Honoring God in Curious Times

I Samuel 6:19-20 - “But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

Years ago, the disobedient Israel suffered the loss of her most famous symbol of God’s presence- the ark was captured by foreigners. God uses this moment to speak to these foreigners about His own superiority. God himself afflicts several Philistine cities through the presence of His ark—destroying their idol ‘Dagon’ and causing an epidemic of tumors amongst its people. In a desperate move to rid themselves of the ark, they sent the ark back to Israel, via a cattle cart. The foreigners were humbled and keenly aware that the God of Israel was no ordinary ‘god,’ but one deserving respect and honor.

They watched the cart, as God directed the cattle back to Beth Shemesh (from here noted as BS), where the Israelites rejoiced at the return of “God’s presence.” Amidst the celebration, however, tragedy strikes. Several of the men pry open the ark to peer inside. Rumor had it that inside the ark were the two tablets with the covenant written on them, the covenant the Lord gave to Moses (Ex. 40:20). Perhaps these men wondered: “Were the tablets still there?” or “Did the Philistines place something else in the ark?” So they did and they died.

It could have been a scene right out of Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, sans the Nazis.

Before we think of God as being harsh with His presence, think about how where the ark was before this: In the Holy of Holies—a place visited only once a year by a priest. The ark was also carried only by Levites, and then, only with poles.

The men of BS were thoroughly unschooled in the things of God. They had to be taught just as the foreigners were taught that God’s ‘presence’ is nothing to joke about.

Are we any different than the people of BS? In the new covenant, we don’t carry an ark around as a token of God’s presence. The Holy Spirit living in us is the presence of God in us. Yet, when it comes to rightly relating to God, we are as unschooled as the people of BS.

For us to be in the presence of God requires us to be absolutely perfect. None of us have lived this way since our great-to-the-hundred degree ancestors in the garden disobeyed. None of us are worthy of God’s holy presence. The only reason we are able to enter into God’s presence freely is through the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus. We may enter that holy place many times each day and know the presence of God hears us—unlike the once a year priest. We have tremendous access to God.

Yet, we are curious. We are creative types and our eyes hunger for more. Instead of resting in the simplicity of the presence of God in our lives through the Spirit and the Word, some of us want signs and symbols. Instead of trusting his promises, some of us want to know how He will fulfill them. Some of us take our entertainment more seriously than our God, or worse yet, see the things of God purely as entertainment.

That’s not to say that God doesn’t do fascinating things. This story is evidence of God making a mockery of any ‘idol’ that man might construct. Let’s be faithful in God’s school of worship by radically honoring Him. Let’s rid ourselves of idols. Take time to review how you and I are able to enter the presence of God through his blood. (Heb. 10:19-22). Let’s thank him for that. Let’s honor and respect the Lamb who was slain to bring us to God.