2 Samuel 6:1-11 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. 3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. 4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. 5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. 8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? 10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.
David and Israel are confronted with a serious problem. The Ark of God that was taken by the Philistines over seventy years earlier has never been returned to the tabernacle. So for seventy years Israel has been with out the divinely prescribed evidence of God's presence among them. David and the people set out on a mobile mission to bring back the Ark Israel. This noble mission ends in disaster with the death of Uzzah and the ark remaining in the house of Obed-edom a Gittite.
The same thing that caused their failure is the same thing that will cause us to fail today as we seek to live lives that glorify God and point men to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour able to reconcile men unto God. They utilized means and methods in their service to God that were not authorized by God. They put the Ark upon a new cart just like the Philistines had done seventy years earlier to get the Ark out of Philistia. They did what seemed to work even though God had given instructions for the Ark to be borne on the shoulders of the sons of Korah in Numbers chapter seven. Uzzah reached up and touched the Ark to keep it from falling when God had explicitly forbidden them to touch the Ark in Numbers chapter four. David violated two principles that caused his efforts to please God to result in failure. He tried to serve God like the unconverted world, and he acted in violation to God's clearly revealed will.
We have much of this "New Cart Religion" masquerading as Christianity. This happens when we allow the unconverted to determine what is proper service to God instead of the Scripture. This happens when we do what seems right without seeking the will of God in the Scriptures and prayer. The "New Cart Religion" replaces the precepts of God with the preferences of sinful man as the means of glorifying God and proclaiming the Gospel that reconciles men to God. Christianity ceases to be Christianity and becomes a "New Cart Religion" when it ceases to be governed by the Bible alone. Religious views not dictated by the Bible are nothing more than "New Cart Religion".
Daily Devotional - John 2:1-11; 4:1-26 First Miracle / Samaritan Woman
No comments:
Post a Comment