What is the meaning of Dagon falling face downward before the ark of the LORD?
1 Samuel 5:3 (ESV)
3And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.
Falling face downward before the ark of the Lord, Dagon is in a position of worship and adoration.1 He is bowing before the Lord, symbolically acknowledging that the Lord is God and not Dagon. No one can manipulate or control the Lord simply by gaining possession of the ark of the covenant.2
3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.