Not Then, Not Now

Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all. He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart that carried the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark. David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God. [2 Samuel 6.1-7] 

The story of Uzzah is the flagship story for man "helping" God. In its purest form, Uzzah's story is about idolatry. It is, and always will be, idolatry for any man to ever think he could help God. Any effort of man to "help' God makes God inferior to man thus elevating man above God.

It was not "help" for man to carry the Ark of God on their shoulders utilizing the rings and poles designed for that purpose - it was instead, obedience. It very clearly depicted the weight of God upon His people (subjection to Him) and their obedience to Him and His ways alone.

In contrast, the cart represented the ingenuity of man (starting with the wheel) and man's effort to modernize God's plan with its intended reminder/burden. If carrying the Ark on their shoulders was good, then, surely, carrying it on a cart designed and built by man and pulled by animals, was better... right? Wrong!

God's way is the only way. Man's way, that God detests (remember Uzzah) always defends itself as "helping God." 

Shall we fast forward to how this translates to modern times? Consider debt, insurance, medicine and technology: Christians defend them as "gifts from God" - "modern ways" to realize God's promise to uniquely and distinctly provide for, protect, heal, and generally care for His people. Christians almost unanimously say that God uses debt, insurance, medicine and technology failing to understand that that claim makes God subject to the provisions of debt, insurance, medicine, and technology - idolatry! "Surely," they reason, "God gave man the wisdom and knowledge to develop these industries!" just like God gave man the wisdom and knowledge to develop the wheel... and Uzzah's demise shows us the error of that thought process.

Man's way is debt. But God's Word says:

Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. [Psalm 34.9]

Man's way is insurance. But God's Word says: 

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. [Psalm 121]

Man's way is medicine. But God's Word says: 

He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.” [Exodus 15.26]

Man's way is technology. But God's Word says: 

The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. [Psalm 28.7] 

Anyone who has ever read the Bible even just a little bit knows that the passages quoted here are merely representative of the entire Bible's theme of God's distinguishing care for His own. But there is another idol - another way of man - that encourages an abstract understanding of the Bible instead of the reality of it...

Man's way is religion. But God's Word says:

What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the LORD were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light. In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—and he’s bitten by a snake. Yes, the day of the LORD will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope. “I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn  assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. “Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves. So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies. [Amos 5.18-27]

Is it any wonder then that Jesus' most defining command speaks of man's own way?

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

And yet man's idol of religion has watered down even Jesus' demand reducing Christianity to what it is today: people who claim to be God's, but live by the provisions of the world just like the world but are are "puzzled" and even "angry" (like David) that they suffer just like the world

While the cart in 2 Samuel 6.1-7 seemed like a good (human) idea, the jealous God of the Bible would have nothing to do with man's disobedience and self-sufficiency. Not then, not now.

You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. [Exodus 20.4-6]

Father, may Your people rely only on You. May they distinguish themselves as Yours in way of obedience so that You will distinguish them as Yours in every way of blessing Your Word promises. May Your people see that Jesus demands nothing less. So be it.