They Tried to Carry God's Presence in a Wagon

They Tried to Carry God’s Presence in a Wagon

2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 15

 

The 6^th chapter of 2^nd Samuel tells one of many short stories recorded in the Old Testament.  These Bible stories from so long ago tell us how God cared for, blessed, guided and sometimes punished His people, the Jews.  

 

 There are many lessons to be learned and spiritual treasures to be uncovered from these Bible stories. The sixth chapter of 2nd Samuel records such a story – short, sad and seemingly difficult to understand.  But when we stop and unwrap the package – or the message in this story, we can find hidden truths for our lives today. 

 

The date was around 850 B.C. and the story begins with King David calling out thirty thousand of his main men – priests, religious leaders, musicians, praise and worship leaders, and soldiers.  All these men were to travel with David on a joyful journey to the house of Abinadab to pick up the Ark of the Covenant and bring it back home.  

 

Abinadab’s house was in the land of the Philistines.  About 70 years had passed since the Ark of the Covenant had been stolen from the Israelites by the Philistines during a battle. And the Ark of the Covenant had been held by the Philistines ever since in Abinadab’s house.  (1 Samuel 4) David wanted to get the Ark of the Covenant back where it belonged - with the Jewish people.

 

The Ark of the Covenant was the place where God promised His very presence would be.  Several hundred years earlier, God, speaking through Moses and the prophets, had commanded the Israelites to build the Ark of the Covenant.  God called them to this project during the time the Israelites were camping in the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

 

 God had given them exact instructions as to how to build this Ark of the Covenant. Nothing was left for them to create on their own.  Inside the Ark of the Covenant the Israelites were to place a copy of God’s Law and over the Law, they were to build a “Mercy Seat” where God’s Presence would rest, with two carved cherubim angels with wings bending over the Mercy Seat.

 

 God also had given the Israelites careful instructions on how the Ark of the Covenant was to be carried from place to place.  The Ark of the Covenant was to have rings on its sides and poles sliding through the rings.  This was so that the Levite priests, who had cleansed themselves, could carry the Ark of the Covenant, by holding the ends of the poles on their shoulders.  Only the priests were allowed to carry the Ark of the Covenant out in front, leading the way.  God’s Holy Presence was not to be treated casually, but always with humility and great reverence.

 

 The very presence of our Holy God was resting there over the Mercy Seat.  The Ark of the Covenant was the center of the Jewish nation’s worship and the most sacred of its possessions. God’s Law was always a main part of the Ark of the Covenant. And not to be done away with. God’s presence hovered over the Mercy Seat and over the Law. Sinners could not approach a Holy God without being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Even the priests who carried the Ark of God by the poles were forbidden by God’s instructions to ever touch the Ark of God or to look into it because of it’s sacredness.

 

David and his men were excited as they started out that morning from Jerusalem on their journey to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant and bring it back in their midst where it belonged.  When King David and his merry men arrived at Abinadab’s house, they were celebrating and playing worship music before the Lord on all kinds of musical instruments.  Abinadab’s house was on top of a hill and David and his men put the Ark of the Covenant in a new wagon with oxen to pull it on the journey back. It was the most practical way to get the job done.  Abinidab’s two sons, Uzzah and Ahio helped out by driving the oxen on, with Ahio walking ahead to lead the way.

 

But trouble was soon to follow!  When the oxen had pulled the wagon with God’s Presence down the hill and across a threshing floor, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah, trying to be helpful, put out his hand and grabbed the Ark of the Covenant to keep it from falling.  Scripture tells what happened next: “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….” (2 Samuel 6:7-8a)  

 

David was so upset that he refused to move the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, instead taking it to another house – the house of Obed-Edom.  In the months that followed Obed-Edom’s household was blessed because of God’s Ark.  And when David heard that God’s Ark and Presence was bringing blessings, he changed his mind and tried a second time to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. 

But this time David learned his lesson and followed God’s instructions and commands as to how to carry the Ark with God’s Presence (Exodus 25) instead of ignoring God’s laws and carrying God’s Presence any way he wanted!  This time the Levitical priests cleansed themselves and carried the Ark of the Covenant on the poles in front of the procession.  This time the Presence of God was revered and God’s commands concerning coming near to Him were obeyed. 

 

And finally, our Bible story ends with David and his many men joyfully bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, while playing music and worshipping, dancing and praising God as the Levite priests carry the Ark of God by the poles in front of the procession the way God had commanded them to do in the first place.

 

What can we learn from this short Bible story?  How does this affect our lives?  First, perhaps this story teaches us that we are to come to God with reverent and obedient hearts.  With humble and trusting minds.  We are to trust and obey Him. Rest on His provision.  Walk the straight and narrow road. And come to God the way He tells us to come – through the blood of Jesus.  Not do our own thing!  Or come our own creative way.

 

To come to God ignoring His laws and commands, but still expecting Him to bless us is folly.  To refuse to obey God’s instructions is literally irreverence.  We are not respecting God. We can’t drag God around after us any old way and expect Him to be our good luck charm. 

 

We can play music and act religious, light candles, and dress up in priestly robes. We can go through the liturgy, pray long prayers and have a form of godliness. But if we disobey God’s laws written in Scripture and are proud doing our own thing, we are fooling ourselves. The Presence of God today is borne by obedient people, not things.  God’s Presence is out in front leading us along, and not the other way around.

 

There are other stories in Scripture that teach us this same lesson. The lesson that God is righteous and holy, and that we are to come to Him the Way He has commanded us to come.  If we try to take hold of the Presence of God some other way than the Way He has given us, we may end up angry and disappointed with God like David was when he couldn’t push God’s Presence around his own way. Even though it seemed more popular and practical.