In The Word
Read 1 Chronicles 13, 14
Peril in Transporting the Ark
Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us; and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the Lord who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called. They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets.
When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it. The anger of the Lord burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. Then David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza to this day. David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and the Lord blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
David gathered all of Israel unto himself to bring the Ark of God into the city of David. This is a unifying event for the nation of Israel. What David failed to realize was that man’s intentions are not always God’s will. God’s ways are higher than man’s (Isaiah 55:9). God had already prescribed the way the Ark should be transported in Exodus 25:12-15. God wanted to establish the holiness of the Ark as a symbol of Christ. The Ark was made of a special wood that was overlaid with pure gold. The wood represented the humanity of Christ, and the pure gold represented His deity. Even when the Ark was to be moved, Aaron and his sons would take down the covering veil above the Ark and lower it upon the Ark. This guaranteed that only Aaron, the high priest, would see the Ark once every year when he would go into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Exodus 30:10, Hebrews 9:7). Uzza died because God’s order was not followed.
Believers are allowed to come to God because we have His blood covering us (Acts 20:28). His blood sanctifies and cleanses us so that we may approach Him with the assurance that He receives us as His children. The biggest fear that the Israelites had was that they might not perform the ordinances of the tabernacle correctly. Christians should fear that we might take for granted the great grace and mercy that God has shown us through His Son. We are able, as true Christians, to enter into the Holy of Holies through Yahshua the Christ (Hebrews 4:15-16).