Reacher of the Tossed Ark

Scripture of the day 2 Samuel 6:1-19

There was a blond and a brunette that both lost their jobs because of the economy. So they both found the same job in the newspaper. The brunette went and applied for the job and the boss had her fill out a bunch of papers then he asks "Before you go how many D's are there in Indiana Jones?" shes thinks for a sec then she says “Um 1.” The boss says "ok thanks I'll call you."

Then the blond applies for the job. She fills out the paperwork and then the boss says “Before you go how many D's are there in Indiana Jones?” She starts counting with her fingers and then she says “Do you have a pencil and paper and a calculator?” The boss replies “Yes, but why do you need that?” She says“Just give it to me.” So she starts writing down numbers and using the calculator. Finally she tells the boss “510,002.” The boss is perplexed. “How did you get that?” 

The blonde replies, “Well you know da da da daaaa da da daaa da da da daaaa da da da daa daa daaaa.”

When you think of the Ark of the Covenant, many of us think of how it was portrayed in the movies.  Especially in the Indiana Jones Movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.  In this movie the Ark is depicted as shooting a lazer beam in a picture, and one professor claims "the Bible speaks of the Ark leveling mountains and laying waste to entire regions". In the movie it burns a crate and contains angels of death that destroys an entire squad of Nazi’s. Indiana Jones and his girlfriend Marian escape only by not looking at the angels of death as they fly about.

Now the real Ark of the Covenant was a piece of Holy furniture that was supposed to dwell in the holiest part of the tabernacle. God dwelt between the wings of the angels that adorned the top of the Ark. It didn’t have lasers or hold angels of death. But it was built by the direct command of God and held the original ten commandments a pot of manna, the miraculous food that God provided to the Hebrews during their journey through the desert and the staff of Aaron the first high priest of Israel.

And it was supernatural.

The army of Israel had the ark lead them into battle. At the battle of Jericho the ark was carried around the city for 7 days and the walls fell by just the blast of a horn. When the ark was captured by the Philistines, the cities that held the ark were beset by plagues so much that the Philistines gave the ark back to Israel. They just left it on a cart in the open and told the Israelites to come and get it. But it never had lasers or leveled mountains like it was claimed in the movies.

In today’s Old Testament scripture we see another supernatural manifestation of the ark. Let’s look again at the first part of today’s Old Testament Scripture: “Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand.  And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name,the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

 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.  And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.” 2 Samuel 6:1-19

this is one of those scriptures that just do not seem to make sense. It doesn’t seem fair. All Uzzah did was prevent the Holy Ark from falling off the cart to the ground. Most people would think this is a good thing, why in the world did god strike him dead for something that we would consider good?

Well we have to look at this incident in its context.

David was trying to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. That was a noble thing.

It was a good thing. The Ark represented God’s presence and David wanted to establish a permanent home for the Ark in Jerusalem.

So they had to get the Ark to Jerusalem. So they put it on a cart to haul it to Jerusalem. That is the major problem. You see according to Exodus 25 and 37 God gave the children of Israel very specific instructions on how the Ark was to be transported. It was to be covered so no one could see it and carried by priests using the two poles on each of its side.  This was to show that the ark was not just apiece of religious furniture, it was where the children of Israel were to meet God. God dwelt between the cherubim. It was a Holy object.

But David had the Ark transported on a cart. Now 20 years earlier the ark was given back to Israel after the Philistines took it. It was left in a field on a cart. The Ark was then placed in house owned by a man named Abinadab, who was Uzzah’s father and it stayed there for 20 years. Probably on the same cart that the Philistines had used. So they were used to having the Ark on a cart.

Problem is Abinadab and Uzzah were from the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi was priestly tribe. Abinidab and Uzzah were basically priests. These were the people who were trained in God’s law from youth. And they had to have known how they were supposed to transport the ark. In fact they were the ones who were supposed to carry it! We do not know why they chose to ignore God’s word. Perhaps they didn’t think it was all that important, after all the Philistines got away with it. Or perhaps they did not want to carry the Ark all those miles to Jerusalem. We do not know. But they ignored God’s commands and used a cart. Even the Nazis in Indiana Jones knew that they should use the poles. Next time you watch the movie, you can see the Nazis are using the poles to take the ark to the ceremony at the end of the movie.

But they hauled the ark on the cart. Over bump roads toward Jerusalem. And only when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor did the cart tip and Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark.

Now the funny thing is threshing floors, are purposefully made very level and flat. It was hard solid flat ground, like a cement floor. And the cart never tipped on the bumpy roads, it tipped on the flattest and smoothest piece of land it had crossed. And as the cart tipped, Uzzah who was trained since childhood about the holiness of the ark and had it in his home for over 20 years, so he knew better…reached out to steady the Ark. And he died.

Notice, we are not told how he died. A lot of us think BAM God just killed him dead, or as some people claim he was zapped by the power of the ark. But it could be that it just fell on him and crushed him. Scripture doesn’t say. So it didn’t have to be dramatic. It just happened.

David and the men of Israel ignored god’s law and Uzzah paid for it with his life. David and the people knew what God had commanded, but they ignored it.  Their intentions were good. David wanted to bring the symbol of God’s presence into his city. The people came out in mass to honor God. Uzzah just wanted to keep the Ark from falling.

So what does this all mean for us today?

A good samaritan was walking home late one night when he came upon a drunk on the sidewalk. Wanting to help, he asked the drunk, "Do you live here?" "Yep." "Would you like me to help you upstairs?" "Yep." When they got up on the second floor, the good person asked "Is this your floor?" "Yep."

Then the good samaritan got to thinking that maybe he didn't want to face the man's irate wife because she may think he was the one who got the man drunk. So, he opened the first door he came to and shoved him through it then went back downstairs. However, when he went back outside, there was another drunk. So he asked that drunk "Do you live here?" "Yep." "Would you like me to help you upstairs?" "Yep." So he did and put him in the same door with the first drunk.

Then he went back downstairs where, to his surprise, there was another drunk. So he started over to him. But before he got to him, the drunk called out to a nearby policeman and said, "Please officer, protect me from this man. He's been doing nothing all night long but taking me upstairs and throwing me down the elevator shaft!"

There are many people who feel that the intentions of their hearts will justify them before God.  It doesn’t matter what you do so long as you have good intentions in your heart. Right?

We often hear the old saying, “the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions” 

Writer Aldous Huxley once said, “Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.”

How about you today? 

Is there something that you are involved in that you know is wrong, but you have rationalized that it is ok because you have god intentions? 

Don’t be an Uzzah. 

Because some day the cart may tip and you might end up on the wrong end of a fall.