I was reading 1st Chronicles chapter 13 the other day. The Ark was being brought back to Jerusalem and āDavid and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpetsā (1 Chronicles 13:8). It was a time for celebration for them, the ark was finally going back to Jerusalem where it was before the Philistines captured it and returned it to Kirjath-jerim (you can read 1st Samuel chapter 4 if you want to read about that). But right after the verse of the Israelites celebrating things changed. The ox carrying the ark stumbles, and like anything being carried on a cart, the ark moves a bit. To steady the ark, Uzza reaches up and touches it. Instantly, the anger of the Lord came down on Uzza and he was instantly killed. While I was reading this story I instantly thought of being in the driver's seat of my car. Whenever I hit a bump or hit the brakes a little hard I instinctively reach to the passenger side to steady whatever object, or person, was there. I would have been killed like Uzza if the object in my passenger seat was the ark. The chapter goes on to tell us that David was angry with God for killing Uzza. He questioned the justice of God because they were doing Godās work! It was a time of joy and it quickly became a time for grief and mourning. David became scared and left the ark with Obed-edom, abandoning his goal of bringing the ark back to Jerusalem. When I first read this chapter I sided with David a bit. I was already sympathizing with Uzza cause I related my own experience with him and I could not understand why God killed Uzza while he was doing Godās work. I was unknowingly making the same mistake Uzza and all of the Israelites were making that day. Ā I didnāt understand, so I did the best thing one can do when they donāt understand Godās word, I did some research. I found two very clear commands from God in Numbers 4:15 āThe sons of Kohath shall come to see it (the ark) but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.ā and Numbers 7:9 they shall āBear the ark on their shouldersā. After reading more about the ark and Godās commands related to it, Uzzaās death made more sense. David and the Israelites started off doing Godās work and their hearts were in the right but they did not follow Godās commands. The ark was to be moved using poles being carried on people's shoulders, not on a cart being pulled by oxen. Also, it is clear that only the Levites with confessed sins were allowed to touch the sacred ark. Now, one could say āThe Israelites were doing the same thing the Philistines did when they sent the ark to Kirjath-jearim. The Philistines loaded the ark onto a cart that was pulled by an ox and nothing happened to them.ā Think of the Philistines and Israelites as children. The Philistines are the younger child, say 3 years old, and the Israelites are the older child, let's put them at the age of 10. If the 3-year-old hits their parent the parent will not get angry with them because the child does not know better yet but if the 15-year-old hits the parent there would be consequences because they know not to hit people. This was the main difference between them. The Philistines didnāt know about how holy the ark was but the Israelites did. The Israelites were taught the commands and the laws that applied to the ark and this is why Uzza died when he touched it. God had to kill Uzza because the command said ālest they dieā and if Uzza survived the Israelites would begin to think the command did not apply to them or question Godās words. This applies to us Christians. We know Godās word, we have access to it, and if we do not study and meditate on His word we could end up like Uzza with a lessened sense of sacredness when it comes to God and begin to act out in obedience and carelessness.Ā Ā
