5:5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, {c} tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
(c) Thus instead of acknowledging the true God by this miracle, they fall into greater superstition.
5:5 This day - When this history was written, which if written by Samuel towards the end of his life, was a sufficient ground for this expression.
5:1-5 See the ark's triumph over Dagon. Thus the kingdom of Satan will certainly fall before the kingdom of Christ, error before truth, profaneness before godliness, and corruption before grace in the hearts of the faithful. When the interests of religion seem to be ready to sink, even then we may be confident that the day of their triumph will come. When Christ, the true Ark of the covenant, really enters the heart of fallen man, which is indeed Satan's temple, all idols will fall, every endeavour to set them up again will be vain, sin will be forsaken, and unrighteous gain restored; the Lord will claim and possess the throne. But pride, self-love, and worldly lusts, though dethroned and crucified, still remain within us, like the stump of Dagon. Let us watch and pray that they may not prevail. Let us seek to have them more entirely destroyed.
