Conviction

19 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 struck the people with a great blow. (1 Sam 6:19 ESV).

The background for this verse is that the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant and taken it to their various cities, but the Lord had Chastened them with tumors, mice, and anxiety. Some of them even died. So, they sent the Ark back to Israel on a cart that is pulled by two dairy cows.

When it comes to Beth-shemesh, the people take it off the cart and put it on a rock after they sacrifice to the Lord. Then the Lord kills 70 men in Beth-shemesh because they had looked upon the ark of the Lord. Other versions say they looked into it. Considering that all saw the ark on the cart and when it was placed on the rock, into is a much more likely or better translation.

The thing that struck me is that I consider myself to be one who would have probably looked into it. Whether curiosity or just plain sinful disrespect, it convicts me of being capable of sin against the Lord. This isn't the first place I have seen this kind of conviction in the Old Testament. Often, I see a person doing something stupid, wrong, or sinful and then I think to myself, “I would have probably done the same thing in that situation.” This just tells me that I'm sinful, sin has not been mortified in my body. So, I just keep trusting God and being very, very thankful that he has saved me in spite of my sinful tendencies.