SACRED + UNTOUCHABLE

And he smote the Men of Bethshemesh, 

because they had looked in 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.

And The Men of Bethshemesh said, 

'Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? 

and to whom shall he go up from us?'

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, 

'The Philistines have brought again The Ark of The LORD; 

come ye down, and fetch it up to you.'

" So I want to start with a story from The Old Testament. 

There’s a scene in the Old Testament when the ancient Hebrews are moving the Ark of the Covenant. 

The Ark of the Covenant was a device that was manufactured in order to contain 

The Word of God. 

OR

"A Radio for Talking to God"

(if you're into that)

And there was a rule among the ancient Hebrews which was :

“You are NOT to Touch The Ark of the Covenant 

NO MATTER WHAT”

And there’s a story in the Old Testament where the bearers of the Ark of the Covenant (they used to carry it), the bearers of the Ark of the Covenant trip and a man reaches out to steady it and when he touches it, 

** SMITE !! **

God strikes him 

DEAD. 

And modern people look at a story like that and the first thing they think is  :

“That seems a little bit harsh on the part of God, given that the man was attempting to do something that he believed was good.”

But what the story was designed to indicate, in my opinion, is that  --

There are certain things that you touch at your peril, 

regardless of your intentions. 

And those things that you touch at your peril, regardless of your intentions, 

most cultures regard as Sacred, as Untouchable.

I want to make a case for you today that 

Those Things Exist 

and also 

WHY They Exist 

and 

Why it’s necessary for you to KNOW that They Exist. 

I would also say that if you’re educated, educated in a university, especially with regards to The Humanities (which are in some conceptual trouble at the moment), what essentially happens to you is that you are introduced in a relatively secular way to the concept of The Sacred. 

You are here, in The University, to learn about 

The Eternal Values of Humankind.

And I think that people who tell you that  

Those values Do Not Exist 

or that 

They’re Endlessly Debatable, 

Do you an UNBELIEVABLE Disservice. "