Why So Stern?
There was a man called Uzzah. He was one in a procession headed up by king David as he brought Israel's Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The oxen that carried the Ark stumbled and it looked as though it was going to fall and Uzzah put his hand out to save it and God struck him dead. The story's told in 2 Samuel 6:1-11.
On the surface it looks like God is too eager to take life. We might have thought that Uzzah's move to keep the Ark from toppling should have been rewarded rather than the man being killed. We're left with the impression that God is touchy and thinks more of furniture that he does of people. Why is he so stern?
I think that if we think noble things of God we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. There's more in the incident than meets the eye. I won't go into all the details but David has political agendas and he wants to confirm himself as Israel's king by hurrying the Ark to Jerusalem, which would become a rallying point for all the tribes. Maybe you'll note that David wanted to know, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" To him rather than to Jerusalem (6:9). Uzzah's death is more a message to David than it is punishment for Uzzah and David is afraid of the Lord who will not be used as a prop for David's throne (see 2 Samuel 6:9-10).
The Ark of the Covenant was where God appeared enthroned above the cherubim and proclaimed the truth that God was King and sovereign over Israel. In violation of the King's express instructions that the Ark was to be covered and carried by the poles expressly made for them (see Exodus 25:10-22; 37:5; Numbers 4:15,17-19). The whole procession was out of order from start to finish and everyone who was part of it was engaged in a violation of sacred ritual. They were all worthy of death.
So we can look at this crass violation of God's instruction and think it was harsh beyond defending because he slew Uzzah. But maybe we should think that he was tolerant beyond measure by not slaying all of them. The final insult was for someone to put a hand on the Ark itself. Maybe if we understood more we'd be more inclined to speak of his mercy in this section than about his severity (which is real). Combining the violation of express instructions with the political expediency that was going on makes the incident more than a fussy God killing a man for a trifling error.
Bear in mind that there was more than sacred ritual involved here. Ordinances are not for nothing! Ordinance point beyond themselves to profoundly important truths and for people to despise them is to despise the truths they have been connected to. I'm not suggesting that people are made for ordinances. I am saying that no one has the right to despise them or to simply choose to ignore them.
I think this incident should open our eyes so that we'll look carefully at many other startling acts of God that on the surface appear to be overkill. I'm think of occasions like the deaths of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 or Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. I suppose we'll always think of God as severe in the extreme when he judges decisively but beyond our fear and wondering we're sure that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ can be trusted.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.