But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it.
This summary of the Philistines' sad experience with the ark of the God of Israel needs hardly any comment at all.  There are many things about which our curiosity would certainly like to be satisfied; but the great message of the passage is as clear as the sun at noon on a clear day at perihelion!  That message is the power and superiority of the God of Israel over all things in heaven or upon earth.