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The Book of II Samuel

Chapter 6

6:1 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

6:2 And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.

  1. Description and history of the Ark:
    1. Ark is basically a large chest, overlaid with gold, in and out
    2. It had a solid gold lid that was called the mercy seat
    3. 2 cherubim above the mercy seat, facing each other
    4. The only article of furniture in the innermost room, or Holy of Holies, of the Tabernacle.

Purpose of the Ark

    1. Ark represents the throne of God
    2. Once a year the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies, but only with sacrificial blood that he sprinkled on the mercy seat for the forgiveness of the people’s sin
    3. Glory of God appeared above the Ark
        • Ark is where God met with his people
        • From between the two cherubim that were on the ark of the Testimony, God spoke to Moses.
  1. The Ark Today
    1. We do not have the Ark today.
    2. It was not seen again after Nebucannezer destroyed the temple around 600 BC.
    3. Notice that I did not say that the Ark is lost.
    4. God knows where the Ark is and he does not want us to have it.
  1. Where does God meet with his people today?

Matt 18:20 Today God Meets With His People In His Church

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.KJV

    1. God meets with his people in the church
    2. Does that mean that if I am alone up in the mountains, I cannot pray and get an answer to my prayer?
  1. Where is God’s glory manifest today?

Eph 3:21 Today God's Glory Is Manifested In HIs Church

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

    1. In the church: every local NT church.
    2. Is this building the church?
    3. Can we expect to see a shining cloud in here as God manifests his glory in the church?
  1. THE Name
    1. Not just any name, but THE name.
    2. Literally: “Upon which is called the Name, the Name of Yahweh of Hosts”
    3. The word Lord here is translated from the Hebrew word YHWH, Yahweh or Jehovah.
    4. Yahweh from the verb "to be," meaning simply but profoundly, "I am who I am"
    5. This is his personal name, not a title and it means “the self-existent one”.
      • Personal God (1 True God) vs. Pantheism (i.e. The Force or Energy).
    1. This name, "I am who I am," shows that he has the power of existence.
    2. He is not dependent on anything. Everything else is dependent on him.
    3. You and I do not have the power of existence. We are dependent on him.
      • “In him we live and move and have our being”.
    1. He is the first cause
      • The universe logically requires a first cause.
      • From nothing comes nothing
      • Every effect has a cause
      • I.e. He is the Creator.
    1. “Hosts” indicates his command over the heavenly host of angels and the army of Israel.
    2. It also expresses his power over created beings.
    3. He is the self-existent eternal one, and everything else depends on him for life and being.
  • David has established Jerusalem as the political capital of the country.
  • Now he will also establish Jerusalem as the spiritual capital.
  • To do this he wants to bring the ark, the throne of God to Jerusalem.
    • The ark represents a visible manifestation of the presence of God
    • He knows that God is omnipresent, but God manifests himself is a special intimate way through the ark.

God’s Judgment On Uzzah

6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.

6:4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.

6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

6:6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.

6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error <irreverent act>; and there he died by the ark of God.

6:8 And David was displeased <angry>, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day.

6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?

6:10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. KJV

  1. Somebody got the great idea to put the ark on a new cart.
  2. Oh, won’t that be cool?’
  3. The Lord will really be impressed.
  4. The Lord had instructed how to move the ark and it was not on a cart
  5. The ark was to be carried on the shoulders of Levite priests of the house of Kohath
  6. It was to be covered with badger skins.
  7. God’s law hadn’t expired just because no one had paid any attention to the ark for some time
  • The Ark lay neglected while Saul was king:

3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul. 1 Chron 13:3

  1. The ark had rings on it and the Levite priests were to put poles through the rings and carry the ark on their shoulders.
  2. No one was to touch the Ark because it represented the holiness of God.
    1. God had said “they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die”
  3. The oxen stumbled and it looked like the ark would fall.
  4. Uzzah put out his hand to stop the ark from falling and God killed him.
  5. These are people who want to serve God.
  6. Even Uzzah wants to serve God.
  7. But something is wrong: God is not pleased.

Num 4:15 The Command Not To Touch Holy Things

15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. KJV

  1. The word “error” in verse 7 indicates an irreverent act.
  2. Uzzah did not regard the ark as holy
  3. Uzzah was presumptuous and arrogant
  4. He thought that his hand was more holy than the dirt
    1. Does the dirt obey God? Do we?
  5. God must be regarded as holy
  6. Good intentions do not justify not obeying the word of God
  7. We must follow the Lord’s commands rather than try to please him in the way that we see fit.
    1. Was God able to keep the ark from falling without Uzzah’s help?

Saul’s Conquest of the Amalekites

1 Sam 15:19-22

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. KJV

  1. Saul said the he planned to sacrifice the spoil to the Lord.
  2. But the Lord had not commanded him to sacrifice.
  3. The Lord commanded him to destroy everything.
  4. So Samuel tells him that it is better to obey than to sacrifice.

The Proverbs say it like this:

Proverbs 14:12

12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. KJV

  1. In the case of David, the way that seemed “right unto a man” was to put the ark on a cart.
  2. The way that seemed right unto Uzzah was to disregard the command of God not to touch holy things. He saw himself as worthy to touch the ark.
  3. But the end thereof was the way of death.
  4. It is arrogance for man to think that he can approach God in any way he wants.
  5. God has prescribed how we are to approach him.
  6. He is holy and we are not.
  1. We need to have the proper reverent awe for the things of God
    1. Uzzah was familiar with the ark
    2. Don’t put bumper stickers on the ark
    3. Wouldn’t it look darling with a nice doyle on it?
    4. Maybe they left their dirty laundry lying on it?
    5. Now God has a new covenant with his people:
      • “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
    1. We need to have regard for his church.
    2. The Lord Jesus Christ will zealously defend his church.
      • Don’t treat the church as a common thing.
  1. Why should we listen to God?
  2. God knows a lot more than we do.
  3. How much more? A LOT MORE.

Isa 55:6-8

6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  • The natural mind cannot think its own way to God
  • Our natural pea brains cannot comprehend the ways of God.
  • What should we do with “our ways”?
    • Improve them?
    • Refine them?
  • No, we should TRASH them!
  • This is just our behaviors, but also our thoughts.
  • He has plans for accomplishing his purposes which are different from ours.
  • He secures our own welfare by designs that are contrary to our own.
  • You have to have a repentant attitude in order to understand God’s justice.
  • Repentance means you have to be willing to change your mind toward God.

The Liberal’s Explanation

  1. You might hear liberal theologians teach this account something like this:
    1. This is just how primitive people “interpreted” the event
    2. A loving, just God would never kill somebody just for touching something
    3. Uzzah was actually so disturbed at this that great fear caused him to have a heart attack
  1. Was God unfair or harsh to Uzzah?
  1. How can a loving, just God kill people?
    1. The Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Conquest of Canaan
  1. God’s perfect holiness requires him to be perfectly just or righteous
    1. He cannot be holy and at the same time allow sin to go unpunished
    2. His judgments are true and righteous.
  2. He has designed a way to offer us mercy: that is through Christ.
  3. Through Christ, God is able to be just and merciful at the same time.

Ezek 33:11

11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? KJV

  • There were about 35 capital offences defined in the Old Testament:
    • Fortune telling, blasphemy, sassy child, homosexual activity, etc.
  • But the number of capital crimes is greatly reduced from what it was in the garden of Eden
    • Any sin was a capital sin: “If ye eat of it, you shall surely die”.
  • So in the OT, God’s mercy is already in operation

Rom 9:15

15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. KJV

  1. Justice may be required, but mercy is not.
    1. The angels who fell received no plan of redemption
  2. Mercy and grace are voluntary.
  3. God reserves the right to have mercy on whom he will.
  4. God is longsuffering: he gives us time to repent from our sin.
  5. Humans take advantage of God’s mercy
  6. Cognitive distortion <stinkin thinking>: “God owes me mercy.”

The Bible says it like this: “Their foolish hearts were darkened”.

Rom 1:21

Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. NIV.

  1. Occasionally God sends justice to show us the difference from mercy.

Isaiah 64:6

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. KJV

  1. Uzzah thought that he was doing a righteous act.
  2. Uzzah’s righteousness was as a filthy rag to the Lord.
  3. In this case with Uzzah, God was not merciful, he was just.
  4. God is perfectly just in his judgments.
  5. The problem is that we are all guilty sinners and deserve his wrath.
  6. To make matters worse we have stinkin thinking: our foolish hearts are darkened
    1. I’m a pretty good guy.
    2. I haven’t murdered anybody.
      • Jesus said that if you even hate your brother, you have already committed murder in your heart.
    1. I don’t sleep around
      • Jesus said that if you even look upon a woman to lust after her, you have already committed adultery in your heart.

The more general question about God’s justice is:

How Can a Good God Send People To Hell?

  • “MY God wouldn’t send anybody to hell.”
  • How many God’s are there?
  • They treat God as if he were like a buffet restaurant.
    • I’ll take a little love and a spoonful of grace
    • But I’m going to pass on the judgment and wrath

Jesus used a local news story to explain common cognitive distortions regarding God’s justice and mercy:

Luke 13:1-5

13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. KJV

  • Jesus told these people that they were asking the wrong question
  • Instead of saying “Why did the tower fall on them?”
  • They should ask: “Why DIDN’T the tower fall on me?”
  • We are all sinners, as it is written
    • “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” – Rom 3:2

The disciples asked the right question of the Lord:

Luke 18:26-27

6 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. KJV

  • The right question is not “why do people go to hell?”
  • Instead the question we should ask is “how is anybody saved at all?”

WARNING:

Never ask God for justice. You might get it.

  • David was angry at what the Lord did
  • We should accept God’s will even if it displeases us.
  • We should resign ourselves to him when he chooses to thwart our plans, and to take away our comforts.
  • God was showing these people that his word must be obeyed and his holiness must be revered.
  • And that was the result that was achieved:
    • 6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
    • He pondered how the ark should come in a way that would be acceptable to God.
    • This is what he should have done in the first place.
    • That’s how our worship must be: in the way prescribed by God.

1 Chron 15:1-15

15:1 And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

2 Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

3 And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place, which he had prepared for it.

4 And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:

5 Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty:

6 Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty:

7 Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty:

8 Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred:

9 Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore:

10 Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.

11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,

12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

13 For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach <broke out> upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

Due Order:

  • “according to the ordinance." NASU
  • “in the prescribed way” NIV
  • by formal decree

What is that formal decree? What is the prescribed way?

14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

  • The Levites sanctified themselves:
    • Scriptural requirements for: ceremonial cleaness
    • Transportation of the ark.

15 And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD. KJV

  • Our service to God must be according to the word of the LORD.
  • When we disobey God’s instructions we are setting ourselves up as having more authority than God.
  • We must act in an authorized manner

2 Tim 3:16-17

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God <God breathed>, and is profitable <useful> for doctrine<teaching>, for reproof <rebuking>, for correction, for instruction <training> in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect <complete, adequate, adapted>, throughly furnished <equipped> unto <for> all <every> good works. KJV

  1. The scripture is God breathed, so it is his word
  2. It is useful for teaching me the truth,
  3. And for showing me what is wrong in my thinking and my life,
  4. And to show me how to correct what is wrong in my life,
  5. For instructing me on how to be righteous before God.
  6. And so the scripture makes me complete,
  7. And well-equipped for every good work.
  8. So I don’t need to consult a pope on this earth to tell me what the truth is,
  9. I don’t need any man-made traditions to round me out.
  10. I don’t need any worldly philosophers to tell me how to find meaning in life.

What if our church decided to start sprinkling instead of immersing for baptism?

  • Immersion is so inconvenient. Wouldn’t it have the same meaning just to sprinkle them?
  • It would destroy the picture of the death, burial and resurrection.
  • The symbolism would be destroyed

Introduction | 2 Samuel 1-4 | 2 Samuel 5 | 2 Samuel 6 | 2 Samuel 7 | 2 Samuel 8 | 2 Samuel 9 | 2 Samuel 11 | 2 Samuel 12 | 2 Samuel 13-14 | 2 Samuel 15-17 | 2 Samuel 18-19 | 2 Samuel 20-21 | 2 Samuel 22 | 2 Samuel 23 | 2 Samuel 24

1 Kings 1 | 1 Kings 2 | 1 Chronicles 22

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