Can You Handle the Harsh Truth?

Have you ever, like me, thought the God of the Old Testament unduly harsh?  Truthfully, there have been times where I just could not equate the harsh God of the Old Testament with the loving God of the New.  Like my children have to me, I cry to God, "Why must you be so mean?"  In truth, every parent knows how hard it is to train a young child when your discipline looks to them like nothing but a denial of pleasure or a harsh prison term.  "This will hurt you."  "This will cause you sorrow."  "That boy (girl) is bad company."  I can't tell you the times I've said, "When you have your own children, you will understand." I can hear God saying to me, "You are confusing me with sin - My ways are to give you life and keep you from the harshness of sin."

My study in  Beth Moore's "Stepping Up, the Psalms of Ascent" illuminated one such harsh moment in God's dealing with David; in fact, it brought me to absolute tears, realizing the obscure, yet sharp picture of salvation that for 27 years totally eluded me.  I hope I can adequately explain it here.

This is the last week of my study - Day One of Week Six, but the groundwork was laid in the previous lesson in the story of the travels of the Ark of the Covenant.

Constructed by the Israelites according to the command of God, the Ark was the centerpiece of the "portable" temple carried through their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness en route to the promised land of Canaan.  (Just that is a picture of our sojourn).  According to Joshua 18:1, the Ark rested in Shiloh (interpreted peace), Bethel (interpreted worship) - Judges 20:26-27, then Shiloh again, before the Philistines captured the Ark.  The Philistines suffered so with the Ark in their midst, they returned it willingly to the Israelites.

The Philistines brought the Ark to Kiriath-Jearim, where it dwelt for King Saul's entire reign, although, similar to our dusty Bibles on the shelf, Saul never inquired of God there!  David went on to become King of Israel and summoned the Ark to be brought from Kiriath-Jearim to Jerusalem (I Chron. 13:3).  In fact, like that dusty Bible on the shelf, they had to "find" the Ark...Psalm 132:6 states, "we heard of the Ark in Ephratah; we found it in the fields of Jaar," the shortened form of Kiriath-Jearim.

It is obvious that the word of God wasn't deeply known, for the Israelites proceeded to bring the Ark to Jerusalem on an oxcart - not in accordance with God's direction.  When the Ark toppled, Uzzah reached out to steady it, and ZAP!  The Lord killed him instantly.  How harsh!  Uzzah certainly believed he was doing the right thing! 

When David saw God's harshness, he feared God (I Chron. 13:12), and feared bringing the Ark home, instead sending it to the home of Obed-Edom who for three months was incredibly blessed by God's presence.  This blessing caused David to desire to know the Lord's word and, according to I Chron. 15, he then inquired and properly executed God's method of carrying the Ark back to the City of David.

So where is this picture of salvation that so floored me in this reading?
 
The Ark was God's own designated dwelling place among his people.  It was His way and our directed way to approach Him.  Uzzah symbolizes that whatsoever is not of faith is sin (faith in God's way).  Sin always results in death.  Foolishly we also think many roads can lead to God or we can approach God by our own methods - we want to do it our own way, which sometimes seems so much easier!  But our own good works won't bring us to God.  The Philistines were not killed when they carried the Ark by oxcart.  Why not?  They were outside the promises.  The Ark didn't apply to them.  Just as we were aliens to the promises of God, and much like I Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 

When David first found the Ark in Ephrathah, and with all good intentions used his own means to obtain it,  God said, "No, David, there is only ONE way to approach me."  David Jeremiah, that sweet preacher from San Diego, recently said and I'm paraphrasing, "in other religions your works must be perfect, or the giving of your life earns you favor, or the sacrifice of your son to God is a high honor, but in Christianity, God did the impossible - He reached out and said, 'No, I will give my son for you.'"  The bloody sacrifice of God's own Son is the only redeeming method of obtaining grace.  David must have been reminded of Proverbs 14:12:  "There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death."

Harsh enough?  Many disciples thought so too when they responded to Jesus's command, "unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life in you" with, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"  John 6.


And so we run from God in fear, not realizing that this fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. David ran - he sent the Ark to the house of Obed-Edom.  This reminded me too that this event was akin to the door being opened to the Gentile as well as the Jew,  as Obed-Edom was an uncircumcised Philistine Gittite, the same tribe as Goliath!  In other words, David said, "Take back the Ark, I can't handle it!"  But he observed over three months that instead of death, he saw blessings on the house of Obed-Edom.  What is this hard thing, Lord?  How must I be saved?  David had his priests search the scriptures to determine what sin they committed and by what proper means they were to carry the Ark.  Remember, the Ark of the Covenant was God's chosen means of dwelling among his people.  

The Ark contained the law given to Moses, along with Aaron's rod (life out of death), and a pot of manna (the means - bread of life).  The top of the Ark was known as the mercy seat and at both ends a cherubim knelt with its wings spread in an arch fashion over the seat.  As Christians we know that Christ came to satisfy the law and conquer death, to give us new life through the acceptable sacrifice of his body, and act as the mercy seat - the only mediator between God and man.  John 20:12 says, "and [Mary] saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot." Sound familiar?  If you entered Jesus's tomb, well-versed in the Old Testament, might you not immediately have recognized the tomb was fashioned like the mercy seat?  That the contents of the Ark might have been the obvious references Jesus made to himself being the Bread of Life come down from heaven and that no man comes to the father but by me?  Might his resurrection make you realize his victory over sin and death?  or how about this little fact that took me a trifle 27 years to see?  That David sought the Ark from Ephratah.

Micah 5:2  "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me.  His origin is from antiquity, from eternity."

Luke 2:15, 10-11 "...Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem....and the angel said, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David [Bethlehem Ephrathah], a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

The Ark of the Covenant David found in Ephrathah is none other than the Lord Jesus the wise men found in Eprhathah [Bethlehem].  We carry the Ark today, by the manner of approach prescribed by God, within our hearts - His chosen dwelling place.  That Ark is the Lord Jesus Christ.   I am in awe of Him.   

I love this ponderous photo of my grandson.