And when they came to the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen had stumbled.
Israel's greatest celebration stopped dead at a threshing floor, where a man steadied the ark of God and died. Why did God let the oxen stumble, and why was a helping hand an offence?
The ark was never meant to travel on wheels. God had given a plain way to move it: carried on the shoulders of men set apart for the task. David used a cart instead, and the stumble was the moment that choice showed itself.
David had to learn his mistake by bitter experience. "When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled." Here the weakness and inconsistency of the whole thing became plain. The Levites, the ministers of God, had carried the ark from Horeb to the Jordan, and yet we have no record of any stumble. Carrying on the shoulders of His servants was God's way; the cart and oxen were man's way.
Nothing happened at first. The music played and the procession moved on.
God did not at once deal with the first departure from His word. They drove the new cart for a time without a sign of His displeasure. Then He allowed something that might have looked like a simple accident. By it He chose to test them, and in one case to show plainly what He thought of their irreverence.
Outward joy filled the procession, but Uzzah was no bystander. He came from the family charged with sacred things, and he of all people had reason to leave the ark alone.
One bad step leads to another. There was apparent joy, and plenty of outward honour to the ark, but God allowed something that tested their state. He at least ought to have known better. He belonged to the tribe of Levi. He should have felt that God was able to take care of His own ark, whether oxen stumbled or not. Yet he put out his hand in an unholy way to hold up the sign of the presence of the God of Israel. He acted as if God were not there to care for His own glory.
God had already said who could handle the ark and how it should travel. The rule was written down, and it named the penalty.
God had given clear instructions about the ark in Numbers 4. Only the priestly family could touch it. Aaron and his sons covered it before each journey, and the sons of Kohath carried it on poles on their shoulders. There was no need for Uzzah to touch the ark. The oxen may stumble, but God was able to look after His holy ark without the aid of men. Not even the Levites could touch the holy vessels. Scripture said plainly, "The sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die" (Num. 4:15).
The man's name and the place name together tell the story of the day.
Uzzah means "strength": he had not measured himself before God, nor learned the source of strength. The act revealed what the ark was to him — the habit of a soul ignorant of God and of itself, while being very self-conscious. He is struck down; and the "prepared" threshing floor becomes Perez-uzzah, the "breaking of strength."
The Philistines had moved the ark on a cart and God let it pass. Israel did the same and judgment fell. Nearness to God raises the standard.
The Lord judged David for doing what the Philistines had done without notice. The nearer a man is to God, the more solemn and swift God's judgment of any evil... Though the Philistines escaped God's judgment in the matter of the cart, they had to meet it another way. God deals with everyone by His own holy principles. The blow that fell on Uzzah was meant to bring David back to a right understanding of God's mind about the ark of His presence.
Commentators read the cart as more than old history. It pictures any well-meant arrangement that Scripture never authorised.
Uzzah thought he could take care of God's ark. But the fact is, God can take care of His own ark... What do you mean by the new cart? Anything in worship or service that does not follow the pattern of Scripture exactly, but follows a human pattern instead.
- Cart — the wrong method came before the wrong touch: shoulders were God's way, wheels were man's.
- Stumble — God let the cart run for a while, then let it falter to test what was already wrong.
- Hand — a Levite grabbed the ark as if God could not guard His own glory. A written command had already named death as the penalty.
- Breaking — "Uzzah" means strength, and the place became Perez-uzzah, "the breaking of strength."
- Lesson — judgment falls heaviest where God is best known. Joy and sincerity never replace obedience to His Word.
And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he had put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died before God.
A whole nation was singing the ark of God home when the march stopped at a threshing floor and a man who touched the ark died there. Why did God strike down a man who was only trying to protect what was holy?
The trouble did not begin at the threshing floor. David put the ark on a cart, though God had appointed His servants to carry it on their shoulders. The stumbling oxen only exposed a mistake that was already there.
Bitter experience taught David his mistake... The Levites, the ministers of God, had carried the ark from Horeb to Jordan, and yet we have no record of any stumble. The shoulders of His servants was God's way; but the cart and oxen were man's way. And who would have thought that an Israelite would have put the ark of the God of Israel on a wooden cart for oxen to pull? Yet such is always the sad effect of departing from the written Word to follow human traditions.
The ark was the sign of God's presence with His people. Reaching to steady it looks like a reflex, not a crime. But Scripture had already settled the matter. An earlier judgment had proved God meant it.
It might seem a very small matter to men that Uzza touched the ark. But it disobeyed the express command of God. God's judgment had already fallen on the men of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark. Now His judgment fell on Uzza for touching it.
Uzza belonged to the tribe set apart to handle holy things. That is what made his reach for the ark so serious. The judgment changed David too, in two stages.
He at least ought to have known better. He belonged to the tribe of Levi. He ought to have felt that God was able to take care of His own ark, whether the oxen stumbled or not. Instead he put out his hand in an unholy way to steady the sign of the presence of the God of Israel. He acted as if God were not there to care for His own glory. He was struck down on the spot, and he died there before God. David was displeased, instead of humbling himself, because the LORD had broken out against Uzza. Then David was afraid of God that day. First displeasure, then dread.
The Philistines had once carted the ark around, and God did not strike them down. The difference is not favouritism. It is nearness.
Truly, "judgment must begin at the household of God." The Philistines had done the same thing, and God took no notice. The Lord judged David for it. The nearer a man is to God, the more solemnly and quickly God will judge any evil... God deals with everyone according to His own holy principles. The breach God made on Uzza was meant to bring David back to a right understanding of His mind about the ark of His presence.
The man's name and the name David later gave the place fit together, and the pairing tells the story of the day.
...at the prepared threshing floor the oxen stumble, and Uzzah puts out his hand and takes hold of the ark to steady it. Uzzah means "strength". He had not measured himself before God, and he had not learned where strength comes from. The act revealed what the ark was to him. It showed the habit of a soul that knew neither God nor itself, yet was full of self. He is struck down, and the "prepared" threshing floor becomes Perez-uzzah, the "breaking of strength."
The lesson is not only about carts and oxen. Good motives can be exactly the thing that stops us checking our methods.
When our intention is good, and the thing before us is right in the main, we often stop feeling any need to seek the mind of the Lord. We stop testing everything by the word of God. If the thing we want is in itself good, why examine the methods so closely? How little we understand the irreverence that hides under the appearance of honest devotion! There we assume that man's wisdom is fit to think for Him, and man's strength fit to do His will. How often we have our Uzzahs struck down, just when we imagine He must accept our service.
- Word — The written instruction was plain: the ark travels on shoulders, not wheels. Departing from it to follow human custom is where the whole disaster starts.
- Way — A good aim does not make a wrong method right. We must do God's work God's way, or it stumbles.
- Hand — Uzza's outstretched hand assumed God could not protect His own glory. God needs no steadying from His creatures.
- Strength — "Uzzah" means strength, and the place became "the breaking of strength." God breaks human strength laid on holy things; He does not honour it.
- Us — Nearness to God raises the standard, not lowers it. Sincere devotion can hide real irreverence, so test methods, not just motives.