A Look that Kills

Numbers 4:15 - When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

Numbers 4:19-20 - But do this to them that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die."

God's holiness is such that if someone even looks at God, he will die (Ex. 33:20). We see here that God's holiness is such that the Kohathite priests of the Levite tribe had to wrap these sacred pieces (the ark of the testimony, table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the golden altar) in cloth and goatskin because if they so much as touched (v15) or saw (v20) these objects that shared part of God's glory, they would die. This isn't even seeing God directly, simply looking at objects that reflect His holiness is enough to kill. Clearly, God cannot be approached casually. Let's check ourselves next time before we draw near to God in prayer that we would revere and approach cautiously lest we be struck dead where we stand.