Uzzah and the Ark

In short

God kills a man for grabbing onto the Ark of the Covenant when it fell off a cart.

Why it is important

Well, most of us are really astounded the first time we hear this story. We think it’s kind of unfair to Uzzah who, for crying out loud, didn’t want a holy object to get damaged!

And that tends to be the theme behind a lot of stories in the Bible – the moral of the story is terribly confusing. So, you have to ask yourself, What on earth is God trying to communicate here?

Main characters

• Uzzah
• King David

What is in this story (2 Samuel 6:1-15)

1. Time to move the ark (vs. 1-2)
2. Let’s put it on a CART! (v. 3)
3. Everyone is happy! (v. 5)
4. Uh oh! The oxen tripped and the ark is falling! (v. 6)
5. Uzzah saves the ark by putting his hand out! (v.6)
6. God strikes Uzzah dead “because of his error” (v.7)
7. David is upset (v. 8)
8. But also afraid of the LORD – so afraid, that they pull off to someone’s house and keep the ark there for THREE MONTHS till they are ready to try this again (vs. 9-12)
9. THIS TIME they CARRY the ark and sacrifice along the way (v. 13)
10. Everyone is happy again (vs. 14-15)

Theology and doctrine

OK, so what’s the big deal?

The deal is, this is not what God asked for. The Law specifies that the ark is to be CARRIED by priests. These people used a cart. (But hey, it was new!)

I’m sure the ark was heavy. It’s about the size of a small sofa, made of wood, and with stone tablets inside. Well, toughen up, guys! You don’t get to use a cart! Get over it.

Who knows what Uzzah’s story was. Maybe he knew better and maybe he didn’t. But there is no free pass here. The ark is holy, and God will be respected.

And there is absolutely no reason we should think that God has “lightened up.” This is about holiness.