“If You Touch It, You Will Die”
King David presumptuously wanted to move the ark of the covenant without God’s permission. He was ready to bring it into his city and let it be the symbol of the power of the Almighty God. While transporting it on a new cart David and all of Israel played music and celebrated before the ark. But when the oxen stumbled at Nachon’s threshing floor a man named Uzzah tried to stabilize the ark by putting out his hand to steady it. Immediately upon contact, the Lord was angered at Uzzah’s disobedience and the Bible says, “God struck him there for his error, and he died there by the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:7).
That’s when it all got interesting. David was angry because of God’s outbreak against Uzzah. Instead of continuing to transport the ark to his city he determined to leave it at a man’s house. He reckoned that the ark might be a curse rather than a blessing. So he decided to test it at another man’s dwelling rather than his own. The man’s name was Obed-Edom. Again the Bible says that David left the ark of the covenant at this man’s house because he was afraid of the Lord that day (2 Samuel 6:9).
Now let’s imagine the conversation between David (the king), and Obed-Edom (a common man):
“I am David, king of Israel. I am leaving the ark of God in your care. This ark contains manna, the Ten Commandments, and Aaron’s miraculous rod. It is overlaid with pure gold and belongs in the most holy place. Between the wings of the Cherubim is the mercy seat, and God dwells there. I need you to keep this ark in your house for a while. Oh, and by the way, if you touch it, you will die. I have a dead body we are carrying home to prove it.”
What would you do if you were Obed-Edom? How careful would you be if the ark of God was living in your home? How would you walk around the house? How far would you stay from it to make sure you didn’t bump it or trip into it? How would you behave in your house if it was there? What would you think about? What would you say? What kind of music would you listen to? What would you read or watch on TV? What would you do in your house every day if the presence of God dwelt in your house all day long?
We live and breathe by the grace of God. He is omnipresent; that is, He is everywhere all of the time. It is not that He doesn’t see and hear and know everything we do and say and think, it is just that we tend to forget or ignore His presence. If we would stop and remember a loving God who is always near to us, perhaps we would live better and holier lives in reverence and fear before His holiness.
The Bible concludes with this statement about the time that the ark of the covenant once stayed in a man’s house – “The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all of his household” (2 Samuel 6:11).
Jesus, the King by the precious sacrifice of His own blood, has invited the presence of God into the lives and homes of common, everyday people. We should not run away from a God who wants to dwell so closely to us that He actually desires to dwell in us. Instead, we should see that His presence is a blessing that will purify us from sin and give us peace in our lives and in our homes. David determined that the ark could, in fact, be brought into his city after 3 months of success at another man’s house. Perhaps we, like David, should embrace God’s presence as well.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” – Psalm 139:7
(special thanks to Steve Higginbotham for the idea behind this article)
——————————————————
