Rough Terrain And Severe Consequences

There are specific details to follow in how we worship God. #daybydaylw Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   Well, it seems like everyone is having a great time. There is worship, there are songs, people are “making merry!” This is truly a parade for the ages. A typical Macy’s thanksgiving day parade has about 6,500 people participating in the parade. So this one going from Baale-judah to Jerusalem is about 4 times as big, and travels 4 times as long! The journey from Baale-judah to Jerusalem was about ten miles, over rough terrain. And that rough terrain comes into play. They make it just fine for a certain distance. They make it to Nacon’s place, when at that point the oxen tripped and stumbled. And as they stumbled, the Ark of the Covenant came unsettled. It looked like maybe it was about to fall out of the new cart and land in who knows what on the ground. So not wanting that to take place, Uzzah puts out a hand to steady the ark in the cart. In that moment, amidst the celebration, something terrifying happened. It wasn’t that the ark dropped off the cart, but rather the anger of the LORD was kindled. And then and there, Uzzah was struck down graveyard dead. Can you picture the scene? The parade comes to a halt. But we are talking about 30,000 people. Necks begin to crane to see what happened, and word begins to spread. “Uzzah is dead. He saved the ark, but he died. What is going on up there?” And the text tells us, “David was angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah.” Does that sound familiar to you? It should. In 2 Samuel 5 we saw that the LORD burst forth against the Philistines bc they were trying to assassinate David. And here, the LORD bursts forth against Uzzah because he had touched the ark. I think we all are with David at this point. What is going on? Why would this happen? How are we supposed to continue restoring worship if this is what we can expect? And that is the tension of the text isn’t it? “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” How are we to worship if this is taking place? How can the worship of Israel be restored if everyone is afraid to approach you, O God?” This is David’s dilemma? What will he do? What will you to reorient your life around the worship of God if this is what we might expect? Well, keep coming back to see this drama continue to unfold.