2 Samuel 6:1-11

Relax, Read and Reflect

Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

¹ David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. ² He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah ^a]'>[a] to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, ^b]'>[b] the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. ³ They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴ with the ark of God on it, ^c]'>[c] and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs ^d]'>[d] and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

⁸ Then David was angry because the LORD's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. ^e]'>[e]

⁹ David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, "How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?" ¹⁰ He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.

The Arc of the Covenant was the relic of the covenant between God and the Hebrews led by Moses during the Exodus. The say that it had great emotional and spiritual significance is like comparing a bullet being thrown by hand to one fired out of a rifle. The Arc was a tangible symbol of God, and was the most sacred thing in Hebrew life.

It had been captured by the Philistines during the rein of Saul. This was a great embarrassment. When David defeated the Philistines they left the Arc behind in their escape. There was much rejoicing, (rah!) David wanted his new capital, Jerusalem, to be the spiritual center as well as the political center so he moved the Arc.

During the moving, the Arc became unsteady and a man reached out to steady it and was struck dead. David blames God and asks how can David care for such a dangerous thing? He left it at a friends house until he could understand.

Questions:

1. Why was it important to have the Arc?

2. Why did David want to move it to Jerusalem?

3. Why did Uzzah die?