Week 8: Who Is Able to Stand? (1 Samuel 6:19–20)

The Big Idea

When the ark of God came back to Israel, the people of Beth-shemesh learned that God's holiness is not a thing to be handled or stared at. Their question, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?", is exactly the right question. Their answer, sending the ark away from themselves, shows they had learned to fear God but not yet how to draw near to him.

Before You Read

To understand these two verses, read the story leading up to them in 1 Samuel 4–6. Israel had carried the ark of the covenant into battle against the Philistines like a good-luck charm (4:3). They lost, and the ark was captured. In Philistine territory, the ark brought disaster: their idol Dagon fell on its face, and the people were struck with tumors. So the Philistines sent the ark back on a new cart pulled by two milk cows, which went straight up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-shemesh. The people there were out reaping their wheat harvest in the valley when they looked up and saw it coming. They rejoiced. Then came verse 19. Remember what we said in Week 2: in the ancient world, holiness meant danger and distance as surely as it meant moral purity. This story shows why.

Read

First, read 1 Samuel 6:10–18 to see the ark's homecoming. Then read 6:19–20 slowly, twice, and at least once aloud. Read 6:21–7:2 to see what happened next.

Your Bible may show a footnote at verse 19. Most Hebrew copies read "50,070 men," while a few manuscripts and the ancient historian Josephus read "seventy." Many scholars think a copying error crept in. Either way, the point of the passage doesn't change.

Observe

1. What were the people of Beth-shemesh doing when the ark arrived (6:13)? How did they react?
2. Who took the ark down from the cart (6:15)? What did the people offer?
3. According to verse 19, why did God strike some of the men of Beth-shemesh?
4. How did the people respond emotionally after the deaths (v. 19)?
5. Verse 20 contains two questions. Write them down in your own words. How are they different?
6. What did the people of Beth-shemesh do next (6:21–7:1)? Where did the ark go?
7. Compare the beginning of the story (Israel using the ark as a charm in chapter 4) with the end (Beth-shemesh sending it away). What do both responses have in common?

A Word to Notice

Qadosh (kah-DOHSH), "holy," appears again, this time describing God himself: "this holy God." We have met this word describing ground (Week 2) and a people (Week 7). Here it describes the one who makes everything else holy. The same holiness that made Israel treasured now makes the men of Beth-shemesh tremble. That is not a contradiction. Holiness is God's own life and presence. To those who come near on his terms, it is blessing. To those who treat it as a curiosity or a tool, it is dangerous. Fire warms the house and also burns it down.

Interpret

1. What does it mean to "look upon" or "look into" the ark? Why might that be so serious?Consider: Numbers 4:20 warned that even the Levites who carried the holy things must not look on them, even for a moment, or they would die. God had given clear instructions about how his presence was to be approached. Curiosity is not the same as reverence.

2. Earlier in the story, Israel treated the ark like a lucky charm. Now Beth-shemesh treats it like a museum piece. What is the common mistake?Consider: Both treat God's presence as something to use or inspect, rather than Someone to honor. Holiness cannot be managed.

3. The question "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?" is a good question. What does their answer, sending the ark "away from us" (v. 20), reveal?Consider: They recognized the danger correctly but responded by wanting God at a distance instead of seeking how to draw near rightly. Fear without faith runs from God. Fear with faith comes to him on his terms.

4. Psalm 24:3–4 asks a similar question: who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? What answer does it give?Consider: The one with clean hands and a pure heart. That answer is humbling, because none of us fully qualifies. It points beyond ourselves to the need for God to make a way.

5. Cross-reference: Read Hebrews 10:19–22. How does the New Testament answer the question "Who is able to stand?"Consider: Through the blood of Jesus, believers have confidence to enter the holy places. Jesus is the one who can stand, and he brings us with him. That does not make God less holy; it makes the way open.

Apply: Let the Text Read You

1. Are there ways you treat God like a good-luck charm, something to bring out when you need help? Or like a museum piece, interesting to look at but kept at a distance?
2. The people of Beth-shemesh rejoiced, then feared, then sent God away. When God has felt too close or too demanding, have you ever tried to put a little distance between you and him? What did that look like?
3. Have you lost your sense of awe at God? What might help you recover a healthy fear of the Lord without slipping back into terror or hiding?
4. How does knowing that Jesus is the one who can stand change the way you approach God in prayer this week?

Pray

Holy God, I cannot stand before you on my own. Forgive me for treating you like a tool or a curiosity. Thank you that Jesus stands in your presence for me and brings me in. Give me both awe and confidence as I come near. Amen.

For Groups (optional)

• Discussion starter: Ask, "What does it look like when people today treat God like a good-luck charm?" Then turn it around: "When do I do it?"
• This is a hard passage. Do not rush to soften it. Let the group sit with the question in verse 20 for a while before jumping to the gospel answer.
• For farm families, the setting is worth pausing on: the wheat harvest, the cows, the field. God's holiness showed up in the middle of the workday, just as it did for Moses in Week 2.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.