For my fourth grade year, my parents moved from the little town of Fiddletown into the town proper of Ione. We moved into a neighborhood that was brand-new, and had lots of young families. Catty-corner to my houses there lived a family with three boys. They were pretty red-neck, rowdy, and I had a blast with them. They let me ride their dirt bikes, one of which I broke. They had a trampoline close to the house so that you could jump off the roof onto it. We'd built forts out in the fields close by. We’d swim in the creek when it was running. We did all sorts of things.
When I first met the boys, I saw that something was different about their youngest. He was a year younger than me, and his skin was deformed on one side of his body. I asked him what had happened and he told me that when he was a few years younger his mom was cooking in the kitchen. She’d tell him to get out, but one time, when her back was turned, he reached up and grabbed a pot off the burner. It was boiling water and it fell on him. He was scarred for life, because he hadn’t listen to his mother to stay out of the kitchen. Though he was outwardly scarred, it didn’t slow him down. And we were pretty good friends for that year.
It’s this idea of not listening and experiencing the consequences that brings us back into our summer series where we’ll be picking it back up in Second Samuel, Chapter 6, starting in verse 1. And as we open up to Second Samuel 6:1, let’s review our last few weeks.
In our first week, we looked at the love David had for Saul’s family, and we saw how that showed, through David’s mourning of both Saul and his son Ish-bosheth, even though, both were out to kill him. That love even extended to Saul’s grandson, who, if David wanted to follow what kings normally did, would have killed him to secure his dynasty. Instead, David brings the boy into his care and provides for him. From David’s love for Saul’s family, we walked away with the understanding that God is calling us to be people seeking the good for others, even when they seek our harm.
In the second week, we then looked at the last days of Abner, who seemed to try to act in righteousness. He did this by making sure the next heir of Saul was made king, and by trying to avoid unneeded bloodshed. Yet, he was killed in a wicked act of vengeance. We walked away for his life with the understanding that, wickedness will come against God’s people, but he calls us to trust in his faithfulness, when the wickedness comes against us.
Finally, last week, we looked at the monumental occasion when David finally becomes king of Israel. After several decades of waiting, and a whole book leading up to the moment, we finally saw the fulfillment of Ruth’s hope. Yet even though God was with David as king, we also saw the seeds of sin in David’s life start to flower. We saw how he was vindictive against those who mocked him, and how he was in direct violation of God’s command for kings to not take many wives. We saw in God’s address to how kings were to keep their hearts with God, that, we are to starve our sinful desires by making God’s word a priority in our lives. God’s word keeps us aware of our sin and focused on him to overcome it. Something we’ll see doesn’t happen in David’s life.
Now, that we’re refreshed on the last few weeks, we can dive into Second Samuel 6, where we’re going to take the chapter in a part one and part two. Part one this week, and part two next week. It’s one thought, but deals with two issues that we need to zero in on separately. Let’s read together starting in 6:1.
1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 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, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried 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, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.
5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
Let’s stop there for this week. David is on an upswing. He’s been made king, his internal enemies have been dealt with, his external enemies have been routed, and other nations are making peace with him. David is sitting as undisputed and the only recognized king of the once land of Canaan, now the land of Israel. He’s loved by his people and feared by his enemies.
So, David decides to bring the symbol of God’s presence and favor, the Ark of the Covenant, to the new capital city of Israel. If you don’t remember, back in First Samuel chapters 4-6, the ark had been captured by the Philistines, just for God to bring it back to the Israelites. The Israelites feared the Lord, and so anointed the son of Abinadab, Eleazar, to watch over the ark. And there it sat until David came and got it.
But we see that on the ark’s way to David’s city, an ox stumbles, and the ark begins to slide off the cart that was carrying it. A son of Abinadab, Uzzah, tries to keep it from hitting the ground, but is struck down by God.
Now, the question that should pop up in our heads should be, “Why?” Why would God be angry at Uzzah? He was trying to keep God’s ark from hitting the ground, isn’t that a good thing?
This is where we need to take a step back and realize what is happening. See there are issues at play, that if we don’t know the whole context of the Scriptures, will go right over our heads. The primary issue here is that the people, including David are not treating God as holy, but instead treating the ark as a trophy.
See God gave specific instructions about the ark through his law. By not following those instructions the people are downplaying the holiness of God. Something that God adamantly instructs them to focus on (need Scripture verse). God’s holiness is the primary issue of the Old Testament. In order to understand the grace that is found in Jesus, we must first understand the weight of sin. Sin is rebellion against God’s will and purpose. And since God is holy, meaning he perfect in all things, that sin has to be dealt with. The only two options is that sin is either dealt within the person who sins, or by proxy of something else. This was the purpose of the sacrificial system. It showed God’s willingness to extend grace to people, by placing their sin on another. In this way, when Jesus comes to pay the sin, there’s an understanding of the weight of his sacrifice. He’s our proxy who takes on our sin, which satisfies God’s holiness and his grace.
Knowing that, we can see that there are two problems that are within the text. First, back in the book of Numbers (see Num. 3:3, 4:15; 7:9), God gave specific instructions on who was to take care of and transport the ark. The family of Kohath were the only ones designated to take care of and transport the ark. Though Abinadab’s son was designated to watch over the ark, he wasn’t a son of Kohath. So when Abinadab’s sons, most likely grandsons at this point, try to take on that role, they are in violation of God’s commands. Since Uzzah isn’t from the family of Kohath, he is not permitted to touch the ark, so when he does, he dies.
Secondly, the way in which the ark was transported is in violation of God’s commands. The ark was supposed to be carried with wooden poles by people (see Ex.25:12-25). But here it is put on a new cart. This might seem frivolous, but the Israelites are actually following a pagan example rather than a biblical one. God called them to carry the ark with poles, instead they’re doing what the Philistines did back in First Samuel. The Philistines would carry their idols on new carts, and to get rid of the ark, the Philistines put it on a new cart to deliver back to the Israelites. Instead of following God’s commands, they were following pagan practices. This is another reason of why what is going on is in direct opposition to God’s holiness. The Israelites are acting as pagans, rather than in keeping with their holy God.
The result of this sends a holy reverent fear into David. Something that needed to happen, because he had already begun to sway from God. We talked about David’s seeds of sin flowering last week. God will sometimes send things to shock us back to the right path, and it seems, at least a little bit, in this case it works. David is so fearful that he sends the ark to Obed-edom a Gittie. Now that word, Gittite has two possible interpretations, but is most likely a reference to the town of Gath-rimmon, which is a Levitical city later on referenced in First Chronicles 15.
In other words, David sends the ark to the priests where it should have went originally. And God blesses the house of Obed-edom, in a sign that David did the right thing.
Dropping down to verses 12-15, we find out that when David hears of God blessing Obed-edom, he seeks to bring the ark to the city of David once again. Except this time he does it right. In verse 13, it references, “those who bore” the ark, meaning, it wasn’t on a cart this time, it was being carried, most likely by the priests. Since David and the people are now trying to do as God commanded, there is a lot of rejoicing and David dances in front of the ark as it proceeds into the city. That dancing is going to get David into trouble with his wife, but we’ll leave that for next week.
For now, let’s see what we can walk away with this week. Though, we as believers in Jesus, live under the new covenant of grace, God is still holy. He is still to be revered. We are still to have a reverent fear of God. Not that we cower before him, but that we understand that he is God, and we are not. He is completely perfect and only through Jesus are we.
See the cross represents the collision of God’s holiness with his love. In that moment God provided a pathway for sinful humanity to be forgiven and to enter into his holiness.
Yet, even after the cross, when Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive the Church, the Holy Spirit struck them down. We read the result in Acts 5:11, “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” Just like what happened to David, a holy reverent fear came over the Church (see Acts 5:1-11).
In his letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul addresses how the communion table was being taken in an unworthy manner and because of that some in the congregation became sick. He writes this, “ Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Cor. 11:27-32)”
Though we have access to the Father through Jesus and are forgiven because of his work, though we can call on our Father and are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we must still understand that God is holy, and not think that we can be frivolous with him.
Today we are approaching the table of the Lord in communion. As we pass the elements today, we need to first examine ourselves. This is a moment were we intentionally approach God in something he has prescribed for us.
Just as God prescribed who and how the ark was to be carried, Jesus prescribed the Lord’s supper for us. Paul writes in First Corinthians 11:23-26, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
This is your challenge for this week. As we partake in communion, before we pass the elements, let’s take a moment and go before the Lord and seek him in his holiness. Let us not treat this as something that we do, because we do it, but remember the holy act it represents. God’s punishment for our sin was placed on another. Jesus bore our guilt and shame that we may bear his eternal life. Let us not make that payment cheap by seeking after things that are not of God.
Let us not treat the table of the Lord as the Israelites were treating the ark, as something that represents God, but without respect for God who spoke how to treat it. Instead, let us seek God to reveal and deal with the sin that still holds on to us. That when we come to the table we are not being deceitful of who we are, but we are honest with the Lord.
We can still take communion, even if we are struggling with sin, because its our honesty the Lord seeks. If we have already accepted what Jesus has done for us, then that sin has been paid for, but we need to still not try to hide it from God, who already knows it. Instead, let us be honest at the Lord’s table today.
And if you feel like you’re taking the elements in an unworthy manner, it would be better for you not to take it, then to be dishonest. There is no judgment for those who seek the Lord in honesty. So when the elements are passed, only take them if you believe you are taking them to honor God in holiness. But also, if you know that you would be taking in an unworthy manner, let it pass by, and then in that act, you too will be honoring God in his holiness.
God is seeking us to be holy as he is holy. Our holiness comes through the work of Jesus, and he calls us to act in that holiness as we read and follow his word. Let us be his holy people this week. Amen.
