Who Can Stand Before The Lord?

Jesus is the only perfect priest who can mediate for us before God.   ~~~   “Then the men of Beth-Shemesh said, ‘Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God?” 1 Samuel 6:20 The people of Beth-shemesh, the levitical clan of the Kohathites, the ones entrusted with the care-taking of the Ark of the Covenant, doing exactly what the Philistines did in recognizing God’s power and trying to get out of His presence. They ask the question, “Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God?”   The leaders of Beth-shemesh decide it would be better to remove the Ark from their location and presence, and move it up the road to a higher location, perhaps a safer location to store the ark since Kiriath-jearim was built on a hill. Apparently the Israelites hadn’t learned the lesson that God can take care of Himself.   But the question still resounds, doesn’t it—Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God?   And the answer we see, not just from this text, but from all the bible, is no one can stand before the LORD based upon their own goodness, their own ideas, their own rejoicing.   We need a mediator. Someone to intervene on our behalf. Eli had failed to do it. Hophni and Phinehas were losers. We need someone to plead on our behalf before the LORD. But now Hophni and Phinehas and Eli were dead. Israel needs a priest, a righteous leader. The answer comes in chapter 7 in the person of Samuel. But Samuel is just a pointer to someone greater.   Psalm 24:3 asks the question, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”   I am not that person. You are not that person. There is not a leader within this building who is that person. Our job is to point you to Jesus, who was, is, and will continue to be that perfect priest.