Exodus 25:12-15, “12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it."
Wagons and oxen were given to the sons of according to their service with one exception, Numbers 7:9, “But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.”
King David and Uzzah disrespected God’s command by mishandling the Ark. God dictated that the ark was to be carried via two poles so there would be no touching of the ark. However, 2 Samuel 6:3, “And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.”
Had the ark been carried as directed by God there would not have been the need to keep the ark from falling. The ox shook the cart and Uzzah attempted to steady the ark. 2 Samuel 6:7, “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.” Uzzah not only had placed the ark on a cart, he touched it, both actions in direct disobedience to God's command.
2 Samuel 6:9” And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?” So King David offloaded the ark to the “house of Obededom the Gittite” for three months.
Lesson learned, 1 Chronicles 15:2, “Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him forever.”
Earlier the Philistines learned that there is a price to be paid for disrespecting the ark of God. The Philistines had captured the ark, 1 Samuel 6:6, “And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.”
During those seven months, the ark was passed from one city to another during which time the anger of God was manifest.
First “Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord.” And “there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.” Add to that, the people suffered with emerods.
Finally, the Philistines wanted to return the ark and included a trespass offering of “five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.”
Life lessons learned from the death of Uzzah, take God at His Word and don’t attempt workarounds. Uzzah ignored God’s Word and tried an easier way of transporting the ark. He paid with his life.
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