Title: False Intimacy/1 Chronicles 13:6-13
What is the story of how the ark was in Abinadab's house?
David decided to put the ark of the Covenant, which had been neglected for a long time, in Jerusalem after taking it. At this time the ark was in the house of Abinadab of Kiriath-jearim, who belonged to Baalah Judah. It is very important to consider here why the ark was in an individual's house and not in the tabernacle.
In 1 Samuel 4-7, when Eli was a priest, a war broke out between Israel and the Philistines, and when Israel was defeated, the ark was moved to Israel's camp to gain victory. They believed that they could be victorious by borrowing the power of the ark, where Jehovah God was present. However, unexpectedly, the Philistines destroyed the Israelite army and even took the ark of the covenant.
How could the ark, a symbol of God's presence, be taken without force? Did God surrender to the sword and spear of the Philistines? In fact, this is not the case in 1 Samuel 5ff. The Philistines brought the ark as a spoil to the shrine of Dagon in Ashdod, and the next day they found the image of Dagon lying face down in front of the ark. The next day, Dagon was found lying on his face and his head and wrists were severed. Then, poison and calamity came upon Ashdod, and whenever the ark was moved to Gath and Ekron, the Philistine cities were subject to God's discipline as punishment.
Unexpectedly, the Philistines send the ark back to Israel. The ark, which was placed on a cart pulled by a suckling cow, arrived at Beth-shemesh, and 70 people died because the people of Beth-shemesh looked into the ark. In the end, the men of Kiriath-jearim moved the ark to Abinadab's house and had his son Eliasar keep the ark.
These series of events and processes show that the ark was not taken because God was less powerful than Dagon. Rather, it shows that God is the One who corrects the false beliefs of the Israelites even by having their ark taken away. This event is a warning to all who treat God lightly with false beliefs or curiosity without treating God as God. And it is the case of Uzzah that this fact was proved and warned again in the time of David.
2. Perez Uzzah
David put the ark on a new cart to move it from Abinadab's house, and Uzzah and Ahio (Ahyo), Abinadab's sons, drove the cart (2 Samuel 6:3). David and all the people of Israel played and sang with all their might before God (the ark), playing music with the harp, the lyre, the trumpet, the cymbal, and the trumpets. But when the cart reached the threshing floor of Gidon (Nagon), the cattle began to run, and Uzzah held the ark of God with her hand to prevent the ark from falling. But at that moment, God was angry with Uzzah's actions, and Uzzah died on the spot because of God's wrath. To emphasize this, 2 Samuel 6:7 records, "There he died by the ark of God."
For David and the Israelites, who were carrying the ark while praising God, this event was a shocking event. The Bible calls the place 'Perez Uzzah' (he struck Perez) when David was 'wrathful' about this incident. And they stopped carrying the ark out of fear of God. Eventually, the ark was moved to the nearby home of Obed-edom the Gittite.
The fact that the house and possessions of Obed-edom were blessed because the ark was placed in the house of Obed-edom seems to be the opposite of the disaster that came when the ark entered the Philistines. This teaches us the same thing, not to take God lightly. God is not only the one who blesses, but also the one who disciplines and causes death. It shows that if a person tries to control God as he pleases, punishment will come.
3. What is the problem?
We cannot help asking what caused Uzzah's death here. What the hell was the problem, and why did God suddenly make Uzzah die?
1 Chronicles 15:13 says the reason for this. “Because you did not bear them before, the LORD our God clashed with us, because we did not ask him according to the ordinance.” The main reason was the wrong way of transporting the ark. The ark of God must be carried by the Levites, the Kohathites (Exodus 25:14). Although there were wagons in Israel, the use of wagons was forbidden to carry the ark (Numbers 7:9). Nevertheless, David intended to transport the ark by chariot, the method used by the Philistines. Death was the price for disregarding God's ways and treating God freely according to man's convenience. But we do know that the direct cause of Uzzah's death was not the use of a chariot, but the hand holding the shaky ark. Was Uzzah's act of holding on to the ark because he was afraid that the oxen would stumble and that it was a wrong act that deserved death? Wasn't Uzzah's action out of a heart for the ark? Why would God be angry with him and have to kill him?
We can solve this problem by knowing what kind of character the ark has. The ark is a symbol of God's presence. So no one except the priests could see or touch it. Even the Kohathites who carried the ark were supposed to die when they saw it (Numbers 4:18-20; 8:19). But why did Uzzah break the rules and touch the ark? Even though the ark looked like it was going to fall - God struck Uzzah and he died instantly, but the ark did not fall off the cart! - How could you ever think of grabbing the ark! The answer can be found in the fact that the ark was in his house for many years.
4. Wrong intimacy
The period of time the ark was in Abinadab's house was 20 years until Samuel's assembly at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:2), Saul's reign was 40 years (1 Samuel 13:1), and 7 years until David captured the city of Jerusalem. The total is 67 years. The reason that Eliazzar, who had kept the ark, did not appear when David wanted to transport the ark may be because Eliazzar died during that time. Uzzah must have grown up watching the ark from a young age, which could have been an infinitely blessed event for him. But he did not learn to take care of the ark of God. The ark was so familiar to him that it was no different from any other piece of furniture he could touch without thinking. Uzzah had a "false intimacy" with the ark and with God. And his erroneous intimacy eventually drove him to death.
We keep God close. We live by calling God our Father, who created us and who saved us. This is a wonderful privilege that cannot even be compared to the misery of those who do not have God as their Father. But we are not close to God, so we take Him lightly. Just like the proverb that when a grandfather is pleased with his grandson, he will even pull out his beard, that God begins to be regarded as nothing. We will no longer fear God in the slightest. But in reality we are not as close to God as we think we are. When we think we are close to God and despise Him, it is just as ignorant of fear as a one-day puppy. Where does the fear of God permeate our attitude toward God? In the worship, prayer, praise, tribute, and service we offer, where does it include treating God like God?
The Bible says that God is in heaven and we are on earth, so we must not open our mouths before God (Ecclesiastes 5:2). How blasphemous we are before God! Let's be careful not to let the chance of blessings given to us create false intimacy and eventually push us into destruction!