2 Samuel 6 - Uzzah & the Disrespect

Now that David is in Jerusalem and getting ready to build a grand temple and continue the task of unifying and strengthening Israel, there remains just one more thing to be done: bringing the Ark home.  We haven't heard much about the Ark lately; not since the early chapters of First Samuel when we read about the Israelites getting the Ark back from the Philistines and placing it in Cariathiarim.  Since then all of the drama unfolded involving King Saul and the transition of power to David.  Now that political uncertainty has settled down, attention can once again be payed to this holiest object in the Israelites' possession.  The Ark ought to be placed in a prominent, central location, and that is just what David intends to do.  The problem, however, as we see in 2 Samuel 6, is that the Israelites, probably because of years being apart from the Ark or forgetting the proper injunctions surrounding it, do not handle it with due respect.  This is all illustrated quite powerfully through the figure of Uzzah.  Uzzah of course is the poor soul who is struck dead after placing his hand on the Ark, but the problems began before that fateful act.  The first mistake David and the Israelites made was to place the Holy Ark of the Covenant on an old wooden cart pulled by oxen.  God made clear the Ark was to be carried only by the Levites, the priestly tribe set aside by God for this and many other tasks.  This rule was broken (the same way David broke a rule by taking so many wives).  As was made clear throughout the law books of the Pentateuch, God desired a priestly tribe, one tribe set apart, reserved to be physically closest to Him in the Tabernacle and in handling the Ark.  This rule had been chipped away at slowly over the decades and centuries.  We saw Saul make the mistake of assuming certain priestly functions.  We've seen it with other Biblical figures.  And now we see it with Uzzah.  So after transferring the Ark using these lowly, undignified means, Uzzah puts his hand on the Ark to steady it, and is struck dead on the spot.  For David it is a wake-up call.  Clearly David realizes the mistake they made and immediately has the Ark taken to the home of the Levite Obed-edom.  Here God seems to be appeased.  Blessings come to Obed-edom for his respectful treatment of the Ark, and it is then allowed to continue its journey to Jerusalem.

The importance of the priests' role seems to be an important theme in this chapter.  It's stressed over and over in Scripture that God has strict instructions concerning His worship and He desires them to be followed, not casually shrugged off whenever we feel like it.  It's a mark of humility, a virtue much lauded by Our Lord, to submit to His injunctions, both then and now.  Today we have, for example, the casual handling of the Blessed Sacrament by means of "extraordinary ministers" of the Eucharist or Communion in the hand, and so on.  Clearly these are not the most reverent and respectful ways we could be handling Our Lord.  Let us learn from Uzzah and adhere to the strictest reverence when it comes to God's True Presence.