The Ark and the Covenant
Broken Crown, Unshakable Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 David again assembled all the fit young men in Israel: thirty thousand. 2 He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah. The ark bears the Name, the name of the Lord of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart 4 and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
David, as newly crowned king, has defeated the Philistines twice.
Part of that defeated included the Philistines running and leaving behind their idols which David and the Israelites took away.
They did not take them for souvenirs, they were in effect taking away the false gods of the Philistines by getting rid of their symbolic totems.
For the Philistines, the taking of the idols would have meant their gods were not there to fight for them and/or to protect them.
David looks at the situation and remembering the Philistines have taken the ark of the Lord of Armies once (1 Samuel 5:1 “1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,” ), David looks to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
David assembled a force of 30,000 elite soldiers - notice that Saul had done similar but Saul’s goal was to destroy David where as David’s goal is to protect the ark and worship the Lord.
Since the days of Samuel’s childhood, the ark was kept in a private residence in a small village in the northwestern region of Judah.
They went to Baale-judah (literally “a place in Judah”) also know as Kiriath Jearim.
The ark was vitally important to Israel - the ark contained the written agreement between Isreal and the Lord, it was a place of divine revelation, and was in fact the Lord’s throne.
David and his men using a new cart was a sign of respect for the holy object. As respectful and well-intended the effort was it violated Torah guidelines regarding the transport of the ark Numbers 4:15 “15 “Aaron and his sons are to finish covering the holy objects and all their equipment whenever the camp is to move on. The Kohathites will come and carry them, but they are not to touch the holy objects or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the tent of meeting.” and Numbers 7:9 “9 But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since their responsibility was service related to the holy objects carried on their shoulders.”
Now Ahio an Uzzah were Levites from the clan of Kohath so David at least had some of the correct personnel but the wrong application.
They were celebrating the journey of the ark and David was leading the occasion - they were singing, dancing and playing instruments.
6 When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. 7 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God. 8 David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today. 9 David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 10 So he was not willing to bring the ark of the Lord to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in his house three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.
The party was rocking until the came to a rough spot in the road and the oxen stumbled - imagine hitting a large pothole and all of the stuff sitting ini your car seat and cup holders went flying… this is what happened.
Apparently the oxen stumbling cause the ark to shift and as we all probably would do Uzzah reached out to keep the ark from falling over.
Hard truth… Sometimes we have to let things go to stay in God’s will.
By taking hold of the ark Uzzah commited a capital offense established in the Torah Numbers 4:15 “15 “…The Kohathites will come and carry them, but they are not to touch the holy objects or they will die.…”
Uzzah was not an Aaronic priest thus he was prohibited from touching the ark - his intent wasn’t malicious but even so, he had defiled the ark.
Uzzah’s offense was against God - not some impersonal force - so God struck him dead right there beside the ark.
This is the 3rd time in Samuel that God has demonstrated that He is more than capable of defending the ark - the first was when the ark was in the presence of the false idol Dagon (1Sam5.3-12) and the second was when the people of Beth-shemesh looked inside the ark (1Sam6.19-20).
One instance was the pagan Philistines but the other two occasions the offense was committed by God’s own people disobeying His commands (they should have known better).
Verse 8 tells us that David was angry “because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah” - at first glance one would think David was mad at God - this is unlikely because God was merely enforcing the Torah, it could have meant he was upset at Uzzah because he acted in such a way to cause God to bring fatal judgment to bear (this is more likely).
After seeing the Lord’s zeal to protect His holiness David’s respect for the Lord’s power and His willingness to use it not only deepened David’s respect but also prompted David in essence to ask - “How can I bring the ark without risking further repercussions?”
The fear generated by this event was a positive - When people are no longer awed, respectful, or fearful of God’s holiness, the community is put at risk.
David intended for the ark to be with him in the city of David - the fortress would have protected the ark from any Philistine attacks. Also, locating the divine throne in the same city as David would have increased the prestige of the newly established national capital.
Perhaps to prevent some further transgression and causing the Lord’s judgment to destroy the new capital - David ordered the ark to be taken to the house of a Levite named Obed-Edom possibly because it was the closest Levite household to where the incident took place.
12 It was reported to King David, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. 14 David was dancing with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod. 15 He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the trumpet. 16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
The plan worked well - the 3 months the ark was at the home of Obed-edom blessing - not curses - fell no him, his family and all that belongs to him - When God is in the right place in your life, you will be blessed.
When David realized that a proper levitical household might experience blessings he concluded that Jerusalem could benefit from the presence of the ark.
So, David set out to finish what he started and like the last time the moving of the ark was done with “rejoicing”.
One difference this time is that the Levites were carrying the ark.
They took 6 steps, paused and offered a sacrifice - they didn’t stop after 6 steps because they were out of shape - the ritual pause suggests a symbolic significance, perhaps a sort of Sabbath rest, suggesting a consecration of the entire journey.
David’s use of the ephod suggests that he possessed the credentials of a priest - this priestly credential would fall under the order of Melchizedek (the priest/king) the same line as Jesus.
David had a large entourage accompanying him but one person was missing Michal - she was watching the spectacle from the palace window.
The author may suggest her attitude toward David had something to do with her absence - the author refers to her as “Saul’s daughter” and not David’s wife - the passage says she “despised him in her heart” either for his seemingly un-king like behavior or it goes deeper back to David forcing her to leave Paltiel.
17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. 18 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. 19 Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people went home. 20 When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.” 21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will dance before the Lord, 22 and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more. However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.” 23 And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.
David prepared a tent like the one the ark usually resides in - it’s normal home was left in Gibeon with all the other sacred tabernacle furnishings.
Once there David again presented offerings to the Lord, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to be specific - the text is unclear if David actually officiated at these sacrifices of merely directed the Levites to perform these tasks.
If he did officiate then he was acting in accordance with a precedent set by Melchizedek - two other parallels exist, pronouncing a blessing upon the Lord’s people and providing a food gift for those wha had received the blessing.
After the festivities everyone went home, including David.
David had gone home to bless his household but her was met by Michal before he even got in the house.
First, she accused him of exposing himself to the slave girls (accusations of sexual misconduct are nothing new) - she actually suggested that immoral sexual urges, not zeal for the Lord, had motivated David’s enthusiastic activities in the festivities of the day.
David protested the accusation - there is no way he broke Torah law by exposing himself and his motivation for his actions were to glorify and worship the Lord.
David made it clear he would do it again - the CSB says, “and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more.” - the NKJV says that he would “become even more undignified” - Sometimes we need to let lose and commit to worship even if we look “undignified”.
David was willing to risk being misunderstood and humiliated as he pursued a deeper relationship with God.
On a personal note - David basically leveled a curse to Michal - he reminded her that God chose him over her father and the rest of her family and if she thought that she would just wait him out and put her son on throne she was wrong - Michal had no children.
In the Torah a blessing associated with obedience to the Lord is a fruitful womb and an unproductive womb would have been interpreted as a curse against a disobedient wife.
Michal’s lack of faith would mean that the house of Saul would be forever separate from Israel’s eternal royal dynasty.
1 When the king had settled into his palace and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.” 3 So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your mind, for the Lord is with you.”
The events no take place sometime after Hiram’s stonemasons and carpenters had built David’s palace.
We also see that David was given rest - so no enemies were attacking David and/or Israel - God had given them a time of peace.
We are also introduced to a previously unknown spokesman for the Lord - Nathan. Nathan would come to play a major role in the course of David’s life.
David had an idea, he was going to build the Lord a new home instead of the tent.
Nathan told him to go ahead and do it - we find out in a minute that Nathan spoke without first consulting God - he probably assumed that because God had done everything so far for David that he would do this.
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 “Go to my servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build me a house to dwell in? 6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as my dwelling. 7 In all my journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to one of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’ 8 “So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. 10 I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. 15 But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”
The Lord’s word to Nathan recorded here constitute the longest recorded monologue attributed to him since the days of Moses (197 words).
What the Lod says here demonstrate Him to be the promise-keeping God.
The covenant that the Lord established with the house of David became the nucleus around which messages of hope proclaimed by Hebrew prophets of later generations were built.
The Lord’s promise to David of a kingdom that “will endure forever” was the seed of hope that resurrected a nation.
The significance of the eternal covenant between the Lord and David for the NT writers cannot be overemphasized. These words played an essential preparatory role in developing the messianic expectations that were fulfilled in Jesus. The opes that were raised by the Lord’s words - that God would place a seed of David on an eternal throne and establish a kingdom that would never perish - were ones that no Israelite or Judahite monarch satisfied, or even could have satisfied. Be they were ones that the first-century Christians understood Jesus to fulfill.
The divine declaration proclaimed here through the prophet Nathan are foundational for seven major NT teachings about Jesus: THAT HE IS…
the son of David
one who would rise from the dead
the builder of the house of God
the possessor of a throne
the possessor of an eternal kingdom
the son of God and
the product of immaculate conception since he had God as His Father
David did not need to construct an impressive but lifeless building in which the Lord could dwell, and that edifice was the life of David.
So many promises made, however, were not fulfilled in David’s lifetime; later prophets understood them to refer to a future period.
Even more significantly, “the Lord Himself will establish a house - that is, a dynasty - for David. David sought to build a house (temple) for the Lord, but the Lord would instead build a house (dynasty) for David.
It will be David’s offspring that will be raised up as successor.
For the NT Christian community verse 12 apparently was views as proof that Jesus was indeed the Messiah; God did indeed “raise up” Jesus, thus legitimizing Him as the messianic son of David.
It would also be David’s offspring who would eventually build the Lord’s house/temple.
Prophecy often has a then and later application - verse 13 alludes to Solomon building the temple but technically Solomon’s throne would not endure forever but Jesus’ will.
Jesus Himself makes 3 claims that allude to verse 13 - 1. Jesus claimed He would build a temple, 2. He claimed to possess an eternal throne and 3. He claimed to possess an imperishable kingdom.,
17 Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David. 18 Then King David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said, Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? 19 What you have done so far was a little thing to you, Lord God, for you have also spoken about your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation for mankind, Lord God. 20 What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord God. 21 Because of your word and according to your will, you have revealed all these great things to your servant. 22 This is why you are great, Lord God. There is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, as all we have heard confirms. 23 And who is like your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to perform for them great and awesome acts, driving out nations and their gods before your people you redeemed for yourself from Egypt. 24 You established your people Israel to be your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. 25 Now, Lord God, fulfill the promise forever that you have made to your servant and his house. Do as you have promised, 26 so that your name will be exalted forever, when it is said, “The Lord of Armies is God over Israel.” The house of your servant David will be established before you 27 since you, Lord of Armies, God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant when you said, “I will build a house for you.” Therefore, your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 Lord God, you are God; your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now, please bless your servant’s house so that it will continue before you forever. For you, Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing your servant’s house will be blessed forever.
Nathan followed the Lord and reported all the words to David.
One would almost think David would not be happy with the words but he reacts… well his response to the Lord’s magnificent declarations was awestruck humility, solemnity and bold faith.
David went and entered the sacred tent that housed the ark and “sat before the Lord”.
Now we see David’s second longest monologue recorded from his lips in 1 and 2 Samuel (198 words).
David’s response is a model for all who receive unmerited blessing from the living God - all believers are implicitly encouraged to be humbled, pensive, and emboldened by the perception of God’s incredible goodness expressed within their lives.
David marveled at all the Lord had done in his life and on behalf of Israel.
In verse 25 David basically demands that God “fulfill the promise” - this is not an irreverent act but in fact it was an act of great faith.
We have to take the Word of the Lord and the direction God leads us not as God taking away something from us but look at it for what it is - God moving and speaking for our ultimate good and His glory.
