1 Chronicles 13:5-14--Uzzah and the Ark

1 Chronicles 13:5-14
English Standard Version

Uzzah and the Ark
5 So David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD who sits enthroned above the cherubim. 7 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. 8 And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.

​9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13 So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14 And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.

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We talked about David's preparations for this event yesterday and since they didn't have the internet and email back then, nor did they have cars and airplanes, it must have taken quite some time to spread the word to all the people in all the Land and give them time to travel to meet together for this occasion (unless it already overlapped with one of the pilgrimage feasts, which we don't get any indication of).  David has his mind set to bring the Ark of God to Jerusalem, even though the Tabernacle and the Bronze Altar are set up elsewhere in Gibeon (we'll see this in 2 Chronicles 1).

Now David wanted this to be a parade and wanted the Ark to be high and lifted up and arranged for it to be transported by oxen on a cart (much the same as the Philistines had done when they returned the Ark to Israel and let the LORD drive the oxen back to where he wanted it to go).  This however was not how the LORD had prescribed for the Ark (or anything else from the Tabernacle) to be carried.  The Ark was to be carried on long poles of acacia wood that were covered in pure gold that went through rings that were on the Ark, and the poles were to be carried on the shoulders of the priests.  In this way the priests would physically bear the burden of the Covenant.  Think of this in relation to Jesus saying, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Jesus took all this burden of the New Covenant (and the Old Covenant) upon Himself so that we only have a "light" burden in comparison.

The people had forgotten or ignored this instruction from the Law and when the oxen stumbled, one of the priests reached out his hand to stabilize the Ark, and as soon as he touched it, he died because no one was to make direct contact with the Ark of the Covenant.  David was angry with the LORD about this, and he feared to bring the Ark to Jerusalem as he had originally planned, so they left the Ark at the house of Obed-edom for three months while David and the priests searched for answers on to why the LORD's holiness killed Uzzah.  Only after they had found the answer in Scripture did they return to bring the Ark back the right way--this time with sacrifices being made every few steps (talked about in 2 Samuel) and music and singing.  We'll get to this in a couple chapters, but there are some more important events that happen in the three months that the Ark rests in the house of Obed-edom (and imagine having the Ark of the LORD in your house!).