Why the Holy? – 06/12/2019

WARNING PREACHY… 

Exploring the Holy…

Why the Holy? – 06/12/2019

2 Samuel 6:1-6

6 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ² He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim 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, and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, 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.

How does this passage make you feel?

For 25 years as a Christian this story has bothered me; does it bother you?  I’m troubled because the Justice of God is called into question in my mind.  I know that nobody was supposed to touch the ark but really, Uzzah was just trying to be helpful.  How does it make you feel when you read it, do you feel God is unjust, do you feel He is justified, do you even understand it and admit that you’re confused?

God’s Ark is Holy…

The other morning I was in prayer and troubled in my soul about this passage that has always been like a thorn in my theological side.  But since I have been recently pouring into God and learning about His Holiness, while I meditated on this God re-framed the story and revealed to me a little about Himself.

The priests of the Israelites had been given specific instructions about handling the Holy things of God.  The Ark was one such Holy thing and it was created with rings on it so that it could be transported with poles on the shoulders of the priests – not on an ox wagon (Exodus 25:12-14).  And the priests were also instructed never to touch the Ark because the very presence of God was upon it (Numbers 4:15).  But still, even though they had been given these rules, and touching the ark had violated those rules, God didn’t really need to kill Uzzah did he?  That seems just a bit harsh to me.

Change the Story to see the Holy…

As I meditated on this God changed the story in my mind.  As I replayed the story in my mind’s eye when the oxen stumbled I saw Uzzah dip his hand into a fire and pick up a white hot coal.  I saw his hand with a third degree burn and I thought to myself, ‘you fool, didn’t you know that fire burns?’

I also saw that Uzzah was standing on a 1000 foot building when the oxen stumbled and because it did he jumped off of it to save the Ark.  I thought to myself ‘You fool, don’t you know that gravity must be respected?’

Finally I saw that when the oxen stumbled that Uzzah ran over and kicked a very large hornet’s nest and when he got stung I thought to myself  'Heh, he, seriously?’

The point was that I did not blame the hot coal for burning, the gravity for pulling him to his death, nor the hornets for stinging him, but I blamed God for being Holy, Holy, Holy; in other words, I respected the fire, gravity, and the hornet more than I feared the LORD God Almighty.

My Problem with God’s Holiness…

As I considered this I recognized that I was a Christian who started with Jesus.  Jesus saved me of my sins and I have chosen to follow Him, but I have never really learned about His Holiness and what exactly that means.  I chose Jesus because I didn’t want to go the hell when I died rather than because He is an Awesome Holy God.  My problem was that my choosing to follow Jesus started off with me and my benefit as its focus, and if I am honest my Christian faith has really ever been about me and getting what I want or need.  This indicated to me that I never really saw God as He truly is: Holy, Holy, Holy.

So Why the Holy?

Now I see my need to fully seek to understand the Majestic and Awesome Holy God whom I claim to know!  I need this knowledge if I am ever to get away from my ever present and persistent self-focused religion; until I do I will always be the point of my Christian faith when in reality God is supposed to be the point.  In the grand scheme of this world, the devil is very happy to keep my attention on myself rather than on our Holy God; this needs to change.

QUESTIONS:

If you are honest, do you consider yourself the point of your Christian faith or are you seriously only seeking God’s glory with your crucified life?  In light of your previous answer, do you act like God is the point - would your friends, family, and spouse concur with your answer?