2 Samuel 6
Peril in Moving the Ark
1(A)Now David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to (B)Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the (C)Name, the very name of the LORD of hosts who (D)is enthroned above the cherubim.
3They placed the ark of God on (E)a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.
4So (F)they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark.
5Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel (G)were celebrating before the LORD (H)with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.
6But when they came to the (I)threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah (J)reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it.
7And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and (K)God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.
8David became angry because of the LORD'S outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called [a]Perez-uzzah to this day.
9So (L)David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?"
10And David was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of (M)Obed-edom the Gittite.
11Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD (N)blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
Seems a little harsh to strike down Uzzah like that. After all, he was merely trying to steady the cart so that the Arc would not fall. Surely those were honorable intentions. Why would God call this irreverent? Why would Gods anger burn against Uzzah and then why would He strike him down? Yikes. It like a lose lose situation. If You think He was pissed at that, what would have happened if the Arc fell? Yikes, Yikes!Run for the hills!
Could it be because Uzzah merely touched this holy object? Could it be an accumulation of events culminating with this final act of "irreverence"? Could it be because God had given orders that this Arc of the Covenant was to be carried on the shoulders of Levites, not in a cart dragged by an ox? Was Uzzah a levite? Had God given the orders to be moved or was that someone elses idea?
What does this tell you about God? Was David right to be angry at God? Was David right to be afraid of God? I picture David....."Ok God, so we were singing and dancing and have a great time when all of a sudden, out of the blue, for no apparent reason, You struch down Uzzah. I was planning on bringing You back to my place Lord, but now I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea!"
Whether I like it or not, this is the God I serve. This is the God I praise. This is the King of the universe! This is the God who lifts me up through Jesus Christ, so that I may stand blameless before Him. If it werent for Jesus, I would be there with Uzzah. Struck down for my irreverence to a holy God. Thank You for Your mercy, oh Lord.
The bible is a fascinating and wonderful thing, a witness to the interactions of God with his creation, specifically, us his created. Events, not written by the hand of God, but inspired by the Holy Spirit and interpreted by people of perhaps limited or different experience and understanding. Events that lead us, the present day inheritors of the Word, to an understanding as God, through the Holy Spirit, permits.
ReplyDeleteMany times prophets and apostles alike wrote of things they didn’t fully understand using symbolism, imagery and interpretation that represented their best attempt at describing what they saw or understood to be true.
For those who likely hadn’t seen the discussions (Great Comment) Don and I shared on the subject earlier, I considered that perhaps Uzzah didn’t die because God was “angry” he touched a box he was not to touch, but died as a result of an electrical shock that may have emanated from the Ark, the real reason for God’s warning not to touch the box, citing an article in Wikipedia (or was it Indiana Jones) describing the notion that the Ark’s material composition and construction perhaps had electrical properties that could kill.
And in that, what I see being described here is a most unfortunate accident that resulted in the death of Uzzah. A death that would have appeared quite unearthly, but that was probably the result of a blinding flash emanating from the Ark, the representation of God’s throne, that would have “burned” Uzzah and struck him dead in a most horrifying manner. A death that would have frightened David and resulted in his anger at God over the loss of Uzzah no different than the way many of us today lash out at God over a seemingly senseless loss of life of someone close to us. A death possibly interpreted by the writer as “God’s anger” without really understanding what provoked the result.
Just a theory, but one I find much more consistent with the loving and often misunderstood God we have come to know through Jesus.