1 Samuel 6:13-19.
Oh, the folly of hardening one’s heart against God! He alone is the source of all blessing, and yet how many will accept the blessings and still resist the Word of God. If there should be an unsaved one reading these lines, we beseech you to bow your stubborn will in His presence now, owning that you are a poor lost sinner, deserving His judgment. He commands you to repent, and if you will but do so, He has rich blessing for you. God’s beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, died upon Calvary’s cross for you, that you might be saved, and when you take your true place in repentance, and put your faith in Him and His finished work, He will save you. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9.
The lords of the Philistines watched the ark to the borders of the land of Israel, and when it came to Bethshemesh the Israelites were reaping their harvest. When they saw the ark they rejoiced. The kine came into the field of a man named Joshua, and stood still. The Levites took the ark off the cart, and also the golden mice and emerods which the Philistines had sent. The Israelites who were there took the kine and offered them as a burnt offering to the Lord. After this they continued to offer many sacrifices to the Lord that day, for they were so thankful to have the ark back again.
In spite of all the Lord’s goodness in returning the ark to them, they were not satisfied with approaching Him in His appointed way, but curiously looked into the ark. Now this ark is a figure of the Person of Christ, as we noticed in our talks on the tabernacle from the book of Exodus, and no one could look into it without being judged. The Person of Christ is a divine mystery, and we can never understand it, for the Scripture says, “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father.” Matt. 11:27. Many, down the years of the Christian era, have tried to fathom this mystery, but they, like the men of Beth-shemesh, have been smitten. They have always fallen into evil doctrine, and brought great dishonor upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear reader, let us ever “hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,” 1 Tim. 3:9, and bow in worship at His divine Person. “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. 2:9.
Many of the men of Beth-shemesh were smitten dead, as we have remarked, when they looked into the ark. It might have seemed like a little thing to them, just as many today treat bad doctrine as a small matter. They are horrified by crimes against their fellow men, but care little what is taught about the Person and work of Christ. Let us never forget that the deity of Christ is the very touchstone of Christianity, and everything stands or falls upon it. Alas, great numbers in Christendom today have given up this great truth, robbed themselves and their hearers of a Saviour, and are on the downward path to eternal death—eternal hell. This is far worse than death to the body, which the men of Beth-shemesh suffered here.
We would like to warn our readers that if anyone tries to sell or even give you literature which denies the full Godhead glory of the Lord Jesus, refuse it definitely and finally, no matter how attractive it looks. Such literature is deadly spiritual poison.
ML 05/16/1954