Journey Through the Old Testament

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Journey Through the Old Testament II Samuel Lesson #55 The Ark of the Covenant is Brought to Jerusalem For Sunday, November 27, 2016 -- Read 2 Sam. 6; 1 Chron. 13,15 The Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant was 3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet 3 inches wide and 2 feet 3 inches high.

1 Journey Through the Old Testament II Samuel Lesson #55 The Ark of the Covenant is Brought to Jerusalem For Sunday, November 27, Read 2 Sam. 6; 1 Chron. 13,15 The Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant resided in the Holy of Holies, the innermost room of the Tabernacle. Back in the days of Eli, the armies of Israel fought a battle with the Philistines and lost badly. The Ark of the Covenant was 3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet 3 inches wide and 2 feet 3 inches high. In it were the tablets of the Law that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, a jar of manna, and Aaron's rod that miraculously budded. The leaders decided that they should take the Ark to the site of the battle hoping that this would mean that God would be with them and help them win. The Philistines were afraid of the Ark, but they resolved to fight bravely. Once again, the Philistines won the battle, and even worse, they captured the Ark. When news reached Eli that the Ark had been captured, he fell back, broke his neck and died. The Philistines set the Ark in the temple of their god, Dagon in the city of Ashdod. When they came in the next morning, the statue of Dagon had fallen over. They set it back up, but the next morning it had fallen over with its face to the ground before the Ark. Soon the people of Ashdod began to get sick, and they wanted the Ark moved to another city. The Ark was moved to the city of Gath, but they also started having terrible illnesses break out. It was moved to Ekron and again terrible things began to happen. Finally, the desperate Philistines decided to send the Ark back to Israel. Setting it on a cart hitched to two cows, it was sent back to the Israelite town of Beth Shemesh. The people of that town were happy to see the Ark and offered sacrifices, but the Levites dared to open the Ark and look inside, and the Lord struck many of them down for being disrespectful. They called for the men of the town of Kiriath-jearim to come pick up the Ark. The Ark was transported to the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-jearim where it would stay for many years. David Goes After the Ark. David sent word to all Israel that it would be good for them to go and bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Leading men, priests and Levites gathered from various cities and 30,000 men of Israel went down to Baale-judah (Kiriath-jearim) where the Ark of the Covenant was still at the house of Abinadab. The Ark was very important because it represented the place where God would come and dwell among them between the cherubim.

God Strikes Uzzah Down. They placed the Ark on a new cart, and the sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio, drove the cart.

But then they got to a threshing floor owned by a man named Nachon.

At this spot the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah who was accompanying the Ark reached out to steady it.

2 God Strikes Uzzah Down. They placed the Ark on a new cart, and the sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio, drove the cart. David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals. But then they got to a threshing floor owned by a man named Nachon. A threshing floor is where the stalks of wheat were gathered and the worthless part of the wheat called the chaff was separated from the grain that they could eat. At this spot the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah who was accompanying the Ark reached out to steady it. We are told that the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. Their big celebration of moving the Ark to Jerusalem had been ruined. David was angry, afraid and confused wondering how they would get the Ark to Jerusalem. He meant to do a good thing and he couldn t understand why this had happened. We need to remember that while God is concerned with our intentions, He also is concerned about what we do. Fearful of going any further, they took it inside the house of Obededom. The Ark remained with Obed-edom for three months. This was good because Obed-edom was a Levite and came from the family of Koath (I Chron. 26:4). That was the family that God had assigned to take care of the Ark (Numbers 4:15). David Realizes Why God Punished Uzzah. David went on to prepare a place at Jerusalem for the Ark. Meanwhile he found out why this had happened and how to correct it. How did he find out? David found the answer in God's word. The Law had not been followed. I Chronicles 15:11-13 says, Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab, and said to them, You are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance. God had plainly commanded how the Ark was to be moved. Exodus 25:1215 "You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. God had made it clear who was to carry the Ark. When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry. (Num. 4:15) The Ark s Arrival. Now that the problem was resolved, they were able to make the trip to Jerusalem with great gladness. But to show complete reverence for God, they would offer sacrifices to the Lord every six paces. With great celebration and worship David, the Levites and great numbers of leading men of Israel accompanied the Ark to Jerusalem. II Samuel 6:14 says that as they went along, David danced before the LORD with all his might. Some may wonder if dancing is right or wrong. In the Scripture there is more than one meaning to the word dance.

3 There is sinful dancing that is designed to create lustful feelings in other people s hearts (Mark 6:22). But there is also dancing that is more like jumping around in excitement because of a celebration. We ve all seen people jump about excited because a player in a sport made a score. In I Chronicles 15:29 it says that David was leaping and celebrating. We would never want to be involved in a dance designed to make another person have sinful thoughts. The Ark Arrives. The Ark was placed in the area David had prepared (a tent he had pitched), offering were made, the people were blessed, food was given out to all the people. Also there is some indication that the singing of specially composed Psalms began on that day (I Chron. 16:7-36). Michal s Disgust. We remember that David had earlier requested the return of his wife, Michal (II Samuel 3:13-16). Michal was watching from a widow as David and his men brought the Ark into Jerusalem. As she watched him leap about in the streets the Scripture says that she despised him. She later came out to him and said insultingly, How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! Michal had once loved David and protected him, but her words now are very hateful, mocking and disrespectful. She implies that David was acting in a wicked way, partly because he was celebrating and partly because of what he was wearing. Some have thought that David probably was wearing very little clothing. But that is not what the Bible says. David had taken off some garments, probably his royal clothing, but he had put on a robe of fine linen and was also wearing a ephod which was like an apron. This is more like what the everyday priests wore, so David was dressed more like the other men that were helping to carry the Ark. Michal though it was undignified that someone as important as a king would dress in plain clothing and celebrate the way David had. But David told Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor." David is basically telling Michal, I did it for God, not you. God has been good to me. I will stay humble and not worry about being too dignified to celebrate what God has done for us. We are told, Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death which would also mean that no part of Saul s lineage would survive in the royal family. The New Testament Teaches Us God Wants Us to Do His Work His Way. David said, God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance. Both Uzzah and David may have meant well. David had 30,000 people with him believing they were doing right, but David and the Levites had not properly looked at God s Word to see if they were following God s laws about the Ark. Once David looked at God s law, he quickly saw his mistake. Now he would do God s work the way God said to. We learn from this that if God has commanded us to do

4 something, then we must do it the way He commands. Col. 3:17 says, Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. What about David playing musical instruments? David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals. If David could play on these instruments of music, would there be anything wrong with the church having pianos, organs, guitars, drums, cymbals, and trumpets to use in the worship service? We know that many churches do have these, why don t churches of Christ use instrumental music? The simple answer is that these things were commanded and accepted by God in the Old Testament: Psalms 150 says, Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! (vs. 1,2-5) But nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus ever teach us to worship God with instruments of music. Instead we are always told to sing : Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. (Eph. 5:19) Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16) Remember, it is Jesus (not Moses, not David) that is head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22; Matt. 7:1-5). The New Testament does not always command the same things as the Old Testament. The Old commanded offering animal sacrifices, using incense and having priests that came from the tribe of Levi. The New Testament does not command any of those things. Hebrews 8:13 says that when God gave us the New Covenant (Testament), the Old Covenant was obsolete (obsolete means no longer in use ) and was ready to vanish away. God wants us to study the Old Testament (Rom. 15:14), but we must now do only what Jesus teaches us in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:1,2 says, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. Bible Quiz 1. How many people went with David to go get the Ark of the Covenant? (II Sam. 6:1) 2. Whose house did they go to, to pick up the Ark? (II Sam. 6:3) 3. What did they put the Ark on? (II Sam. 6:3) 4. When the got to the threshing floor, what happened to the oxen? (II Sam. 6:6)

5 5. What did Uzzah do? (II Sam. 6:6) Why was this wrong? 6. According to I Chronicles 15:13, why had all this happened? 7. What was David dressed in as they returned with the Ark? (II Sam. 6:14) 8. Why did Michal despise David? (II Sam. 6:16,20)

Sunday Morning. Study 10. David Dances before the Ark

Sunday Morning. Study 10. David Dances before the Ark Sunday Morning Study 10 David Dances before the Ark David Dances before the Ark The Objective is the key concept for this weeks lesson. It should be the main focus of the study These are the key verses