The Way
Uzzah and the Ark That Stopped
The threshing floor where a joyful procession halted
Story
The sound of lyres and harps, tambourines and cymbals filled the mountain road. David gathered thirty thousand chosen men and went up to Baale-judah to bring back the ark of God, which had stayed a long time in the house of Abinadab. The ark was set on a new cart, and Abinadab's sons Uzzah and Ahio drove it. Ahio walked in front of the ark, and David and all Israel celebrated before the Lord with all their might.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and the cart lurched. Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God. At that moment the Lord's anger blazed against Uzzah. God struck him down for his error, and Uzzah died there beside the ark. The music stopped dead. David was angry because the Lord had struck Uzzah, and from that day the place was called Perez-uzzah, the place where Uzzah was struck.
When the anger passed, fear came. David said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” He gave up his plan to bring the ark into the City of David and took it instead to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark stayed in that house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole household.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?
The Kohathites are to come and carry the holy things, but they must not touch what is holy, or they will die.
While the ark of the Lord stayed in the house of Obed-edom for three months, the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole household.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Sam 6:1–11
Background
The law required the ark to be carried not on a cart but on the shoulders of the Levite clan of Kohath, with poles slid through its rings. After its return from the Philistines, the ark had stayed more than twenty years in the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim.
Pause and Reflect
Am I taking God's word lightly because my intentions are good?