When Israel sinned because of Eli’s son, it caused their enemies to have a foothold over Israel and thus leading to the Phillistine taking the ark of the LORD, a covenant had not been made with God at this time, so it was the ark of the LORD signifying his presence with Israel.
Now the bible says: The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Romans 8: 14, 16. So, we see the spirit of God bearing witness with our human spirit that we are the sons of God. Our human spirit bears guilt and the holy spirit convicts/reveal to us, what is wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. Sometimes, your conscience condemns you of guilt when it is not, sometimes it is, and you know this by the spirit of God. So, if you are guilty 1 Corinthians 11: 18, 22 comes to play. Guilt may be ascribed to sins; you did not know of, or you know of but when you realize it makes you feel condemned/judged.
Now the ark of the Lord was in the territory of the Phillistine for a month; in that month plagues had struck them and their leaders. But they couldn’t understand why? The had a god called Daegon placed near the ark of the Lord, they were guilty of idolatry, but they didn’t know. So, a plague of mice was destroying their country, and a plague of death was destroying their leaders. However, the Phillistine remembering the plague that happened to Egypt: took precautionary measures to offer a guilt offering of 5 gold tumors for their leaders and 5 gold rats for their leaders, placed it on a cart and tied it to cow: placed on the path to two roads one leading to Beth Shemesh and the other elsewhere. The leaders in Phillistine concluded that if the cart went the way to Beth Shemesh, then it was the Lord of Israel that brought the plague on them, else it was thing of chance. And so, the cart wen the way of Beth Shemesh, leading to Kiriath Jearim, a territory in Israel. The people of Israel rejoiced upon seeing it return.
A foreign nation unaware of the impact of taking the ark of the Lord and placing it where their god was incurred the judgement of God. Because a guilt they did not know about but used the experience with the Egyptians to solve their problem.
1 Corinthians 11: 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
Sometimes, we as Christians sin by speech, disobeying God without knowing it, sometimes we know it by willful pride disobey. Hence, when we take the communion and don’t examine ourselves for sins and confess them to remember what the blood of Jesus does for us as our sin offering (this act help us reflect on the mercy of God and thus how undeserving we are).
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 11: 29 - 30
So, sickness here is akin to a plague as in 1 Samuel 6 vs 9, and in Exodus 20 plague of sickness and death of the first-born son. So, while the communion if partook worthily has undeniable blessing attached to it, if partaken unworthily incurs a plague like sickness. Now, it furthers states “Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”
The Phillistine was disciplined as the Israelites as will you and I, if we do not examine ourselves. It is my prayer; we check ourselves as we partake of the communion.
This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Songs:
Even in a court of law, the jury can find the defendant guilty of a crime only if the defendant is convicted of wrongdoing. The same works with our conscience and the spirit of God. Only the spirit of God helps us recognize what is sin, righteousness and judgement. The is why Grace is given to us to live above sin.
