the Third Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
1 Samuel 6:14-21; 1 Samuel 7:1
The inhabitants of Beth-shemesh have the honour of receiving the ark. But they take the liberty of lifting up the cover, the mercy-seat, and God punishes them severely (cf. Numbers 4:20). This is a warning to us to give to the person of Jesus the holy reverence He deserves. God does not tolerate any profane curiosity in this respect.
Alas, after this chastisement, the Beth-shemites react like the Philistines, wishing to be rid of this ark which is too holy for them.
Some Christians are like these men. Rather than examining themselves and putting their affairs in order, they prefer to go away from the Lord in their thoughts and in their lives. His presence worries them. How sad this is.
But God brings before us now, people who, on the contrary, are happy to receive Him. The inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim welcome the ark and place it in the house of Abinadab on the hill.
Our thoughts turn once more towards Jesus. Since His people rejected Him, He had nowhere to lay His head, but on one occasion a "woman named Martha received him into her house" (Luke 10:38). So there is the house of Abinadab and the house at Bethany: joy and blessing for the one who opens his door, and joy also for the divine Guest who is honoured there (Revelation 3:20).
