When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon…And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. – 1 Samuel 5:2,4,6
Jehovah’s answer to His foes was Dagon broken to shivers before His Ark and the Philistines plagued with tumors, until, in their desperate pain and dire disgrace, they set the Ark free, being no longer able to endure its presence in any of their towns. And so the Jews ever afterwards used to exasperate the Philistines by reminding them of the disease which so sorely tried them. There is a dash of this in the Psalm which says of the Lord, “He smote His enemies in the inner part. He put them to a perpetual reproach.” Never did a boastful nation undergo a deeper dishonor in the eyes of their neighbors, to whom they became a laughingstock! And never did an image suffer a worse disgrace than that which befell their god, Dagon.
Say to yourselves, then, “Our Lord will not always endure this idolatrous popery which is multiplying its priests within our national Church. His people cannot bear it—much less will He! He will not always tolerate these blasphemous theories by which self-conceited, learned men and vainglorious skeptics seek to get rid of God out of the world. They will provoke Him. He will bestir Himself. He will show Himself strong on the behalf of His Truth! He will roll back the waves of sin and let the ages know that He is still the great I AM, the victorious God over all, blessed forever.”
He Hath Said 