Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Beth-Shemeshites Slain.
Occasion: Lack Of Reverence,
Punished.
Location: Beth-Shemesh.
Bible Text:
I Samuel 6:19-21 KJV
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.
20 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?
21 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.
I Samuel 7:1,2
KJV
1 And the men
of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up The Ark Of The Lord, and
brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified
Eleazar his son to keep The Ark Of The Lord.
2 And it came
to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was
long; for it was twenty years..."
I Samuel 6:19-21 NLT
19 But The Lord killed seventy men
from Beth-shemesh because they looked into The Ark Of The Lord. And
the people mourned greatly because of what The Lord had done.
20 “Who is able to stand in the
presence of The Lord, this Holy God?” they cried out. “Where can
we send The Ark from here?”
21 So they sent messengers to the
people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have
returned The Ark Of The Lord. Come here and get it!”
Whatever the number
of the slain was, the Lord had killed many of the people!
Why what evil had
these people done?
“They had
looked into The Ark Of The Lord.” vs19
Curious bystanders rushed in to see what had given the Philistines so
much trouble, that they had to send it away!
But, there was a problem, no one, but no one was to handle The Ark Of
The Covenant, but The High Priest. Caution thrown to the wind, the
men of Beth-shemesh opened The Ark, and looked inside, where
the Pot of Manna, The Decalogue, and Aarons's Rod that budded were,
beneath the Golden Cherubim Mercy Seat.
Lightning fast, the
fiery presence of God, smote them, and 50,070 men lay dead.
To some this may
seem harsh, but the people knew only too well, that only the High
Priest of the Jews was to have access to The Ark Of The Covenant.
Secondly, though
they were struck dead, is not to say that God sent them to hell, but
that they were stopped!
Dear Christian
friend, how very careful, we must be concerning the holy things of
God!
The
Word:
Exodus 3:4,5 KJV
2 And The Angel Of The Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he
looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when The Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the
bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And He said, Draw not nigh hither:
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground.
Leviticus 19:30
KJV
Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and
reverence My sanctuary: I am The Lord.
Leviticus 20:7
KJV
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and
be ye holy: for I am The Lord your God.
Deuteronomy
10:11,12 KJV
12 And now, Israel, what doth The
Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear The Lord thy God, to walk
in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve The Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul,
13 To keep the commandments of The
Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Joshua 5:15 KJV
And the Captain Of The Lord's Host
said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place
whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua 24:14 KJV
Now therefore fear The Lord, and
serve Him in sincerity and in Truth..."
Psalm 33:8 KJV
Let all the earth fear The Lord: let
all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
Psalm 46:10 KJV
Be still, and know that I am God: I
will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 89:7 KJV
(Sound like your church?)
God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them
that are about Him.
Ecclesiastes 5:1
KJV
Keep thy foot when thou goest to The
House Of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice
of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Ecclesiastes
12:13 KJV
Let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the
whole duty of man.
Isaiah 8:13 NLT
Make The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies
holy in your life. He is The One you should fear. He is The One who
should make you tremble.
Habakkuk 2:20
KJV
But the Lord is in his holy temple:
let all the earth keep silence before Him.
Matthew 10:28
KJV
And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is
able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
I Peter 2:17 KJV
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.
Fear God. Honor the king.
-----------------------------------------------
I Samuel 7:1,2
KJV
1 And the men
of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up The Ark Of The Lord, and
brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified
Eleazar his son to keep The Ark Of The Lord.
2 And it came
to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was
long; for it was twenty years..."
Though The Ark Of
The Covenant, had rested in the valley (of desecration-Bethshemesh
) it would be brought up the hill to Kirjathjearim.
Psalm 24:3-10
KJV
3 Who shall ascend into The Hill Of
The Lord? or who shall stand in His Holy Place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a
pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from
The Lord, and righteousness from The God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them
that seek Him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and The King Of Glory shall
come in.
8 Who is this King Of Glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and The King Of Glory shall
come in.
10 Who is this King Of Glory? The
Lord Of Hosts, He is The King Of Glory. Selah.
