Throughout human history ruling establishments have used religion to exploit ignorance and superstition in order to keep the general population of tribes and nations under control. On a small scale, we see this tactic at work today when presidents, governors, and other elected officials call for a "day of prayer" or stand in legislative chambers in times of national tragedy or crisis to appeal for a return to "biblical values" or the passage of laws to permit prayers in school or the posting of the 10 commandments. More often than not, the personal lives of those who make such appeals are far from exemplary, but that doesn't matter. They know that this kind of rhetoric will mean votes in the next election, and so they exploit public ignorance for all the political gain they can wring out of it.
When ignorance and superstition were more deeply ingrained than they are now--if one can even imagine such a time--religious manipulation of the public by ruling classes was even more overt. In biblical times, for example, priests and other officials used the threat of divine wrath to keep the people in line. According to the book of Exodus, the so-called "law of Moses" was revealed to Moses by face-to-face chats that Yahweh had with him on Mt. Sinai, and Moses then passed the law along to the Israelites. A study of the Pentateuch shows that the threat of Yahwistic wrath was a primary tool that the writer of this law used to ensure general compliance with its complex maze of commandments and ceremonial requirements.
The center of Israelite worship during their wilderness-wandering years was the tabernacle, a tent that they carried with them from camp to camp. As the story is told in the Bible, Yahweh, the creator of the universe, who could have included in his divine revelation practical and useful information that scientists have taken centuries to discover, chose instead to spend 15 chapters in the book of Exodus giving minute details about how to build this tent and make the sacred furnishings that would be used inside it for various priestly ceremonies. When the tabernacle was completed, the book of Exodus closed, but the detailed instructions continued as Yahweh gave intricate commands about who was to do what in the disassembling and transportation of the tent to the next camp site. When it was time to travel on, the "sons of Aaron" (priests) were to prepare all of the furnishings in the tabernacle for transportation by covering them with "sealskins." The Kohathite branch of the Levites would then carry the furnishings on to the next camp site (Num. 4:4-15), but they were strictly warned not to touch the tabernacle itself "lest they die" (v:15). They were also warned that they should never even watch the priests covering the sacred vessels.
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service and task. But they the Kohathites shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die" (Num. 4:17-20).
This was just the first of various warnings that ordinary people were never to intrude on the sacred domain of the priests. Yahweh had commanded that the tabernacle be set up in the middle of the encampments, with detailed instructions about where each tribe was to pitch its tents with reference to the tabernacle 5(Num. 2). In selecting Aaron and his sons to officiate in the priestly ceremonies conducted in the tabernacle, Yahweh had said, "So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood in the tabernacle; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death" (Num. 3:10). Dire warnings about obeying the command for others to keep a safe distance from the tabernacle had already been given.
(Y)ou shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, every one by his own standard, according to their armies; but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony" (Num. 1:50-53).
Repeated warnings were given to the Israelites that they were never to intrude on the sacred domain of the Aaronic priests. They and they alone were to have access to the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle. Their Levite brothers could attend to the needs of the priests and the tabernacles, "but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die" (Num. 18:3). The Levites who weren't priests could join with the priests to attend to "the work of the tabernacle, but an outsider shall not come near you" (v:4). Yahweh described the nonpriestly Levites as "a gift" to the priests "to do the work of the tabernacle," but only the priests could attend to the priesthood "for everything at the altar and behind the veil," but "the outsider who comes near shall be put to death" (v:7). Within the space of just seven short verses, the infinitely kind, loving Yahweh warned three times that only the priests were to attend to duties inside the tabernacles and that others who dared to intrude on this holy sanctuary would be put to death.
Biblicists, of course, believe that there was a divine purpose in these repetitious warnings of death to those who would violate the sanctity of a tent serving as a sort of portable temple, a purpose that surpasses the ability of mere humans to understand, but it all smacks too much of primitive taboo and superstition for rational people to believe that this was the real reason why the interior of the tabernacle was off limits to everyone but the priests. Let's just suppose that there is a grain of truth in the wilderness-wandering tales and that the Israelites did actually have a sacred tent that they carried with them in their nomadic jaunts through the Sinai desert. What better way could ancient priests have protected their livelihood than by instilling in the people a fear that those who intruded on their sacred turf did so at the risk of their own lives? The Levitical code made specific provisions for how much the priests were entitled to take from each animal and meal sacrifice that was brought to the tabernacle, so it was to their economic benefit to keep the people coming with their daily offerings. If the supply had ever dried up, the priests would have had to go to work herding sheep, making pottery, or whatever else people did then to make a living.
Maintaining a public awe and fear of what went on inside a holy sanctuary would have been an easy way to keep the tabernacle economy stable, and what better way to do this than to make the people afraid even to go near the sanctuary? After all, if the people had seen too much of censers, candlesticks, lavers, showbread, and such like, the holy sanctuary would surely have lost much of its mystique, but as long as people thought that this was a place so holy that outsiders who intruded on it would be struck dead by divine wrath, the priestly hold on the people was relatively secure.
There are stories in the Bible that undoubtedly developed from the general belief that touching sacred vessels from the tabernacle would bring divine wrath on outsiders. First Samuel 6 relates a tale about the calamities that befell the Philistines after they captured in battle the ark of the covenant, in which the tablets containing the ten commandments were kept. To end all of their misfortunes, the Philistines put the ark onto an ox-drawn cart and sent it back to Israel. When the unguided oxen came to the town of Bethshemesh, curiosity overcame religious taboo, and some of the townsmen looked inside the ark. Yahweh killed 57,070 men because of their violation of the sacred ark. As the story is told, Yahweh had merely inflicted the Philistines with "tumors" because of their contact with the ark, so why Yahweh treated the Israelites more severely than Philistines for touching the ark is anyone's guess. The Hebrew god Yahweh can be accused of many things, but consistency is not one of them.
Second Samuel 6 relates the story of a man who was killed for touching the ark when it was being transported to Jerusalem. When oxen pulling the cart stumbled, a man named Uzzah reached out to steady the ark, and when he touched it, Yahweh struck him dead "for his error" (v:7). David, who was on the scene, was so stricken by fear that he canceled plans to take the ark to Jerusalem and had it removed instead to the house of a man named Obededom.
Tales such as these undoubtedly developed from sincere beliefs
that Yahweh had pronounced death warnings on those who would intrude
into matters that had been delegated to priests. Instilling such fear
was an excellent way to control people. The same tactic was used to
scare people into toeing the line in general matters that didn't
involve tabernacle ceremonies, but that's another article for another
time.
