Holiness Ignored

To read the first in my series of reflections on 2 Samuel 6:1-18, click here.

 

He died right there beside the ark of God.

2 Samuel 6:7

When holiness is ignored loss is inevitable.

The ark of God represented the very presence of God among His people. He gave careful instructions in Numbers 7:9 about its transport. It was to be carried on poles, supported on the shoulders of the Kohathites. Not even the priests were permitted to touch it (Numbers 4:15).

It is difficult for us modern readers to comprehend the gravity of Uzzah’s story. Holiness has become archaic, a concept associated with ceremony and gilded altars beneath domed, elaborately painted ceilings.

But holiness is worth revisiting. Without it, there is no hope. Like Uzzah, when we handle it with our well-intended impulses, we fall lifeless beside our endeavors. Holiness is essential to life. It is central to salvation. No unclean savior can make one completely clean again.

Clean is another word for holy. The world longs for someone, anyone, truly, completely, holy. Spotless. Good. Trustworthy. 

So much turmoil in the noisy world today arises from the human heart’s desire for #holiness, and the acute disappointment an unholy heart, an unholy world, brings. Share on X

Uzzah grew up in a priestly household, for his father Abinadab was a Levite, and twenty years earlier his home was chosen for the resting place of the ark. At that time, Uzzah’s brother Eleazar had been consecrated to guard the ark of the Lord (see 1 Samuel 7:1). In today’s story, we see Uzzah and his brother Ahio guiding, or driving, the cart that carried it.

The ark of the Lord was a familiar family affair.

So what went wrong? Does familiarity indeed breed contempt? Or did Uzzah lack the courage to stand up to what he knew was right?

David, the Lord’s beloved, was leading the procession that day, and from what we see in the text, he initiated the moving of the ark from Abinadab’s house to Jerusalem. Imagine if you were Uzzah and Ahio, and King David showed up at your house along with 30,000 of the chosen men of Israel (see 1 Samuel 6:1-2) announcing they have come to take the ark to Jerusalem. Not to mention they come with all manner of instruments, singing, worshiping, and dancing in celebration before the Lord.

Would I have the courage to say no to the king?

I wonder.

Uzzah means strength. What poetic, tragic irony. What is the rest of his story? I wish we knew what might have happened had he said something like, “Respected king, beloved of the Lord and His people, God has given us specific instructions about how to transfer His ark. Shall we get to pole-making? My brother and I are ready to help.”

In the end, Uzzah died, the king got angry and withdrew, and the procession of God’s presence into Jerusalem abruptly, tragically halted.

May we be strong enough, and courageous enough to speak up when holiness is ignored.

Lord, make us strong and courageous today and have mercy on us as we learn not to ignore Your holiness. Amen.

Join me next week as we continue to reflect on holiness in 2 Samuel 6.

@audreycfrank

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash