1 Samuel 6:19
And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
When the ark was returning from the Philistines to Israel, the men of Beth-shemesh removed its coverings and opened it to look into its sacred interior, though only men appointed for this purpose might look upon the uncovered ark, and they were smitten with sudden death in a great slaughter of more than fifty thousand. The ark was not a common object but the sacred symbol of the divine presence and pledge of victory, containing the tables of the law and overshadowed by the cherubim in the holy of holies, yet the people rejoiced at its return without repentance or faithful obedience to God's law. They acted from irreverent curiosity and presumption, seeking to discover what made the ark powerful and how God's power was manifested, treating the ark itself as a source of power rather than recognizing that the power belonged to God. Even a glance or touch that might seem harmless was a grave offense against what God had set apart as holy, warning against presumptuously prying into matters beyond what God has revealed or permitted men to examine. In particular it warns against seeking through speculation to probe the mysteries of God, including His nature and His person and presence, for God sees actions and the motives behind them and records them.
The Sin at Beth-shemesh
The smiting at Beth-shemesh came as the ark was on its way back from the land of the Philistines to Israel, and the people rejoiced at its return without repentance or faithful obedience to God's law. Their gladness at seeing it again was not joined to a turning from sin or to keeping what God had commanded.
The object they treated so lightly was sacred because God had declared it so, and it was not to be regarded as a common thing. It was the symbol of the divine presence to Israel and the pledge of victory in battle, containing the tables of the law, kept in the holy of holies overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim as the perpetual token of the presence of the Holy One, the Creator of heaven and earth, before which idols could not stand. Because it held this place, Israel had been taught to approach it with awe.
In their presumption the men removed its coverings, opened it, and looked into its sacred interior and contents. Only men appointed for this purpose could look upon the uncovered ark, so that unauthorized looking was fatal. The standing rule made this plain, for Levites were forbidden to look upon it when it was moved, and only the high priest was permitted to behold it once a year.
What moved them was irreverent curiosity and presumption, a desire to discover what made the ark powerful and how God's power was manifested in it. They treated the ark itself as a source of power rather than recognizing that the power belonged to God. Even gazing into it on that false ground did not make it safe to behold.
Angels attending the ark carried out the judgment, smiting the people with sudden death. More than fifty thousand were slain in a great slaughter, and the survivors lamented and asked who could stand before the Lord, the holy God.
Reverence for Holy Things
Even a rash, irreverent touch of the sacred ark or a mere glance of curiosity into it carried the penalty of death. The ark was no common object, for it was sacred as the symbol of the divine presence to Israel and the pledge of victory in battle, containing the tables of the law, kept in the holy of holies overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim as the perpetual token of the presence of the Holy One, the Creator of heaven and earth, before which idols could not stand. When it was being returned from the land of the Philistines the Israelites irreverently opened it, and for that presumptuous treatment they were severely punished. Looking inside, even from curiosity that might seem harmless, was a grave offense against what God had set apart as holy, and the men of Beth-shemesh were struck dead for presuming to do it.
Their punishment stands as a warning that God sees actions and the motives behind them and records them. The smiting of Beth-shemesh warns against presumptuously prying into matters beyond what God has revealed or permitted men to examine. It forbids seeking to uncover holy mysteries that lie beyond human understanding. Curiosity that led men to look into the ark while it was returning from the Philistines to Israel brought God's displeasure in many deaths, and so warns against presumptuously probing what He has not revealed.
In particular it warns against prying into what God has not revealed about His own nature, His person and His presence. The men were struck down because they looked into the ark out of curiosity, seeking to discover what made it powerful, and their deaths and the people's mourning show the danger of treating what is holy with irreverence. They opened it to see what was inside and how God's power was manifested, and that episode warns against trying to probe God's nature through speculation.