“And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.“ (2 Samuel 6:6-7 NKJV) [1]
David took a lot of men to Balla Judah to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. They were on the road with musical instruments, singing and dancing. It was a great day! The ark was coming to Jerusalem! The ark represented god. Wherever the ark was, there was the blessing of God.
They had put the ark on a cart drawn by oxen. In the Scripture above we read where the ark was about to fall off the cart when Uzzah touched the ark. God killed him right then and there.
I’m sure a lot of those people who saw this said, “God, that’s not fair! Did you want the ark to hit the ground?” God is not fair, He is just. If God was fair, He might let something slip by but He is not fair. He is just. That means that He expects all His commandments to be done to the letter of the law. If they aren’t then there is punishment.
David and those in charge of the ark must not have known the laws on how to handle the ark. Either the laws had not been handed down from the fathers or not read. It was to be carried with poles that went through rings at its base. The ark represented God and was to be considered holy. Nothing unholy could come in contact with it. If it did, there was a consequence.
Today we have no excuse to not know what God wants of us. We don’t have to rely on His word being passed down by mouth from generation to generation or for it being lost. Most of us have at least one bible. We need to read the Bible to know what God expects of us. We all need to spend time in the Word. We need to not only read it but meditate on it. We need to pass it on to the children as well. Then we will all know it well enough to know what to do in most situations.
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11 NKJV)
Dean W. Masters
homefurn@preferred.com
Owner of the Masters List
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/masterslist/
Unedited redistribution approved
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[1] The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996, c1982.