a city of the tribe of Judah, belonging to the priests,
Joshua xxi, 16. The Philistines having sent back the ark of the Lord, it
was brought to Bethshemesh, 1 Sam. vi, 12, where some of the people out
of curiosity having looked into it, the Lord destroyed seventy of the
principal men belonging to the city, and fifty thousand of the common
people, verse 19. It is here to be observed that it was solemnly
enjoined, Num. iv, 20, that not only the common people but that even the
Levites themselves should not dare to look into the ark, upon pain of
death. “It is a fearful thing,” says Bishop Hall, “to use the holy
ordinances of God with an irreverent boldness; fear and trembling become
us in our access to the majesty of the Almighty.”
Joshua xxi, 16. The Philistines having sent back the ark of the Lord, it
was brought to Bethshemesh, 1 Sam. vi, 12, where some of the people out
of curiosity having looked into it, the Lord destroyed seventy of the
principal men belonging to the city, and fifty thousand of the common
people, verse 19. It is here to be observed that it was solemnly
enjoined, Num. iv, 20, that not only the common people but that even the
Levites themselves should not dare to look into the ark, upon pain of
death. “It is a fearful thing,” says Bishop Hall, “to use the holy
ordinances of God with an irreverent boldness; fear and trembling become
us in our access to the majesty of the Almighty.”