LITTLE THINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE –
When I was a little girl, my mother would correct me when I did something wrong. I remember thinking to myself that my disobedience seemed like such a little thing.
Spankings were the norm for my punishment. Somehow being spanked for talking back (which I always thought was just explaining myself), not completing a chore, or getting in trouble at school, seemed unjust. Like the apostle Paul, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child” (First Corinthians 13:11 ESV).
Whether you believe in spanking or not, you surely believe in punishment for doing things that are wrong. Misdeeds carry consequences. That was true in the beginning of time, and it continues to be true.
Such was the case with beloved King David. More than once, he suffered the consequences of his sins. In this particular story, another man paid the price for both his sin and David’s.
We find the story in Second Samuel 6, but we need some background before we get to the sin and the punishment.
David had just been anointed king of Israel. He was thirty years old when he began to reign. He was strong and commanding, and he had proven himself in battle many times.
When the Philistines heard that David was the new king over Israel, they went out looking for him. David inquired of the Lord if he should go against the Philistines, and the Lord told him to go. God promised David that he would take the Philistines.
So David defeated the Philistines, and went with 30,000 men to get the Ark of God. When the Philistines captured the Ark, they placed it in the house of their god, Dagon. This was their way of showing disrespect to the God of the Israelites. The Ark was precious to God and to the people, so much so that they were special instructions as to how it was to be carried.
The Ark had gold rings through which poles of acacia wood, covered in gold, were placed (Exodus 25). The poles were to be lifted by the priests and transported from place to place.
David was probably excited about winning the battle, and he was determined to take possession of the Ark. So he had the Ark carried on a new cart, driven by two men, Uzzah and Ahio. Uzzah actually drove the cart, and Ahio walked in front of it.
David and his men were excited; celebrating the victory over the Philistines and taking possession of the Ark. Suddenly, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. Not wanting the Ark to fall off the cart, Uzzah put out his hand to steady it, and God struck him dead.
It was such a little thing. One minute they were celebrating, and the next they were mourning the death of Uzzah. David was angry, but David should have known that God would not be pleased with disobedience.
It doesn’t appear that David deliberately set out to disobey God. Maybe he thought God wouldn’t notice or that God wouldn’t care. Maybe he had become so confident in his ability to succeed in battle that he forgot the basic laws of God. Whatever his thought process, it proved to be fatal to Uzzah.
Uzzah would have known the law as well. The Jews were taught the law because God expected them to know the law. The moving of the Tabernacle and the carrying of the Ark details were very specific. There was no room for change.
What about us today? The New Testament gives us rules by which we should live. Will God treat us any differently in judgment if we refuse to obey Him?
David was angry with God, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he had disobeyed God’s instructions. Uzzah had disobeyed God by moving the Ark and by carrying it in an improper manner. It may have been a little thing to them, but it was disobedience to God.
We need to take a hard look at the decisions we make. We often say, “I think this is ok,” or “I want to do it this way.” No rationalization on our part will change what God has commanded.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
Sandra Oliver