
A WEEK WITH David and Uzzah and David and Michal: PART TWO (04.24.2020)
The Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred piece of the Tabernacle. It was a symbol of the presence of the Real King, the Lord Almighty, and it suggested all the great imageries of Israel’s unique religion – both by what was in it, and what was on
it. There was no true Israelite who did not understand that it stood for the
message of redemption through and by the blood of a substitute sacrifice; no person who did not know that it visibly showed the spiritual reality of the need to be ‘covered by the blood’ of a God-appointed substitute (which is what atonement
is).
And thus it was that Israel honored the Ark...This was OK. Unfortunately, they
went beyond that. During the Period of the Judges, when God’s people went into
deep spiritual decline, they began to look at it as an amulet – a good-luck
charm – a magical mascot. Of course, God would have none of that, and so He
permitted the Philistines to take it from them in battle. You may recall having
read in our devotional readings that the Philistines paraded in triumph through
their cities, showing the Ark as one of their great spoils of war, and how they
then housed it in the temple of Dagon, their god. Their unholy curiosity moved
them to look within the sacred box during that time, and the Lord killed them
“with a great slaughter” (1 Sam 6:19), and because they held on to it, God
struck down their false god in his own temple, and struck the inhabitants of
that pagan land with a painful plague of tumors.
In time, they gladly got rid of it, sending it back to Israel on a cart.
The Ark was left in a village out in the woods (Kiriath-jearim) and placed in the house of Abinadab where it lay neglected and forgotten for over fifty years! The Bible tells us that Saul never concerned himself with it (1 Chron 13:3), but that David was always bothered about its neglect. Later, Solomon would even write a song about how troubled his father was that the Ark was out of place – Psalm 132 (you should read it). David was distressed over the fact that it was ‘out of sight, out of mind’ but also that there was no place for it. (It was because of this very fact that David began to get a vision to build the temple.)
Now that David was settled into his reign, he did not forget his early vows, but set about dealing with the problem. So far, so good. So far.
David called together thirty thousand of Israel’s good men, and he personally led them on the mission to fetch the Ark from Abinadab’s house to give it a place of honor in Israel’s greater community (2 Sam 6:2). His heart was no doubt pure, his
intentions good. He probably anticipated those blessings which would follow the
Ark being honored and given its rightful place as a center piece of Israel’s worship. This is good. This is exciting. This is going to advance the glory of God here in this nation. How exciting!
But, OH, how soon all this changed! Oh, how quickly his hopes crashed to the ground! The music stopped. Joy gave way to grief, merriment to misery.
- Could we study The Ark of The Covenant one day in Bible Study?
- I WOULD LOVE TO, LORNA! So, we shall (Lord willing).