Small Things = Big Trouble
According to II Samuel 6 and I Chronicles 13-15: The ark of the covenant was a kind of chest made of wood, and lined within and without with gold. Within this ark were the tablets of stone, (which were received by Moses when he was upon the mount). There was the golden pot that contained the manna of the wilderness, and Aaron's rod that budded. On the lid of this ark there were cherubim or figures of angels---and the lid was referred to as the mercy-seat. The whole ark was one of the most sacred things in the worship of the Jews because it was the expression that God was dwelling with them. Where that ark was, God was.
After this ark was made, it was carefully kept in the secret place of the tabernacle. No man ever entered, except the high priest once in the year; and even then, he entered that most holy place with blood. With a censor of incense smoking, he made a thick cloud, and then (sprinkling the blood on the mercy-seat), he went near the ark—but not without blood. When the ark was to be moved it was covered, so that no human eye could ever see it. It was to be carried by golden staves on the shoulders of the Levites. It was because of God’s presence around this ark that the Jordan River was held back, and easy passage was made for the children of Israel, when they entered into Canaan.
In darker times…the ark was captured by the Philistines. But when they took it away to their country, wherever the ark went, it killed the Philistines with pestilence, until they finally said, “Ok…enough…, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city, the hand of God was very heavy there." (I Sam. 5:11). Placing the ark on a new cart, they let the oxen carry it.
The ark was then carried to Beth-shemesh. The men of Beth-shemesh had an evil curiosity about them, and they lifted up the lid and looked. Because of this, thousands of them died (I Sam 6:19).
The ark was then moved to Kirjath-jearim, and taken into the house of Abinadab, where it was preserved till the days of David. David desired to bring it up to the tabernacle which he had built for it on the top of Mount Zion. The messengers hastened through all the land carrying the royal message, "Come up, ye tribes of Israel, and ye sons of Judah, gather yourselves together, and bring up the ark of the covenant of your God with music and with joy." (I Chr. 13:6). They came from every city, from the remotest ends of Judea, and from the borders of Egypt…But forgetful of God’s law, they took the ark and put it on a new cart, which they had made for it.
They may have thought it was too heavy for the priests to carry so many miles, OR they may have thought the Philistines had a good idea, so they carried it on a cart too. The ark is dragged by the oxen, but when they come to the threshing floor of Chidon (I Chr. 13:9), there’s a particularly “muddy” place in the road (implied by the Hebrew word), and the car is almost turned over, so Uzzah thinks that he should put out his hand to steady the ark…he touches the ark to stop it, and his spirit is ripped from his body by the power of the Lord. The procession stops. They begin to cry and wail; they throw dust into the air. David is angry, angry with God. He thinks he is too harsh; and the ark is taken into Obed-edom's house, and all the people’s joy dies.
We have before us the picture…this great painting that God has made of the story of the ark of the covenant. In this story there are certain truths which teach us great lessons on the importance of small things.
LESSON I: GOD’S JUDGMENT OF SIN DIFFERS GREATLY FROM OURS.
Who here, when they have read this narrative…haven’t thought that Uzzah was treated a little too harsh by God? Didn’t he have a good motive for touching the ark? He probably couldn’t bear the idea that the ark would fall into the mud, SOOOO he put out his hand. In our minds, it seemed to be just a small offense. It was such a small thing, AND the motive was good. It was a justifiable wrong! Within each and every one of us there is a thought, a wish…that Uzzah had an excuse for what he did...that the judgment which he got was not deserved. He struck him dead for touching the ark.
The Lord sees a whole lot differently than we see. We may not be able to see the evil of Uzzah, but there was sin…or else he wouldn’t have been punished. God is too good and too just---to punish a man more severely than he deserves. God never exaggerates our sins, nor does He exaggerate the punishment for them. God looks at our sins as they are…AND, if the mere sin of touching the ark brought death to a man, what would our punishment have been if God had not given His Son? We have all done ten thousand times worse than Uzzah. We sin, we forget, we don’t care, we become indifferent, and though we are warned many, MANY times, we still remain impenitent sometimes.
God's patience is amazing when it comes to what we do. But this is seen in the fact that we don’t know how DARK and BLACK sin really is. The least sin is so great of an evil to God, so DARK, that God would be a just God if he smote us the moment we had an idle thought, or had uttered a single wrong word. Sin is an immeasurable evil. Man can’t weigh it, or imagine it.
This lesson is seen at the very beginning of the story. We don’t know how bad sin really is. Because if the mere act of touching the ark brought death on Uzzah, sin must be more than we think!
LESSON 2: ANY and ALL changes from the written revelation of God are wrong.
There exists in religion today an idea that there are many things taught in the Bible which are not essential; that we can alter them just a little to suit our own convenience and cares. Some people say that, “if we are right in the fundamentals, the other things are of no concern and of no value.” BUT LOOK AT OUR PICTURE. The picture we just painted of the ark of the covenant. It would be a mistake to say that the “small points” are of no value. It seemed the people of Israel could care less if the ark was carried on men's shoulders, or whether it was dragged on a cart. They probably said, "It doesn’t matter. It’s true God has told us that it is to be carried by the Levites, but what does that matter as long as it is carried? It’ll be all right. It’s not essential!” BUT it DID MATTER, and it was essential. It was because of this alteration in God’s law that the ark began to shake, and then Uzzah was tempted to put up his hand and touch it. The death of Uzzah was the punishment on the whole of Israel for having neglected to observe the MINUTEST laws of God!
When Moses built the tabernacle in Exodus 25, he wasn’t left to build it to his own liking and taste. Every rope and every loop, every board and every strap, everything was given BY GOD, and Moses had to build everything according to the pattern which he had seen, and been given.
Now, this book---the Bible---is the pattern for a Christian—this book of God! The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is our only rule of practice. And some think that altering a few things, or changing something to suit the climate, or so that the Bible agrees with an idea or doctrine is alright. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE ARE TAUGHT BY the ark of the covenant:----we are taught that the slightest violation of the divine law will bring harsh consequences on an individual, a people, or even the Church. Whatever God has commanded is important, and no man has ever had the right to alter anything…not the least thing. We are to take the word just as it stands, just as God has revealed it, to be our rule of faith and practice ALL OUR LIVES.
There may be some here who never read their Bibles. If so, you have a second-hand religion that you have borrowed from other people. Your mother or grandmother thought such and such, and you think the same; your great grandfather went to church, and that is your reason you are here. That’s the reason why there are so many sects and denominations these days. If we all went straight to the Bible, we would come closer together than we are now. If we would all bow our thoughts, our minds, and our wills to the one WRITTEN Word…the Church could never be divided. We find unity when we ALL come to the Word of God.
But there will always be the human side of things…the human effort to do what I want to do, the way I want to do it. People will always say "Well, some things are not essential." But God's doctrines are to be preached as God has delivered them. Just like the day when God's ark was put on a cart, instead of being carried by men…there will always be people who want to take shortcuts with the Word. This lesson is of the greatest importance to the Church.
LESSON 3. One (so called) improvement upon the COMMANDS leads to others.
A little error leads to great error. Nobody ever intended that Uzzah should touch the ark. They didn’t think about that when they lifted it up and put it on the cart that what they were doing would lead to poor Uzzah's death and that he would commit the sin of violating the law. There are also some who are religious, but who are not right in their views of Scripture. People say today, "Well, it doesn’t matter because it’s a little thing, a very small issue." But ONE LITTLE wrong thing---leads to others! A sinner's path is down hill, and when a person takes one step in violation of Scripture, the next step gets easier. One error leads to another. If we tamper with one truth of Scripture, we will be tempted tamper with another, and there’s no end to it. Before long, there is a want for a new Bible, a new Testament, and even a description of a new God. There’s no telling where it will end once it has begun. Scripture, and Scripture only, is the model of doctrine, the model of what we practice, the model of what we are to experience as a Christian.
LESSON 4: On the very surface there is a refutation of a very common error in the world today--- that if we do something with a right motive God accepts it, even though it’s wrong.
We are responsible to God for our faith; we are bound to believe what he tells us to believe. When we come before God’s throne, we CANNOT use as an excuse: "Lord, I did wrong, but I thought I was doing right." Because God will say back to us "Yes…but I gave you my words, my commands, my law…but you did not read it, or, if you would have read it, you would have done the right thing." Just like in the case of Uzzah---IT WAS THE SMALLEST THING in the world to put out a hand to prevent the ark from slipping off. Who could blame the man? But God had commanded that no unpriestly hand should EVER touch it. So, when Uzzah did touch it (though IT PROBABLY was a right motive) Uzzah had to die. God will ALWAYS have his laws kept. "Whosoever shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and whosoever shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city." (Rev 22:18-19)
The fact is, there is one way to heaven, and only one; there is one gate to heaven, and only one. Christ is the way and Christ holds the key. Trusting in Jesus and his words is the path to Paradise. He that believeth not in Jesus must die spiritually…just like Uzzah died physically. Christ does not allow 2 methods of salvation. He demands full obedience, child-like faith, or else we die. We are bound to believe what God tells us; as he tells us; we are bound NOT TO ALTER IT. If we deny it, we must pay the consequence.
All these points can be seen in the why and how of Uzzah’s death, and the moving of the ark of the covenant.
But there are those in the world, and maybe even here, who have not been converted to Christ, but they are longing to hear the gospel preached. I think what I have already said is important, but this last point is all-important. I suppose that in each person’s soul SOMEWHERE there is a desire to do the right thing and to be saved.
It was a right thing for David to wish to bring the ark, but perhaps the people were ignorant of the way to bring it. Because of their lack of knowledge and understanding, there was suffering and death: the ark was jolted, the oxen shook, and Uzzah died.
If you are not clear as to the plan of God’s salvation, there will be a lot of bumps on the road, many doubts, many fears. With this is mind…I ask you to search the Scriptures; “for in them ye have eternal life, and the Scriptures testify of Christ.” (John 5:39). We are saved by trusting and obeying Jesus Christ. The plan of salvation is, "Obey Christ." We can non-fatal mistakes about other things, and we will suffer inconvenience; but make a mistake here, and it will be a fatal one. Christ must be all, and we must be nothing at all. If we attempt to alter his perfect robe of redemption…that robe will never cover our sins. We must have Christ, and nothing but Christ. When a person hopes partly on Christ, and partly on himself, that person will fall. Rest on Jesus and his gospel, and you are saved. If we rely on ourselves to be saved, we are like Uzzah, we have touched the ark, we have tried to mingle man's works with God's works, and we will pay the consequences. Take Christ as he is; take him just as you are. The gospel is message is simply this—trust and obey Christ! Rely on what he did and what he said for you to do, and you will be delivered from sin. "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent." We are to believe on Jesus Christ whom the Father sent, and in believing we have eternal life. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
I have no other way of salvation—than in the shelter of his arms. I am sinking in sins…floods of temptations are ready to bury me. Christ says, "Take hold of me, and you take hold of eternal life." Take hold of Christ, trust in Christ, and obey his word…no matter how small or great.
Maybe you have come here covered with sin…you can leave this place with your sin washed away. We can all leave this place with peace and joy in our hearts, but only if we trust and obey Christ. Obey his gospel today by having Christ wash away your sins in baptism, or come to trust him again through penitent prayer. May God give us his blessings, as we leave this place.