SSS* Week #10-
I dropped my red Kool-Aid filled cup . . . not in the kitchen where it could be mopped up, but in the carpeted living room. But hey, this adolescent came up with a solution: I’d clean it up, cover the red stains on the carpet with a huge décor pillow we never moved and my mother would never know what happened. Genius!
She came home. All was well. Until several days later when she just so happened to look up and notice red splatter stains on the ceiling. Who knew the Kool-Aid splatter made it all the way up to the ceiling? Ugghh! Needless to say, this prompted an all-out investigation. She ended up moving the pillow and saw that in addition to stains on the ceiling, there were stains on the carpet. In addition to stains on the carpet, there were stains on the pillow. I was found guilty as charged and punished accordingly. What I eventually realized is that it was one thing to disobey the rule in the first place. It’s an additional issue that I compounded the offense by not addressing the disobedience right away and properly. Had I just owned my error and fessed up, the stains could have been dealt with sooner and more effectively with less time to penetrate and set in.
Looks like Uzzah had a similar experience.
God gave very clear instructions on how the Ark of the Covenant was to be handled. The Levites were to carry it on their shoulders using two designated poles. In addition, the ark was to never be touched by anyone other than the high priest following a ceremonial cleansing. To touch it was to dishonor God and such an act would be punished by death (Numbers 4:15; 7:9).
Well, David and his men placed the Ark of God on a cart and headed to Jerusalem. This modeled the way the Philistines chose to transport the ark after they stole it and decided to return it to the Israelites. The model that should have been followed is that which was laid out by God through Moses and Aaron.
Guess what? The oxen pulling the cart stumbled. Perhaps this was God trying to give them one more chance to transport it properly. Perhaps He was trying to communicate to them a reminder that as a token of God’s presence, the ark was not to be transported casually on a cart, but was designed to be placed honorably upon the shoulders of His chosen people. If so, having totally missed this warning of sorts, Uzzah compounded the offense when he “reached out and took hold of the ark of God.” Translation: he touched it! Therefore, in keeping with His word, “God struck him down, and he died.”
Oh, Uzzah! It was one thing to disobey the rule in the first place. It’s an additional issue that you all did not address the disobedience right away and properly. Let’s say the ark was about to fall over. The poles were to be touched. Not the ark itself! Had they owned the error and fessed up, God’s grace would have been sufficient enough to address the issue more effectively and sooner and the additional compounding problem of Uzzah touching the ark could have been avoided.
God responded this way because He is holy. To cart something was to unceremoniously transport it. God commanded that they carry the ark because to carry an item on the shoulders was to take responsibility for it. God commanded that the ark never be touched as a way of enforcing the concept of His holiness. He cannot and will not tolerate sin. As sinners, the ONLY way we can “reach out and take hold of God” is by accepting the sacrifice of the blood shed on the cross by his sinless son Jesus Christ. To assume that we can approach Him with just our sin stained selves is to be mistaken.
What can we learn from this chapter of the Bible?
- Do things God’s way.
Whenever we believe, with good intentions and all, that we have an idea or way of doing something that is better than the way laid out in the Bible, we will experience death. Every single time! Not necessarily a physical striking down as Uzzah experienced, but most certainly a loss of an opportunity to honor God with our obedience and reap the fruit that obedience was designed to bear.
- Remember who God is.
I think it is very interesting that Uzzah reached out to take hold of the ark. It’s as if he thought that without his help, God’s integrity was about to be in jeopardy. It’s as if Uzzah believed that God needed him to position himself to catch God, lest God fall! Never that! God is able. He is the creator of all things. He willed himself to be. He is all-powerful. He, therefore, does not need us to steady him, save Him, sustain Him, or in any way instinctively position ourselves to help Him out. What God asks of us is that we position ourselves to reverence and obey Him lest we fall!
Eventually, David got it right. He went back and did it God’s way. Chapter 6 of Second Samuel goes on to tell how those “who were CARRYING the ark of the Lord” rejoiced as they traveled back to Jerusalem!
Simply put, to cart Him is to do life our way. To carry Him is to do life God’s way.
Not my will, but Thy will be done!
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*SSS: Spending the Summer In Samuel
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- Reading Assignment for Week #11 (August 4th – August 9th): 2 Samuel 11-15
- Week 11 Journal Questions for 2 Samuel 11-15
- 1 & 2 Samuel Outline
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