Following God's Word Precisely
It’s a big day in Israel! It is finally
time to bring the Ark of the Covenant to its new home. David had prepared a
special place for the Ark in the city and pitched a tent there to cover it. The
darkness and defeat which had marked the final days of king Saul’s reign were
finally giving way to God’s light and new hope for the nation. Holy worship was
returning to Israel. It is a happy day. It is a day for rejoicing!
You’ll remember that back in 2 Samuel 6
and 1 Chronicles 13, David and the Israelites had failed on their first attempt
to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. As the ark was being transported, the oxen
pulling the cart stumbled, and a man named Uzzah took hold of the ark. God’s
anger burned against Uzzah and He struck him down and he died. There
are some reasons why God took such severe action.
God is a God of precision. And He
expects us to follow His word precisely. God had given Moses very specific
instructions for carrying the Ark and the rest of the holy things from the
Tabernacle. The Lord had specified that when the Ark was ready to move, the Levites
were to come to do the carrying. It was not to be placed on a cart and
pulled by oxen. The Levites were to insert carrying poles into the rings on the
Ark and carry it on their shoulders. God was very specific about this. No
matter how innocently it was done, touching the ark was in direct violation of
God’s law and did not honor His holiness.
When God gives precise instructions, we
must follow His words precisely. When
God told Noah to build the Ark, He gave Him precise instructions – the materials
to use, the dimensions, the number of animals, etc. And Noah followed God’s
instructions precisely. In the time of Moses, the people knew the awesomeness
of God’s absolute holiness. They had witnessed great miracles when the ark was
with them. They respected that God’s ways and thoughts were much higher than
theirs. But David and his men did not have the same respect for God’s ways.
Tragically today, many people within the
Church have lost that sense of God’s holiness and following His word with
precision. They try to ignore His commands to pray continually, study His word,
fellowship with others, worship Him, and share His good news. They live worldly
lives close to sin and indulge in acts God doesn’t approve of because they don’t
have a healthy respect for His holiness and a passion to follow His words
precisely. They claim the name of Christ, but they are not doers of His word.
Fortunately for David, they acknowledged
the error of their ways. They repented of their lackadaisical approach to carrying
the Ark and so today is a happy day in Israel. The Ark finally arrives at its
new home. Notice verse 14 & 15: “So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up
the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of
God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the
word of the Lord.” They returned to following His
word precisely and God honored them for it. In the same way, He will honor you for
following His word with preciseness.
No comments:
Post a Comment