The Holy Wrath of God (1 Samuel 6:19-20)

4/28/2010 8:51 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The holy wrath of God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  1 Samuel 6:19-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “19 ¶  He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20  The men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?’”

            There is a bit of controversy in this section of Scripture over the number of people who were killed by the Lord for looking at the Ark of God.  The Hebrew language used letters for numbers and it is entirely possible that this is a scribal error and that the number should be only 70 people killed instead of 50,070 which seem to make more sense.  Josephus believed that the number should have been only 70. 

            John MacArthur writes the following commentary on verse 20:  “Who is able to stand before…God?  This question climaxes the narrative of the ark.  No one is able to stand against God’s judgment.  This applied to the people outside the covenant as well as those under the covenant.  Presumption before God is unacceptable.  to whom shall He go.  The expression was used to denote the desire to take the ark away from them.

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There was an incident that happened in our church sometime ago where our pastor, in order to make a point stood on top of the communion table which upset many people.  In the commentary that Dr. Wiersbe writes about this incident he brings up some points that also bothered me concerning the communion table incident.  “While God doesn’t live in our church buildings or in any of its furnishings (Acts 7:48-50), we do want to show respect for anything dedicated to the glory of God.  The awesome event described here certainly warns us against religious curiosity and lack of reverence for the Lord.  ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb. 10:31, KJV).  In today’s Western society, with its informality and lack of respect for the sacred, it’s easy even for believers to get so ‘chummy’ with the Lord that they forget He is ‘high and lifted up.’”

            That is one thing that I try hard not to do and that is get chummy with the Lord, for doing that is to disrespect Him in a great way.  God is not a respecter of people, in other words God does not change and so if one of God’s great leaders sin, as was the case of king David, He had to deal with the sin even though David was a man after God’s own heart.  I would hope that it is true in my life that the closer that I get to the Lord the more that I am in awe of Him and desire to serve Him better.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. I am thankful for the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ who has paid for all of my sin, and for the Holy Spirit who leads me into the path of righteousness for His names sake.

 

4/28/2010 9:32 AM