One of the great “accusations” against God is that He is unjust and metes out punishments that are capricious and harsh. Some point to the death of Uzzah in 2 Samual as an example of God’s arbitrary punishment of “innocent” people. Is God unjust? A close look at the story of Uzzah demonstrates He is not.
Discussions about the wrath of God and divine punishment, in general, often lead to someone stating that God is not only unjust, but petty. They see the punishments God metes out in various instances as the proverbial parent sending a kid to stand in the corner for no good reason . . . maybe the kid spilled his milk, on accident, and now the parent is screaming and yelling and forcing the child to pay a penalty by serving a sentence, nose in the corner, no fun to be had. Is that the God we serve? Or is that a caricature of God, one derived from a misunderstanding of the very stories some are prone to use to prove God is just plain mean?
Let’s take a look at a story in the Bible that some point to as proof that God is capricious and unjust in the way He punishes sin. The story of the death of Uzzah, recorded in 2 Samuel 6, is an example of divine punishment being meted out for what some see as a “minor” sin with a disproportionate judgment: the death penalty. Indeed, God did strike down Uzzah because of what he did–he touched the Ark of God with his hand, to steady it on a cart–and even to King David, the punishment seemed too much. So what do we do with this episode and what does it tell us about God?
To fully understand the story of Uzzah, one has to rewind the tape to 1 Samuel 4, when the Ark of God was captured by the Philistines, the enemies of God’s people and God Himself. 1 Samuel 4 records that Eli’s sons, Hophini and Phinehas, allowed the Ark of God to be brought up to the battle between Israel and the Philistines and that despite its presence there, the Israelites were defeated, Hophini and Phinehas were killed and the Ark was captured. The key to understanding this background to Uzzah’s story is 1 Samuel 4:1-3. The text reads:
“Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside
Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. Then the Philistines put
themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was
defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the
field. And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why
has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the
covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may
save us from the hand of our enemies (emphasis added).”
Israel had been defeated in battle and they did not understand why. God had “let them down” and they did not like the outcome. So, they sent to get the Ark from Shiloh, to bring the Ark to themselves and use it as a means of defeating their enemies. There is no indication that God authorized this movement of the Ark or that God would allow His presence to be associated with the Israelites’ activities. Indeed, God will not be used and His presence is not something that human beings are allowed to toy with, use for their own benefit, or wave around like some magic wand. Yet that was what Israel was doing. Even more, the Israelites seem to be more interested in the Ark than in God’s presence, which is what made the Ark special. They said, “Let us bring the ark of the convent of the Lord . . . that when it comes among us it may save us . . . ” The Israelites think the Ark is something special, in and of itself, and they are looking to it as an object as the source of their salvation. It was, by all intents and purposes, an idol to them. The God of Israel was not their savior at this point; to them it was the Ark. Simply put, the Israelites’ view of the Ark was not only incorrect, but blasphemous.
After being captured, the Ark remained in Philistine territory for seven months and everywhere the Philistines took it, terrible things befell the people. Eventually, the Philistines returned the Ark to Israel, but the manner in which they did so was unusual: They sent it back to Israel on a cart, pulled by two milk cows (not normally beasts who pull loads) and surrounded by other golden objects they had created as “offerings” to the Lord. The cows carried the Ark to Beth Shemesh and it was at the house of a man named Joshua for some time. However, while it was there, the people of Beth Shemesh did something quite foolish: the looked into the Ark. Here’s what 1 Samuel 6:19 says about that episode:
“Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of
the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people
lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.”
To be sure, there is something to be said about how God dealt with people who misused the Ark and misunderstood what it meant that the Ark was to be that place where His presence dwelt on Earth. The Ark was supposed to be that place where God’s presence resided, between the cherubim. It was not something that was to be carried about haphazardly and used to achieve victories that God had not authorized or ordained. It was not to be opened and gazed upon like some magical trinket. What’s telling is that the very people who were to protect the Ark–the sons of Eli–allowed the Ark to be taken and used as a talisman to ward of Israel’s enemies. It did not work, of course, and Israel paid a very high price, as did Hophini and Phinehas, and eventually, Eli and then the men of Beth Shemesh. The fact that the Ark had become an idol to God’s people says a lot about where God’s people were in their relationship with Him and says a lot about the way future generations would see the Ark and the God who gave the Ark as a reminder of the covenant He had made with Israel. That the men of Beth Shemesh would open the Ark and look upon its contents tells us really everything we need to know about how Israel saw the Ark. And God’s punishment of those who did such things should tell us all we need to know about how much God values His presence being respected by those who claim to be His people.
By the time we arrive at the story of Uzzah, it is likely the Ark was still seen by Israel in a similar manner as it was seen by the people in 1 Samuel. What’s important to understand about idols is that those who worship them also create them and that which is created by humanity is seen as something less than humanity and not worthy of respect. Indeed, the people of Beth Shemesh wanted nothing else to do with the Ark and sent it to their neighbors in Kirjath Jearim. There, the Ark was placed at the house of a man named Abinadab, and his son, Eleazar was consecrated to keep the Ark (see 1 Samuel 7:1).
So, that’s the deal with Uzzah? Fast forward to 2 Samuel 6. Since the happenings of 1 Samuel 7, a lot has occurred. Israel has demanded a king and got Saul, who turned out to be a terrible leader and no so interested in obeying God. After Saul, David is anointed king and one of the first things David does is take the people and go up to Abinidab’s house and get the Ark. It seems David’s intention is to bring the Ark with him to Jerusalem and it seems David recognizes the Ark for what it really . . . at least to some extent. 2 Samual 6:1-3 records what occurred:
“Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose
and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from
there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, who
dwells between the cherubim. So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and
brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio,
the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.”
Two important things to note:
- David has gathered the leaders of Israel, thirty thousand strong, and along with all the people, they are going up to get the Ark. It is very important to realize that what Uzzah will do that causes God’s wrath to fall will happen in front of the people.
- Those responsible for the Ark did something forbidden: they set the Ark on a cart. In Exodus 25:13-14, God had commanded that the Ark be carried on poles placed through rings attached to the corners of the Ark.
Why did these things occur? Was Israel so far from God and a knowledge of Him and His word that they did not know what they were to do? Or, was it that they simply did not care as much as they should have about the commands of God? The Israelites had gone through a period of time where they were tempted to worship false gods and create idols and succumbed to those temptations. Had they simply drifted so far from God and His word and were so confused about their responsibility to Him that they became careless in His presence? Honestly, it would seem so. What we have in the story of Uzzah is not just Uzzah, but the entire congregation of Israel, dishonoring and disrespecting the presence of the Lord. Moreover, the Ark has been placed on a cart and is being moved about in the same manner the Philistines moved it about. In other words, here are God’s people treating the Ark the way they have seen the world treating the Ark. The Israelites are applying what they have learned from the Philistines to their own lives and that is a recipe for disaster.
We do not know much about Uzzah other than he was one of Abinadab’s sons and that he was participating in driving the cart upon which the Ark rested. We can assume that Uzzah had been around the Ark since it was in his father’s house. We can speculate that he perhaps was quite “familiar” with the Ark and that perhaps he saw it as something special but not as holy as God saw it. We don’t know everything about Uzzah–we do know a lot about God and His righteousness–but it seems we know enough about Uzzah to know that he is much to comfortable in the presence of the Ark than he should have been and that comfort led to carelessness and irreverence that led Him directly disobeying God’s word in front of God’s people. Here’s what happened:
“And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill,
accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. Then 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.
And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark
of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then 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”
(2 Samuel 6:4-7)
What happened? The parade is going well, or so it seems, until the disobedience Uzzah and Ahio were participating in leads to imminent disaster: the oxen stumble. And when the oxen stumble, the Ark begins to shift and Uzzah reacts to keep it from falling to the ground. And in doing so, he directly disobeys God’s word and touches the Ark in the presence of the people. Now, think carefully with me. What is God upset about? Why does God’s anger become aroused against Uzzah? A few thoughts come to mind: (1) Uzzah is participating in–leading, even–this parade and is leading others in direct disobedience to God’s word. (2) We don’t know whose idea it was to carry the Ark on a cart–strangely enough, Eleazar–the son of Abinidab who was consecrated to care for the Ark–is not mentioned, so we have wonder if it Uzzah’s idea. (3) We have really ask if God’s anger at Uzzah is only for him touching the Ark or it aroused because to the entire course of conduct Uzzah has engaged in?
When you put all of the evidence together, a reasonable conclusion is that God’s anger was aroused when these people began disobeying Him and making a mockery of moving the Ark. It was aroused especially against Uzzah when the course of conduct that Uzzah was engaged in led to him doubling his complicity in the sin by touching the Ark. Uzzah knew or should have known that it was unlawful and forbidden by God to not only carry the Ark in the manner it was being carried but that touching it carried the death penalty. Numbers 4:15 made the penally for touching the Ark death. If Uzzah had cared to know or if he did know about this command, he would not have engaged in a course of conduct that would lead to him feeling the need to touch the Ark.
The real issue for most people when it comes to the story of Uzzah is they think of him as a good guy, innocently walking along beside the Ark and trying his best to obedient to God. He’s just trying to help out and all he does is keep the Ark from falling off the cart. As we have seen, however, that is not the full story. Uzzah had a hand in loading the Ark onto a cart. Uzzah was leading people and people were watching him. He seems to have an irreverence for the presence of God, or maybe he really does not believe the the presence of God is associated with the Ark. Maybe Uzzah sees the Ark like Israel had begun to see the Ark: as an idol. As a trinket to be moved from place to place. Maybe Uzzah saw the Ark in such a way that made him devalue it to the point that he was willing to not just load it on a cart in disobedience to God’s word, but he was willing to let the entire congregation of Israel see him directly disobey a command of God that carried with it the death h penalty.
If God had not struck down Uzzah, everyone would have seen him touch the Ark and then there would have been no consequences. That would have made God’s word untrue. God had said the penally for touching the Ark was death. The word of God would have been undermined in front of all Israel that day if God had not followed through on what He had said He would do to those who disobeyed Him. If you have a problem with the story of Uzzah, you really have a problem with God’s commands and God’s “right” to issue commands and attach penalties to those commands for disobedience.
See, those who have a problem with God striking down Uzzah have the same problem Uzzah had: they do not see God as holy and worthy of the utmost honor, respect, obedience, reverence and awe. They see God as some idol they can cart around, and they’re very interested in doing that carting around when there are lots of people watching and they’re the center of attention. Those who have a problem with God striking down Uzzah are people who are too familiar with God, such that they have lost their respect for the Creator and King of Kings. They, like Uzzah, believe they can engage in any course of conduct they like and there are no consequences. They do not see their sin the way God sees sin: rebellion against the Most High. Uzzah was not some great guy just trying to help people out by moving the Ark. He was a disrespectful and irreverent person who was leading others to disobey God. And if he had been allowed to live, Uzzah would have gone down in history as the man who defied the living God and God did nothing about it. God’s word would have become a lie. And if there really is a God–and of course I believe He is there and He is actively involved in the affairs of this world–He cannot be a liar and He cannot be dishonored without consequence.
Uzzah deserved to die that. Why? Because as Romans 6:23 tells us, “the wages of sin is death.” We all deserve death for our sins. We have all “touched the Ark” when it comes right down to it. But for the grace of God though Jesus Christ, we would all be Uzzah and we would all deserve exactly what we got. We, like Uzzah, have engaged in conduct that dishonors God and many of us have led others into sin as well. For those of us who have trusted Jesus as Savior, my hope is that we would seek to know Him and His word, to honor Him and obey Him because we are in awe of Him and that we would set an example of fidelity for others to follow. We must approach God and His presence the way that God commands and only in that way. Let us not think we can toss the presence of God on a cart and parade it around for our own glory. That’s not how it works. Let us take the lesson from Uzzah’s story and remember that the God of the Cosmos deserves to be honored and worshipped for His greatness and majesty. He is God and we are not. He is just and His righteousness is our hope.
Do we serve an unjust God? The answer is no. If we believe that we do it is because we believe God has no right to decree what is and is not right and true. And if we believe that, we believe nothing at all.