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God’s Presence, the Ark, the Eucharist, & Death

God’s Presence, the Ark, the Eucharist, & Death

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 1:10 pm by Dave Armstrong

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God’s Presence, the Ark, the Eucharist, & Death 2026-06-13T13:10:46-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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: Joshua Passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant (1800), by Benjamin West (1738-1820) [public domain / Wikipedia]

This was inspired by a recent video that my YouTube partner Kenny Burchard made with former Protestant pastor Justin Hibbard, in which he discussed the relationship between the ark of the covenant and people dying due to touching it or being irreverent, and a similar reference regarding the Holy Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:30. I thought I would “flesh out” the argument with more Bible passages, as is my wont, and so I came up with 25 altogether.

*****

God Was Specially Present Above the Mercy Seat and Between the Cherubim on Top of the Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25:21-22 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. [22] There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

Exodus 30:6 And you shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

Leviticus 16:2 . . . I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

Numbers 7:89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD,

he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat

that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him. (cf. Heb 9:5)

1 Samuel 4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of

the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim

; . . .

2 Samuel 6:2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Ba’ale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of

the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim

. (cf. 1 Chr 13:6)

Psalm 80:1 . . . Thou who art

enthroned upon the cherubim . . .

Psalm 99:1 . . .

He sits enthroned upon the cherubim

. . .

Isaiah 37:16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel,

who art enthroned above the cherubim

, . . .

Ezekiel 10:4 And

the glory of the LORD went up from the cherubim

to the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Penalty of Death for Touching the Ark or Not Showing the Proper Reverence

Leviticus 16:2 and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”

Leviticus 16:13 and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat which is upon the testimony, lest he die;

Numbers 1:50-51, 53 but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle. [51] When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And

if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death

. . . . [53] but the Levites shall encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony,

that there may be no wrath upon the congregation of the people of Israel

; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 4:15-20 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but

they must not touch the holy things, lest they die

. These are the things of the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry. [16] “And Elea’zar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.” [17] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, [18] “Let not the tribe of the families of the Ko’hathites be destroyed from among the Levites; [19] but deal thus with them,

that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things

: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, [20] but

they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die

.”

1 Samuel 5:1, 10-12 . . . the Philistines captured the ark of God . . . [10] . . . they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to slay us and our people.” [11] They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “

Send away the ark of the God of Israel

, and let it return to its own place,

that it may not slay us and our people

.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there; [12]

the men who did not die were stricken with tumors

, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1 Samuel 6:19 And he slew some of the men of Beth-she’mesh,

because they looked into the ark of the LORD

. . .

2 Samuel 6:2-7 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Ba’ale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. [3] And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abin’adab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahi’o, the sons of Abin’adab, were driving the new cart [4] with the ark of God; and Ahi’o went before the ark. [5] And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. [6] And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon,

Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it

, for the oxen stumbled. [7]

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God

. (cf. 1 Chr 13:7-10)

God (Jesus) is Specially Present in the Holy Eucharist

Matthew 26:26-28 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” [27] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; [28] for

this is my blood of the covenant

, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Mark 14:22-24 And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” [23] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. [24] And he said to them, “

This is my blood of the covenant

, which is poured out for many.”

Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you

is the new covenant in my blood

.” (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-26)

John 6:48-51 I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50]

This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die

. [51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven;

if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever

;

and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh

.”

John 6:53-56 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you

; [54]

he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life

, and I will raise him up at the last day. [55] For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. [56] He who

eats my flesh and drinks my blood

abides in me, and I in him. . . . [58] This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died;

he who eats this bread will live for ever

.”

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a

participation in the blood of Christ

? The bread which we break, is it not a

participation in the body of Christ

? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Penalty of Death for Not Showing the Proper Reverence Towards the Holy Eucharist During Holy Communion

1 Corinthians 10:9-11 [possibly includes the Eucharist, which is discussed five verses later] We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents; [10] nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. [11] Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of

profaning the body and blood of the Lord

. [28] Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. [30]

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died

***

Practical Matters: I run the most comprehensive “one-stop” Catholic apologetics site: rated #1 for Christian sites by leading AI tool, ChatGPT — endorsed by popular Protestant blogger Adrian Warnock. Perhaps some of my 5,000+ free online articles or fifty-six books have helped you (by God’s grace) to decide to become a Catholic or to return to the Catholic Church, or better understand some doctrines and why Catholics believe them. If you believe my full-time apostolate is worth supporting, please seriously consider a much-needed monthly or one-time financial contribution. “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV).

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***

Photo credit: Joshua Passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant (1800), by Benjamin West (1738-1820) [public domain / Wikipedia]

Summary: I examine the analogy of several people dying due to irreverence towards the ark of the covenant, and Paul referring to people dying due to irreverence at Holy Communion.

Eucharist & Liturgy

Jews & Judaism & Old Testament

1 Corinthians 11:30

ark of the covenant

eucharist

irreverence towards the Eucharist

presence of God above the mercy seat

Real presence

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