In 2 Samuel 6:12-23 David brought the ark of the covenant to the City of David, also called Zion, which is now known as modern day Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was built specifically by God’s instructions and dimensions. It had Cherubim and a mercy seat formed on it. It was built with acacia wood overlayed with pure gold. As the Israelites traveled so did the Ark. It symbolized many things about God such as His holiness, His glory, His power, His beauty, His provision, but one of the main purposes of the Ark was to represent the presence of God, and His presence included all aspects of His character. Where the ark was, the presence of the Lord was there too.
This is hard for us to imagine in some ways, because we do not have physical artifacts that the presence of God travels in. He does not travel in rosary beads, in crosses on our necks, and His prescense does not even make a lasting home in the physical church building. The Holy Spirit resides in those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus. We no longer have an ark to travel with us because our bodies are God’s temple and are the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, His presence travels in us. Similar to the song lyrics ‘Where you go, I’ll go, Where you stay, I’ll stay, Where you move I’ll move, I will follow you’. The Spirit moves with us.
The ark was significant at this point of history. David, who by the power of God, had defeated armies and thousands of enemies, had witnessed God’s character in obvious ways both in His life and in the life of the Israelites. But one day He saw the judgement of God in a different way.
As they were traveling with the ark of the covenant He watched as the ark became unstable and perhaps was close to falling; It had been traveling on oxen. 2 Samuel 6:6 says “Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark because the oxen stumbled. And Uzzah was struck down dead”.
This may seem cruel and unjust and unfair but touching the ark was a violation of God’s instructions. It would have been better for the ark to fall on the ground than for Uzzah to try and take matters into His own hands. Touching the ark was a direct violation of God’s law and resulted in death.
Although David was a firsthand witness of the power and provision of God throughout his life, after he saw God strike Uzzah dead that day, David became both angry and afraid of God. It does not say specifically why He became afraid and angry. Perhaps it was because he thought Uzzah had good intentions and David did not understand why God would destroy him. Perhaps he was angry at God because David would not have struck Uzzah dead for this. It challenged how David thought, maybe he thought it was unfair. Perhaps Uzzah was his friend and he was angry God did this to someone he cared about. The reason why David felt this way is not clear, but it says he was angry and afraid of God. 2 Samuel 6:8,9 He decided to leave the ark at a mans house named Obed-edom and not bring it with him into the city. Because He was afraid and angry, David thought it would be best to leave God behind- So to speak.
The ark stayed there for three months and God blessed Obed-edom and all of his household. After witnessing this blessing, David decided to reconsider his decision to leave the ark behind and instead he brought the ark back into the city of David with gladness.
What can we learn from this?
Well in some ways we do the exact same thing David did. We tend to take parts of the Bible and who God is and separate Him from Himself. Truly we can never actually do this but we certainly try. We love his love, mercy, grace, faithfulness, patience, goodness, kindness. We have verses about courage and joy framed on our walls. We want to forget and leave behind verses about sin, wrath, judgement, consequences and punishment. When you read verses about the wrath of God coming upon all mankind and that all people will be held accountable and judged or verses that specifically target a sin we struggle with such as lying, sexual immorality, drunkeness, or covetousness, we try to read those passages quickly or we may choose to not read them at all. We stear clear of verses that say people will be cast into hell, because those verses then include people we know and love. We don’t like spending much time in scripture that anger us, confront us or cause fear….In some cases, like David, we may even be afraid and angry at certain characteristics of God.
Questions arise like how can a good God let innocent people die? We ask this question when loved ones die, when shootings happen and when we do not understand the character of God. How do we reconcile, like David, and accept the Lord’s presence in our hearts after being angry, afraid or perhaps even leaving God behind as we face these difficult life questions.
It took David three months to wrestle with this and only after seeing the blessing of Obed-edom’s family did he receive the ark, with gladness. It also will take us time to wrestle with these types of questions, just like David. The one thing I am going to present you with when you ask ‘why does a good God allow these types of things happen’ or ‘why does a good God allow evil’, is to realize that we do not have to wonder in anger or fear but instead we know why. God has allowed Satan and evil into this world for a set time that will come to an end. As long as fallen man is part of society, evil will be as well. Until the final judgement day when all sin and every sinner will be judged.
God hates and punishes evil: For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord , detest.
Psalms 5:4?-?6
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:31
We have answered that Evil has a set amount of time on this earth that God hates evil and evildoers will be punished and judged. As long as humans exists, evil will too so the question to ask ourselves is how can the sin of man be so great that it directly violates God’s law in such treacherous ways? How can someone pick up the gun to shoot the people in the nail spa or the school? How can someone completely disregard the command of Thou shalt not kill? When the commandments of God are completely disregarded then the reason why people sin becomes clear. The sin and the action of sin is obvious because is is the result of the direct disobedience and rebellion towards God.
God allows sin for a time because the end is not concluded. When the end comes, all sin, (past, present and future) Satan himself and all those who have rejected the commands of God will be punished forever. But in the meantime we are viewing a fallen world and the only way to reconcile that in our minds is not to get stuck on the sinful state of mankind. Uzzah sinned when he touched the ark and it was a direct violation of God’s law. He was punished immediately for this sin. Just as all sin will be punished ultimately. Either eternally judged and condemned or forgiven by the blood of Christ.
Acts 17:31
We have to take all aspects and attributes of God with us in life and especially as we share His truth with others.
Without the wrath of God, His mercy is trivial.
Without God’s judgement of sin, Salvation is unnecessary.
Without confrontational verses of personal sin and the punishment that follows, repentance would be unnecessary.
Without needing to be holy in the presence of God, The need for Christ would be voided.
We cannot fit God into our likes and dislikes category. The full glory of God, although hard to explain and hard to grasp needs to be fully welcomed, with gladness, into our hearts and our lives. If we leave portions of God outside of the camp, so to speak, we limit the way in which He wants to bless our lives. We need to receive all of God’s character with gladness.
Oftentimes I make my kids sandwiches and my son Aaron will ask me to cut the crust off. I tell him the crust may look different on the outside- It is a darker color and maybe even a different texture but it is the same bread. In a similar way God is like this bread. He has the same qualities, whether the crust, the harder parts of His character to understand or the interior of the bread, the easier parts of His character for us to grasp. We have to realize, eat and absorb the entire piece of bread and we need to stop trying to cut off the crust, or the part of God we just don’t get, or do not want to face. The Holy Spirit reveals all truth to us as found in John 16:13.
So as you are trying to understand His wrath, His punishment of sin, His judgement of humanity, the fallen state of mankind ask for wisdom and discernment. God says He gives this freely and generously. So ask Him to bring clarity to the parts of His character that are not so understandable to you and maybe even the parts you are afraid of. If David feared, we will too, but ultimately, as David did we need to accept all of who God is. We need to stop cutting off the crust so that we can begin to experience His full blessing in our lives.
The place of reconciliation for David was found when he viewed the blessing of God. And friends when we see the blessings of God in our lives, when we see the treasure of Jesus, when we realize that we were lost and now we are found this will be our reconciliation as well. Some questions we ask are not going to be answered in this lifetime. Some things will need to be an acceptance of resting in the character of God and knowing He is good, He is kind, He is loving and as His redeemed child you have every promise in scripture for you. That He promises to be your refuge and your fortress and that promise is for all who would believe. God’s character as a whole is where we find the answers to life, God hates evil more than we ever could. And He will hold everyone accountable for the sins committed on this earth. He will have mercy on those who He has mercy on, even on children or adults that have left in tragic ways. We do not know everyone who God has mercy on, we do not know people’s last thoughts or prayers before they leave this world, but we know God is merciful so we can rest in that. And He also loves more than we could ever love.
If it were not for Jesus we all would deserve to be struck down immediately like Uzzah, for our violation of God’s law. But God does not do that- instead He is slow to wrath and anger wanting everyone to believe. We all have the opportunity to be redeemed as we put our faith in Him. Don’t keep God outside the camp of your heart, because His character, His presence and His salvation is the only way to eternal life, which is the greatest blessing! Reconcile your heart to Him today and rest in His full character. Bring him back into the city of your heart with joy. Try not to wrestle so long that you grow bitter and remember weeping may last for a night but joy comes in the morning. He is the bread of life, trust in Him and recognize His blessing and presence today.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
Kara
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