it to look half human and half fish because their city was located by the sea. They made their living by the sea, so they created a marine deity. The Philistine priests would burn incense and offer sacrifices to this huge idol that looked similar to a merman. The people would praise and glorify the idol as their god.
In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines defeated the Israelites in a battle and captured the Ark of the Covenant. Never before had a nation been able to steal this precious relic that represented God’s covenant with the Israelites. The Philistines were so boastful and joyous over the victory that they placed the Ark of the Covenant as a trophy beside their idol as if to say, “Dagon is mightier than Jehovah.”
Then verses 5:2-4 tell us, “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.”
When the living God of Heaven enters the heart of man, “Dagon,” the idol god of sin and worldliness, must come down. The Ark of the Lord coming into the temple of Dagon is a picture of Christ coming into the heart of an unbeliever. It is symbolic of what takes place when Christ comes into your temple. When grace first made its entrance into the human heart, it found nothing but darkness and dominion of sin. Sin was enthroned in a high position. The prince of darkness was ruling over your thoughts and flesh. But when grace came in, every evil principality that was sitting on the throne of your life had to bow down.
You may have allowed the “Dagon” of drunkenness, addiction, homosexuality, or depression to rule over you. But once you received God’s amazing grace, the power of sin was broken. That which was ruling you fell prostrate at the feet of the King of Kings, and no sin shall have dominion over you any longer. It doesn’t matter what was previously sitting on the throne of your life; it will bow down to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
