2 Samuel 6 Leader's Guide
2 Samuel 6:1-19
Moving the Ark to Jerusalem
6 Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all. 2 He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. 3 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart as it left the house, 4 carrying the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark. 5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.
8 David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means “to burst out against Uzzah”), as it is still called today.
9 David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?” 10 So David decided not to move the Ark of the Lord into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. 11 The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.
12 Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration. 13 After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. 15 So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.
Michal’s Contempt for David
16 But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.
17 They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And David sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. 18 When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 19 Then he gave to every Israelite man and woman in the crowd a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people returned to their homes.
1 Chronicles Chapter 13
David Attempts to Move the Ark
13 David consulted with all his officials, including the generals and captains of his army. 2 Then he addressed the entire assembly of Israel as follows: “If you approve and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messages to all the Israelites throughout the land, including the priests and Levites in their towns and pasturelands. Let us invite them to come and join us. 3 It is time to bring back the Ark of our God, for we neglected it during the reign of Saul.”
4 The whole assembly agreed to this, for the people could see it was the right thing to do. 5 So David summoned all Israel, from the Shihor Brook of Egypt in the south all the way to the town of Lebo-hamath in the north, to join in bringing the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 Then David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (also called Kiriath-jearim) to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the nameof the Lord who is enthroned between the cherubim. 7 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart. 8 David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
9 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark. 10 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.
11 David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means “to burst out against Uzzah”), as it is still called today.
12 David was now afraid of God, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of God back into my care?” 13 So David did not move the Ark into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. 14 The Ark of God remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and everything he owned.
OPEN
Several years ago, Reader’s Digest told of a young couple who had just bought a water bed. While assembling the bed, the couple realized they would need a hose to fill it with – and they didn’t own one. So, the husband went to the store and bought one. They attached the hose to the bed, ran it through the apartment to the kitchen tap and - knowing it would take over an hour for the bed to fill – they left their apartment to run an errand. About an hour later they returned to check on its progress. And that’s when they discovered that the husband had bought a sprinkler hose
Now, we all know what happened to that apartment, and you can imagine how frustrating it must have been to them to discover the damage their “oversight” had caused to their home and possessions. Their motives were right, but their method was wrong… and it caused an immense amount of damage.
I. THE ARC OF THE COVENANT
The ark was a rectangular box made of acacia wood, and measured about 4 x 2½ x 2½ feet. It was built during the time of Moses, before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. The whole thing was covered with gold and was carried on poles inserted in rings at the four lower corners. The lid, or ‘mercy–seat’, was a gold plate surrounded by two angles with outspread wings. The ark contained the two tablets of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod. It was also the meeting–place in the inner sanctuary where the Lord revealed his will to his servants. Thus it served as the symbol of the divine presence guiding his people.
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Approximately 100 years prior to this story, Israel had been engaged in a war with Philistines. Israel had been guilty of walking away from God and disobeying His will for their nation, and as a result they, under the command of King Saul, were losing badly to the Philistines. As it became apparent that the Philistines would overwhelm them, someone came up with the bright idea of taking the Ark into battle. They figured, if they had the ark with them on the battle front, that God would be there too. Unfortunately for Israel – God stayed home. The Philistine Army conquered Israel and took away the Ark of the Covenant as a spoil of war. It was as though the light had gone out in Israel for the Ark of the Covenant was the physical connection with the very presence of God in the midst of the people.
According to 1 Samuel chapter 7, the Ark was placed in the Temple of Dagon, the Philistine god next to a statue of Dagon. For several days, the priests of the Philistine temple would walk in to find that their statue to Dagon had fallen on its face before the Ark of the Covenant. When they walked in the third day and found the head and hands of Dagon cut off, they finally figured out that this Ark was no ordinary golden box and had a lengthy discussion over what to do with it. The people of the city of Ashdod were smitten with severe cases of hemorrhoids and they wanted the Ark out of the city so they sent it away.
They brought it to the city of Gath and again, God struck the inhabitants of that city with hemorrhoids so that many of them died. Then they sent the Ark to the city of Eckron, but before it entered the city, the people of that city convinced the Philistines to send the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel with an offering of peace to rid themselves of the plague.
They loaded up the ark on a cart that was drawn by two milk cows and sent it on its way back to Israel. The two cows were lowing (mooing) all the way back as though God was using their voices to notify Israel that He was coming back to them once again.
The farmers of Israel saw the cows pulling the ark and the offerings from the Philistines and sent word back to David rejoicing that the Ark was returned. Then they took the Ark of the Covenant to the house of Abinadab, and left it there for safe keeping until David could get it back to Jerusalem and the Temple.
III. DAVID’S MISSION
Twenty years later, David sends his men to fetch the Ark to Jerusalem. Again it is place on a cart drawn by two oxen. The two sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio, walked along with the cart as guards for the Ark.
As it was rolling along the rocky path to Jerusalem, the cart began to tilt and the Ark looked as though it would fall off. Uzzah, the son of Abinadab, reached up to hold it from falling and God immediately struck him dead.
The transporting of the Ark of the Covenant was to be done only under the strictest manner according to the Law of Moses. It was to be carried on the shoulders of the Priests of Levi and not a cart drawn by oxen.
Uzzah had grown up around the Ark. It had been in his home from the time he was a small boy and he had become too accustomed to its presence. He had become just a little too indifferent and familiar with the presence of God and begun to presume upon the mercy of God. God had blessed his family. God had done great things for Uzzah, but God would not hold him guiltless for the sin against the Law, no matter what.
None of us will be held guiltless for our handling of the sacred things of God. Even though you may not understand all that is necessary, your sin will still carry a penalty. God may not give instant judgment but He will hold you accountable for what you do know and for your reverence for the things of God.
God will hold us accountable for the knowledge that we have. He will give greater punishment to those who knew what was required and didn’t do it, than for the one who sins out of ignorance. Both will be punished, but one will suffer more than the other.
After the death of Uzzah, David was fearful to move the Ark any further until it could be done right and safely so it was brought to the home of Obededom the Gittite. For three months Obededom kept watch over the Ark and the presence of God in the midst of his household blessed him greatly.
David’s heart was right. His spirit was right. His attitude was right, but his methods were wrong.
IV. THIS TRAGEDY HAS SOME SERIOUS LESSONS FOR US.
There is only one way to Heaven. There is a right way to look upon and handle the things of God and a wrong way. If we aren’t careful, we will find that God’s judgment will fall upon us because we presume upon His mercy and grace.
A. BORROWING FROM THE WORLD
David borrowed his idea from the Philistines – he attempted to transport the ark on a cart, as they had done.
We do the same thing: instead of asking, "How does God do it?" we ask “How does the world do it?” We have to have entertainment, or we are not content to be in church. Watching TV is more important than reading the Bible.
B. BECOMING TOO FAMILIAR WITH THE THINGS OF GOD
Too many people today are like Uzzah.
Uzzah had no regard for the sanctity of the ark.
He was the son of Abinadab and had seen the ark all his life.
The ark was a familiar piece of furniture and had become to him just a box.
Uzzah had lost his regard for the sacredness of the ark as the symbol of God’s
presence among His people.
God may overlook your ignorance when you don’t know better, but when you know about the Salvation that He offers, God expects you to behave differently and treat the things of the Spirit with greater respect.
We presume upon God when we sin thinking that God will just forgive us anyway.
We presume upon God when we don’t worship.
We presume upon God when we don’t study His word.
We presume upon God when we fail to be in church, to pray or do those things that we know should be done.
We presume upon God when we fail to take care of this body to the best of our ability knowing that it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
Perhaps we’re like Uzzah in the way we casually regard the sacred. We come to church expecting to be entertained. The complaint that church is boring is never made by people in awe of God. Perhaps we’re also like Uzzah in our need to defend God before unbelievers. You don’t defend a lion—you simply get out of his way.
\\