Bible Thursday - David Part 11

(Blog Note - Bible Thursday is what happens when I can't get a post written in time for Bible Tuesday.  Just go with it.)


King David decides to move the ark.  Much like those Nazi's from the Indiana Jones' movies, Dave is going to figure out that the ark is not an item to be treated lightly.

Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”  All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

1 Chronicles 13:3-4

The whole deal seems pretty simple, right? 

Yeah...no.

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.  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.  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.  And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.  And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 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.  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.

2 Samuel 6:5-11

Seems like a kinda harsh judgement for a stumble, doesn't it?  But there is quite a bit of sin in this innocent sounding story.

And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die.

Numbers 4:15

The ark was holy.  It's wasn't the kind of thing you just throw on a cart and haul around.  Even so, it still seems like maybe the dude deserved a second chance.  That's the new covenant talking though, isn't it.  Jesus is so merciful to us that we forget what life without mercy is like.  We want everyone to have a second, third and forty-seventh chance because we need that many ourselves.  But God doesn't play by our rules.