2 Samuel 6:3 So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new ^[c]cart.

Today, we will look at another aspect from the story of Obed-Edom, but not focusing on him as the hero of our story today. But like I said from the previous entries on this man, there is a lot to learn.

Good ideas. How many good ideas have ended up in disaster?

This was one of those moments in history when a good idea was just not good enough. This all started out very well. David had decided the Ark of the Covenant needed to be close to him in Jerusalem. He was convinced it was the best thing for him and the nation. Nothing wrong with desiring deeply the presence of God and wanting closer proximity to God.

So, David assembled 30,000 choice men of Israel, great number of musicians, with a diverse array of instruments of fir wood,  harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. Knowing David’s love for music and worship, this must have been a great day. They proceeded to bringing the Ark out of the house of Abinadab, with his two sons Ahio and Uzzah in charge. They put the Ark on a new cart and got oxen to pull the cart with the Ark on it.

It all looked very well planned and excellently executed. Then, disaster struck. They came to Nachon’s  threshing floor, the oxen stumbled, it appears the Ark was going to fall off the cart, and Uzzah reached out his hands to steady the ark. Then the bible records that God struck Uzzah for his error and he died there by the Ark of God. Very sad indeed.

I have often read this story and felt this was severe. You feel sorry for Uzzah, because he was only trying to help. His intentions were noble or so it seems, until you read the scriptures carefully again. The bible says “⁷ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his ^[e]error; and he died there by the ark of God.”

God struck him for his error! Error?  What was the error?

The entire procession was wrong. The error started way before the oxen stumbled and Uzzah took hold of the ark. It started with not consulting the Lord on how the ark should be moved, not following God’s prescribed order and process, not allowing the designated people to carry the ark. God had stated in  many verses of the bible, Exodus 25:14, Numbers 4:15, 7:9, how the Ark must be moved. Not on a cart, not a cart driven by oxen (that came from the Philistines), but on the shoulders of specially dedicated men, Levites, who were to use golden poles to carry the Ark on their shoulders. No one, absolutely no one was allowed to touch the ark. Not even the Levites. This was the error that culminated in the death of Uzzah.

Hear what David said later on, once he realized his error.

1 Chronicles 15:2 –  ² Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” 

¹¹ And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; ^[b]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him ^[c]about the proper order.”

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites ^[d]sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

What can we learn from this story?

Good intentions may not necessarily be God’s intention. Good ideas may not be God’s ideas. God is Holy. God is Holy! Holy! Holy! He is the Sovereign of the Universe. He is the only Potentate! If earthly kings have protocols, should not the Monarch of the Universe, The Creator of Heaven and Earth have protocols?

Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

This leads me to a point of reflection. As a Christian, we are called to follow the Lord and walk by His word. There seems to be a lot of ideas and practices that believers follow and carry out today that are not based on God’s word, but are simply traditions of men or at best good ideas. We need to be very careful; we are not doing what we feel God wants, not what He prescribed. We must do what God wants, not what we think He wants. A good idea may not be a God Idea. Be careful of good ideas that God did not request. – 1 Sam 15:22 – Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Jesus said in John 14:6 – I  am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:10-12 “…let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ ¹² Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

God has His prescription for humanity and all good ideas are dead in the water. Only what He prescribed will adequately deal with the dilemma of humanity. Jesus is not one of the ways, He is the Only way!

Let’s Pray: Father God please forgive us for our assumptions that we know what you want. Forgive us for pushing men’s ideas as Your ideas. Please help us to seek Your counsel and ask for Your pathways. Grant us the grace to retrace our steps where we may have gone wrong. Above all today, help us to recognize afresh, that You are Holy! Holy! Holy! In Jesus name we have prayed. Amen