As I mentioned in another thread, I have been working through 1 Chronicles recently, and came across the account of the Ark of the Covenant being transported from Kirjathjearim in Judah (where it had been for 20 years according to 1 Samuel 7:2) to Jerusalem. It includes the account of Uzzah being slain by God for touching the Ark when he was performing the seemingly good action of trying to stop it from falling out of the cart after the oxen pulling it stumbled. But during my latest study of this incident, I have learned some worthwhile things (and one crucial thing in particular), and would like to share them for general edification (or correction if I have anything wrong).
I remember that when I first read about the Lord slaying Uzzah, probably when I was still using the Good News Bible of my childhood, I felt a bit perplexed. My thinking back then was, "Surely Uzzah was just trying to do the right thing. Why kill him for that?" Well of course, one reason he died is because he touched something that he shouldn't have been touching, but there's a little more to it than that, as I have now found.
2 Samuel 6 covers a good deal of what transpired (including the slaying of Uzzah), but 1 Chronicles provides more details, including a full account of the second stage of the Ark's journey that the 2 Samuel account only devotes a solitary verse to. The first stage of the Ark's journey is recorded in 1 Chronicles 13, and the second stage in 1 Chronicles 15. The first few verses of 1 Chronicles 13 cover David's consultation with the people. David shared his desire to go and bring the Ark, but he wanted to make sure that this was not only God's will, but also that the people were in agreement. What I got from these verses is that David did not just impose his own will on the situation. He didn't take the attitude, "Well this is what we're going to do whether you like it or not!" He reasoned the matter out. And as it turned out, the people were all in favour (see Verse 4). Without doubt, they desired a good thing. However, it is possible to sincerely want to do something for the Lord, but still do it the wrong way.
So they all went off to Kirjathjearim, and I'm sure they were probably full of excitement and enthusiasm, perhaps even a bit of holy zeal. They then did something that may seem perfectly logical for an object like the Ark: And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart. (1 Chronicles 13:7) That detail about the cart is important to bear in mind, because I'm going to return to it in a short while. We also read in the next verse, And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. So they were definitely in a pretty happy mood. It was a time of both celebration and worship. Probably in that moment, all seemed right in David's world. But then this happens:
And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God. And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day. (1 Chronicles 13:9-11)
The same incident is recorded in 2 Samuel thus:
And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day. (2 Samuel 6:6-8)
So there was an accident, or near accident, in which the oxen pulling the cart transporting the Ark of God stumbled. As they stumbled, the cart would have "shook" in some way and the Ark would probably have been in danger of sliding out. Uzzah reached out for it, and didn't just briefly touch it, but held on to it for a period of time (no doubt meaning to prevent it from falling out). He probably had the best of intentions in reaching out as he did. Nevertheless, his action was a serious error, enough to bring down a very severe judgement from God in the form of instant death. He had touched something extremely holy. However, that is not ultimately the main lesson to be learned. There was a really important lesson for David (and ultimately for us all), which becomes clear in the second stage of the Ark's transport.
Between those two stages, there was a hiatus in which the Ark rested in the house of Obededom the Gittite (presumably it was nearby to the threshingfloor, since the death of Uzzah made David disinclined to continue at that time) for a period of three months. We see an example of God's graciousness and kindness when we learn that He blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had (1 Chronicles 13:14). A house in which God is present is a blessed house indeed.
Moving on to 1 Chronicles 15 and the account of the second stage of the Ark's journey to Jerusalem. Now the first important point to note from that chapter is this: Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. (1 Chronicles 15:2) This harks back to Deuteronomy 10:8, At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. So the Levites were the only ones meant to carry the Ark. However, that may not have been the case previously. Let's go back to 1 Chronicles 13 momentarily and have a look at the second verse of that chapter to see David's initial plan: And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us. So the priests and Levites almost seem to be an afterthought in David's mind there. At least, that is what it looks like to me.
Going back to Chapter 15, David gives some instructions to the Levites and says that they had not been involved in transporting the Ark previously: For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. Now the breach in question was the death of Uzzah. So now it becomes clearer that God killing Uzzah was not just a judgement upon him for his error. He was also chastening David and teaching him a lesson. In his enthusiasm to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, David had been careless. His intention was good, but the way he went about it was wrong. Now however, having learned his lesson, he makes things right: And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD. (1 Chronicles 15:15)
That commandment of Moses is found in the Book of Exodus: And thou shalt make staves of shi-ttim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. (Exodus 25:13-15) That is how God intended for the Ark to be carried. It was meant to be borne upon the shoulders of Levites. By using the staves to carry it, they would never touch it. (BTW, I have deliberately inserted a hyphen in "shi-ttim", because when I used the whole word, the site censored the first four letters. But obviously I'm not using bad language there!)
So the big lesson that I learned from all this is that while it is good to want to do things for the Lord, we must do them God's way. David and the children of Israel sincerely wanted to bring the Ark of God to Jerusalem. The Bible never says that their desire was wrong. Where they did go wrong however was in failing to convey the Ark in the manner that God wished it to be conveyed. In Old Testament times, doing things God's way meant following the instructions of the Law of Moses. But in essence, it was about obeying the Word of God as it is now. There was a clear instruction regarding how the Ark was to be carried, but David completely ignored it. Instead, the Ark ended up being put on a cart. It was a "new cart" - I guess they figured that an old cart wouldn't be right. But the Ark was not meant to be put in ANY cart. Placing it in a cart, new or otherwise, was man's way, not God's way. The Ark would not have been in any danger of falling if it had been carried by the Levites in the first place. Uzzah would never have handled it, to stop it falling or for any other reason. NO ONE would have touched it directly, because it would have been up on those staves. And so in the end, that is why God slew Uzzah. It wasn't just that he handled the Ark, although that was certainly a key reason. It was also because the entire thing was being done wrong. David, and indeed the nation of Israel in general, needed to learn a lesson from it. It was their collective foolishness that put Uzzah in that position in the first place. (That said, his own foolishness also contributed.)
There is much about this lesson that applies to modern Christianity. A great many professing Christians think that they are serving the Lord in this way or that way, but they are not doing it the way He wants. For example, they may sing praise and worship songs, but these songs might have a worldly rock beat and be more about pleasing the flesh than worshipping God. Or they might think that they are honouring God by celebrating Christmas and Easter, but in reality they are participating in pagan rituals that are greatly displeasing to Him. Or maybe they try to obey the Great Commission, but instead of preaching the Law to bring people to repentance, they get people to say a "sinner's prayer" so that they can "get their numbers up". And so on and so forth. In my own life, a few years ago, I went through a period of putting tracts in letterboxes. These were mainly Chick tracts, but I used some others as well. I thought I was fulfilling the Great Commission, but the fact is, I was not actually talking to anyone. In fact, putting tracts in letterboxes was my way to AVOID talking to people. Nowadays, I call what I did back then "hit and run evangelism". Slip the tract in a letterbox and quickly move on. And if someone gets mad reading it later, I'll be long gone. But in the Bible, we see Christ and His apostles, and occasionally other Christians, talking to people. In order to PREACH the Gospel, you actually have to open your mouth! (I do want to make clear that I'm not against tracts and there are good ways to use them, such as if someone is in a hurry so you offer them a tract to read later when they have more time.) And I can think of other things I did (including listening to CCM) in which I thought I was honouring or serving God, when in fact I wasn't at all, because I was doing things my way and not His way.
So anyway, that is what I have gleaned from this particular study, and what I wanted to share. I'm sure that there are other interesting lessons that can be taken from these chapters as well, so by all means please share any additional thoughts on them that you may have, or alternatively correct any errors I may have made. Also, if you want, share illustrations from your own lives of how you wanted to do something for the Lord but ended up doing it your way instead of His, and what consequences and lessons were learned from it.
