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Amen, all right we're back in 1 Chronicles chapter number 13 and the title of the sermon tonight is The Ark is Mishandled. The Ark is Mishandled and we're not gonna see the correcting of this until chapter 15 but we're gonna see how the Ark is mishandled and why it's mishandled but I just have basically two points for the sermon tonight. The first point is David is going to consult his leadership and the people on corrective measures so he basically wants to correct things that have been going wrong and the first thing he wants to correct is found in verse number one where the Bible reads and David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds and with every leader so basically David is gonna have you know he's been made king Saul's already died Samuel was the last judge and now David has taken over as the leader he's the outright leader of all of Israel he started as the leader of Judah as the king of Judah just over the over the people of Judah and then he now is the king of all of Israel and so he takes this leadership council this meeting and so notice it's he consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds and every leader so to take counsel literally means I mean excuse me to consult with someone means to take counsel with them so he's he wants to find out where their where their mind is at and I I'm not I don't think that David's just like saying well whatever you guys think that's what I'm gonna do that's not how strong leaders rule David is the king and David's gonna make the best decision and he's really just kind of I think fishing for where are you guys at who's with me and who has a different opinion and I think ultimately this is a picture of the millennial reign of Christ and in a way because this is what Christ is gonna do he's gonna unify everybody in the millennial reign and when we go to eternity future then of course everything is going to be unified once and for all but during the millennial reign Christ is gonna rule and reign for a thousand years and we are gonna be the leaders that we're gonna be these leaders and captains of thousands and hundreds and all these leaders that are gonna be carrying out justice in the land wherever you know he puts us and he's made us kings and priests unto him and so when we are raised with glorified bodies then we will be like him and so we will be able to know the mind of Christ Christ will be able to send us and we will enforce the rules because there will be people born a millennium that won't have glorified bodies they'll live a long time like the people in the Garden of Eden live for a long time or not the Garden of Eden but after the fall people live to be 900 years old in the Bible people like that that can happen it did happen you know the genealogy in Genesis shows how long people lived in the beginning parts after Adam fell so people live long lives during that time also and someone's gonna be ruling over them and guess who it is it's gonna be us so this is a picture of David you know and you know because David represents who Christ he's Christ is called the son of David even though Christ has been from old from everlasting but so David you know he's smart he's gonna confer with his leadership and find out hey where are you guys at you know we all need to be on the same on the same wavelength here look at verse 2 it says and David said unto all the congregation of Israel and so what would this be well the people you know they're basically like what we would call today the church so he's going to the congregate the congregation of what of Israel because in the wilderness there was a congregation to Moses had the congregation of the Lord in the in the wilderness also right so this is all the congregation of Israel if it seemed good unto you and that if it be of the Lord our God let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere so there's people that live in other areas of it of what's the borders of Israel in these different places like Issachar and all these different tribes not everybody lives in Jerusalem but this is where David rules from he rules from the city of David he rules from Jerusalem and so he's saying hey let's send to our brethren everywhere that are left in all the land of Israel and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs and so it wasn't just the Levites in and the priests living in Jerusalem but there's also those that had there were suburb cities in all these different places too that had Levites and teaching priests and they had synagogues or whatever they didn't all just go to Jerusalem Church every single week so times were different it's it's like you know we have local independent churches here well they had local churches so to speak back then also of course they weren't called I mean they I guess they would have been called local churches if congregation means church then you know so this but this is the congregation of the Lord at Jerusalem that there that he's talking about and then he's talking about sending off to these priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs that they may gather themselves unto us so what's he talking about he's saying that we need to gather everybody together from the whole land everybody in one place and let us bring again the ark of our God to us for we inquired not at at it in the days of Saul and why would they what does he mean by this because you know my understanding or maybe your understanding might have been that this is just a place where once a year they you know they go into the holiest place and flick the blood on the ark and all that and it's the Day of Atonement and God comes but but if you remember any of the stories of the teachings in Exodus God's presence came down into that holiest place and came down upon the mercy seat of the ark and that's where God met with his people but of course that people couldn't go in there people could not see him that place had veils around it had the cherubim and their wings stretched forth and this all you could see was the staves and the wings you know the the wings of the cherubim sticking out on either side but it says so yeah so I mean basically what what David's saying here is that it had the ark had not been inquired of basically God had not really been inquired of in the way he should have in all the days of Saul how long was Saul king for who said that yeah 40 years so it's been a long time and so David wants to start doing things the way that they're supposed to be done but we know the story here you heard the scriptures read that were they doing everything right no they weren't so but at least he's trying to start doing things the right way he wants to unify the nation he's had a meeting with his leaders he's had a meeting with the congregation of the Lord and he's like hey let's get everybody together let's bring the ark back to the place where it needs to be in Jerusalem and let's do things right so David wants to unite the kingdom and he wants to make sure that everybody is on the same page let's look at Acts chapter 2 though look at Acts chapter 2 and you can kind of see where this happened after Christ left now of course Christ wasn't here to be part of this thing that happened but in the early stages of when the day of Pentecost happened you know Christ left in Acts chapter 1 and he said that the Spirit of God would come and that power would come upon you from the Spirit and they were waiting for that promise to come and that's called the day of Pentecost right so Acts chapter 2 verse 1 the Bible says and when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place so isn't that what David's trying to do in the chapter we're in now so you know I mean you can see similarities this is what God wanted at first but he also you know he want you know he doesn't want you know nowadays right now everybody to be in one place he wants us to be out reaching everybody so that everybody can go to one place eventually that place is called heaven right he wants us all to be in heaven in one place that's the ultimate goal but it says and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance and there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of every nation under heaven so how did that start well everybody was gathered together in Jerusalem kind of like in the story we have now and then what what happened will Peter preaches great sermon a whole bunch of people got saved 3,000 people got saved and baptized on the same day they were added to the church look at what it says in verse 41 skip down to verse 41 for sake of time it says and they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day were added unto them about 3,000 souls and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles and all that believed were together and had all things in common so at this point in time they're all together one big church one big team one the same mind wanting to do the same things and that's that's what you call unity and that's what this church should be like which it is that's what churches should be like but of course we want you we don't want just everybody like at the Tower of Babel or something where everybody's speaking the same language and there's just one you know obviously if everybody is Christian that'd be one thing the Tower of Babel is completely not a not a Christian that wasn't a Christian thing but God doesn't want us all just in Jerusalem only and staying there he said go to Jerusalem and to Judea and Samaria and the other most parts of the earth and all these you know he wants us to go everywhere so that but with the unification in mind so he wants that unification our hearts he wants the people are in those places where we're going to have that unification that David is showing here that you see in the book of Acts here we still have to have that one mindset you know that we're striving together to accomplish a goal the goal is to get people in heaven Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost and it says and continued daily in one accord in the temple breaking bread and from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved but see when they all try to stay in Jerusalem that's when God had a problem see it's good to have everybody come together and hey we're all on the same page but once they tried to stay there then persecution came and drove them out and so God doesn't want us all just bunched up in one mega church somewhere he wants us to go out and do other things and as much as it hurts me to have families leave our church and go do something else especially families that are do that do a lot in our church we I have to grudgingly let them go I mean it's gonna hurt to have two great families in our church leave and you know but somebody has to step up and and fulfill those roles but we need people in those places to do the things that you know replicate the things that we're doing here and replicate and be of the same mind be of the same heart be of one accord in those places because the goal is to fill the world with places like this church like churches that we're friends with in Sacramento and Phoenix and wherever else you know we want a unity but we don't want to be in one conglomerate place turn to Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 Bible says only let your conversation or your lifestyle or the way you live your life only let your conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel he's like hey you know because Paul planted all these churches I mean he wrote this church to this church in Philippi he's the one that started this church he's like hey when I hear about the things that you're doing this is what I want to hear that you are standing fast with one spirit one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel that's what Paul you know he's like I didn't come to baptize people I came to preach the gospel that's my goal that's why I'm starting these churches replicate move on to another place do the same thing it says as and in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God we're gonna have adversity that happens David had adversity that happened Jesus Christ had adversity that happened any any good work that is being done for God is gonna have adversity so we are gonna we've had adversity every pastor that I know has had adversity and it's gonna happen every you know our churches have had adversity but that means we're doing something right that doesn't mean we're doing something wrong see the world says we're doing something wrong other weak pastors or other weak churches will say they're they got to be doing something wrong why is everybody hating so much well that's not what the Bible teaches folks the Bible teaches when they per when they persecute you you shall be hated of all men like what Bible are they reading that see they go to churches where those things never happen and so those pastors never preach on those things why would they because it's never happening to their church so what why would they not skip those big chunks of the Bible I mean there's huge have you read the Psalms lately I mean it's just like I'm in trouble I'm trouble I'm troubled Lord I'm I'm I'm encumbered and by every side I'm I'm you know that the wicked are coming against me Lord you know the the dogs have compassed me roundabout what's another word for dogs I mean David just like going through adversity constantly people are lying about him people are trying to murder him and gnashing in their teeth at him look this this Christian life yeah and some of the things that we go through can be get a little old the drama can get old the constant like you know the winds been taken out of my sails again can get old but we should just understand that we're gonna go through stuff like this it's always you're like it's always just one thing after the other why can't I just go to a church where that doesn't happen you can it's called lily-liver Baptist right down the street Trinity Baptist the stones throw from here you're never gonna have to go through that there you know why because the pastor probably isn't saved the people that go to the church there probably aren't saved they're doing nothing for God that's why how about the one next to the hospital down here on Mill Plain Boulevard where they have all those doors in the front of it that whoever keeps knocking them down why everyone's welcome well you know we don't agree with that and because we don't we are the off scouring of the world so I believe that David here you know obviously has the goal of bringing everybody in it's like I'm going to you know I'm I'm going to bring the and unify the kingdom this is what he's doing because he is the one King and so he's unifying the kingdom he's bringing everybody from the outskirts let's bring them all in let's bring the ark back let's start doing things right and he's also reading the room who's who heard that term kids you read the room David's reading the room he's not stupid he probably wants to see who's with me and who has a problem because in the past when David does stuff there's always that little bird chirping come Israel let's go back to our tents away with this man they did it to Saul too when he first became king they're like come on man let's go back in their children abelial sons abelial they're doing this there's always a naysayer right but date but David doesn't hear this everybody's happy and content for this to happen so number two so I mean so far so good right but number two unfamiliarity with the Word of God can have dire circumstances for leaders and followers and in this case and in this chapter we know the dire circumstance that happens somebody's gonna die because people didn't know the Word of God look at 1st Chronicles chapter 13 verse 5 it says so David gathered all Israel together from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath to bring the ark of God from Kerjath Jareen so the last time we actually saw the ark or if you've read the Bible multiple times you might remember the last time the ark was actually seen or that you can remember in the chronology of the Bible when it was when it was seen well the last time it was actually seen was when the Philistines had taken the ark and remember Eli's sons who were reprobates took the ark and went to try to fight the Philistines and of course God wanted to kill them and so they died in the battle and when Eli heard it he felt that the ark was taken by the Philistines Eli heard it fell back and broke his neck and so the house of Eli was judged his sons were killed in the battle and I want to say that one of the sons wives was giving birth and then she named her son Ichabod because the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel and so they took the ark the Philistines did thinking oh yeah we know this is a good yeah let's take the ark dumb idea because then the ark plagued them with all kinds of plagues and it says they had emerods and their secret parts now what what plague can you think of that sounds like emerods put an H before that and then you might kind of guess what it's talking about right I don't want to get too graphic and kids might not know what that is but you'll learn someday maybe hopefully not but very painful not not a fun thing to go to and when it's when there's an S at the end of it that means it's multiple which makes it even worse so they're being plagued they're being vexed by God for having the ark and they're moving it around to the different cities like you know you take it it's like hot potato or something so then the Lords of the Philistines get together the five Lords because there's five cities of the Philistines the five Lords get together and they're like what are we gonna do let's talk to our holy men or whatever they're you know basically heathen devil worshipers but they're smart enough to know they're being plagued by God and so they get together and they say well what are we gonna do and they're like let's make these little golden mice because mice were plaguing them too and they were getting pestilence from the mice or whatever but they make all these little golden mice and and make these little offerings and they and they make a cart and then they put the ark on that cart and they just kind of let it go let it ride into the sunset right with these two you know the I don't know if those two but they put these oxen or whatever and just get rid of the ark and they hope that they want it's a peace offering to God so at least they're trying to make amends for what they did even though they don't know whether they were doing the right thing or not because it's not like they have the Bible they're just like whatever we're doing wrong we want to make it right we don't really like your Israelites but we're trying we don't want to mess with you anymore here's the cart here's the ark so now let's turn to first Samuel chapter 6 verse 19 first Samuel chapter 6 verse 19 I don't want to have to read the whole story about it but I'll read a few things about it here though so first Samuel chapter 6 19 it says any smoke so so they get the ark back they find the ark they get it back if you want to read the whole story it's in first Samuel chapter chapter 6 chapter 5 but it says and he smote the men of best Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord so when the people got it back they looked inside you know it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark when he when he look inside you know they just yeah bad things happen but they looked in the ark even he smote of the people 50,000 and three score and ten men so he's killing thousands of people it's not the Philistines he's killing the Israelites for just looking inside they want they're just curious what's it look like they're not even supposed to be looking at it at all but then they're bold enough to walk up and go it's like curiosity killed the cat you know it's just like you know whatever they just had to look didn't they people are the same way though but it says and the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter and the men of best Shemesh said who is able to stand before the Holy Lord God and to whom shall he go up from us and to whom shall he go up from us excuse me and they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kerjath Jareim saying the Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord come you down and fetch it upon you keep them oh yeah fetch it upon you so so basically they're just like we're getting rid of this thing hey Kerjath Jareim you take it from us so they're like playing the same game as the Philistines right they're like here no you take it now they've killed 50,000 so I mean apparently this town that they're already in is enough to kill 50 what 50 something thousand people here right 50,000 and three score and ten fifty thousand seventy people right now look at chapter seven verse one turns turn or whatever that's the next verse in the next chapter it says and the men of Kerjath Jareim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab in the hill and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord and it came to pass while the ark abode and Kerjath Jareim that the time was long for it was 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord so there you have a 20 year span where they it's at somebody's just at somebody's house somebody's just taking care of it is that where it belongs well it belongs in the tabernacle it belongs where the priests are taking care of it they're doing the sacrifice I mean so the sacrifices are probably not taking place like they're supposed to be or unless they just have the tabernacle there but it doesn't sound like that's what's happening doesn't sound like Saul was doing things right with it either but I don't think that this is when Saul is even leading yet I think this is when Samuel is leading so look at first Samuel chapter 7 verse 3 this is why I think that so the Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel saying if you do return unto the land with all your hearts then put away the strange gods and Asheroth from among you and prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines so if you go through chapter 7 of first Samuel he has made the judge over Israel in place of Eli because Eli died right so Samuel is the last judge of Israel and then when he you know when Saul becomes king then Samuel kind of takes a back seat but the Bible actually says that Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life so is it being tongue-in-cheek there or or what well remember when Saul was supposed to kill Agag and didn't do it who's the one that came up and chopped him into pieces it was Samuel so I mean did he still judge Israel at that time it sounds like he did to me so I think that this 20 year period is talking about is the time that Samuel is judging Israel and then you have Saul come and then they're demanding a king when because when Samuel gets old too old to kind of do everything himself because Samuel is judging Israel just fine he did his little circuits and you know then then his sons are he tries to put them as judges and the people reject him and that's why they asked for the king finally there's like yeah your sons are wicked they're taking bribes and so that's when they asked for the king this is years later so between chapter 7 and chapter 8 you have like a 20 year time period happen somewhere around there so you have Saul turn to Acts chapter 13 you have Saul who becomes king after around 20 years okay I'm guesstimating here because I think that Samuel also judged somewhat he was all he was in charge in some way when Eli was still around too because Eli was like 90 something years old and blind so even though that news came back to Eli he was still the high priest and because the high priest was the high priest until he died and Eli was the high priest but that doesn't mean that Samuel wasn't judging but he fully took over as the judge once Eli died so but you know you have like regents and things like that so maybe he was just being trained or groomed to that or whatever but let's see so you have the 20 year period what were the scriptures just said that right but scripture also says for a fact that Saul was the king in Israel for 40 years look at Acts 13 20 it says and after that he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet and afterward they desired a king and God gave unto them Saul the son of sis he's a cis male right a man of the tribe of Benjamin by the space of what to say they're 40 years so Paul the Apostle is stating in you know under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost 40 years right and when he had removed him he raised up unto them David to be their king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart which shall fulfill all my will so I mean you got give or take 60 years where the Ark is not being done you know they're not doing with the Ark that which should be right is right in the eyes of the Lord they're not following the Bible by the way it should be going so that's why the book of Judges it keeps constantly saying that they did what that which was right in their own eyes and even with the first King Saul he did not inquire of it like he was supposed to that's why we're here in this chapter and David's like I want to bring the Ark back he goes to his leaders he said and to his end of the congregation of the Lord and said hey let's bring everybody together and we're gonna bring the Ark back what do you guys think of that they're like yeah let's do it so he's like okay let's do it so now let's go back to verse 6 of the chapter we're in so we got 60 years they don't inquire of the Ark it was captured by the Philistines then taken to Kerjath Jareim finally it's still there and David went up and all Israel to Bela sounds like a good place that is to Kerjath Jareim so that's the same place right which belong belong to Judah to bring up thence the Ark of God the Lord that dwelleth between the cherubims whose name is called on it and they carried the Ark God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab and Uzzah and Ohio drave the cart and David and all Israel played before God with all their might and was singing with harps and salt trees and with timbrels and cymbals and with trumpets I mean just picture the scene here they're just like you know they're just having like a worship service they're just like whoo you know they're having a good time everybody's just you know just joyous and having this great old time right and then when they came under the threshing floor of Chidan Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the Ark for the oxen stumbled so that cart that they're driving with is just all of a sudden it stumbles and it's like the Ark is about to fall so Uzzah reaches forth and grabs the Ark with his hand his bare hand and that was a big mistake it says and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and he smote him because he had put his hand to the Ark and there he died before God so God killed him for trying to save the Ark is that why is that why he died no he died because he touched something that he was not supposed to touch you're like yeah but it was about to fall I know but they weren't supposed to be pulling it on that cart that's the problem what's the big deal isn't God loving I mean look at how spiritual they were when they're you know doing a little concert on the way and they're all dancing and jumping for joy and all this stuff this doesn't that matter man no it doesn't why did he kill Uzzah like do you think Uzzah was a sinner worse than the rest of them or something no was Uzzah just some bad guy doesn't the Bible doesn't say that in fact I think he was David's friend and he was probably a good guy it was probably an awe you know that he probably picked those two guys because there were probably two good guys guys that he could count on guys that he thought were gonna do a good job it seems like he was doing a good job the arks about to fall on the ground it might have broke it probably would have but I think that God probably would have rather have that arc break and need to have some repairs done to it then for some guy that wasn't supposed to touch it to touch it let's look at why why did God kill us oh let's look at some Bible verses here numbers chapter 4 verse 15 numbers chapter 4 verse 15 just keep your place here in first the chronicle chapter 13 verse 10 and look at numbers chapter 4 verse 15 see the thing is there's only certain people that are allowed to touch the ark only certain people it says and when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary as the camp is set forward after that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it who's supposed to come to bear it the sons of Kohath they're they're not Aaron's sons even though Aaron's sons can touch it and I'll show you that here in a minute but the sons of Kohath are the ones that are supposed to touch the same the things that are in the sanctuary those special pieces of furniture that were built including the ark were only supposed to be carried out of the camp once they've been covered do you see that after they have made an end of covering the sanctuary and all the vessels in the sanctuary they had to cover them up with stuff people weren't allowed to just walk in and look at them only the priests were allowed to go in and look at them so it says then the sons of Kohath shall come and bear it but they shall not touch any holy thing they weren't even allowed to touch them so Uzzah was Uzzah one of the one of the Kohathites no was he a priest no and even if he was a son of Kohath he was not allowed to touch it period end of story lest they die what's what's the lesson God's teaching here it's there's no exception to this rule you touch this thing you're gonna die that's that's that's his judgment these things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation look at verse 16 and to the office of Eliezer the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light and the sweet incense and the daily meat offering and the anointing oil and the oversight of all the tabernacle so their job is to oversee everything in the tabernacle so they're the bosses of the whole thing so not just you know the doing all the offerings and lighting everything in the morning and doing all the you know all the special stuff they're overseeing everything and of all that therein is in the sanctuary and in the vessels thereof and the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying cut you not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites but thus do unto them that they may live and not die when they approach unto the most holy things Aaron and his son shall go in and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered so they're not even allowed to see the things do you see that they're not even allowed to look at them or what happens what does it say there those next three words what does it say lest they die so fast forward into time they're like rolling off on this new cart the arcs just you know rumbling around on this cart with all these with these oxen or whatever and here's Uzzah not in the priesthood and he just reaches out and grabs it these is killed instantly this is why because God does not play around with when he makes a rule like this it's for a reason and he's just it's just not for anybody to touch the ark you're like why cuz he says so that's why it's not a loophole that you get to go around it's just not one of those things look at Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 9 Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 9 it says and Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi which bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and said unto all the elders of Israel so what do you say he delivered unto the priest the sons of Levi which bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord so were the priests allowed to bear the Ark not what it says but the Kohathites that was their job but the priests were allowed to carry it because remember we just studied Joshua chapter 3 go to Joshua chapter 3 and when they remember they were going into the river and they had to stand on those rocks who was doing that was that the Kohathites that did that or was that the priests well it says in Joshua 3 3 it says and they commanded the people saying when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God the priests the Levites bearing it then you shall remove from your place and go after it it wasn't the Kohathites it was the priest so the priest remember they have the oversight of everything so when it come to doing it to Karen so this is a special thing though so there were special times when the priests did carry the Ark but when the talk when you're talking about rolling up the camp and just the general moving of things and the general you know when they would pick up their camp and move someplace the Kohathites were the ones doing that but when they're obviously this is a special event that happened so the priests did it you know that's just what the Bible says so it's saying that the priests the sons of Levi were allowed to do this so in certain situations the priests were allowed so but this isn't just okay because David's heart was in the right place you know the the road to hell is paved with good intentions have you ever heard that saying before it's true there's a lot of people that thought they were doing the right thing and I thought they were going to heaven because they're a good person in fact we meet them every week when we go out solely don't we I'm a good person I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person well you can you can be right but you're wrong you can be right about something but be really wrong I would agree with you but then we both be wrong you know that's saying I like to say turn to first Samuel chapter 15 verse 22 but you know just because they were trying to do something right you have to do it the way God says to do it that's the problem and what is the problem here ignorance I mean how is it that nobody knew that this was not something they should do maybe David just wasn't up on his Levitical laws maybe he thought well this is not really my arena so I don't he didn't really think it was such a big deal but I guarantee he knows the next time he goes to move the Ark doesn't he and we do know that he knows very well what to do the next time he moves the Ark and he does it right but at this point he doesn't but sometimes it takes the fear of God to go into you before you'll do things the right way look at first Samuel 15 22 it says and Samuel said half the Lord as great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fad of Rams for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as the iniquity of idolatry because thou has rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being king this is when Samuel is talking to King Saul he's like God's done with you man you're not gonna listen to what I say you're not gonna do what the word of the Lord says well then you're done buddy and that's why Saul was rejected and David replaced him because Saul just would not do what God said and what is the Bible saying here to obey is better than sacrifice that's why these Hollywood stars they're like hey I'm not gonna obey what God says I'm not gonna obey you know anything I'll just put I'll just give money to this charity and they think that they're a good person for that they think that they're getting by their way out of hell but then they're given to these horrible institutions anyway they're like murdering babies and all kinds of other stuff so they're just misguided totally anyway but you can't buy your way out of hell you can't sacrifice your way out of hell it's not ever gonna work God would rather just have us obey him than to give us you know it's like it's like with your wife you know if you're just been a jerk all day and you think that walking up with a bouquet of flowers is gonna satisfy her you know I gave you flowers wasn't that good enough for you it's not is it does that ever work don't say yes because you're lying unless it's coming with an apology first it is again Oh flowers thank you I forgive you it's like no come on maybe if it's a diamond ring like that big around or something but even then you might have to like go through some mental torture to make things okay but you know it's the same thing with husbands like hey if your wife's been nagging you all day and then like well dinner might actually dinner actually might work that might help I mean you think about David like he's about ready he's like kill everybody that you know like when Nabok was it was it Naboth yeah I was yeah Naboth he's like refuses to help Dave and his men and they're like helping mountain and like Abigail comes and runs with all this food to give him and right before Dave was like kill everybody that pissed you know pisseth against the wall and it's like how does Abigail so you know stop David's rage she's like here you go here's a bunch of figs and a bunch of other stuff he's like okay maybe I won't tell them all it's a good story so what's the application though for all for us and all this well doing things right according to what the Bible says is better than doing something that you think is right out of ignorance an open defiance is open rebellion if you're oh if you say I don't care what the Bible says I'm gonna do what I want anyway that is open rebellion just flat out open rebellion and when you say that you're sticking your finger right in God's eyeball and if you think that he's gonna just be okay with that you're wrong you're deadly wrong and then you should just expect the smoke to come next the Philistines did the same thing though why didn't they get punished well they did but God's not gonna punish the heathen in necessarily the same way as he's gonna punish the people that actually know what they're supposed to be doing or should know did they have the Bible do they have the scriptures that they have the law of Moses yes so the why are you building a new cart like the Philistines are they knew better they should have known better apparently they didn't that's because of ignorance because of a lack of reading the Word of God those verses I read to you in Numbers and Deuteronomy and Joshua they had those same verses that I just read to you and if I thought I had any chance of getting killed I'd probably read those verses wouldn't you or getting someone else killed because David didn't die but his man did so they're unbelievers so when they made the mice and the gold mice and the golden emeralds I mean they made golden emeralds that's kind of weird right I don't even know how they would imagine to do that but and then they made the cart they put the the the two cattle or whatever the or however many cattle they had to take the cart that had never pulled a cart before I mean these are like virgin cattle pullers or whatever David didn't do that I mean they took a lot of precautions to take that ark out and they still appease God to a certain extent because their smoke quit as soon as that ark left their town and the Lords of the Philistines the five Lords of the Philistines they followed that thing out until they knew that it got to the destination it was supposed to go to until it went to a town in Israel and then they like okay our responsibility is done and they didn't even know what they were supposed to do they're just like let's go to the Wizards and find out what we're you know they had no clue what they're supposed to be doing and the dip but what's the difference well God's people should know what to do that's the difference here's what the Philistines did I'm just gonna have I'm just gonna read it for you first Samuel chapter 6 verse 7 it says now therefore make a new cart this is what their wizards or whatever are telling them to do make a new cart and take two milch kind on which there had hath no hath come no yoke and tie the kind to the cart and bring their calves home from them isn't that what David did did the same thing how is it that they ended up doing the same thing that the Philistines did how do you explain that maybe they heard I don't know maybe he heard they heard the story so you're gonna go off of stories more than going off at the Word of God says doing things the way the Philistines do is always an ill-advised thing to do especially when it comes to the things of God we shouldn't do our church like the Philistines we shouldn't treat God's people like the Philistines we shouldn't treat pastors like the Philistines we shouldn't treat our work our boss at work like the Philistines we shouldn't be workers at our jobs like the Philistines we shouldn't run our home like the Philistines we shouldn't raise These are kids like the Philistines. We shouldn't run our marriages like the Philistines. We shouldn't be envious of other people like the Philistines always trying to take the Israelites' land. We shouldn't serve other gods like the Philistines. We shouldn't serve idols like the Philistines. You know, we shouldn't do anything like the Philistines. God's people should be different in every way, in every situation, but yet you have David's men here pulling and bringing the ark back like the Philistines, exactly like they did. Pretty much. But they weren't carrying gold and whatever else. These coastal people, I mean, they might as well have been San Francisco. Yeah, bro, let's just send it back, man. Go surfing. But yet the people of God are still doing exactly like they are. Look back in our text, 1 Chronicles 13, verse 11. The Bible says, and David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. Wherefore, that place was called Perez-Uzzah to this day. Now, I don't have time to get into this, but the first time, well, Perez, or Perez was the name of the twin that was born of Judah. That's the first time when it says, how did you break forth, and his name is Perez. That's kind of the etymology of the word breach. So Perez, every time you see that word Perez in the Bible, that means breach. So, again, I don't have time to prove that, but if you see where it says that's why it's called Perez-Uzzah, and it says made a breach upon Uzzah. And what's really interesting about this is that I'm gonna give you the definition of breach. Okay, there's two different types of breaches. So you know how the Bible says men are supposed to wear breeches? It's spelled B-R-E-E-C-H. So breach, you know, it's a split. That's why they're called breeches. Pants, as we call modern day, or jeans, or whatever. But they're called that because there's a split. And so when you talk about that, that's a different, so it is similar, but it's a split. Now when it's B-R-E-A-C-H, listen to these two definitions. Really interesting. This is how God works. The act of breaking or state of being broken, a rupture, a break, a gap, the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence as a breach in a garment or in a wall. You know, have you ever seen those movies where they're like, you know, they're bringing the battering ram and they're trying to like knock the door open, and they say breach the wall, or breach, you know, they've breached the door. Or a breach in a dam, I'm sure you've heard that, where a dam just cracks and the water breaks forth. So that's a very interesting, where it says the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence. And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. Whatever was done to Uzzah, I mean the Bible doesn't really give us the gross details, but I don't think he just died with no violence. It sounds to me like some kind of hole was shot forth out of him or something. I think he, I'm not saying he exploded or something, I'm just saying that it probably was gross though. It probably was gruesome. You know, when he touched that ark, I don't know if stuff shot out, like, whatever it is, it says that he made a breach upon Uzzah. And like, when I was looking at the liberal commentaries on this, they were like, he didn't explode, you know, like they just always want to soften everything out. So whatever they say, I always think, maybe it's the opposite then. But here's what it also means. The violation of a law, the violation or non-fulfillment of a contract, the non-performance of a moral duty, non-performance of duty being a breach of obligation as well as a positive transgression or violation. So the two meanings of it, like you breached the law, you've done something, you didn't fulfill something that you were supposed to do. Isn't that the essence of this story? And then because they breached the part of the law where they're supposed to have the coethites carry that ark and not these stupid cows on this stupid new cart, God said, you know what, if you want to breach my laws, then I'm going to breach you for touching it. Those are the first two definitions that come up. I mean, because there's other definitions that will pop up, you know, modern day. That really nails it right there. David was upset that God made a breach upon Uzzah. He's disappointed. But God was upset that Uzzah and David and the Levites and the priests and the children of Israel breached the law of God by making a new cart and by Uzzah putting his unsanctified hand on the ark of God by doing it like the Philistines and not doing it after the due order. Because in chapter 15, that's what it says, that David knew that he didn't do it after the due order. Look at verse 12. It says, and David was afraid of God that day. It's a good thing. It's a good thing to fear the Lord. I think that maybe he was being a little too flippant. Maybe he was just being a little too disregarding the ark of God's word and not really taking things serious enough. Saying, how shall I bring the ark of God home to me? Like he seriously just has no clue still at this point. It's like, I mean, maybe he's just studying the parts. I don't know what parts he's studying. There's not a lot written yet at this point. So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David but carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. It's a good thing to remember to have a healthy fear of God. Because when you start losing your fear of God, you start just being flippant with the things of God and not taking God serious and not taking his word serious and just not knowing what it says. You don't know what the Bible says? You think that ignorance is just gonna, did ignorance help plead Uzzah's case? Uzzah died and went to heaven and woke up just kinda like, what am I doing here? What, wait, what happened? What happened? It's like, come on Uzzah, I'm sorry, I have to tell you this. I didn't even know! I didn't even know! What does the law tell you when you break the law if you've ever gotten pulled over and like maybe you missed some sign or you got a parking ticket and you're like, I didn't even see that sign. What do they tell you? Ignorance is not an excuse. It's what they tell you. I didn't even see the speed limit sign. Well, you'll look next time, won't you? I didn't know I wasn't supposed to pass in the carpool lane. Ha ha ha ha! Or whatever it is that you've done. But, God isn't your homeboy. He is our friend, yes he is. But, he's also our Lord and Savior and he's also our boss. And we have to have a healthy fear of God and yeah, he wants to be our friend. Yes, Abraham is called the friend of God, but Abraham also, when he's pleading with him about Sodom and Gomorrah, he's like, let me just ask one more time and I am but dust and ashes. He's just like, he's going back and forth with him, but he's doing it with respect. He's not like, how dare you do this, God, and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, what is wrong? He had a healthy, he's like, shouldn't the Lord of the earth do what is right? He's just like, he's afraid. And rightly so. Because people just have these dumb t-shirts, God's my homeboy, and you know, just all these dumb Zoomer t-shirts or whatever. And they better start having a little more healthy of a fear and not just acting all flippant about things. Everything rises and falls on leadership, that's a true statement. And David's failure here cost a man his life. Because ultimately, who's responsible? They're always gonna say, well, leadership's responsible. But the Levites are responsible too. Who had charge over all the things in the sanctuary in the house of God? Who had all the responsibility? The priests, the sons of Aaron, right? Where was there? Was David have a bunch of yes men around him or something? Like, they don't know that they're supposed to have certain people carry the things? They know. Why aren't they saying anything? Either they're cowards or they just didn't know themselves. But someone I'm sure knew, someone, I mean, do you really believe that nobody knew that that was the case? I don't know, it's hard for me to believe that nobody knew that. But again, it is the time of the judges and everybody was doing that which was right. But when one thing starts to slip, other things start to slip, and it is truly life or death sometimes. This is a life or death situation. Because they didn't know the word of God. And when it comes to spiritual things, it's heaven or hell. If you're caught and you don't know how to give someone the gospel, you're like, oh man, I wish I could have gotten saved. They were ready, they wanted to hear, but I just didn't know how. It's a bad position to be put in. So here's a good end to the story though. Look at verse 14, it says, And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months, and the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had. So Obed-Edom was apparently doing something right. And God blessed him. Obviously he was respecting the ark and one man's tragedy becomes another family's blessing. But it was a tragic thing for that man to die. And I'm sure he's in heaven right now. He's like, yeah, I mean, I wish I would have known. But I'm sure the guy was saved. But the ultimate takeaway from this is that when you don't know the law of God and the Bible, you can be harmed or cursed without even knowing it. That's why it's just so important to know the Bible. And ignorance does not excuse you from being a law breaker. I think about this story, this video that I've watched many times actually, where his pastor is talking about this kid that won't take the Lord seriously. You guys ever seen this video before? He's like, there's this kid and he's just goofing around. He's like, he just wouldn't take the Lord seriously. He said, so I just hit him as hard as I could. Bam, right in the chest, crumpled the kid, knocked him to the ground. You guys ever seen this one? He's like, and I said, when are you gonna start taking God seriously? Led that man to the Lord right there. You gotta look it up after church, it's really funny. But the reason why he punched him is because he wasn't taking the Lord seriously. So, let that be a lesson to you. I'm not gonna punch anybody in the chest, but God killed a man because he wasn't taking the things of the Lord seriously. Everybody's gonna be looking that video up afterwards. I think you just have to look up like preacher punches kid in chest or something like that. There's a whole bunch of videos on it. I don't know if he actually did it, but that's crazy. Anyway, so that's all I got, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great chapter in the Bible and lessons it can teach us. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to take things seriously when it comes to the Bible and not being ignorant of the things that you want from us and the things that you find important. I pray that you would help us, Lord, to just take everything seriously. Lord, it's okay to have fun, but not at the expense of our lives and not at the expense of somebody else's spiritual salvation. Pray, Lord, you'd help us all to keep things in perspective when it comes to how we act around other people and the people who are watching us. Pray, Lord, that we wouldn't try to bring anything from the Philistines into our home and into our lives and to our parenting and to our daily lives that would hinder our walk with you. Pray that you'd just bless us as we go our separate ways tonight, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.