(TEXT : 1 Samuel 5:11)
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
FOCUS :
As we see here, the Israelites had an inquisitive irreverence in respect to the Ark. God had command that it should be veiled by the curtains of the Tabernacle, and only approached through a Divinely appointed High Priest, with confession of sin, and the presentation of atoning blood. These people, like many today, pushed all of the Word of the Lord aside and, assisted by the Levites, exposed the Ark, and one might even say, the Throne of God, to public view. The Ark was not only the Throne of God on earth, but was also, as revealed in the Book of Exodus and Leviticus, a beautiful symbol of Christ in His essential Deity and sinless Humanity.
1 Samuel 6:15 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD.
In addition, first of all, the people of Israel, except for the soldiers in the previous battle lost, had never seen the Ark of God. As well they evidently had not been taught the proper respect and reverence for this which was the Holiest of God. In fact, their curiosity was little different than the philistines. There is some question here regarding the number given of the people slain, simply because of the similarity of the Hebrew letters, which could have caused a copyist mistake. “God smote among them seventy men, including fifty of men’s thousand.”. Even seventy killed in such a small place would constitute a great loss. At any rate, whatever the actual number, men died because of their casual curiosity.
1 Samuel 6:19 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
Finally, seeing what had happened, the men of this area, as well, wanted to rid themselves of the Ark. Presently, far too many desire of semblance of God, but only a semblance. There is no danger in the semblance, and great danger in the reality that is, if the Lord is treated with contempt; therefore, many presently are satisfied with mere echo. When the cover is pulled off and we are out to test, the modern church, as Beth-shemesh, little wants the Lord. If God is there, the spectacle of His Blessing and judgment are side by side. The Church has repeatedly through the ages tried to have only one aspect of God, namely the Blessing. That is not possible! We must never forget that there is Redemption, and there is judgement; consequently, there is Heaven, and there is Hell.
1 Samuel 6:20-21 And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
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T.O AKINSANYA
PRINCE ORATORTEE