2 Samuel 6 (Part 1) Bible Study (The Ark Brought to Jerusalem / Uzzah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you're a person who does not have a Bible and you don't regularly bring a Bible, come see the leadership and we will help you get a Bible. K? We want you to have a copy of God's written word in your hand, and we are advocates of the white pages with black ink in it. And red letter, if you have the red letter version as well. And maybe we will write a blog post or something about why that is the case, even in this technologically advanced age, but that is not the purpose of tonight's meeting.

Come to this chapter ready with our hearts open. Our brother prayed, but I think it's necessary to pray again as we have God's word before us afresh. Lord, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that we get to be students of your word, of the full revelation that you have given to mankind. Thank you that we are not, in need of a different portion, like other people in different parts of the world who only have certain aspects of your aspects of your truth, you have given us and blessed us with the totality of your word. We do not take this for granted.

Lord, we pray that you would energize us, that you would give us the grace to receive these truths, that you would help us edify one another, that this meeting would not be, interrupted, free from distraction, Lord. And more importantly, that we would sense your presence and power changing us as we realize what you have to say. We give you maximum praise and honor, more importantly, not just in our singing, but from our obedience to your instruction. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You and I have now arrived at, a very captivating, very powerful chapter in the book of second Samuel, And the reason for that is because this portion of scripture details David's campaign in retrieving the ark of the covenant and to place it in the new capital of Israel, which is Jerusalem as we discovered last week. Now just just for those who might have forgotten or who are not familiar, the ark of the covenant that we are going to read about is arguably the most important piece of furniture that was designed for the house of worship at this time in redemptive history, which was known as what? Starts with a t. Known as the tabernacle. Correct.

Not the temple. We're not there yet. We're at the tabernacle still. A portable tent, large enough to have a few people in it, but more importantly, to have certain elements and instruments within that house of worship that had many significant symbolic representation and purpose for that time for the nation of Israel. But the ark of the covenant was something special.

It was known as God's earthly throne, so to speak. And at times, we see that God chose the ark to speak and give instruction to his people. That's what he actually told Moses while they were preparing to design it. This is where I'm going to speak to you. And in other key moments, we see that this ark, which is really a box, it was like a chest, was used to manifest God's power against Israel's enemies, and there's many instances of that.

And one of the strongest ones that we know of is Jericho, where the ark was taken up and they had to go around that, huge city many times, and it was it was God's presence that brought about victory. And there's there's different moments that I'm sure you can recall. But more importantly, the ark of the covenant had a lid on it, which was known as what? The mercy seat. Correct.

And the mercy seat was a central piece to the sacrificial system of Israel. And it was the ark of the covenant that would be engaged with, it would be interacted with only one day out of the year for the purpose of God dispensing some measure of mercy to his sinning people, which ultimately points to Jesus Christ we know. Jesus Christ and the cross of Calvary is where we meet God. That is where we experience God. That is where we know God.

That is the entry point. Right? There are many things that can be said of that in light of Jesus Christ, but we know that David here wants it. He wants it because it's been quite a while since we even heard of the ark of the covenant, and we will discover why in a moment. But David wants to bring it to the political capital.

You know why? Because as David has now been inaugurated as the king, he wants to make sure as early as possible that his people would know that he's really not the king. He wants his people to know God is really the king. And so now he's establishing the spiritual center place, and he wants it near him, and he wants to actually overshadow him. He wants God's presence to be the very focus of his people, though he will be the king for quite some time.

And before we get into these verses, and can I be honest with you? I was overwhelmed with this chapter. There's no way we're covering this in one setting, and that's okay. But I was just overwhelmed because even in the verses that we will cover, I just didn't know where to stop almost. And so before we get there, we'll see what time does and how we will be led.

I'm gonna read a few verses as we did last week, and we're gonna open it up to see what observations you make from an initial reading. You guys did wonderful last week, and if I can give any instruction as tempting as it might be to really go on to share what you see, just just keep it minimal, so just for the sake of time. And, and it was wonderful last week. It was just like one person after the next. So I'm gonna read a few verses.

I hope you have your tool belt on, and the tool belt is what? Simple, reflective questions. What does it say about God? What does it say about man? What New Testament principles do I see in this Old Testament illustration?

What's the wider context that helps me understand this? What are some details, names, repetitions that I see that can help me understand God's emphasis in this section of scripture. Verse one. David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baal E Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.

And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Naken, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

A mixture of emotion. Right? What do you see here in your initial reading of this? What things stand out to you? Yes.

Okay. So this is the first time that he gathered God's people together? Sure. Okay. So we see that the ark was moved by the oxen on a cart when really it's supposed to be done another way, and we'll get to that.

That's a key important part. Anything else? Okay. So we see, we really like an orchestra here. We see this this this procession, and it was it was wonderful.

It was it was amazing. Yes. Yes, Laurie had something. Okay. So not just that they didn't do it the way God prescribed them to carry this holy this holy ark, but they they copied somebody else.

And that's really the root of this, which is an important observation too. This is a familiar passage, and I'm glad most of you here are understanding what's taking place here, but we're gonna ask a little for fresh revelation as well. Anything else? Any other observations? Yes.

Yeah. So this celebration quickly turned into a tragedy, and I think what we're gonna learn is just because there is exuberance and joy and noise, doesn't necessarily mean that God is happy. Yes. Anything else? Anything else that stands out?

Okay. Yes, Gorgias. Yeah. So there's a little there's something going on here with Uzzah and Ahai. Why are they the ones who are kind of leading the way for the ark to be transported to the place of Jerusalem?

Yes. You are correct. There is a sovereign thing happening for the ox to stumble at this point. It's an interesting place for this ox to stumble, and you'll see that if you are with us until the end of this session. Great observations.

Anything else? Yes. The Lord is teaching them obedience through a very, very hard lesson, through discipline. Yes. And it's it's going to teach us something.

Anything else? Yes, Grace. Very good. David arose, but did David seek God's guidance? He's gonna seek something, but we're not gonna see him seeking God, unfortunately.

Yes. Maybe a couple of more and then we'll continue. Very good. Did you hear that? The emphasis on a new cart.

Now we talked already about the cart. A new cart. We're always enamored about new things, aren't we? We'll see why that's dangerous for the church. Anything else?

Great observations. As you and I come to this text, this will be extremely instructive for us in understanding God's holiness. God's holiness and how his terms of worship are what we subscribe to, no matter what the goal of our worship or ministry or planning or implementing is. And so as you and I come here, we should also have in our bibles ready first Corinthians or rather first Chronicles 13. That'll be a helpful passage to parallel this with, because in the first two verses we see that David gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000, and he arose and went with all the people.

But it's in first Chronicles 13, and the first few verses that we see in detail what David said and did to get the people to join him in this project to acquire the presence of God symbolized with the ark. And so look at verse one of first Chronicles 13 to understand verse one and two of chapter six of second Samuel in a clearer way. David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, if it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered with us, or to us. Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.

All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. Many things can be said of this passage, let me give you just two. One thing that stands out to me in light of this is how David brings to the attention of the people that the ark of God was not sought after during the reign of Saul. That is an indictment yet again of Saul's leadership as the nation's king, because what this says is that for forty years, there was no effort made by Saul to revive the people's concern for the things of God. And I think a text like that is incredibly insightful to help us understand the tragedies of this man's life, as well as the nations.

Leave God out and watch what unwanted things will come in. You cannot neglect God from His rightful place, and at the same time believe that you can be exempt from pain, unnecessary pain at least, chaos, confusion, oppression, or division. Saul here is a very sobering illustration and a wonderful case study of the depths of the darkness that you and I can discover when we fail to actively acknowledge and honor God. That is true individually, and that is true on a national scale. It happened to Israel.

And so here's what you have to understand, sincere worship, joyful submission to God, is what stabilizes us. It stabilizes your life, your heart, it stabilizes society. And again, when you fail to place God where He deserves to be, you open yourself and those around you to untold disaster. And that's what happened with Saul. That is, you want to know why Saul was the way he was?

You want to know why it was such a dark period in Israel's history? Because of this. God was not in his thinking, God was not in his planning, God was not in his meditation, God was not in his nothing. And that translated to everything else that happened in that period of Israel's nation. But what's interesting here is the contrast.

David is the one who is now initiating the project to say we need to get back to focusing on God. He's the one who does it. But listen, he doesn't just initiate it. He inspires the people to be a part of it. And what I find so encouraging here is that all the assembly agreed to do so.

They said, let's do it. Let's do it. And all it took was one person, one person to remind them that there is a God, and we are under Him, and He has blessings in the place of obedience, and there are curses in the place of disobedience. Let's get back in alignment. Let's get back to pursuing Him, and honoring Him, and loving Him.

And the people said, We're behind you, David. It would be dishonest for me to say that it will always be the case that one person's godliness will awaken other people to spiritual fervor. That would be untrue. But at the same time, the Scriptures does not does not, cancel that possibility outright. The Scripture even even pushes us to say, you know, if you pursue the Lord with greater greater intensity, one of the blessings that may come out of it is that others will also catch a fire.

And they will also pursue and realize that there is a joy in this place of putting God in the centerpiece of who you are. And that's exactly what David does. His zeal inspired the zeal of others. And here's the thing, that's not just true for David, that is true in the New Testament as well. You know, I'm going through second Corinthians in my personal reading, and something popped out to me in a portion of that text that people are a little bit nervous around, and it's a portion of text that speaks about giving.

Right, two Corinthians eight, two Corinthians nine. But it's in two Corinthians nine that there is a phrase there that blessed me this morning. I want you to see it because it's tied into this. So go to two Corinthians nine very quickly, and I want you to see verse two. He's speaking to the Corinthian Christians, and he's reminding them of something that they've done, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

He wants to remind them of something that's really, really important for us to understand in our pursuit of not just God, but zealous pursuit of God. Look at verse two. For I know your readiness. Now pause. What's he doing?

He he's reminding the Corinthian Christians to be a part of this project, to to make a contribution to the church in Jerusalem that was that was in need of financial aid. So he's he's he's teaching them, but he makes it personal by saying, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. In other words, they've been ready to do this since last year. They've been making preparation for this offering a year ago. And he's telling the church of Macedonia, notice what he says, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

Your zeal has stirred up the Macedonian church. And you go to two Corinthians eight, and you see how great that zeal was. Macedonian Christians at this time were extremely poor, and yet it says they begged Paul to be a part of this relief. Poor, but they're saying, please, Paul, don't hold us back from being a part of this. We want to give to this relief.

And what did that come from? The Corinthians. The Corinthians inspired that zeal in in the Macedonians, and Paul is saying, hey, you were the ones that sparked this in them. Don't lose your fire now. It was because of you that the Macedonians are getting excited.

Don't lose your excitement. Listen, I've met over the years many sincere, godly people who love the Lord, and they want to see their husbands love the Lord. They want to see their wives come to love the Lord with a passion. They want to see their children be serious. They want to see their group of friends that they grew up with that that struggle and are lukewarm at times to be with them and and pursuing God.

Right? Are you one who says, if you're not part of this church or if you're a part of this church, I want to see my church be more serious about the things of God. I don't want to just hear a message on Sunday and then talk afterwards as though God wasn't in the room. If that's you, may I give you honest advice and exhortation from the scripture? Be fervent yourself.

Be fervent yourself first. Because at the same time, a lot of these people who make these kind of comments and have these desires are not at that place. They're not at that place. That's not always the case, but sometimes that is the case. And the lack of concern around them dampens their fire.

And so it's almost as though they are dependent upon others to be at that place before they come to that place. That's not how it works. That's not how it works. And so if you want to contribute to the possibility of others around you that you love to be consumed with the things of God, well you get there first. And ride that wave long enough.

And don't be so sporadic yourself. And don't be so inconsistent yourself. Do you want to know how passionate David was about the ark coming to Jerusalem? It wasn't a two week thing. It wasn't a post conference experience.

It was so obvious to those around him that there was a psalmist who wrote in observation of David's zeal, his desire for the ark. Does anybody know that psalm? What number it is? What psalm? No, but you're close.

Not a little bit more numbers. You have to get into the one hundreds actually. Okay. You wanna see it? Psalm one thirty two.

Look at the first five verses. I want you to see the description of David's passion. Because we all have different understandings of what true passion is for God. Some people believe they're passionate for God because they don't go to the bars on Fridays and they come to Bible study. Well, that's nice.

Notice notice what absolutely consumed David. In verse one of Psalm 132, a song of ascents, we read, remember, oh Lord, here's what the psalmist says. Remember, oh Lord, in David's favor all the hardships he endured. Yes, we studied all of those hardships, and some not in scripture, I'm sure. How he swore to the Lord and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob, I this is what David said, I will not enter my house or get into my bed.

I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. That's the kind of desire that sparks something in those around you. That's what can even mark a nation. The psalmist here was so impressed by, obviously inspired by the Spirit to write about this. And you and I have to understand that it's that kind of, if that's the kind of zeal that will rub off on others, and perhaps even cause them to be in the same place as you or even exceed you.

And so if there's no prayer in your home, be the first one to pray. Right? If your friends are not, if they're inconsistent from being in this place and how they are outside of this place, initiate something. Initiate conversations about the Lord. Initiate testimonies.

But more than anything else, just live it for yourself. And you never know who might be watching, and who might share in that joy, because the salt of your life has made them thirsty for living water. But may I offer also a word of caution even in that. Right? Because the temptation and and the pitfall that somebody can have in that pursuit of the Lord with zeal is to become spiritually proud.

That's the danger. And so what happens is you now, because you know that there is something different about you, and that God does consume you, and you love the Lord, and, you fellowship differently than others, and your priorities are different than others, that can very very easily cause you to look down on others. Did you notice the attitude and the language of David when he addressed his people to join him in this project? Go back to one Chronicles 13. What did he say?

How did he say it? With tenderness. If it seems good to you, in verse two. If it seems good to you, like, that's that's graceful. That's inviting.

That's soft. That's attractive. And then you read, there's another word that reoccurs over and over, let us, let us, let us, let us. Let's do this together. I'm no higher than you.

I'm not greater than you. I'm not superior than you. Let's do this together. I'm on the same level as you. And I want us to see the beauty of this.

Would you join me in this? And so many people who are zealous can fall into the trap of actually being repulsive, because there's an arrogance that comes with their passion. And there's this sense of, you just haven't arrived to where I'm at. And guess what? If you're there, you already lost.

There is no hope for those around you to even want what you have. In fact, true zeal, true zeal, true holiness, true godliness does not need to be advertised. It doesn't. You don't have to boast about what you know or what you've done. Fire doesn't scream, does it?

And fire doesn't put up advertisements in the neighborhood that one of the houses are burning, does it? No. People see the fire and it attracts. And I want you to believe that about your pursuit of the Lord. You don't have to trumpet.

You don't have to gloat. You don't have to come to a place where you bully people or make them feel small, because you're somewhere where they're not. In fact, David here contrasts another king who had the exact opposite spirit. He was an extremely zealous king. He did a lot for Israel at a time where many people would not do what he did.

But he had literally the exact opposite, and he overestimated his faithfulness to God. Does anybody have an idea who I'm talking about? He's not that much of a known character. But once you see this, you're gonna realize, wow, these two are polar opposites. Who is the king or the king that did so much damage to Baal worship?

Close, but no. Good guess. Very good. Jehu. And Jehu, in the middle of this campaign of cleansing the land of Baal worship, says something that really stinks with pride.

It's so unattractive, it's so, it just makes you kind of squirm, and it shows you, it's a reminder of the danger that even if you are doing awesome things for God and destroying idols around you, you yourself can make yourself an idol. Second Kings, look at this, it's just one verse, so simple, so clear. Turn those sacred pages to second Kings very quickly. I want you to see this in verse 10, excuse me, verse 16 of chapter 10. He addresses Jehonadab, and look what he says in second Kings chapter 10 verse 16.

And he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. If that was Jonah and Debbie, you want to have said? No thanks. Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. Read Jehu's life.

He did wonderful things to deal with the national compromise of his day. But as he sought to destroy idolatry, he ended up worshiping his own zeal, admiring his own zeal, elevating himself in comparison to others. And it's the complete opposite attitude. Come with me and see my zeal. What did David say?

Let us. Let us. Let us. Pure zeal, pure passion that is honorable to God, that will win people's hearts, does not say I know more than you. I'm better than you.

You may not say that out of your lips. It might slip here and there, but it doesn't even say it in the heart. You realize even when people are at different levels of spirituality that you are you are just as susceptible as falling into that trap. You can easily be in a season where you don't think about God at all, almost. And you know that whatever is happening in your heart, whatever is happening through your life is by the grace of God, and you want others to share in the joy that you have.

Complete opposite attitude of this man. And so we see here that as Jehu pronounces how zealous he is, David wants to simply allow his life to do the talking. And now scroll down to verse 31 of second Kings 10. Look at how the Holy Spirit gives commentary of Jehu's faithfulness and devotion to God. You ready for this?

Verse 31. But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel. With all his heart, he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. God had a different opinion about Jehu. God had a different opinion about Jehu.

And that's scary that we can think differently about ourselves than how God sees us. And so I wanna I wanna be where God wants me to be. And I want I want to know more than anything that God is pleased with what he sees. I don't want to be pleased with what I see. I want to know that God is pleased.

That is the safest place to be, and I hope that is a place that you will be. If you want to see others come alive in Jesus Christ, come alive in Jesus Christ, and stay alive in Jesus Christ. Long enough for people to say, that's the real deal. You know the reason why so many can't buy into this? Because we don't stay in the place of fervency long enough for people to ultimately be convinced.

I can tell you this even about the unbelieving world. When I was in college, I would be teased, I would be persecuted, I would be mocked. I don't wanna sound like a martyr because my suffering was nothing in comparison to what other people are enduring. But I would tell you, I would be made fun of in front of the whole class and all these things. And this is the thought that came to mind.

Especially with a couple particular people. They want to press me, and they want to they want to squeeze me enough to see if what I have is the real thing. Or if I'm willing to cave with a little bit of pressure in my life. And would you know one of those people ultimately after a whole year came and asked me, what is it about Jesus? Why are you the way you are?

When all that time they were on an evangelistic campaign to see if what I have is sincere and true. People watch you. They wanna see. Are you willing to cave? Is this just a fad?

Are you going to give in? Are you just like everybody else that just yes one day, no the other? Stay there, and watch how people will be blessed by it. Second Samuel chapter six. Let's come to verse three.

David was able to get this this group of people, the leaders, the people of Israel, to be on their feet, and now they're going to the countryside to get the ark from the house of Abinadab in the countryside. And so they come, and the careful student, as many have already observed, will already know that there are red flags to this whole thing, and the red flags is the way that they got the ark. We read here that the way that they got the ark was by placing it on a new cart, and to drive that new cart to Jerusalem. You heard it already. I'll just say it again for the sake of those who haven't heard.

God had given clear instructions back in Numbers how the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites. And not just the Levites, but a specific family from the Levites. Who's that family? Starts with a k. So we see here that there is a specific, particular surgical instruction, and they just dismissed it completely.

They put it on a new ark, and this is under David's leadership. Where did David get this idea from? Somebody already said it, but did anybody miss it? Where did where did he get this idea from to put this ark on a new car? The Philistines.

The Philistines captured the ark back in one Samuel, and after capturing the ark, they realized you can't mess with this ark. In other words, the ark can take care of itself, because the presence of the ark in enemy territory brought about plagues and judgment. They said we got ourselves in a mess here. They send it back, and the instructions were send it back on a new cart. So it arrives on a new cart.

And it makes you wonder if David, being backslidden with the Philistines for over a year, adopted worldly philosophies during that time. And now when it came to his his chance to bring about this wonderful fulfillment of the ark of God being central again, he slips into the place of putting it on a new cart. What's the lesson here? The lesson is very obvious. Israel used the carnal method to accomplish a righteous goal.

And the temptation here is the temptation throughout all generations. Because what you will see here is regardless of the intention, regardless of the the ambition, the desired goal, God is not just concerned about what you're doing, He's also concerned about how you do it. He's very particular. He is holy. He has clear instructions.

And so God is not merely impressed by us doing it for a God honoring reason even, or in the name of God. He's given obvious clear instructions of how we should go about it. The ends never justify the means, ever. It might for others, not for God. The result of something or the motive for something is not the only thing that glorifies God.

The means is what he prioritizes more than anything else, despite the result. It's the means. Trusting in his wisdom, submitting to his precepts. God, if you said to do it this way, then we will do it this way. For some reason, David doesn't.

Does anybody have an idea why David used a new cart? Why do you think he did it? People debate whether he was ignorant of the law or not. People say he knew very well what he was doing. Some people say he just wasn't aware of that part of the Bible.

He didn't show up to Friday night that one night about what you do with the ark. Why did David put the ark on a cart? Can I give you my suggestion? Where was the house of Abinadab? The text tells you.

On the hill. Where was Jerusalem situated? Was it a hilly area or was it a flat area? It's mountainous. So here's David's thinking.

It's much easier to go up and down these hills and to carry the ark of God. It's much more convenient, much less effort, and we'll even get there faster if we do this with wheels instead of depending on the shoulders of men. And the natural man says, Hallelujah. Innovative. Wonderful.

Sounds great. But is it right? It is not right. Just because it's lighter, just because it's faster, just because it seems to bring about quicker results, does not mean God smiles at it. And that is the exact, well, a major reason why Christians and Christian ministries today do not completely rely and apply the word of God to how they serve the Lord.

It's more convenient to the flesh. Why pray? Why fast? Why preach? Why wait on God?

We can do this, this, and this, and even see things happen at a faster rate. And so the church has to hear what God is saying here. That we are always in danger of looking at easier ways, more attractive ways. It's new. And then apply that to how we do ministry.

Do you know how many churches are encouraged to start their churches, to see their churches grow? Would you like to know how? Here's a popular method. Create a survey, go to your neighborhood, and on that survey ask people who are not saved, who are not regenerate, who are not born again, ask them, what would you like to see on a weekly service at your local church? And gather the data, and try to balance holiness and worldliness, and bring something that will bring people, and keep them, and grow.

The days of simply trusting God's word are quickly being replaced by seeking that which is more convenient and appealing to the flesh. And that's what you're having today, if you didn't recognize it. Where do you think they got this idea of preaching being replaced with shorter TED talk like sermons? Because some of these ministries have been told people want to be out of church by noon. They have things to do.

They have to go take care of their garden. They want to go watch the football game. They've got to go here. They've got to go there. So come on, let's just get it going.

Communion service? Just do it quickly. Just say a couple of words. Just say we've got to go. People have stuff to do on the Lord's day.

Come on, you gotta be relaxed. If you want people to be receptive, you can't be so confrontational. You just gotta be relaxed, and let let people see that you're kind of like on a porch setting talking back and forth. And people's attention spans are not very not very large these days because of everything. It's just the day that we're living in.

So just kinda give, like, like, one key truth and drive it. And look, the Bible, like, it's complicated, and people don't understand the depths of it, so just just buff it up with as many stories as possible. You got to give footnotes though, because then people will, you know, they'll call you a heretic or unbiblical. So where did this come from? Came from somewhere.

It came from the Philistines. That's where it came from. And you and I have to understand that this is a danger more than ever today. You know why? Because our brother said it.

The emphasis here is not just the cart, but a new cart. New, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new. Right? And in the time that we're living in, there's never been a mass production at the pace that we're knowing of newness. Right?

Just think about how many apps and trends have come and gone in the past five years. Things that were exciting and captivating two years ago is lame and old and boring today. And because we're people living in this kind of a world, very easily can that stuff creep in and us say we need to do it new. We gotta freshen things up, man. And so let's do virtual reality church.

And let's baptize people in fake water. People don't want to go and get wet and have to change and then if they come in and their hair is not done. Virtual reality church. Live stream. Listen, let me say something.

Okay? Just because the world produces things does not mean the church has to apply everything. Okay? Just because the world produces things does not mean we have to apply absolutely everything because we can get in very tricky situations. So you know how many let me just tell you this.

You know how many churches today, as I'm speaking, are suffering? Actually most churches are suffering in a post COVID world because a great percentage of those congregations have realized they can do church in their living room. And something that's a blessing, people are watching now, God bless you, that helps for those who are sick, who can't make it, who are injured. We want to utilize that tool, but if we're not careful, it can substitute obedience. And so just like the new cart, I was just talking to people in the past few weeks, people in leadership in churches.

Large chunks of the people are not coming regularly anymore. Why? Because it's just easier to do church when you watch and you can do other things and get more done. It's a new cart. It's a new cart.

So be careful. Be careful watching. If you're a leader, be careful. Just because it's new, just because it's a fad, just because people are talking about it, just because it seems more convenient does not mean we need to apply it to church. We gotta go back to the ancient paths as Jeremiah talked about.

And so we see in the remaining of this verse and these verses the fruit, the fruit of what happens when you do not subscribe and give yourself completely to what it is that God says, how we should do worship, how we should do ministry, how we should do Christianity. Let me just give you two observations. Notice in verse five. And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. Here's what happens when you try to do it the Philistine way instead of the biblical way.

You got noise, but you don't have true worship. You produce noise, but you don't get true substance. You get large numbers, and you get a lot of activity, but it's void of the presence of God. It's void of His pleasure. If you were to read that verse in isolation, would you be impressed?

I might be. Wow, this is something very holy that's going on. But you know what it was in God's eyes? An empty production. It was an empty production.

It was literally just a show. And that's what happens to a ministry when it deviates from total obedience to God's word. It forfeits true God honoring worship. And we often make the mistake of being impressed by that which seems exciting, which seems loud. There's shouting, there's clapping.

What an exciting atmosphere. God must be blessing this place. Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Here's a key example where you can have all of the hoopla and God not even be in it at all.

But because we're very soulish, we're easily persuaded by what seems to be true success when in fact it's a failure. It's a failure. And so you have to understand something. If you want to measure yourself more importantly, if you want to look at anybody who claims to be godly, any ministry that claims to be God honoring, the basic thing you have to do is what's happening here in alignment to the scriptures? It's as simple as that.

No matter how impressive it may seem, is it lined up to the word of God? People always ask, we had had the Q and A, how do I know which church to be a part of? Very simple. Look at all that they're doing and see how much they exalt God's word over it. That's it.

That's it. I've talked to many people over the years. Oh, that place, man, it has awesome worship. What they mean is the worship band is really good. K.

Oh, that place, man, I I whenever that guy talks, I cry. Well, why do you cry? Okay. You cry. That's fine.

I can show you a clip on YouTube of people crying because they believed that there were disciples of Jesus reincarnated, and they were told tell us about the crucifixion, and they were telling them about the crucifixion. Because they're part of a cult of a guy who believes that he is Jesus Christ, return on the earth. Okay, you cry. Is it lined up to the Word of God? Is it according to the Scripture?

It's as clear as that. But let me let me make this point as well, because here's the opposite extreme now. You have people who consider themselves fundamental, conservative, serious, Bible believing, verse by verse, and there's no passion. Every time they come to church, you think it's a funeral service. Hello, the Lord resurrected from the dead.

And so you have the opposite attitude too. And here's here's here's what I want to say. If there's anybody who should be exploding with joy and gladness, it's those who are walking in the truth. That's who. And we see that later on where when David comes back to do it the right way, he's dancing before the Lord, not recommending that, but he comes to Jerusalem with great gladness.

Great gladness. So there shouldn't be this this this weird divide where if you are biblical and you are sound, you're stiff as a board, but you have people here who are not sound, who are not in alignment to God's word, but they're passionate and they're just emotional people. So now what you have is you equate emotion with heresy. And if you're serious and you're godly, you just whatever. I don't get that.

I really don't see that in the Bible. So what happens when you do it the Philistine way? You got noise, but you don't have true worship. You want true worship? Do it the way the Bible says, and let the joy of walking in the truth translate in the way you sing, the way you serve, the way you fellowship, the way you represent them on the earth.

Verse six and seven. It's not just noise, but we see here that long enough, you will bring spiritual death. Let me read this to you again. And when they came to the threshing floor of Naken, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Somebody said it earlier.

Isn't it fascinating that eventually the oxen stumbled? And it wasn't on a hill. It was on a flat surface, a threshing floor. And the point I want to make is that when you try to do it a different way than God's way, eventually it's going to disappoint you. Eventually, it's going to not work.

Something is going to go wrong. And that's exactly what happens here, right? We see that God's holy work cannot be carried by unholy means. God's presence is incompatible with us doing things in the flesh. And so the ark stumbles in such a way it jolts where it looks like the ark is going to slip off and fall to the ground.

And the thing that you take out of here is that it's going to fail. It's never going to work. And so let me give you an example of this. When you have people who strategize and say, let's just try to get the people in, and the way we're going to get the people in is avoid the controversial subjects. Let's not press on sin.

Let's not talk about the current events that deal with morality. Let's just get people to feel good. You know this. What happens? You get the place packed.

I mean, you can do it within a year. You have a charismatic enough person, a really talented band with pretty people. Oh, you're set. And what happens is you get people coming in, and what now do you do when you need to talk about those issues? What's going to happen now when you need to address homosexuality?

When you need to address the biblical principles about gender, what are you going to do now? And you have people, as I'm speaking, who are in that dilemma. Because they did it by starting and putting the thing on the cart, and now when they come down the road, they realize, well, I don't know if we're seeing true disciples out of this. I don't know if they're seeing their social media posts or their congregation. They're seeing what they believe about political things that are dealing with morality, and they're scared.

So now we gotta talk about and now when they're trying to talk about it, they know that they're gonna lose most of the people. Well, some might say, well, they're never gonna talk about it then. They'll just keep using the same method. Fine. You want to go down road?

That's what you're gonna get. Death. That's what you're gonna get. You want to stay in that lane? This is what you're gonna get.

You're gonna get God's discipline. And that's exactly what happens. Uzzah does what to the ark? What does he do? Touches it.

God strikes him dead. What's the point there? Well, it didn't start with Uzzah touching the ark, it started with them putting the ark on a cart. One spiritual compromise will always lead to another. Always.

And so here's what happens, when you're lenient and relaxed, and when you ignore one tenant of the faith, or one aspect that is clear in the word of God, in due time, in order to maintain the hoopla, in order to move forward in what you think is success, you're gonna have to compromise on something else. And then another thing. And then another thing. And then another thing. Until what?

God shuts the thing down. Nothing is enough. And he disciplines. And that's exactly what happens here. They went from putting the ark on a cart, to Uzunao touching the ark.

And God wanted to make an example of them and said, no. And he turns the lights off, so to speak. The party's over. And more can be said about this, but let me actually ask this question. Who are those who are in the category of the most susceptible to making this mistake of being light with God's word?

You might be surprised by the answer. Who are those who are most susceptible to being light and casual about the things of God and the word of God and the commands of God? If you want it yes. Very good. Did you hear the answer?

Those who are constantly surrounded by the things of God. And how do you know that? Okay. Personal experience. Good.

Well, that's good, but there's another thing too according to Nadev and Abihu. Nadev and Abihu is another example. Sure. But our example is right here. All you gotta do is again, remember your tool belt, you still have it on.

Right? One of the tools is how does the wider context help me understand this present portion of scripture? We see here that Uzzah and Ohio were the ones who were driving the thing, right? And Uzzah was the one who put his hand. Well here's my question.

Who who are these men? Where did they come from? Which house were they were they a part of? Abinadab. Have you heard of his name before?

Yes. When? First Samuel. Good. When?

Okay. Turn there to first Samuel chapter seven. I want you to see this for yourself. First Samuel chapter seven. Let's look at verse one.

And the men of Kiriath Urim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of who? Abinadab. Okay. So they brought the ark to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. Now before we go to verse two, so that is where the ark was for quite some time.

Does anybody know the amount of time that the ark was in Abinadab's home? Very good. Next verse tells us, we see here, from that day the ark was lodged from the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath Urim, a long time passed, some twenty years. Who were Uzzah and Ayo? The sons of Abinadab.

Implying what? They grew up around the presence of God. So this is for those who grew up in the church. This is for those who grew up in Christ's honoring home. This is for those who heard the name of Jesus as early as you can remember.

Okay? There's a danger for such people. And the danger is so clear, is it not? I mean, some of you might be experiencing it right now. You're tuned out.

This is like whatever. I mean, I hope now you're here on a Friday night. I hope you're here for the right reason. But we see here that the danger for those who grow up around the presence of God is that you fail to proceed moving forward in life with great caution about how you walk with Him. And so there is no more this sense of a reverence for God that is lost.

And there is a familiarity that causes you to flirt with the line of outright dishonour and carelessness. And so, here's the thing. If you're a person who has grown up in the church, and if you can be honest and reflect on your growth in the Lord, if you're growing more and more indifferent, if you have lost that sense of awe, if you don't tremble anymore as God's word is being preached by men who tremble at God's word, you're in a dangerous place. You are. You're in like code red alert, something needs to happen to my heart.

Because the opposite should be happening in your walk with the Lord. I'm under the conviction that if you grew up in a house that feared and honored God, and twenty years has passed, you should have every year, every moment grown in a greater fear of Him, as you've learned more and more of His holiness, of His love, of His mercy, of His wonderful power. Not the opposite effect. And that is unfortunately the case here, and it is the case for many. These men were comfortable.

They were casual. They lost that sense of splendor. And some might push back on what I'm saying now by saying, but Uzzah, he's helping God out. I mean, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand. I mean, he wasn't doing an evil thing, he wasn't doing a vile thing, he was doing a good thing.

And so I'm just curious to know, maybe this is your first time hearing it, maybe you've read it before, who here, if you're honest, and it's not a sin to to confess this, was a little bit shook by reading about what happened to Uzzah so quickly when he did this? Anybody? Okay. That's okay if it's the case. So you read this and you think, Lord, why did you have to bring such swift judgment?

Why why something so immediate? No no voice from heaven, no warning, no call, nothing? Well, we already discussed why. God had laid it out so obviously in his word, these men should have known better. But especially, especially Uzzah.

Especially Ohio. Because here's my question now. What was the predicament, what was the context that brought the ark to his front step to even begin with? Do you remember why it was that the ark of the covenant came to the house of Abinadab? Was it because they won some lottery?

What was it? What was the context behind that? The Philistines sent back the ark. The ark comes back within the borders of Israel, and then something happens between that moment and the ark being dropped off to this house. Who remembers it?

The people looked into the ark, and God struck 70 of them. And the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people, and they were fearful, and they said, we don't want to handle this thing, so they send it to the house of Abinadab. And here's the point that I'm trying to make. Uzzah knew that. So the point I'm trying to make is that Uzzah had more than just the clear prescription of God's word telling him what to do with the ark, he had personal experience.

He personally, with his own eyes and his own ears, his whole upbringing was around the realization that God can actually manifest his holiness and judge. God's not to be played with. God in a holy way, may I use this word, is dangerous. He's dangerous around casual attitudes around His presence. Nadeb Haben Abayo is another example.

He knew that firsthand. He had the privilege and honor that many of the Israelites would never known. He grew up with the ark. You know how significant that is? Only the high priest once a year would come into close proximity with such a thing.

That ark, I don't know where it was placed, in the garage, in the living room. It was close enough for him to see it and know it was there every single day for twenty years. So before we start charging God for being unfair, realize who we're dealing with here. This isn't a stranger. This isn't just a teenager that doesn't he hasn't matured yet.

This is a grown man who knew full well what God was capable of, namely what this ark is capable of, and he still presumed that he can put his filthy, carnal, sinful hands on the presence of God. So we might be shocked to see what happened here with Uzzah, but humans have a tendency pay attention to this point, we have a tendency to be surprised at the wrong things that we read of in the bible. We do. We look at things, and we tend to question the wrong side of the equation. And what I want you to understand is that there is a better question to ask than why did God kill Uzzah so quick.

You ready for this? Why didn't God kill everybody? Why didn't God destroy them all? Especially the leaders, even David, who were organizers behind this illegal procession. And so somebody I heard the story of somebody who asked, a preacher, pastor, I'm so conflicted by that verse in Romans nine where it says, Jacob I loved, and Esau I hated.

How can God hate Esau? Now I I understand hate to be a different way than how we understand hate. We'll get to that when we get to Romans nine in, like, 2048. K? Jacob, I loved.

Esau, I hated. How can God hate Esau? You know what the preacher said? That's not my problem. My question is how can God love Jacob?

How can God love a despicable, deceiving trickster who continually dishonored God for decades until he finally got it? See, we're asking the wrong question a lot of the times. And the cause of that is a lack of a mature and honest comprehension of the character of God in his holiness and in his majesty, while also failing to understand the absolute vileness of who we are in comparison to him. That's what it is. And the more you come into this word and the more you realize who God is, the less things you will be able to question, because it all falls into place when you understand who he is.

I I think that's, that's really the reason. Because we look at Uzzah and we go, how? When in fact, we should be looking at God and saying, how? And the way we save ourselves from doing what David did. What was David's reaction to this?

Remind me in verse eight, David was angry. David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. That's what we have a lot today. People angry at God, people upset with God, people accusing God. How could you?

How could you? How could you? Why would you? Why would you? Why would you?

How can God allow suffering? Let me give you a different question. How can God, so holy, so pure, so brilliant, make a way for us to escape eternal suffering? I'm not to I'm not here to minimize legitimate questions. I'm not here to say that.

I'm not saying that that's proof of a lack of maturity. But I'm saying when it when it gets us to a place like David where we become where we become those who sit in the judgment seat against God, that's a dangerous place to be. And it's it's a proof of a lack of understanding of who God really is. And so David goes from anger to verse nine to afraid. He was afraid.

This man was confused. He was confused. He really was. And do you know how he's going to be rescued from this confusion? I'm not gonna take you there, but when you go to first Chronicles 15, he realizes that the way we're gonna do this in his second attempt, because the first attempt failed, this is gonna be a second attempt, is by doing it by due order, the way that God laid it out.

So that's how you save yourself from a lot of confusion when you just go to the word, really. But let me end on this point. Our brother brought it up, and it is a good point. Why do you think God allowed this to happen where it happened? Where did it happen again?

The threshing floor. The threshing floor of naked. What happens at a threshing floor? Very good. What happens on the threshing floor is you would have sheaves laid out on a flat surface, and then you would have some oxen or different animals, and sometimes you would have people with sticks, and they would beat on the sheaves until the hard external part is separated from from the edible part.

Another way and another way of doing is that you would take a mixture of things, and you would take it with a wind wing fork, and you would, on a windy day, throw it up into the air, and the wind would blow. And then the chaff would be removed, and the grain would fall to the ground, and you would gather it as a harvest. And God, in the place where separation took place, made a statement. There needs to be separation between the holy and the unholy. And I wonder if that clicked for them.

It clicks for us because we have the the aerial view of the whole thing. I wonder if it clicked for them. In the same way that in life, there are things that are separate. And that's what those laws are all about, by the way. You've probably heard it from somebody who says, you don't believe that you should have, any approval of gay people.

Why are you wearing a different piece of cloth? And why do you do this? And why do you put grain in here and not the same why do you do what? The the whole thing is not about necessarily just arbitrary random rules. It's the principle of separation.

That's what God is trying to communicate in those texts. There is the uncommon, there's the common, there's the holy, there's the unholy. And in the place where day to day activity took place, where there would be a separation that occurred, God says, I want that in my people. I want that for my church. I want that in you.

And here's the danger. When we refuse to, after being exposed to so much, especially after being exposed with so much of what we grew up with, we invoke God's discipline. We invoke God's discipline. And here's what David learned in verse eight, and that place is called Perez Uzzah. Perez Uzzah to this day.

Last week, David named something else something. What did he name that place? Yeah. Baal Perezim, the Lord of what? Breakthrough.

So what did he learn there? God can break through like a flood and bring about a blessing immediately. In a second, God can turn things around. In the next chapter, he realized, prez Uzzah, which means breaking out against Uzzah, that this god also can break out in discipline, in judgment, in severity, and not just in kindness. And David was angry at first.

He took a deep breath, and he was afraid. He steps back. He does what the people did with the house of Abinadab. He takes the ark, and he puts it in another house, the house of Obed Edom, and we will learn next week what will happen from there. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this this study, for stimulating our hearts. Lord, we pray that in this place, you would see a people who love to obey the pattern of your word. Help us in all things to be able to say, we do this because God said. We do it this way because God said. We go this way because God said.

Lord, would you rescue us from the trap of familiarity? Would you keep us from coming to a place where we can touch the ark, where we can defile that which is holy, and without thinking twice about it. Lord, we pray that we would not be a statistic among those who have become so familiar that we become numb in the process because we've heard the stories and we know the gospel, because we've been to meetings and enough conferences to hear these things over and over again, where we lose our sense of the majesty of Jesus Christ. If anything, Lord, would you be merciful enough that the more we grow in years, the more we grow in our awe? Lord, help us resist that temptation of the new cart as a ministry, as a church, even in our own lives.

Help us hold on to the ancient paths. And Lord, though it may be slower, though it may require more, we want the true fruit of the spirit. We want the true results that come when we trust the Holy Spirit's leading. And so Lord, in this place, we gladly allow you to separate us from the world. We glad you we gladly invite you to remove all the chaff.

We gladly invite you to say, oh God, make us pure like you are pure, holy like you are holy, lovely like you are lovely. And, Lord, help us really understand that even one person in this place who is really committed and ignited by your spirit can touch those around us without any effort on our part to try to persuade them day after day, but just to live this out. We honor you. We wanna worship you tonight because you are the holy one. You are awesome and mighty and glorious, and we see you for who you are.

We do not assume that you are like us. And so, Lord, we say how how can you, a mighty being, be mindful of man? To love us individually, to care for us, to actually have a a plan for each of our lives that you have ordained before the world was even created. How can it be that such a glorious being loves us so? We are amazed at you, Lord, that you would even consider saving us, mere creatures that came from the dust, and you chose for us to be your abode.

We are amazed at your presence. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand as we close together worshiping the Lord.