My comments on this story of
the milk cows are found HERE
and HERE.
I wrote “The point of this
story can be summarized by a question? When you view current events
in the world and indeed in your life, is it “chance” or is it “God””? Clearly the Philistines interpreted this
event as God. The cows, pulling the Ark
went straight for Beth-shemesh. “Beth-shemesh
was partway up the Sorek Valley, a valley connecting Israel and Philistia, the
scene of many of Samson’s exploits.”[1]
“A city of the Levites, who were tasked with taking care of the ark (Num 3:31;
Deut 10:8; Josh 21:16).”[2]
Although busy at
harvest the people rejoiced to see the Ark.
The cows stopped in the field of Joshua.
Because these cows and the cart performed the sacred duty of carrying
the Ark, they could not be used for normal everyday purposes. Therefore, they were sacrificed to the Lord. The Philistines observed this, and we have
recorded, “And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they
returned that day to Ekron.” (1 Samuel 6:16, ESV). The author records that the guilt offering[3]
sent by the Philistines was noted and then we read these words: “And he
struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the
Lord. He struck seventy men of
them, and the people mourned because the Lord
had struck the people with a great blow.” (1 Samuel 6:19, ESV)
Why would God strike down these men for looking upon the Ark? The Hebrew indicates the idea of irreverence. Normally in Israel the Ark was viewed annually and only by a prescribed individual. It was viewed through a cloud of incense. Looking into what symbolized the Presence of God for mere curiosity is prohibited. Matthew Henry provides a helpful application:
“It is a great affront to God for vain men to pry into and
meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, Deu. 29:29; Col. 2:18.
We were all ruined by an ambition of forbidden knowledge. That which made this
looking into the ark a great sin was that it proceeded from a very low and mean
opinion of the ark. The familiarity they had with it upon this occasion bred
contempt and irreverence.”[4]
Indeed, God is holy. “Who
is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up
away from us?”[5] Such fear was invoked that these priests of
Beth-shemesh sent the Ark away to Kirjath Jearim[6].
“And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark
of the Lord and brought it to the
house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have
charge of the ark of the Lord.
From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed,
some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.” (1 Samuel 7:1–2, ESV).
Again, I lean on the helpful comments of Henry: “Thus do
foolish men run from one extreme to the other, from presumptuous boldness to
slavish shyness.”[7] To put this another way, God’s people can
often be of two extremes:
1. There is an audacious
arrogance that seeks to enter the inexplicable and sovereign ways of God in a
way whereby “angels fear to tread”; and contrarily,
2. There is another
arrogance – a subtle form of pride, that avoids what God has determined for us
to know and yet slothfully fails to deal with it.
An illustration might be useful. Let’s pick a topic like eschatology. There is so much about the future that is
unknown to us. There are things that can
be said to be “the secret things belong to the Lord our God.”[8] Having said that, there are those who take
an opposite approach, using this as an excuse, and pleading ignorance – happily
pleading ignorance. It’s a plea that is
tantamount to a fear of being accountable to know something. It’s a plea that is tantamount to
laziness. Like a friend once told me: “I’m
a pan-millennial.” “I just believe things will pan out in the end.” This was his excuse not to study.
You will notice that I accuse both extremes with the sin
of pride. What should we have no
fear in understanding and applying? The
answer is “that which is revealed included the law with its promises and
threats”[9] or
stated otherwise, “the things that are revealed . . . that we may do all the
words of this law.”[10] Paul states a similar point in 1 Corinthians
4:6 (ESV),
“6 I have applied all these things to
myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us
not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in
favor of one against another.” [emphasis mine]
The priests of Beth-shemesh, simply had to obey what was
clearly revealed in the Law. This would
keep them from the sin of idolatrous curiosity and from the sin of passivity. Paul’s counsel is incredibly practical. Do not go beyond what is written. To fall on either side of this is prideful. Israel was not to inspect such holy things (Numbers 4:15, 20);
but they were to take care of it (Numbers 3:31; Deuteronomy 10:8). We as Christians will do well to heed the
advice of Paul: don’t go beyond what is written. Sometimes that will mean saying, “I don’t
know”; and sometimes that will mean doing the hard work of study – not with a
curious, self-promoting pride – but with humble reverence.
[1] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible
(p. 501). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[2] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S.,
Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study
Bible (1 Sa 6:13). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] The images were symbolic of the plague; the idea was
that God would know exactly what the ransom money was for and would then heal
them of the plague.
[4] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s
commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume
(p. 393). Peabody: Hendrickson.
[5] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 6:20). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[6] “The ancient name of the town was Baale of Judah (2
Sam 6:2); it was located ten miles west of Jerusalem on the road to Lydda,
according to Eusebius. The site is near the modern village of Abu Ghosh.” - Hindson,
E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible
Commentary (p. 544). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[7] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s
commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume
(p. 393). Peabody: Hendrickson.
[8] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (Dt 29:29). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[9] MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study
Bible (electronic ed., p. 293). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.
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