The Philosophies Irreverence In Book 1-8

the angels should remind us of our own irreverent attitude when we rush thoughtlessly into His presence. The Lord our God despises irreverence.

In 1 Samuel 6 we read how serious the holy God punishes this sinfulness. Here we read that the Philistines had captured the ark of God and sought to keep it as a trophy of their victory. It soon became evident the ark was the source of much suffering for them. They passed it around and finally decided to get rid of it by sending it back to Israel. They transported it in a way the Philistine priests and diviners recommended. They lay a guilt offering of gold in the ark and set it on a newly-made cart drawn by two cows just separated from their calves. The Philistines could not tolerate the presence
of the Holy God of Israel. But neither could the people of Israel, where the ark arrived:

And he struck some of the men of Beth-Shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the LORD had fallen upon the people with a great blow. Then the men of Beth-Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?"
Thus, they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD.
Come down and take it up to you." 1 Samuel 6:19-21

The Lord killed 70 people because of irreverence and lack of fear for His holiness. Irreverence is a dangerous malady. Even when our motives are sincere and we are actively involved in the worship of Our Lord we must always be aware of the holiness of God and maintain a reverence for Him manifested by our obedience to His instructions.

Also Moses, had to learn about the holiness of God, for his example would prove the measure of reverence expected of the people of Israel. Moses received a sight of the holiness of God and the reverence with which He should be approached and worshiped, in the experience of the burning bush at Mount Horeb. (Exodus 3:1-6) Here the Lord instructs Moses to remove his sandals from his feet because he stood on holy ground. What suddenly made that ground holy? The presence of God made it holy. There is no other source of holiness or righteousness. The Lord said to Israel: “You shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2; Psalm 89:6,
7)
The greatest example on reverence for Israel was given at Mount Sinai in connection with the giving of the law which was the glorious exhibition of God’s holiness and majesty.
(Exodus 19:10-24; 24:17). Here the Lord instructs Israel and also us that we should serve God with “with reverence and godly fear” because God is a consuming fire.” lTrue reverence leads us to draw close to God with clean bodies, proper clothes, and clean characters. All physical, mental and moral uncleanness should make us feel uncomfortable when we come into the presence of the holy God. Reverence demands cleanliness, both physical and
spiritual.

God's holiness points us to our sin and misery and should drive us to the cross in thankfulness and godly fear for our most holy, gracious and merciful covenant God. True reverence is based on a fearful awareness of God’s holiness. This is indicated in Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” If we are not controlled by a spirit of humble reverence we do not truly know God, regardless of how orthodox we are in belief and practice and how well acquainted we are with the Scriptures.

To truly love and worship our holy God, we must embrace and rejoice in the reality that He is totally different from us, totally separate from us, and purer than anything we know. We need to trust that his ways are not our ways as we learn to glory in and revere the wondrous perfections that are the Lords. Therefore, we should not be trying to bring God down to our level, but we must pray that God lifts us up and opens our eyes to see and desire the beauty of His utter holiness. God’s holiness is so blindingly radiant that we, who are so flawed and filthy, cannot see it and live (Exodus 33:20), at least not yet. But a day is coming! One day, the dwelling of the holy God will be with men. One day, because of God’s grace and love toward us in Christ, we will be so holy ourselves that we will witness the infinite perfections of God face-to-face.

May this inspire our still sinful hearts to worship our holy God in reverence with all our soul, mind, and strength.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name". Matthew 6