In 1 Samuel 5:1–7:1, the Philistines capture the ark of God and place it in the temple of their god Dagon as a trophy of victory. But the next morning, Dagon has fallen face-down before the ark—and the morning after that, his head and hands are broken off like a defeated soldier. God then sends plagues of tumors and rats on every Philistine city the ark visits: Ashdod, then Gath, then Ekron. After seven months of disaster, the Philistines send the ark back to Israel on a cart pulled by two mother cows who walk straight toward Israel instead of returning to their calves—proving God was behind everything. But even the Israelites at Beth Shemesh learn that God’s holiness is serious when seventy men die for treating the ark carelessly. The big takeaway? God doesn’t need anyone to defend Him—He fights His own battles and always wins.

Sponsor: This episode of The Hey Eddy! Podcast is brought to you by DAGON’S SUPER GLUE: Because SOMEBODY keeps knocking your god over, and it’s definitely not a coincidence!

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