The discomfort of living with God – the ark sent away (1 Sam 6:13-7:1)

As Christians, we think of God’s presence as a comfort and a blessing and His absence as distressing, but today’s reading highlights that sometimes God can be uncomfortable to have around. I am reminded of the Gerasenes who see Jesus’ healing of a man and, realising His immense power, ask Him in fear to leave their region (Luke 8:37). Peter is also frightened by Jesus’ might and, recognising his sinfulness, struggles to endure His nearness (Luke 5:8). The Philistines have likewise experienced the danger of God’s presence. Now, as the ark crosses over into Israelite territory, the border town of Beth-shemesh is initially delighted and the people offer sacrifices to the Lord (1 Sam 6:13-15).

Then comes the surprise: some of the men in Beth-shemesh look into the ark and are struck down (1 Sam 6:19).[1] Since the plagues among the Philistines went on for months, Israel must have heard reports of the devastation. Yet, they disregard His power and holiness and show no respect for the Almighty. The insertion of the Philistines’ side of the story (1 Sam 6:16-18) between the two-fold reaction of Beth-shemesh (joy then fear) forces us to compare the two groups. The Philistines ultimately acknowledge God and express genuine reverence for His might, which they cannot endure. Israelites, who should know their own God better, do not treat the Lord with the honour due to Him and they experience the same discipline as the pagans. God is just and does not play favourites. Like the Philistines, they cannot endure God’s presence either and send the ark to Kiriath-jearim (1 Sam 6:20-21), a town some 12-13km to the north-east (and about the same distance from Jerusalem, called Jebus at this point; see map here). Since these people accord the ark due reverence consecrating someone specifically to look after it, no further incident ensues (1 Sam 7:1).

For many of us today, especially in the West, there is an overfamiliarity with God and a lack of emphasis on His holiness. Our church buildings, worship songs and services are often quite informal; we almost make this a virtue as if somehow informality equalled sincerity and solemnity meant hypocrisy or not having a genuine relationship with the Lord. It is a hard balance, of course, because God in Jesus Christ has made us family, so there is and should be a closeness. We are His children and rightly address Him ‘Father’. In addition, God has given His Holy Spirit to indwell us. Yet we may ignore God’s holiness and call on our lives either because we are overfamiliar with God or because we are afraid of what He might ask of us.

The sad thing is that Israel has God’s presence in their midst and at the same time, they don’t. The ark has returned, God is with His people, yet He is also distant, and so Israel laments for Him for twenty years (1 Sam 7:2). I wonder how many Christians long for that nearness, which they may recognise in the lives of others, something they may have had but lost. Like the Israelites, we can have God’s presence (His Holy Spirit in us), but unless we truly honour Him by living lives for Him, that presence will become remote. If we grieve God’s Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) by disregarding the Lord, then His voice will become fainter and fainter and His presence but a shadow. Yet, there is hope. Those who repent and truly turn to the Lord can renew their relationship with Him, so that His nearness will be joy.

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[1] There is a problem with the number, which is probably seventy. The Hebrew has, ‘seventy men and fifty thousand men’, which is oddly phrased as if 50,000 were an afterthought. The normal structure would be ‘fifty thousand and seventy men’. The number also seems staggeringly large for a border town. Such textual issues should not undermine our faith in the accuracy of Scripture though. Manuscripts were copied by hand and small mistakes did occur occasionally, but they are generally easy to spot and do not seriously interfere with the meaning.

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