Day 14 - Dirt Won't Hurt

David was afraid of God that day and asked, "How can I ever bring the ark of God tome?"  He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David.  Instead,he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.  1 Chronicles 13:12-13

I must not deny the therapeutic influence of God’s character.  What would make King David abandon the throne of God and give it to another?  Do you remember Uzzah, the man who died trying to catch the Ark as it fell from the oxen cart?  My research has uncovered there theologians who believe the writers of this story and others were forced to interpret what they saw in light of their own peculiar theology.   They argue that Uzzah simply had a heart attack upon seeing the idea of God’s presence hitting the ground.  They state that the Jewish writer, who lived pre-modern science and autopsy times, simply attributed the cause of death to an act of God.  These scholars have authored curriculum suggesting that God had nothing to do with the death of this innocent man.  They conclude this cannot be a manifestation of the true character of God.

There’s only one small problem. Uzzah was a Koathite! The Koathites were a family clan within the tribe of Levi whose sole task was to care for the items in the sanctuary.  From a child up, they were drilled concerning the specific details on how each item was to be treated.  When it came to the Ark, there was one blaring statement, GOD SAID, DO NOT TOUCH!  They were to use long poles, slide them through the golden rings on the Ark.  Then place the poles on their shoulders for the transport of it.  God’s order had already been violated seeing that the Ark was being transported by an oxen cart.  And when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah did the unthinkable.

I know… I know… his motive was pure.  He had good intentions.  He was trying to keep the throne of God from being desecrated by the dirt.  But, here’s the revelation: God says, “I’d rather fall, then let you catch me”  Uzzah made a fatal calculation.  Do you think that your hands are less polluted than the dirt? The earth is the Lord’s.  In fact, in the Most Holy Place of Moses' Tabernacle the Ark of the Covenant actually rested on the ground. God doesn’t have a problem with mud. It is man that most troubles the Creator.
 
Prayer
Father, I reverence your presence and am careful whenever I come in contact with You.  As fearful as I am of you, I am more fearful of living without you.  Cleanse me that I may draw nearer to thee.  Amen!

Go Deeper?
Gen.46:11;Ex.6:16; Num.3:17-32; 2Sam.6:1-11; Luke 13:1-8; Acts 5:1-11