Focal Passage: 2 Samuel
6:1-15, 17
God means what He says.
Period. He is holy and just and righteous in all His ways. He hasn’t changed —
and He never will. He is the same holy God today that He was when He spoke the
world into being.
A holy God uses holy vessels
(2 Tim. 2:20-21).
The Ark of God was a
rectangular golden box built to hold the Ten Commandments. It was the most
sacred treasure of the nation of Israel. A jar of manna and Aaron’s rod were
also housed in the Ark — which was kept in the Most Holy Place.
The Ark had been captured by
the Philistines for a brief time, kept at Abinadab’s house for 20 years, and
was finally being returned to Jerusalem. “David and the whole house of Israel
were celebrating with all their might before the Lord…” (v. 5, NIV). David’s
intentions of returning the Ark back to Jerusalem were good, and in his heart —
he truly meant to do something pleasing to God. David’s heart was sincere. His
actions, however, were sincerely wrong.
God had given explicit
instructions for transporting the Ark from one location to another. Numbers
4:5-15 describes how that process was to be done. God had specifically told the
children of Israel that the Levites were the only ones assigned to this task. A
severe warning also accompanied the moving instructions: “But they must not
touch the holy things or they will die” (v. 15).
God means what He says. He
doesn’t go back on His Word. He never exaggerates. And He doesn’t make
mistakes.
We are the ones who have the
problem. We have watered down the Word of God for so long that many Christians
don’t know for sure what the Bible really says. We need to respect our holy God
and we need to respect God’s Holy Word.
If we believe God’s
promises, then we must also believe every command and every consequence.
A holy God expects nothing
less from us than our love, respect, and complete obedience. Meditate on these
Bible truths and allow them to lead you into a deeper relationship with our
heavenly Father that is full of reverence, awe, respect, and love.
- “But just as He who called
you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I
am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16, NIV). - “Since we have these
promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that
contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2
Cor. 7:1, NIV).