An Interesting Example of Irreverence

How would you define irreverence? Not being reverent, or respectful, right? Okay, so in terms of our relationship with God, to be irreverent is to be disrespectful, perhaps arrogant, blasphemous and/or nonchalant. Examples might include: using God's name in vain, mocking God and His word, verbally challenging God, acting as if God owes us, and even disobedience (especially when it is intentional or willful).

As I was studying the Bible this morning, it occurred to me that there is another way in which we can be irreverent toward God. Notice 1 Samuel 6:19-20...

"Then He struck the men of beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth Shemesh said, 'Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us?"

To provide a wee bit of context, the Philistines had captured the ark of God, but because God had afflicted them when it was in their possession, the Philistines decided to send it back to the Israelites. The ark of the covenant was delivered back to the Israelites by two milk cows and a cart. It promptly arrived in the town of Beth Shemesh, and as you might imagine, the Israelites (who had been extremely upset when it was captured) were elated to have it back among them. They "rejoiced to see it" (1 Sam. 6:13).

One might say that the Hebrews of Beth Shemesh were reverent toward God. They were spiritually-minded enough to desire the ark's presence and to offer the milk cows as a sacrifice unto God upon the ark's return. However, they became irreverent (even if it was in ignorance) when they opened the ark of God to peer inside. God was so displeased with them that he struck down 50,070 people.

Why do you think the citizens of Beth Shemesh looked inside the ark?

I assume that they wanted to know what was inside. These common people had perhaps never seen the ark before, had never had access to it (for it had always been kept by the levites), so their curiosity was understandably aroused. They just wanted to see it...to know...to experience it for themselves...even though (and this was the problem), it was not their right to see it, to know, to experience it, etc.

Now for the application.

There are a lot of things today that we do not know, things that we don't understand about God. What is heaven like? What is hell like? How is God working in this situation, or in that situation? What is God's reason for doing this, or that? What does it mean for God to inhabit eternity? How did God come to exist? And so on. You get the point, I'm sure.

The point is, there are a lot of things that we don't know because God has decided that we don't need to know those things. We're not given all the answers or all the reasons. Perhaps there are some things that we'll understand once we enter the realm of eternity. Maybe not. The fact is, it's not our business, and we don't need to concern ourselves with things that aren't our business.

I don't know that this is a widespread problem, but certainly I have seen this kind of irreverence before. Maybe there have even been times where I have fallen short in this manner. In Bible classes and in sermons, as we read spiritual books, as we study ourselves and read what other men have said about God's word (i.e. commentaries), let us not get carried away with presumptions or theories.

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out" (Rom. 11:33).

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

God has told us everything we need to know to have faith in Him. Let's be content with what has been revealed, and leave the rest up to an all-knowing, all-powerful God who is wiser, smarter, bigger, stronger and higher than ANY of us.