It took me about 16 minutes to read this passage. Twice in this passage David, now king over all of Israel, saw God explode. God exploded on the armies of the Philistines. He didn’t explode once, but twice to give Israel a great victory over their enemies. Because of this great eruption of God’s power David named the place after God; he called that place Baal Perazim – The Lord who explodes. David’s excitement at God’s favor moved him to bring the ark of God’s covenant into the city of David. Once again God exploded, but not against Israel’s enemies, this time God exploded against the irreverent actions of a priest. Uzzah chose to put the ark on a cart rather than bear the weight of God’s covenant as he had instructed his priests. We aren’t told why Uzzah chose to transport the ark in this manner, but God was not pleased. Uzzah compounded his irreverent handling of the holy vessel by touching that which symbolized the traveling presence of God’s promises with Israel. His intent was to stabilize it, but honorable motives in the midst disobedience is not what God wants. God exploded against this priest, and he died on the spot. Because of this great eruption of God’s power David named the place after God; he called that place Perez Uzzah – The explosion against Uzzah.
This brings to my mind the encouragement and warning from a passage in the Hebrew letter:
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’" (Hebrew 10:28-29)
Stuart
No comments:
Post a Comment