And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. Exodus 25: 10-15, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, please speak to us through your Word, and give us responsive hearts. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We are revisiting a story that we looked at partially, a month or two ago. It is an episode from the life of David. It is the story of the ark being transported back to the City of David (2 Samuel 6), after twenty years! The incident that we are looking at today, is the slaying of Uzzah, the son of Abinadab, when he reached out to keep the ark from falling when the cart on which it was being carried, stumbled. For a long time I could not understand why Uzzah was stricken, when all he wanted to do was to keep the ark from falling. I struggled with it; it just did not seem fair. But because I know that God is fair, I sought a reasonable explanation (not that God owes us any explanation). I just wanted to understand what had happened.
So I went back to the portion of Scripture that spoke about the furniture for the tabernacle, specifically the ark, and came upon our Scripture for today. God had been very precise in His instructions. Exact details were given, not only regarding the construction of, but also the care, that was to be given to the furniture of the tabernacle. Each piece of furniture had a special place within the tabernacle as well. The place for the ark, was in the Most Holy Place, between the cherubims. That was where God chose to appear. The only time the ark was to be removed from the tabernacle was when they were moving from one place to another, by God’s directions!
Men had taken it upon themselves to replace the presence of God, with an object; and use it as a good luck charm to win a battle! The means had become the end, in the experience of Israel. God had not directed them to make this move. As a consequence, the ark had been carried from place to place, as God would show His displeasure with the way it was being handled. Lives were lost, when men would dare to look into the ark, and treat it as they would any ordinary magical object. The ark which symbolized God’s presence, had come to substitute the presence of almighty God. The lesson God sought to teach His people was lost in the midst of their disobedience.
Special instructions had been given regarding the manner in which the ark was to be moved from one place to another. Poles made of acacia wood, and overladen with gold, were to be put in the rings on the side of the ark and the ark was to be borne by several Levites. The poles were not to be taken out of the rings! Had God’s precise instructions been heeded, this disaster could have been avoided! There was no need for Uzzah to die. God did not desire his death. Disobedience to God’s instructions had caused his death. Because God loves us, He has given us His laws to protect us. Some of them may not feel comfortable, but that is not a criteria to do as we please. His laws have been given to us in order that we might grow; and to help to restore His image in us. If we choose to do things our way, we must be prepared to bear the consequences.
May God help us to learn from the experiences of others, that doing things God’s way, is really the best way!