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Matthew 16:24-25King James Version
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
1 Chronicles13
And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.
2 And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, 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, that they may gather themselves unto us:
3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.
4 And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
5 So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.
6 And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the Lord, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.
7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.
8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.
David had just become king over the whole land of Israel. His enemies were defeated and dispersed. The people had spoken. It was time for a celebration, right?
But as good as things seemed to have been, something was missing. He thought about it. He must've prayed about it (after all, he was a "man after God's own heart). What was wrong?
It hit him.
The Ark of the Covenant wasn't in the capital. It wasn't even in a holy place. It was in the home of Abinadab. (Are our homes holy enough for the Ark of God to dwell there without us being cursed?) Throughout Israel's history, the Ark had been a powerful presence. It was the center of the power of God. It was the seat of God's authority. It led Israel's armies into battle. It was the focus of their religion, which was the core of their national identity.
Now that David was king, the ark needed to be put back into its proper place in society.
So, he gathers the leaders and the people together and says, "Let's go get the ark! We'll sing and dance and party our way all the back to Jerusalem!" (My paraphrase)
Problem number one: Apparently, "all Israel" didn't include the priests and Levites who were tasked by God to lead the worship of God.
So all the singing and playing that was going on was not being led by the godly leadership (or leadership order) that God had established. This was strike one.
Problem number two: Rather than the priests and Levites carrying the ark as was prescribed by God, they placed it on a new cart for the journey. Sounds reasonable right? No heavy weight to bear. No straining. No stopping to rest. Let the cart and the ox team do the work.
And why not?
After all, the Philistines, in sending the ark back, had used a new cart and God hadn't struck them dead for it. In fact, God had stopped a cancer plague in Philistia because they had sent it back. Apparently, God had no problem with the method they used, right?
God didn't see it quite that way.
Don't get confused by God's healing folks in churches that don't preach the whole truth. Don't be sidetracked by God drawing folks into repentance- even though they don't have the Holy Ghost yet, and know nothing of holiness. Folks who wear ungodly clothes and teach false doctrines.
First of all, God moves on whosoever will. He tries very hard to bring people to repentance. He will heal folks who are not right with him (contrary to the opinions of some folks) in order to try and get them right with him.
My first experience of repentance with God happened when I was FIVE YEARS OLD. Did that mean I was born again? NO! But, I had taken a necessary step in my journey toward God. I was not born again, but I had entered the womb.
But not everyone who repents gets born again. In fact, if we study the parable of the sewer, at the absolute most (and Jesus doesn't give percentages here. He just tells us of four groups of people. Some of the groups could have been larger than others.) if we assume equal numbers in the groups, only 25% of all mankind will make heaven. Many will make the start of repentance and never complete the course. Many will never even repent. Many will get born again, but the roots won't go deep and they won't make it. Only a few (and Jesus says "few there be that FIND IT- you have to be looking for it to find it. If you have to be hungry to be fed. You must bull-headedly continue on the path to complete the journey. And the path can get hard, rocky, very narrow, unpaved, uncomfortable, and require a lot of effort to stay on!
Not everyone who gets a healing or a blessing will end up even being born again. How many folks did Jesus bless and heal in his earthly ministry? MULTITUDES! And how many people were there praying for the spirit to fall in the upper room? 120!
The Philistines weren't God's people. They were wrong to have the ark in the first place. God had cursed them because they had the ark. And the cart was an experiment for them. They basically said, "If, as we think. this plague is from Israel's God, the oxen will carry the ark on the cart back to Israel of their own volition. Israel's God will guide them home without our help. If however, they carry it somewhere else, then our plague is not from Jehovah, but just merely a chance occurrence." So they followed it back to Israel, understood it was God, and left for home in a hurry.
However, just because God allows an unbeliever to get away with something, doesn't mean he won't punish his kids for not following his clearly stated instructions. Listen. It doesn't matter how we "feel" about something. It doesn't matter if we haven't felt "convicted" of something. If the word of God says it's wrong, it's wrong. If the word of God says it's right, it's right.
So, just when the Oxen slipped and the Ark shook, in a seemingly kind gesture, a man named Uzza put his hand on it to steady it. Innocent gesture. Even, in most people's minds- including David's, it was a respectful gesture. He was attempting to keep the ark from falling after all. But, only a priest or Levite was supposed to touch the Ark in transport. And God killed him for it.
Party's over now!
They were looking for a move of God, but this wasn't what they had been looking for.
Question: How many times has God moved in negative- even deadly- ways and the action brings revival? But, that was the Old Testament, brother. God doesn't work that way anymore.
Really?
Remember the couple that lied to the Holy Ghost in the Book of Acts and were struck dead? Remember the Israeli King that accepted the praise of men as if he were a god and God struck him with a disease and he died?
Both of those were New Testament events and BOTH of them brought the fear of God on the people which led to revival!
So David is shocked and angry and scared. So, he leaves the ark, everyone flees the area in case God's not done killing yet, and the Ark winds up in the home of a Levite named Obededom.
But something begins happening after all. God is blessing... Obededom.
Why was Obededom blessed and Abinadab wasn't? After all, Abinadab means "Father of generosity" and Obededom means "worker of Edom." Edom was a branch of Abraham through Jacob's twin brother Esau. How did Obededom get blessed? Abinadab was right with God or his house would've been just as cursed as the Philistines for having the Ark. But, he wasn't blessed.
Two answers: 1) One of the root words for Obededom is Adam and it means "to show blood, flush, or turn rosy." In other words, Obededom found his foundation in the blood! He wasn't just religious, he sought God! He knew his fleshly weaknesses and sins and knew he needed God! And when David brought the ark to Jerusalem finally, Obededom didn't just wave goodbye. HE MOVED WITH IT!
We don't need to just have God's law in our hearts and homes. We need to follow the leading of the God of the Ark. When he moves, we move. When he stops, we stop. If we want the blessings of God in our lives, we need to follow where he leads.
2 Samuel 6:11-12King James Version
11 And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.
12 And it was told King David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.
So when David heard of God blessing Obededom, he decided that they really needed to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. But, this time he did some praying and studying and found out that the Ark should have been carried by the priests and Levites. The singing should be led by the Levites, and there should be sacrifices to God involved.
1 Chronicles 15:
2 Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
3 And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it.
4 And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:
12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
13 For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.
15 And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.
16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
25 So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy.
26 And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.
27 And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen.
28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
One of my mentors, Prophet Gordon Winslow Sr, said on several occasions that it was written in the literature of Israel that when the priests and Levites lifted up the ark, usually four carried it (it weighed over five hundred pounds) and they could sometimes carry it for miles- that God would pick it up with them and enable them to do it.
It sounded right, but he didn't give "thus sayeth the Lord" to back it up. When I saw the phrase here in verse 26, "when God helped the Levites that bare the Ark of the covenant of the Lord," it was as if the Lord says, "There's your proof text."
God helped them carry the load. And God will help us to carry our load!
There are two crosses involved in Christianity. There are two crosses involved with our salvation.
We love to talk about the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus means blood shed for our sins. The cross of Jesus means God making a way for us when there is no way! It means victory, healing, right relationship with God!
But, we don't like to talk about the second cross. Yes, there is a burden for us to bear. There is flesh we need to crucify. There are sins we need to kill. There are sacrifices we have to make for others. There is denying ourselves what we want to give God and others what they need. There is bearing each other's burdens (both in prayer and in physical needs). And so on.
Jesus tells us to take up our cross! It's difficult. It's painful. And in our flesh, it's impossible.
Yet, Jesus also says that we are to take HIS YOKE upon us and he will give us rest.
A yoke bound 2 oxen or mules together so that they shared the load together of whatever they were pulling. Whether that was a cart full of heavy things, or it was pulling the plows through the rocky ground to prepare it for planting. They shared the load together.
When Jesus invites (truly commands) us to take his yoke, he's not saying we have to bear our cross alone, When we try that, we fail. But, when we take his yoke, he's saying, "I know you can't do it by yourself. I know the load is too great for you to bear. But, you're not alone! I will team up with you and I will supply your lack. You give it all you've got and I'll give it all I have. And together, we'll get the job done."
If you're not biblically born again, listen to the scriptural way to do so:
Acts 2:37-38King James Version
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Some preach just repentance. This is only part of the new birth.
Some preach repentance and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This is only part of the new birth.
To be biblically born again, we must repent of our sins, be baptized in Jesus' name for the forgiveness of those sins, and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost to empower us to both live for him and be a witness for him.
If you are born again, don't rely on rules and regulations. Don't think that if we look the part and act the part, we are the part.
Being born again is not the end all be all. It is the beginning. Jesus says when we are born again, he gives us the "power to become the sons of God." And Paul says that those who are "led by the spirit are the sons of God."
So work on, as Peter said, "grow(ing) in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Pray, study, and follow him. Let him use you as he sees fit. It may seem like an unbearable load to you, but he will help you carry the load.
