Who Can Stand Before this Holy God? - 1 Samuel 6:15-7:2

OK, we're going to go ahead and get started with Sunday school. So if you can find a seat. Lots of choices. We will be, once again, looking in the book of 1 Samuel. So if you would turn to 1 Samuel chapter 6, we will be beginning with verse 14 to bring it in context.

We left off at verse 15 last time. But before we get started, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Ask him to bless his word. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks, Lord, for the privilege of gathering collectively as your people to worship you and to spend time in study of your word.

And we pray, Lord, that you would bless your word as we open it this morning. And we ask, Father, that you would be glorified as we look at your word and look at the relevance of the teachings of this Old Testament text to our lives.

And we just pray this morning, Father, that you would grant us the ability to not only understand this passage, but also to make proper application in our own lives. We ask this for your glory and in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

The Ark Returned to Beth-shemesh and the First Offering

Well, we're back in chapter 6. And we'll begin with verse 14 of chapter 6. The cart came into the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite, and stood there where there was a large stone. And they split wood, excuse me, split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was with it, in which the articles of gold, and put them in a large stone. And the men of Bathsheba offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord.

When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day. These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for the guilt offering to the Lord. One from Ashdod, one from Gaza, one from Ashkelon, one from Gath, one from Ekron, and the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages.

The large stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua, the Bathshemite. He struck down some of the men of Bathshemish because they had looked into the ark of the Lord.

Ceremonial Law, Burnt Offerings, and the Holiness of the Ark

He struck down of all the people, 50 ,070 men. And the people mourned because the Lord has struck the people with a great slaughter. The men of Bathshemish said, who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?

And to whom shall he go up from us? So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jeriam, saying, the Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you. And in chapter 7, the first verse, then the men of Kiriath-Jeriam came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.

From that day, the ark remained with Kiriath-Jeriam. The time was long, for it was 20 years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Well, the first part of this shows us that Joshua of Bathshemish would probably have never considered that in his field, where there was a large rock outcrop, the ark of the covenant would be placed and there left to worship the Lord.

However, the cows, remember, carrying the cart, came to rest in this field. The Levites took the ark and the chest containing the golden objects, which were the guilt offerings given by the five lords of the cities of Philistine.

And they were the people that held the ark in captivity. And God carried out a great plague upon them. Some of them died because of it. After sacrificing the cart with the cows as a burn offering, the Lord of the inhabitants of Bathshemish gave further practical expression to their joy at the return of this ark by doing offerings.

They offered burn offerings and slain offerings. Now, to describe what these offerings are for, the burn offerings is when they consecrated themselves once again with all their heart to the Lord. They were offering a penance and an expression of a penitent heart and a recommitment to set apart their lives once again in the service of the Lord.

Now, one of the commentators by the name of R .D. Burgin points out that only male animals were to be used in burn offerings. And he refers to Leviticus 1 .3, which reads, if his offering is a burn offering from the herd, he shall offer it.

A male without defect, he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent meeting that he may be accepted before the Lord. So in offering cows as a burn offering, the Levites should have known the Levitical law pertaining.

To this.

So this shows further the darkness of their hearts. They offered the cows in lieu of male animals. However, Kiel and Delitzsch, the commentary, these are Hebrew scholars, they made this statement regarding the ark.

These sacrifices at Beth Shemesh were not an offense against the commandment to sacrifice to the Lord in the place of his sanctuary alone. Now, that was one of the other laws of the ceremonial laws. That is, that they offered these sacrifices within the tent of meeting or the tabernacle.

So the ark of the covenant was the throne of the presence of God by which the sacrifices could be offered. The Lord had sanctified the ark as the throne of his presence. And by the miracle which he had done in bringing it back to Israel.

The Philistines, the Most Holy Things, and the Warning of Numbers 4

As we continue on in verses 16 through 18, we read this. Got to switch back to my glasses, I'm sorry. Just had eye surgery. When the five lords of the Philistines saw that and they returned to Ekron, these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned to Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron.

And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, belonging to the five lords. Both fortified cities and also country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Bathshemite.

So when the five lords who ruled over the cities that held the ark captive witnessed not only the lords guiding the cows which brought the cart containing the ark of the covenant, that in itself showed God's control over all his creations.

The five lords of the Philistines were able to observe this. This miraculous display that God of Israel had performed. And they witnessed the power of God directing the ark of the covenant back to the people of Bathshemish.

So the Philistine lords over these cities were not only witness of the sacrificial offerings, but they were also witness to the joy of the Israelites as the ark was returned. Apparently, right now, this is the purpose that God had with the Philistines.

So we don't see them for a short period of time, at least for the time being. The five golden tumors and the five golden mice couldn't atone for the sins of the Philistines. However, the Lord had humbled them.

He had revealed to these pagan idolaters that his power was greater than any of their pagan gods. Remember, he destroyed their idol, Dagon. The destination of the ark was no coincidence. The city of Bathshemish was one of the litical cities that was set aside for the clan of Kohat.

So we'll read this, you don't have to turn there, but I'm going to Numbers chapter four, and it reads this. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by the families, by their father's household, from 30 years and upward, even to 50 years old, all who enter service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting concerning the most holy things. So the most holy things, do we know what those are when they refer to that in the ceremonial law? Well, these are some of the items of the most holy things.

There was the labor, which the priest washed before entering the temple. There was the menorah. This was the candle that had seven candles, which they used because there could be no natural light allowed within the temple.

It was made of solid gold, it weighed 75 pounds, and the ornamentation of the lampstand consisted of three pairs of branches on each side, and there was a central shaft up the center of these three branches on either side.

It was about five feet tall and 3 1⁄2 feet wide. So it was placed on the left side of the tabernacle since there was no natural light allowed. So that was the menorah. The table of bread, which was the showbread that was placed upon it.

The altar of incense and the veil, and of course, the Ark of the Covenant. These are the holy items which are referred to, or the holy things that are referred to here. When the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aarons in Numbers 4, verses 8 through 14, he said this, they shall spread over, they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert it in poles.

Then they shall take a blue cloth and a cover and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps and its snuffers, and its trays and all of its oil vessels, by which they serve it. And they shall put it and all the utensils and a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall put it in the carrying bars.

Over the golden altar, they shall spread a blue cloth and a cover it with covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert the poles and they shall take all the utensils of service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin and put them on the carrying bars.

Then they shall take away the ashes from the altar, spread a purple cloth over it. They shall also put on it all the utensils by which they serve in connection with it, the fire pans, the forks and shovels and the basins and all the utensils of the altar.

And they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert the poles. So why is that significant? It's significant because these items were considered sacred items before the Lord. So they wanted them covered so that they can't be observed.

So some have misinterpreted this aspect of the temple furnishings using an allegorical method of interpretation. And they try to assign these implements that were used in the furnishings as a representation in a type of Christ, which is not really the proper way to interpret scripture.

They don't use a proper hermeneutics, nor do they take scripture literally, but rather allegorically, which is incorrect, perhaps more than aberrant. In some cases, it's heretical. In Numbers 4, 19 and 20, the Lord gave strict warnings to Moses and Aaron of what would happen to any violation of this instruction.

It reads,.

"'But do this to them, that they may live and not die "'when they approach the most holy objects. "'Aaron and his sons shall go in "'and assign to each of them to his work and to his load. "'But they shall not go in to see the holy objects, "'even for a moment, or they will die.'".

That was how strict the ceremonial law was for them. They weren't even to look upon these objects, or they would die. Yes, Nathel. It was a covering. I don't know if there's any significance to it. It doesn't state in the scriptures, nor any of the commentators.

So I

I've never read.

Yeah.

Maybe there's a reason, but it wasn't something I was able to find. So what was the purpose of using porpoiskins to cover the utensils and also the Ark of the Covenant? I'm not sure. They also had a scarlet covering as well.

That scarlet coloring was as a sacred piece of material. So they utilized that, most of all, to cover. Now, when we think of porpoiskin, it's not like we may assume, scaly, but it's something that they had tanned, and it was smooth, and it was a cloth form, or a light leather cloth.

Bathshemish was one of the designated homes of the descendants of Aaron. We find this in the book of Joshua. We read this in Joshua 21, verses 13 through 16. So to the sons of Aaron, the priests, they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pastor lands, and Litna with its pastor lands, and Jeteer with its pastor lands, and Holon with its pastor lands, and Debir, or Debor, with its pastor lands, and Aon with its pastor lands, and Judah with its pastor lands, and Bathshemish with its pastor lands, pastor lands, nine cities from these two tribes.

So Bathshemish was an area where they did send the Levitical priests. That was a priesthood city. So as we continue back, in verse 19, we read, he struck down of the men of Bathshemish, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, he struck down all the people, 50 ,070 men, and the people mourned, because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

The Philistines are not blamed for sending the ark of God away in a wooden cart. They didn't know any better. If they did, they had no means of transporting the ark by use of the Levites. So they didn't understand Levitical law or the ceremonial law.

The conduct of the individuals of Bathshemish, who looked into or even touched the ark, was swiftly and severely punished. Whatever may have been the precise nature of their conduct, they had not only violated ceremonial law regarding the ark, but they also violated the temple furnishings and all of that.

There was no evidence, at least revealed in this text, that the Levites had covered the ark appropriately. We don't know if they covered it or not. But we have to remember something. This was out in the middle of a field where people could not only observe it, but we don't know if it was covered.

We don't know if they had any protective Levites around the ark to guard it and make sure that it was well cared for. There was no evidence that had put any kind of veil on it. Whether they actually pried it open and looked into the ark, if the Philistines had put any gold in the ark or the box next to the ark, God struck them with a stroke for their lack of reverence and godly fear, as well as presumption.

That would be considered the sin of presumption. Looking at the ark or touching the ark would have been the sin of presumption. These Levites knew the law. They knew how to cover the ark. They knew how to treat the ark, and yet they failed to do so.

So it's evident that the Israelites should never have taken the Ark of the Covenant from the tabernacle at Shiloh in the first place into the field of battle. They didn't pray. They didn't ask guidance from the Lord.

They didn't repent. They just assumed by taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle, God would give them victory. That's presumption on their part, and a grievous sin. The joy of having the Ark of the Covenant returned to Israel was soon clouded by the deaths of these men.

The Levites had allowed God's holy ark to become a tourist attraction. The ark being in the open fields on the outskirts of the city of Beth Shemesh, whether it was covered or not, we don't even know.

Once again, we see the righteous anger of a holy and just God. God had given strict commands regarding the moving, the transporting of the ark. There were four rings on the ark, two on each end, and those rings, they were to put a pole on each side, and then there would be four Levitical priests who would carry the ark, and that's how it was to be transported.

That way, they never actually touched the ark at all when transporting it. The holy objects inside of the Ark of the Covenant were the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments, Aaron's buttered rod, and the golden jar containing manna.

The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of God's presence for his people, Israel. These examples reveal to us how we can fail to show reverence for a holy and righteous God. In this account given here in 1 Samuel 6, 19, which God struck the men of Beth Shemesh, they show the amount of men that died that day as 50 ,070 men.

Now, according to the Greek Septuagint, 50 ,070 men died. The King James Version, the New King James Version, the New American Standard Version give this amount. The NIV and a few Hebrew manuscripts read only 70.

John MacArthur in his study Bible indicates in his footnotes, he makes this statement. However, a scribal error could have occurred in which case a number would omit 50 ,000 and likely be 70 as stated in the book of Josephus.

Josephus was a Hebrew scholar, and we get much of our Hebrew history or Israel's history from Josephus, from the book of Josephus. So even though that could have been the number, there's some debate between scholars, Hebrew scholars as to that many men being in that location in Beth Shemesh.

They're not sure if it would have been that many. However, John MacArthur in his statement says, yes, there could have been that many because there were 30 ,000 killed in battle when they went up against the Philistines.

But the final analysis was the amount 70 because they do believe that there was scholars, either a scribal error that they miswrote the number and it should be actually 70. Once again, in the commentary from Kiel and Delitzsch, the Hebrew scholars, they gave this observation.

Ceremonial law given by God to Moses and Aaron forbade God's people to look or even touch the Ark of the Lord, to look at or even touch. They looked into the Ark. If that had been the meaning, this is his observation, opening the Ark of the Covenant certainly would have been not passed over without notice.

To look upon means to look upon a thing with lust or malicious pleasure and here no doubt signifies a foolish staring which was incompatible with the holiness of the Ark of God and was punished with death according to the warning in Numbers 420.

This severe judgment so alarmed the people of Beth Shemesh that they exclaimed, who was able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? Consequently, the Bethshemites discerned correctly enough that the cause of the fatal stroke which had fallen upon them was the unholiness of their own nature.

They felt that they were none of them any better than those who had fallen and that sinners could not approach the holy God, end quote. That was Kielan Gelich, their commentary on that. Since the original translators of the Hebrew manuscripts vary in their interpretation of the wording in this text, we can still understand the essence of the irreverence that was shown for his divine holiness and his holy word.

Some may think perhaps, they may even reason that this was unfair or perhaps too harsh a punishment to strike down this many men with death. However, it doesn't depend on how we feel or our emotions, whether we think it's fair or unfair.

It was the righteousness of God and his just punishment that he carried out in this case. Resuming in verse 20, the men of Beth Shemesh said, who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God, and who will go up from us?

The people of Beth Shemesh first asked a profound and correct theological question. That is, who is able to stand before this holy God? What would the answer be? No one, no one. The people of faith would respond by humble repentance and turning before God and confessing their sins and repentant heart before him, humbling themselves before him.

That's how we approach God. The Israelites mourned the heavy blow that the Lord had dealt. They mourned that more than their own sin. So they didn't even, at that point, repent. Just like the Philistines in chapter five and verses eight and 10, all the Israelites were concerned about was one thing, sending that ark to another city.

Were they any different at this point than the Philistines' response to those that had held captive the Ark of the Covenant? There's no distinction there. They acted in the same way that the Philistines acted.

When they put that, when they either looked upon and touched that ark, they violated God's holy ceremonial law. And rather than repenting, the men that remained, they said, let's send that off. We've got to move that ark.

Because they realized that their sinfulness was no different than the men who the Lord had slain. Verse 21, so they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Gerium, saying, the Philistines have brought back the Ark of the Lord.

Come down and take it up to you. So they did the same as the Philistines of Ashdod. They sent the ark to Gath, then to Ekron, and the remainder of those five cities. So now they just, these Levitical priests, they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Gerium, saying, the Philistines have brought the ark back.

Come down and take it up to you. They weren't willing to repent and properly care for the ark, as the Lord had given them instruction to do. So the response here is no different, again, than the lords of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, or Ekron.

Having the plagues sent to their cities by the Lord, they suffered disease and death. Another commentator by the name of Dale Ralph Davis in his commentary on 1 Samuel makes this observation. Believers can fall into the same Bathshemish mode of thinking.

Some think that they want our God to be casual, easygoing, rather than the Lord of hosts, some would rather consider God a friendly person to me, rather than a holy, righteous God. So often, Christians want to be the controllers of their own lives, captain of their own ship, rather than realizing God is the sovereign, and we are accountable to him, end quote.

God wants us to bow before him in his holiness, and show our reverence for him. As God's people come before his presence, we do so with humility and brokenness. Perhaps Habakkuk said it best. In chapter two of Habakkuk, he says this in verse 20.

But the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him. He understood what a holy God our Lord is, and he showed that reverence by this verse, this writing. So God's people throughout the Old or New Testament are called to honor God, and to honor his word in obedience.

We as Christians are called to obey his word, as he gives us the empowerment to do so. Christians are not under the Mosaic law, the ceremonial law, but we are accountable to God's word. Going on to chapter seven, verse one.

And the men of Kiriath, Jiriam, came and took the Ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated Eleazar, his son, to keep the Ark of the Lord. Think about that.

They sent people down to transport the Ark, but they consecrated a man to oversee this properly. So at the request of these fearful men, the Bershemish, the men of Kiriath, Jiriam, took their place for the care and oversight of the Ark.

Arrangements were made for the house of Abinadab, and Eleazar, his son, was consecrated, set apart to exercise care and oversight for this vessel. The men of Bershemish were shamely unfit to carry out this task.

They were careless, irreverent, and in a manner exercised, they neglected their responsibilities. Now, there was a new era beginning with the Israelites. God wanted to have men that he could trust that are fitted for the occasion of carrying out his ministry.

From what we have seen in chapter six, the Philistines returning the Ark to the Israelites, sending it on a cart, carried, which carried the Ark, as well as a box containing the articles of guilt offering.

The plagues were represented by these guilt offerings. The Ark was placed on the cart, was drawn by the milch cows. God directed the cows to the city of Bershemish, where it stopped in the wheat fields of Joshua, where the large stone outcrop was, where they placed the Ark of the Covenant.

This was all done by the hand of the Lord. God is the one who prepares his people for service. If those whom God has prepared to carry out his work disregard his word, he will set them aside and use the people that are faithful to him to carry out his ministry.

So what can we learn from this? This is Old Testament historical narrative, the whole book of Samuel, first and second. But what is the relevance of this text to us today? We shouldn't ever look at scripture just as a historical narrative or a lesson, but we should look at what God has that's relevant for us today, what pertains to us.

We can see from this text that when God entrusts his people with a responsibility, he gives them the ability, the giftedness, and the empowerment to carry out his will. He gives them also the ability to turn to him when they sin and come to him in repentance to cleanse them of their sin.

He does this and he uses faithful men. As we consider this text, we learn how important it is to revere for the God that we serve. He penned this not only as a historical account, but for his people to understand that he is a holy God and desires us to worship him and to show reverence for him.

So as we look at this text, let's consider this application for us and how we should reverence our Lord and Savior. As God's people, we should show the utmost reverence and honor for a holy and righteous and just God.

Closing Exhortation and Prayer

We're gonna close a little bit early this morning, so if you spend time in fellowship or discussing things, just remember that the students are still having Sunday school in the classroom back here.

Yes, did you all hear that statement of mine?

The leadership, those who were amongst the Levites that were leadership, there is nothing mentioned about them exercising oversight or reproving or correcting anybody. It doesn't show any leadership amongst these Levites that would exercise proper care and oversight of the Ark.

Whether that's silent or whether they just neglected to do so in being casual with the Old Testament ceremonial law, they showed once again the darkness of their hearts. We don't see any leadership amongst them, at least not revealed in the text.

Good question. Is there any other questions? Good point. Nathel asks, would they have been afraid of the Philistines? They were very afraid of the Philistines and even more so of God. Rather than repenting and revering Him, they were fearful in that way because of their own sin.

So to answer the question, they were fearful of not only the Philistines but also of their own hearts what God would do to them. They knew, they knew that they were no better than the ones that were killed.

So yes, they were fearful. Good question, Nathel. Any other questions? I don't want us to leave this with any uncertainty about the text. It's clear from this text how God uses His people and think about this.

Kyriath Gerium sending down the people and then they set apart, consecrated specifically the oversight of the Ark of the Covenant. That showed leadership. They even named the people who were going to oversee it, the man who was gonna oversee it.

He was consecrated for that work. So as we think of this, that shows with Kyriath Gerium the respect and reverence they had for Jehovah God. They understood the importance of this care and oversight. They knew the ceremonial law and they were gonna keep that law and oversee this Ark with righteousness as the Lord enabled them to do so.

So let's close and I thank you for the questions. And next week I believe that Cornell's gonna be.

Back in Corinthians, so yield to us.

We thank you for your divine presence and your Holy Spirit within us. And Father, we wanna honor you with our lives, with our thoughts, with our speech. And may we do so, Father, by your grace and may we bring glory to you as you work in and through your servants.

And may we not forget to show the reverence that you deserve and that we are humbly able to do by the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask that in the remainder of the service, in the message, and in our praise and songs, that we would bring glory to your name.

And we give you thanks, Lord, for what you are doing and what you will continue to do. We pray this in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.