The Old Testament is amazing. Fascinating. Even if I live to be 90, I will never fully grasp it. I could do every Beth Moore study and it will still be a mystery to me. An amazing, fascinating mystery. Yesterday I was reading (2 Samuel 6:1-8) about the ark of the covenant - the ark of God, which is called by "the Name". God's name is so holy the Hebrews referred to it as "shem" - The Name! They revered His Name and His holiness that much! Back to the ark. His very presence was enthroned between the cherubim on the ark!
So David and his men are carrying the ark very carefully, so as not to touch it. They had gone to great lengths to slide poles underneath before they placed it on the new cart. As they are moving along it appears the ark might fall off. Naturally, Uzzah reaches out and grabs it to keep it from hitting the ground. Big mistake. Deadly mistake. God is angry. (The word here also means "nose, nostril". Could it be that His holy nostrils were flared? I'm picturing a bull with hot air blazing out of it's nose.) Wrath.
Wow. Wouldn't you have done the same thing? It's easy to understand his human nature taking over and reaching out. It was the ark for goodness sake. No one would ever let it fall to the ground, right? How many times have you reached out to catch something that is falling? It's human reaction. I got to thinking about what I would let fall. A hot iron. If my iron were falling off the board, I think I would jump back and let it fall. It's not worth getting burned. I have too much respect for the power of the heat coming out of my iron.
See, God didn't need Uzzah to reach out and save the ark. God created the gravity that would have sent it to the ground! Besides, God had made it clear the ark was NEVER to be touched. Here's the real problem - Uzzah got casual with God's presence. Had he been mindful of God, he would never have reached out. In fact, if the whole gang had taken God's presence seriously, the ark would not have been placed on a cart to begin with.
Oh, I don't want to be casual with God's presence. There are so many Sundays I join my church family for corporate worship and I'm on autopilot. I might genuinely enjoy the music and learn from the sermon. I have gotten good at playing the "pastor's wife". I know how to act and what to say. At home, I often put my time with Him aside to accomplish other, more pressing things. How arrogant of me! There are many days I spend more time reading blogs than reading God's Word. Do I really think the words of all these nameless women will bring power into my life? Why do I care more about what everyone else is saying in blogworld, than His fresh, healing words for me. Uzzah was struck dead because of his casual attitude toward God. When am I going to grow up and get serious? I don't want to be casual. I want holy reverence.
So David and his men are carrying the ark very carefully, so as not to touch it. They had gone to great lengths to slide poles underneath before they placed it on the new cart. As they are moving along it appears the ark might fall off. Naturally, Uzzah reaches out and grabs it to keep it from hitting the ground. Big mistake. Deadly mistake. God is angry. (The word here also means "nose, nostril". Could it be that His holy nostrils were flared? I'm picturing a bull with hot air blazing out of it's nose.) Wrath.
Wow. Wouldn't you have done the same thing? It's easy to understand his human nature taking over and reaching out. It was the ark for goodness sake. No one would ever let it fall to the ground, right? How many times have you reached out to catch something that is falling? It's human reaction. I got to thinking about what I would let fall. A hot iron. If my iron were falling off the board, I think I would jump back and let it fall. It's not worth getting burned. I have too much respect for the power of the heat coming out of my iron.
See, God didn't need Uzzah to reach out and save the ark. God created the gravity that would have sent it to the ground! Besides, God had made it clear the ark was NEVER to be touched. Here's the real problem - Uzzah got casual with God's presence. Had he been mindful of God, he would never have reached out. In fact, if the whole gang had taken God's presence seriously, the ark would not have been placed on a cart to begin with.
Oh, I don't want to be casual with God's presence. There are so many Sundays I join my church family for corporate worship and I'm on autopilot. I might genuinely enjoy the music and learn from the sermon. I have gotten good at playing the "pastor's wife". I know how to act and what to say. At home, I often put my time with Him aside to accomplish other, more pressing things. How arrogant of me! There are many days I spend more time reading blogs than reading God's Word. Do I really think the words of all these nameless women will bring power into my life? Why do I care more about what everyone else is saying in blogworld, than His fresh, healing words for me. Uzzah was struck dead because of his casual attitude toward God. When am I going to grow up and get serious? I don't want to be casual. I want holy reverence.
1 comment:
Man, I am with you girl and totally convicted! Thank you for bringing the point of not taking Him for granted and casual! He has been convicting me of this very thing lately! That is neat that you are doing the Beth Moore study...she has such a way of leading through His word!
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