Location and TimesI Samuel 5:7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
The men of Ashdod wanted the ark gone. They could see that God was dealing with them. They knew that their poor idol had fallen on its face. Then their idol had been broken, desecrated. They knew it was God that was doing this to them.
They recognized that the God of Heaven was greater than their god. They didn’t want to repent. They just wanted relief. They wanted God to leave them alone.
Do you realize that the God of Israel is still known and worshiped today? How many places of worship do you see built to Dagon. God is the only true God.
The sad thing is that these people should have seen their sin and repented but they didn’t. They chose to stick with their god though he was not able to defend them.