Handling the Holy Things of God!
Reflection: In our world one of the things we see going on is the church trying to make God relevant to today’s society. Of course, most of this is from a good intention, as for years the church had been irrelevant, and we saw the church go through some dark periods. But I believe we have to be careful in our desire to make God relevant, that we don’t forget the holiness of God. I do this sometimes myself. I become so casual about God, like He is a “good buddy”. Yes God wants us to call on him like a Father, like when Jesus prayed “Abba Father”. But we never got the sense the Jesus ever used God’s name in vain, or trivialized Him as He called on Him in prayer, praise and thanks.
Today in 1 Chronicles, we see one of David’s first tasks was to bring the Ark of God back to the people. The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence, and the Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments among other things. The Ark was holy because God chose to dwell there and make His presence known. So as they moved the Ark back to a place of prominence in David’s new reign as king, they had a cart which carried it. When the cart tilted, Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark, and this aroused God’s anger. And Uzzah died because of this action.
David was upset by the whole thing and understandably so. After all, he was just trying to bring the Ark back to the center of the Israelites worship as was called for in the Law. But maybe David forgot the holiness of the Ark, and the strict warning for no one to touch the Ark for in doing so they would be encountering God’s holiness. Remember when Moses had a moment in God’s glory and holiness and He shined like a bright light with Shekinah glory. And it was said, “Moses take your sandals off for you are standing on holy ground.”
Uzzah encountered God’s holiness and it took his life. So what might we learn from this? In our attempt to make God relevant, we mustn’t forget God is holy. He is just as holy now as He was then. It is true that through the power of the Holy Spirit and our belief in Jesus, we have been made holy. We have been given the Holy Spirit which is what sets us apart. As we are led by the Holy Spirit we can worship God and obey God and give God His proper glory. But we mustn’t forget the story of Uzzah as we remember the holiness of God and we invite God’s presence into our assemblies. This is the difference I believe in being “afraid of God”, and fearing God. Perfect love casts out all fear, yet we still revere God because He is the One who Created Us and He will come again to judge the living and the dead!
Psalm 10:12-18
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
1 Chronicles 13:1-14:7
Bringing Back the Ark
13 David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. 3 Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of[a] it[b] during the reign of Saul.” 4 The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. 5 So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. 6 David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name 7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets. 9 When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. 10 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. 11 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. 12 David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?” 13 He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.
David’s House and Family
14 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2 And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
3 In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada[d] and Eliphelet.
Acts 13:8-20a
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
In Pisidian Antioch
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”
16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct[a] in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
By the ordinances of the Lord is your servant warned. Psalm 19:11 (NIV)
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. Luke 6:43
King of kings and Lord of lords, our desire is to do your will. Come into our hearts, rescue us from darkness and sin so we may bear good fruit in your name. Amen.
Today in 1 Chronicles, we see one of David’s first tasks was to bring the Ark of God back to the people. The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence, and the Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments among other things. The Ark was holy because God chose to dwell there and make His presence known. So as they moved the Ark back to a place of prominence in David’s new reign as king, they had a cart which carried it. When the cart tilted, Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark, and this aroused God’s anger. And Uzzah died because of this action.
David was upset by the whole thing and understandably so. After all, he was just trying to bring the Ark back to the center of the Israelites worship as was called for in the Law. But maybe David forgot the holiness of the Ark, and the strict warning for no one to touch the Ark for in doing so they would be encountering God’s holiness. Remember when Moses had a moment in God’s glory and holiness and He shined like a bright light with Shekinah glory. And it was said, “Moses take your sandals off for you are standing on holy ground.”
Uzzah encountered God’s holiness and it took his life. So what might we learn from this? In our attempt to make God relevant, we mustn’t forget God is holy. He is just as holy now as He was then. It is true that through the power of the Holy Spirit and our belief in Jesus, we have been made holy. We have been given the Holy Spirit which is what sets us apart. As we are led by the Holy Spirit we can worship God and obey God and give God His proper glory. But we mustn’t forget the story of Uzzah as we remember the holiness of God and we invite God’s presence into our assemblies. This is the difference I believe in being “afraid of God”, and fearing God. Perfect love casts out all fear, yet we still revere God because He is the One who Created Us and He will come again to judge the living and the dead!
Psalm 10:12-18
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
1 Chronicles 13:1-14:7
Bringing Back the Ark
13 David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. 3 Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of[a] it[b] during the reign of Saul.” 4 The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. 5 So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. 6 David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name 7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets. 9 When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. 10 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. 11 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. 12 David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?” 13 He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.
David’s House and Family
14 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2 And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
3 In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada[d] and Eliphelet.
Acts 13:8-20a
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
In Pisidian Antioch
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”
16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct[a] in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
By the ordinances of the Lord is your servant warned. Psalm 19:11 (NIV)
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. Luke 6:43
King of kings and Lord of lords, our desire is to do your will. Come into our hearts, rescue us from darkness and sin so we may bear good fruit in your name. Amen.
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