Many of us know the story of how king David was moving the Ark of the Covenant with much pomp and circumstance, honor and care. The Philistines had stolen the ark and kept it as a high place at Baale-judah. The army of David had conquered the enemy and reclaimed the ark for the LORD, and now they were going to move it back to Jerusalem, where it would take its rightful place of honor. They put the ark on a cart, and the ox who was pulling the cart stumbled. Uzzah the priest reached out to steady the ark and God struck him dead on the spot.
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. 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. 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. 2 Samuel 6:3-7
Perhaps, like me, you have heard that story and thought, “Was God having a bad day or something, that such a small act could be dealt with so harshly?” Seems like an awfully violent response to an innocent helping hand. That seems to have been the response of David, in any case.
And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" 2 Samuel 6:1-10
Poor Uzzah the Kohathite! How could he have known? I once heard a report that someone had built a replica of the ark, shaping it exactly as was prescribed by God to Moses, and they had to destroy it because it generated dangerous amounts of electricity. And some of us have seen the movies about raiders of lost arks and such. Uzzah didn’t have access to that information.
But, wait! Maybe Uzzah’s mistake was not so innocent, after all. Maybe he was clearly and obviously disrespecting the LORD by committing several sins. Let’s find out what was wrong here.
SIN #1: USING A CART
Here is what God said about the Kohathites and wagons:
So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. Numbers 7:6-9
What was this Kohathite doing in the first place? He only had a few instructions directed to him, as a priest whose duty was to carry the furnishings of the Tabernacle. Had he never heard this one? Most anyone who has read the original description of the tabernacle’s design knows that all of the furnishings were made with rings to hold poles, by which the ark was to be carried. If you and I know that, why didn’t Uzzah? For that matter, why did David not stop this from happening?
What was up here? Maybe it was laziness. Maybe Uzzah was thinking it was a long way to carry that thing. And, after all, the Philistines had somehow carried the thing all the way here when they captured it.
But I’m thinking that Uzzah and David were both thinking that they were honoring God by having this parade. Perhaps it was part of the culture, as if God were a king on a throne, riding in majesty among the throngs. We have musicians and a parade and lots of respect going on here; that should make up for any small breach of etiquette that we might do with the cart. Regardless, owning the cart at all, much less using it, was the first blasphemous thing that Uzzah had done.
SIN #2: DISPLAYING THE ARK
The second major gaffe of Uzzah was in leaving the ark uncovered. There are only a few verses in the Bible that give instructions on how to move the ark, and Uzzah was ignoring it all.
Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. Numbers 4:5
Uzzah had one job to do. Just one job! How hard are these instructions? I think that the ark was never intended for display. It was kept in the Most Holy Place, hidden by layers of mystery and curtain. Generations of Israelites had never seen the ark, until this moment, when it was put into a parade and made into a spectacle. The attitude was all wrong. The LORD is holy. Holy means to be set apart. God’s covenant is not some fire truck or parade float, that we should display it.
SIN #3: TOUCHING THE ARK
As a final straw, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark. Because sin #1 and sin #2 had already taken place, the ark was in a position it never should have been in the first place. And now Uzzah touches it. And God, true to His word, does what He said He would do.
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. Numbers 4:5-15
YOUR ENCOUNTER
Is God unjust to keep His word? Should He have never made this threat in the first place? Is He some sort of a jealous God, unwilling to have us treat Him as the anthropomorphic buddy that we all know Him to be?
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Psalms 2:12
"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Job 38:2
For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. Psalms 47:2
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. James 5:9
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. Revelation 19:15
Maybe we have taken Him lightly. Maybe we have spent so much time focused on Jesus as a helpless baby in a manger, as a gentle, meek and mild shepherd, as a friend of sinners, that we have done the unthinkable ourselves: We have lowered the Almighty One to our level. We are asking Him for hugs, rather than bowing before Him. We are kissing His face and not His feet. Maybe, like Uzzah, you and I have taken Him for granted and treated Him as common and not as holy.
The other day, I used the CCLI Top 10 songs to demonstrate something. Perhaps it would do us well to look at the lyrics of songs 11-25 and see if we might be in danger of touching the ark ourselves.
You're never gonna let me down . . . When the night is holding on to me God is holding on . . . You are forever mine . . . My fears were drowned in perfect love . . . I will adore You . . . Jesus when I met You . . . Your love is the air that I'm breathing . . . Beauty that made This heart adore You . . . a life spent with You . . . You're altogether lovely . . . fill me with Your heart . . . I will build my life upon Your love
Please understand that I am not being critical of any song here. But I am questioning the balance of what we say to God, and how we treat Him. Uzzah only got one shot at this. I don’t want to miss it. Talk with someone about what your words of worship have led you to think about your relationship with God, and write about it in your journal.