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Uzzah
When we read the story of Uzzah in the scriptures we are often puzzled by how God dealt with him, surely God was unjust to punish Uzzah in this manner, to strike him dead as he tried to prevent the ark of God or the testimony of God from falling in the dirt
Lets look at the passage for a minute and try and discover what actually happened
2 Samuel 6:1-4 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
When we read this pass age there seems to nothing much wrong with this picture but if we look a little deeper we will see some underlying things
Firstly they put the ark of God on a cart, this was not Gods prescribed way to transport the ark look at Exodus 25:13-16 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark, the Testimony, which I will give you.
The ark was to be carried by poles that were made especially for it and the poles were not to be removed. How was the ark to be carried and by whom. Lets look at Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.
We discover here that the God had said that the Levites were to prepare and move everything from the Tabernacle. No one else was to touch it or even go near it. Now it is presumed that these family were Levites because the Ark had been entrusted to them and they had cared for it for 20 years and they had not died
Numbers 4:15 After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting.
We do not know if this family were Kohathites and if they even should have been transporting the Ark at all
So at this point it was all presumption on their part, they assumed that it was ok to transport the ark this way even though had had said in the Law of Moses that the Ark was to be transported by Levites on poles
Lets look a little deeper 2 Samuel 6:4 Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
When the Ark was to be transported it was to be borne on the shoulders of men and the Ark was supposed to lead the people but here it was being carried by Oxen and men were leading the Ark
Lets just stop here and talk about the glory of God for a minute A.W. Tozer wrote a book called Man, the Dwelling Place of God God had ordained from the start that he would dwell in the hearts of men and men would be the ones who carried the glory of God but they would be lead and guided by Him
Here men had entrusted animals to carry the glory of God and they (the men) were leading God, this was a recipe for disaster right from the start Where did they get the idea to put the Ark on a cart anyway?
1Sam. 6:1-2 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
The Ark had been captured by the Philistines but while it was there God brought many judgements on the Philistines so they were anxious to get rid of it, but they didnt know what to do with it or where to send it
1Sam. 6:7-9 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.
The Philistines devised a plan, we are not sure if it is the Ark that is causing us this trouble so we will take the Ark and put it on a new cart and it returns to Israel we will know that it was God who afflicted us but if it just wanders aimlessly then we will know it was just by chance that these plagues came
They put the Ark on a new cart, they were unbelievers they had no clue but they didnt try to lead the ark, they let the Ark lead the way and the Ark returned to Israel and was placed in the house of Abinidab and this is where our story begins So the priests of Israel and even King David were taking their lead from the Philistines who were unbelievers, they put it on a cart and got away with it so God mustnt mid riding on a cart, the problem was David and the Priests of Israel had the Law of Moses, they should have known better and in effect were treating the glory of God no differently that the unbelievers
So the glory of God was being borne by animals and was being led instead of followed, this was not good, it was only a matter of time before something happened
2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
David and all Israel were very excited to be bringing the ark to the city of David. However, in their excitement, they had forgotten to do what God had already told them to do in Law. Excitement and zeal for the Lord can never replace simple obedience.
2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
2 Samuel 6:7 The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
Notice what Uzzah did God called an irreverent act; he had become too familiar with holy things. He took the ultimate sovereignty of God too lightly.
I want to draw your attention to something here, it was at the threshing floor that the Ark stumbled, the threshing floor in the word of God always speaks of judgment, it is where the grain is rolled out and the grain is separated from the chaff, Jesus tells us in Matt 25 that it represents the coming judgment of the nations
So as they transported the glory of God in a way that was irreverent to God they came to a place of judgment and God judged them, unfortunately for Uzzah he was the one who reached out and touched the Ark, another sign of disobedience for the word of God because they had broken every law about transporting the Ark he presumed God would overlook this one too because they were after all taking the Ark to the Holy City
This is a sad story about Uzzah but one that warrants our attention, sometimes we think when we have excitement or zeal for the things of God we can do whatever we want, but there is a prescribed way to carry the glory of God and God will not hold us guiltless if we do not do it his way
When we read the story of Uzzah in the scriptures we are often puzzled by how God dealt with him, surely God was unjust to punish Uzzah in this manner, to strike him dead as he tried to prevent the ark of God or the testimony of God from falling in the dirt
Lets look at the passage for a minute and try and discover what actually happened
2 Samuel 6:1-4 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
When we read this pass age there seems to nothing much wrong with this picture but if we look a little deeper we will see some underlying things
Firstly they put the ark of God on a cart, this was not Gods prescribed way to transport the ark look at Exodus 25:13-16 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark, the Testimony, which I will give you.
The ark was to be carried by poles that were made especially for it and the poles were not to be removed. How was the ark to be carried and by whom. Lets look at Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.
We discover here that the God had said that the Levites were to prepare and move everything from the Tabernacle. No one else was to touch it or even go near it. Now it is presumed that these family were Levites because the Ark had been entrusted to them and they had cared for it for 20 years and they had not died
Numbers 4:15 After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting.
We do not know if this family were Kohathites and if they even should have been transporting the Ark at all
So at this point it was all presumption on their part, they assumed that it was ok to transport the ark this way even though had had said in the Law of Moses that the Ark was to be transported by Levites on poles
Lets look a little deeper 2 Samuel 6:4 Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
When the Ark was to be transported it was to be borne on the shoulders of men and the Ark was supposed to lead the people but here it was being carried by Oxen and men were leading the Ark
Lets just stop here and talk about the glory of God for a minute A.W. Tozer wrote a book called Man, the Dwelling Place of God God had ordained from the start that he would dwell in the hearts of men and men would be the ones who carried the glory of God but they would be lead and guided by Him
Here men had entrusted animals to carry the glory of God and they (the men) were leading God, this was a recipe for disaster right from the start Where did they get the idea to put the Ark on a cart anyway?
1Sam. 6:1-2 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
The Ark had been captured by the Philistines but while it was there God brought many judgements on the Philistines so they were anxious to get rid of it, but they didnt know what to do with it or where to send it
1Sam. 6:7-9 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.
The Philistines devised a plan, we are not sure if it is the Ark that is causing us this trouble so we will take the Ark and put it on a new cart and it returns to Israel we will know that it was God who afflicted us but if it just wanders aimlessly then we will know it was just by chance that these plagues came
They put the Ark on a new cart, they were unbelievers they had no clue but they didnt try to lead the ark, they let the Ark lead the way and the Ark returned to Israel and was placed in the house of Abinidab and this is where our story begins So the priests of Israel and even King David were taking their lead from the Philistines who were unbelievers, they put it on a cart and got away with it so God mustnt mid riding on a cart, the problem was David and the Priests of Israel had the Law of Moses, they should have known better and in effect were treating the glory of God no differently that the unbelievers
So the glory of God was being borne by animals and was being led instead of followed, this was not good, it was only a matter of time before something happened
2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
David and all Israel were very excited to be bringing the ark to the city of David. However, in their excitement, they had forgotten to do what God had already told them to do in Law. Excitement and zeal for the Lord can never replace simple obedience.
2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
2 Samuel 6:7 The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
Notice what Uzzah did God called an irreverent act; he had become too familiar with holy things. He took the ultimate sovereignty of God too lightly.
I want to draw your attention to something here, it was at the threshing floor that the Ark stumbled, the threshing floor in the word of God always speaks of judgment, it is where the grain is rolled out and the grain is separated from the chaff, Jesus tells us in Matt 25 that it represents the coming judgment of the nations
So as they transported the glory of God in a way that was irreverent to God they came to a place of judgment and God judged them, unfortunately for Uzzah he was the one who reached out and touched the Ark, another sign of disobedience for the word of God because they had broken every law about transporting the Ark he presumed God would overlook this one too because they were after all taking the Ark to the Holy City
This is a sad story about Uzzah but one that warrants our attention, sometimes we think when we have excitement or zeal for the things of God we can do whatever we want, but there is a prescribed way to carry the glory of God and God will not hold us guiltless if we do not do it his way
