Considering the Bible

Uzzah and the Ark

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 6:5-15
5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, 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 struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
8 And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.
9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”
10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
11 And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

A famous story of God supposedly killing a servant whose heart was right. After all, was not Uzzah simply trying to protect the Ark from falling? He was doing right, was he not? This story is one that unbelievers like to refer to, claiming God is a meany. I think they may not understand the story very well.

In our last post on the Life of David, we saw that the Ark had been with the house of Abinadab for years, even decades. Abinadab’s sons, Ahio and Uzzah had lived around the ark for possibly their entire lives. In their minds, this Ark may have become common, ordinary, of no special purpose, even a relic of days long gone, stored away and forgotten.

But now the new king has come to get the Ark. Everything was going as planned. All the people of Israel were celebrating and having a great time. The king was celebrating. Everyone was in high spirits!

Well, most everyone. One small issue would snowball into this tragic event of Uzzah falling before the God of the Ark of the Covenant. The issue that snowballed into tragedy was the fact that no one considered God’s will for the transporting of the Ark of His Presence.

So what is the harm of transporting the Ark on a wagon? The Ark was to be carried by men, using special poles slid through rings attached to the side of the Ark. The Ark was to be carried by men, but not just anyone, but men of the family of Kohath, a priestly family designated to perform this task. And the Ark was to never be touched!

How was the Ark transported in this story? On a wagon, bulled by oxen. The Ark on a wagon? Pulled by oxen? Where did that idea come from? It seems those who knew not the Lord – the Philistines – had provided the example. Seems the Israelites were paying attention to the wrong teachers!

It may seem strange to think of these regulations as important, but the Ark was God’s Ark. It was His Ark and His will for the treatment of the Ark were to be obeyed. The Israelites were not to copy the Philistines manner of transporting the Ark.

These folk should have known better!

It was just a matter of time before the Ark moved, for the trail to Jerusalem was over rugged terrain. Uzzah saw the Ark move, grabbed/touched it to “protect” it, and died. Good intentions? Possibly? But lets consider this situation from God’s point of view. I think we should consider the mercy and patience of God in this story.

First off, some questions. How did the Ark get on the wagon? Was it always on the wagon? Was the Ark on the same wagon it had been delivered on? As the people of God, had anyone considered the will of God in the transporting of the Ark?

I mentioned the patience of God in this story, only due to the amount of traveling the Ark endured prior to this judgement. At the very beginning of this story, way back when the Philistines returned the Ark, we find an indifference in the people of God. Consider the people of God had not only stored the Ark somewhere – obviously not the tabernacle – that the Ark had been ignored for decades, and that the Ark was now being jostled about on a “man approved” method of moving. Consider the patience of Almighty God in allowing this unrestrained indifference!

When Uzzah touched it, a specific individual would die for a specific well defined act of disobedience. If the nation had known the will of God this would not have had to happen. And note the kindness of the Lord in that the nation in their general disregard for the Ark survived. Only one individual died, and his death reminded the nation the Ark had an Owner. Dang it, the nation had an Owner and the Owner needed some waking up of His people!

And once Uzzah died, the nation woke up!

This tragedy of Uzzah’s death reestablished the Holiness of God in the minds of the nation, and especially in the mind of King David.

The eternal God is holy. It is for our benefit that we understand His has standards. Granted, it is difficult to understand some portions of the will of God.

Some portions of the will of God are very clear! For specific disobedience against the will of God, (whether we understand that specific will of God or not), judgement will fall, and may be fatal, instant and appear harsh. Harsh, if we do not consider God and His purposes in the situation.

As a nation, our indifference to the will of God is evident all around. No that is a wrong statement. We had indifference to the will of God decades ago. It is no longer indifference. We are now in a nation of defiance against the will of God.

May God have mercy in His waking us up.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 6:1-4
1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-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 on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart,
4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.

David was in the midst of gaining authority over the nation, having been inaugurated in Hebron/Judah, and eventually being lifted up to the throne of a united Israel. His military prowess was displayed in routing the Jebushites out of the City of David (Jerusalem) and he sho’ nuff put the hurt to the Philistines – twice!

On the way to the throne though, he had suffered for years, having lost his family, loved ones, nation and homeland. Early in his life, even as a teenager, at his initial inauguration under the hand on Samuel, his future looked bright, full of hope and expectation. Little did he know he just acquired a target on his back, and would be on the run for over a decade. Many a man who had went through the injustices he went through may turn bitter, or angry at the trials he went through.

David did not.

David may have slipped into some difficult times, especially when he became a mercenary for the Philistines, even deceiving the king who was protecting him. But David did not remain in his rebellion. He realized that throughout all the trials his God had protected him, even though it appeared at times that he was moments from death. His descriptions of his impending doom are recorded in numerous places in the psalms. Psalm 18 is just one example.

Psalm 18:4-5 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

No – David did not remain hardened to the experience of his early years, but sought to honor the God who rescued him from all his dangers.

There was only one thing for him to do. Bring the ark to Jerusalem.

I understand David was seeking to honor the Lord, yet throughout the history of the nation, the ark had been in a temporary, highly mobile “tent”. I can not find any instructions from the Lord as to a desired final resting spot for the ark of the covenant. It appears that God’s presence amongst His people was the intent. (It always has been.)

David sought the ark for His capital city, and to think of this from a political viewpoint, it makes sense for him to do this. So David takes three thousand men to a the home of Abinadab, a man who had two sons, and was in possession of the ark. It turns our Abinadab had the ark since the Philistines had sent it back to Israel on a cart. You remember that time, when the Philistines were struck with tumors in each of the cities the ark was taken to within their nation.

Eventually, they had had enough and sent it back on a cart, pulled by two young ox. For a little background on this story, refer to Simple Thoughts – 1 Samuel 6.

Given this history, David and his men (or possibly Abinadab and his family) though it best to transport the ark in the same manner the Philistines had. After all, it worked for the Philistines!

Yet the Word gives instruction on the manner of transporting the Ark, along with the penalty for touching the ark.

Exodus 25:13-14 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them.

Numbers 4:15 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 that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

The Ark is to be transported only by a special class of priests, the sons of Kohath, and only by using poles covered in gold. The ark was not to be touched!

It seems that when the judgement fell on Uzzah, as we will see in our next post, the men of Israel decided to carry the ark in the prescribed manner. I assume this severe judgement on Uzzah, drove the men of Israel to “check the instructions” on how to transport the ark!

But for now, in this passage, we see two brothers, Ahio and Uzzah, who had been around the ark for most, if not all their lives. Someone decided to use a method of transport that made sense to them, due to their understanding of a traditional story or by their own experience, to transport the Ark to Jerusalem. The method? Use a cart pulled by oxen, traversing over fairly rugged terrain, up to Jerusalem. Yes it was a method they had heard of, and it seemed to make sense. Both the moving of the ark to Jerusalem, and the way it was moved seemed to make sense to those in this story.

We will see in the following post that actions that seem to make sense and actions that follow God’s instructions are not the same.

This story teaches us of how important it is for us to know His will in our lives, and to act in the way that pleases Him. Uzzah is about to find out that certain actions, whether he knew or not, will instantly deliver judgement!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

David Defeats the Philistines

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

22 And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
23 And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
24 And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
25 And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.

You gotta hand it to the Philistines. They were suckers for punishment!

Didn’t they just come up on the valley of Rephaim to take on this new king of Israel? Did they not just become defeated, quite decisively buy this new king of Israel?

How did David describe the previous victory of the Philistines?

2 Samuel 5:20…The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.

A breaking flood is not the description of a non decisive battle, but of a complete domination over another army.

And yet here they are again!

But the amazing thing about this passage, and that which I want to dwell on, is that though David found great success in his previous battle with the Philistines, he wasn’t about to simply repeat the method he was successful at earlier.

He saw the same scenario developing, the same enemy approaching the same battleground geography, and the same potential outcome if he simply attacked as before. Sure the Philistines may be better prepared for them but David could claim the earlier direction from the Lord as still being relevant, still applicable!

But he didn’t! He went to the Lord for fresh orders.

At this time in his kingdom, he didn’t rely on old orders or human assumptions. And because he sought the wisdom of the Lord in fighting the Lord’s battles, he found success.

Success that included an extended victory, all the way from Geba to Gezer.

As we considered the first battle, it was a quick and decisive strike against the Philistines. A show of superiority force against the power of a neighboring nation.

With this battle, strategy came into play, with a rear attack timed perfectly with the help of the Lord, removing any possible conventional escape plans the enemy may have had. Not only no escape, but David did not simply break through and disperse the Philistines this time. No – he chased them from Geba to Gibeon, a distance of over 12 miles!

An excellent resource for maps of David’s exploits may be found at https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bm-maps-david/

David and his men accomplished a decisive and prolonged victory over the Philistines in this battle. This battle set the tone for David’s domination over the Philistines, eventually bringing the 5 major cities (Gaza, Gath, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron) of the Philistines under his control.

David was on the path to becoming a world power, and would bring Israel to her greatest political and military influence over the region. His desire to know and do the commands of the Lord for each situation and challenge he faced brought about this ascendency over the region.

We too are to be listening for the voice of the Lord for His direction, even asking for His leading. And as David was told to go around behind, requiring much additional effort on his part, and to be patient in the waiting for the “the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees”, we too may expect some of the guidance of the Lord to be unexpected and require additional effort.

I suppose that is part of the calling of the believer!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible