Tashi Nicholas
Series: 1 Samuel
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 19th October 2013
Passage: 1 Samuel 6:1-21
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 Some things just don't go together.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 To my friend's dismay, I'm a really big fan of matchmaking.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:07 I'm really enthusiastic about it.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 And my logic always goes along the lines of,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 well, I like this person and I like this person,
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 and so I can't understand why they wouldn't like each other.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 Solid logic, I thought, until I was on the other side of it.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 I had a girl from my other work at a real estate agency
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 tell me that I would be perfect with her roommate,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 and she wanted to set us up.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:28 And I don't know why.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 I didn't want to seem snorty or something,
00:00:30 --> 00:00:31 so I just agreed to go.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:36 And he worked, and so he said he would pick me up at 8,
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 and I'd get hungry at like 6 o'clock, and so I ate,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 and then he picked me up when I was full.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:40 But anyway.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 And we talked about what he did and what his job was.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:50 He was an accountant for toiletries or something,
00:00:50 --> 00:00:51 and he said,
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 I can give you free razors and deodorant if you need.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 And then I suddenly got really self-conscious.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 And we were walking along,
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 and I picked like the closest restaurant to my house.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 I live like near five Thai restaurants.
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 I picked the closest one to my house
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 so that I could go and put deodorant on or something.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 And we spent like five minutes talking about what I did and what he did,
00:01:14 --> 00:01:18 and then the conversation was over for the rest of the night.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 So intermittently we talked about how good the food was,
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 but at 8.30, half an hour after he had picked me up,
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 we walked as fast as we could back to his car,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 and then I ran into my dorm and waved him goodbye,
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 and I never heard from him again.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 And there are heaps of other examples of stuff that doesn't go together.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Coke and milk, wine and ice cream,
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 brushing your teeth and then eating an apple.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 Some things don't go together.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 So if you miss the last couple of weeks,
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 God told Israel that he was angry with them,
00:01:51 --> 00:01:52 and instead of dealing with that,
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 the Israelites went in a war against Philistine,
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 and Israel was losing the war,
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 and so they brought out the ark of the Lord into the battlefield.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 And if you don't know what that is,
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 it's like a big box where God's presence was supposed to be.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 And then after they brought out the ark,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 they started losing even worse,
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 and the Philistines took away the ark,
00:02:13 --> 00:02:19 and God started cursing and putting plagues on Philistine.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:26 And so we've gotten to this place where the Philistines have seen Israel's God,
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 and they've seen that he's greater than their own God, Dagon,
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 and they've seen him control diseases
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 and be in control of animals and nature.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 And the Philistines have kind of rightly been like,
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 oh crap, we're on the wrong side of God's anger.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 We need to get this out.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:46 And they figured out that, yeah, the ark was related to the anger of God,
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 and so they're just trying to get it out of their country now.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 Look at verse 4 with me.
00:02:52 --> 00:03:21 So they asked their own priests, like, what are we supposed to do about this?
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 How should we get rid of it?
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 And the priests answered by saying,
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 make models out of gold of the plagues that God has given you.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:33 And they keep saying things out of fear in verse 5 and verse 6,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 and fear is a correct response for them.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 I do think that this passage has something to say, though,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 about knowing God correctly,
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 knowing what good is like and how to serve him.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:49 The offerings of gold, rats, and tumors make so much sense
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 if you don't know the Lord, Israel's God.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 God has revealed himself to Israel,
00:03:55 --> 00:04:00 and so Israel knows how to please God and what they can sacrifice to him,
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 but he hasn't done that for the Philistines.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 So the Philistines would have gotten their own common sense
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 and sort of thought gold is valuable and good,
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 and therefore we should just give that to God.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:16 God, it's kind of like they have taken themselves and the stuff that they like
00:04:16 --> 00:04:17 and just put her on a bigger scale.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 Has anyone ever done something for you that's really well-intentioned,
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 but you hated it?
00:04:24 --> 00:04:30 Like if you drink long blacks and someone tries to shout you like a surprise coffee,
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 and then you're like, oh my gosh, thank you so much,
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 and you take a sip and it's like a mocha with five sugars.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 It's like, that's really nice,
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 and it's so nice that you tried to do something nice to me,
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 but you didn't really, you didn't nail it, hey?
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 In the same way, for Philistines,
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 if they had actually known God,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 they would know that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it,
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 and therefore anything that they try to offer him is already God's.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 But even outside of that,
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 that God has outlined what pleases him
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 and what is an appropriate sacrifice for guilt,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:04 and they just don't know God,
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 and therefore they can't do it.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 Their feelings are appropriately in line with God,
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 and they're fearing God correctly,
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 but without knowing him,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 there was no way that they could make up for their guilt.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:20 I think it's important for us to get this,
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 because I see this in Christians and non-Christians alike.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 I see Christians,
00:05:25 --> 00:05:29 and we kind of assume that God is a bigger version of ourselves.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:30 I'm super guilty of this.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:32 Christians were like,
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 oh, I really like youth ministry,
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 and then therefore that's the most important ministry to God,
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 or I like hymns,
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 and therefore it's what glorifies God the most.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 I don't even think we do it with bad intent.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 I heard of this book,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:48 and it's called Introverts in the Church,
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 and the essence of the book is,
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 Jesus was an introvert,
00:05:53 --> 00:05:54 and he was perfect,
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 so go introverts,
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 it's good to be an introvert.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 Now, I don't want to tease a book,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 or tease introverts or anything,
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 but that's like the ultimate spiritual trump card, isn't it?
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 Jesus was an introvert.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 But we seriously do that in all aspects of our lives.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:10 Like, if we're loud,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 and we communicate loudly,
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 and we talk about our love for Jesus all the time,
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 we just think that that's what God likes the most.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 And if we're quiet and more serious,
00:06:18 --> 00:06:19 and we obey Jesus quietly,
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 then we assume that Jesus is more pleased by that.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 We make God into a bigger,
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 more authoritative version of ourselves,
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 when in reality,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 God has revealed himself,
00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 and what he's like,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 and whatever parts we don't really like,
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 or the bits we think are less important,
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 we just skip over.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:41 But I also see this in people who aren't Christians as well.
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 The amount of times I've heard someone say,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 I'm just going to try and do my best,
00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 try to be a good person,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 and I think that'll be enough for God.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 Can I say it isn't?
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 It isn't enough for God?
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 That's enough for you,
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 and I think that's projecting it on God.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 God has revealed the way in which he's pleased,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 and he's shown us how to have a relationship with him,
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 and that is through Jesus.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 And you doing your best isn't actually enough for God.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 These Philistines sent back these guilt offerings,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:19 and were trying to make up their guilt before God,
00:07:19 --> 00:07:19 and make it go away.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:21 But it wasn't sufficient,
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 because it's not what God asks for.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:26 All right, look at verse seven.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 Now then, get a new cart ready with two cows
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 that have carved and have never been yoked.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 Hitch the cows to the cart,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 but take their calves away and pen them up.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart,
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 and in a chest beside it,
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 put the gold objects you are sending back with it to him
00:07:45 --> 00:07:46 as a guilt offering.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 Send it on its way, but keep watching it.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 If it goes up to its own territory towards Beth Shemesh,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 But if it does not,
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 but that it happened to us by chance.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 So the Philistines have attached the ark of God to the cows,
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 and apparently I learnt while researching for this sermon
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 that cattle subconsciously walk towards their owner.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:19 And so the idea is that if we attach the ark to these cows,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 and they walk away from us and towards Israel,
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 then we'll know that God was bringing these curses on Philistine,
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 and if it doesn't, then it was just an accident.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 And they do that,
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 and the ark starts to walk away from them and towards Israel.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 If you look at verse 12,
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 the cows went straight up the road to Beth Shemesh
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 and stayed on that one highway.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 Lowing as they went,
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 they never strayed to the right or to the left.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 So that's really cool anyway,
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 and God brings himself back to his own people.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 But have you noticed what Israel is doing while this is happening?
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 I have no idea,
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 because it doesn't matter.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 God isn't dependent on the Israelites to save him,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 and he's not sitting in Philistine waiting for Israel like,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 guys, I've been captured, save me.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:10 God shows his power,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 and he shows how worthy he is to be feared and worshipped
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 when the Israelites aren't even present.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 The Old Testament often refers to God
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 as making his name known among the nations
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 in and outside of his people,
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 and Israel was supposed to be a part of that.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 This part of 1 Samuel shows God doing exactly that.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 Philistine, only a couple of chapters ago,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 thought that they could win a battle against God
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 by fighting hard and being men,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 and now they are shaking and frantically
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 trying to get the ark out of their country,
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 and God guides his own way back to Israel.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 So there are two really wonderful things about this.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:56 The first one is that God didn't need Israel to save him.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 God isn't dependent on them to go and get him,
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 and he's also not dependent on them
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 to fulfill his work in the world.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 God wants to make his name known,
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 and he can do that with or without the Israelites.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 I think that's a good lesson for us as well.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 In God, not being bound by what we can do for him.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 We do this thing in church,
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 and I think it's a result of making God
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 really small in our mind,
00:10:21 --> 00:10:22 but we do this thing where we think
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 that God is dependent on us to get stuff done.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 Like God's hands are tied,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 and he's just sitting around waiting for us
00:10:28 --> 00:10:29 to do his work for him.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 A friend of mine from when I was at art school, Chelsea,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 was telling me that when she was in year four,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 she got her report card back
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 from her religious education teacher,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 and her report card read something like this.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 Chelsea is a zealous young woman
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 who clearly has a lot of love for Jesus.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 However, Chelsea needs to learn
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 that God does not need Chelsea to defend him.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 God can defend himself.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 What a wise lady.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:04 And I think that attitude is kind of taken on by us as adults.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 Like God is lucky to have us on his team,
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 otherwise he would have no one.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 And I'm super guilty of this.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 I find myself at college talking to people
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 who are so weird,
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 and just thinking to myself,
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 don't tell anyone you're a Christian.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 You're making God look lame.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 But I know that's awful.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 It sounds even worse when I say it out loud.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 But God doesn't need us to make him look good.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 He doesn't need St. Paul's Church
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 to reach the people of Chatswood.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 It's out of a heart that thinks
00:11:35 --> 00:11:36 that God is small and unimpressive
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 that makes us think we're necessary for his plan.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 The second wonderful thing
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 about God leaving Philistine
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 to go back to Israel on his own
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 is that although Israel treated him like a genie
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 and considered God in their debt
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 and didn't listen to his warning
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 about the current wrath, coming wrath,
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 God returned to Israel anyway.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 Throughout the book of 1 Samuel
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 and all through Israel's history,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 Israel ignored God
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 and tried to get stuff from him.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 They presumed their position over God.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 And considering God made the heavens and the earth,
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 that's really offensive.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 But God returns to them anyway.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 The ark of God left Israel
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 and was distant from them.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:23 And that was their judgment.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 But after only seven months,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 God returns to them.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 And this is a beautiful sign
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 of their relationship with him, isn't it?
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 God is despised by his own people,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 but still returns to them.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 So the ark of God comes back into Israel
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 and there's like a big party
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 and everyone's sacrificing
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 and celebrating the ark returning.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 And for some reason or another,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 people decide to look into the ark
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 and God strikes down 70 of them.
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 That seems really out of place, right?
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 Like you think you're moving towards
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 a happy ending by this point.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 The Philistines have been given a hard time.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 God is showing the nations how powerful he is.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 And then all of a sudden,
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 bam, God kills 70 of his own people.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 It's really disheartening, isn't it?
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 It's like if this was a movie,
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 that would never happen.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 You'd just finish with the ark coming towards Israel
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 and then everyone's starting to celebrate
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 and the credits would open.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 But you read this part of the story
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 and you're like shocked and angry
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 because it's like we've done full loop
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 in the story again.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 Like it seems like after all this time
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 and all that had happened,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 the Israelites hadn't learnt or changed anything.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 I'm just going to put it in the open
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 that I don't think we really understand this.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 Like a bunch of guys would look into a box
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 and get killed.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 I don't really think that we understand
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 why that happened.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 But God's holiness requires
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 that laws like that should be kept.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 God isn't like a bad parent
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 who continuously threatens but never punishes.
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 That's how serious God's holiness is.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 It's not just that holiness means
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 that people could die from taking a peek.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 It's that because of God's holiness,
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 people needed to die.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 It's not even like he's punishing them
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 for not keeping his law.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 It's like those men couldn't live
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 after having been that close to God's holiness.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 The Philistines,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 even with their error of what offering to make God,
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 the Philistines actually had a more correct view,
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 a more reverent and fearful view of God.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 But the Israelites have gone back
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 to being presumptuous
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 and expectant in their relationship with God.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 Treating God as anything besides God
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 is what sin is.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 I want you to imagine
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 how much bigger God is than you.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 Like imagine God's power.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:47 God created the world.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 He can do anything he wants.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 He can change anything he wants.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 He can move mountains if he wants to.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 He can dry up the sea.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 He sustains everything.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 He decides the temperature of the sun.
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 He holds up the stars
00:14:58 --> 00:14:59 and he makes it rain
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 and he makes our hearts beat.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 We get tired at like three o'clock in the afternoon.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 And then like think about
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 how much more God knows than you.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 Like God has always existed
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 so he's known everything that has ever happened
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 and he knows how those events
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 caused each event to happen
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 and he knows everyone who's ever existed
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 and everyone who will ever exist.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 And I'm like a little bit foggy
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 on things I did over the weekend.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:24 And so if you consider
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 how much bigger God is
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 in all those situations than you,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 I want you to take a moment
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 to think about how much bigger
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 God's holiness is above your holiness.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 God has always existed
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 and in that time
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 he has never done anything but perfection.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:40 Sorry.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 He has never been anything but perfection.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 In fact, God is so perfect
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 that the word holiness
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 is kind of arbitrary
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 because holy just means like God
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 and holiness is like God
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 and then God is holy
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 and so you've kind of done a full circle there.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 And God sets things up
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 so we can really see how holy he is.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 The priestly system
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 that God sets up in Leviticus
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 is all about God showing his people
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 how holy he is.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 Even though the Israelites
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 are God's chosen people
00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 who he loves
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 and he's committed to them,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 they can't come to God on their own.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 That's why there were priests.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 Someone needed to stand between
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 a perfect God
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 and a sinful people
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 and unholy people
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 so that the Israelites
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 could even come close
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 to being near God.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 That's why there was need
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 for a sacrificial system.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 In order for unholy people
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 or sinful people
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 to even come close to God,
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 someone needed to die
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 in order for them to get there.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 And when we consider these things
00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 and we consider the power
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 that God has over us
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 and the things that God knows above us
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 and the way that he is infinitely greater
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 than we can even fathom
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 and the fact that he's holy,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 it makes the arrogance
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 of looking inside the ark of the Lord
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 quite shocking actually.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 And it's not like
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 they looked in the ark of the Lord
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 and that's not what God told them to do
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 and God was angry
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 and so he killed them.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 Although God would be totally
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 within his rights to do that
00:17:07 --> 00:17:07 if that was true.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 But it was the experience of people
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 who were so imperfect
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 approaching something so perfect.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 The two couldn't coexist.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:16 God's holiness
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 totally obliterated
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 these unholy people.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 Look at verse 20.
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked,
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 who can stand in the presence
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 of the Lord, this holy God?
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 To whom will the ark go from here?
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 For the first time,
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 these people were struck
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 with fear of God.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 For the first time,
00:17:38 --> 00:17:38 they actually understood
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 how unworthy they were
00:17:40 --> 00:17:45 and they had a correct perspective
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 of themselves before God.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 And they saw a God
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 who was powerful
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 to win his own victories
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 and whose presence
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 they couldn't even stand in
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 because of his holiness
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 and they said to themselves,
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 who can stand in the presence
00:17:58 --> 00:17:58 of the Lord?
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 It's like they finally realized
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 this cycle of their failures
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 and God's rightful anger
00:18:06 --> 00:18:06 against that
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 and sort of thought,
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 when is this going to end?
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 Where's the hope in this?
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 God demonstrated his love for them
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 by coming back from Philistine,
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 coming back to Israel
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 and then this happening
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 would have been
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 such a huge blow
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 to their confidence.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 Who can stand in the presence
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 of the Lord, this holy God?
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 The Israelites actually asked
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 a really good question
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 because the answer is no one.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 No one could stand
00:18:33 --> 00:18:33 in the presence
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 of this holy God.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 It's just like when God returned,
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 but just like when God returned himself
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 from Philistine with the ark,
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 God doesn't rely on his people
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 to find a way to get to him.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 No one can stand
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 in the presence of the holy God
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 and so God himself came out of heaven
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 and took on the appearance of man.
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 There was no possible way
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 that an imperfect human
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 could come into his presence,
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 so Jesus came out of heaven
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 and came to earth.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 There was no other way
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 and God could have just not.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 God could have left the ark in Philistine.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 God could have not come to earth
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 and he would have just said,
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 you rebelled and I left you
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 and that's all.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 But again and again,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 God returns to his people
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 and his final solution for that
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 comes in the form of Jesus.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 Jesus being holy and perfect like God
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 would stand between an unholy people
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 and a holy God.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 The Israelites looking into the ark of God
00:19:33 --> 00:19:36 and God striking them down
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 is contrasted in the New Testament.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 In Hebrews 4, verse 16,
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 it says this,
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 let us then approach God's throne of grace
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 with confidence
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 so that we may receive mercy
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 and find grace
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 to help us in our time of need.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 Jesus made us holy
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 and so that we could approach
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 a holy God without fear
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 so that we could even approach him
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 with confidence or boldly.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:05 When the Israelites said to each other,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 who can stand in the presence
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 of the Lord, this holy God?
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 I don't think that in their wildest dreams
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 they ever would have thought
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 that there was going to be a time
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 where us, the people of God,
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 could say, yes, we can.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 We can reason for that.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 Let us know
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 that this woman said
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 cannot be anything
00:20:22 --> 00:20:43 but not only