GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CHRONICLES 15:11-16
11 Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the families of the Levites; consecrate yourselves, both you and your brother Levites, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.”
Here we see confirmed what we merely suspected before: that the named heads of the priestly families and the two high priests (Zadok and Abiathar) would be the ones to physically lift up the ark with the poles to carry it into the city and then to the tent David had pitched for it. They had seen what had happened to Uzza months before. Now they were putting their own lives on the line but trusting that God would not only refrain from killing them, but that he would in fact bless them and the work they were undertaking.
David does not lay all of the blame for the death of Uzza on these men, although they certainly should have known what was wrong. David surely had a strong personality, and it may have been difficult for some people to stand up to him. Yet David also includes himself in the blame when he says, “We did not inquire of the Lord about how to do it in the prescribed way.” Not all men, let alone kings, would have said such a thing. David felt the guilt over what had happened, and deeply. He was not above repenting in public for his sins.
14 So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 The Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD. 16 David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brother Levites as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: harps, lyres, and cymbals.
This consecration would have included a bath and a change of clothing, but it also could well have included all of the things commanded in Exodus 29 for the consecration of priests: the preparation and presentation of bread, cakes mixed with oil, the sacrifice of a young bull and two rams without defect, and anointing with oil in public, and special sashes tied, and the ceremonial meal including the breast and thigh of the ram (“Aaron’s share”) (Exodus 29:1-46). This was no mere ritual and it is not as if the Lord ever relaxed his watchful eye. When Aaron himself and his sons were consecrated in this way, his sons tried to offer “unauthorized fire” before the Lord, possibly to see the ark within the most holy place in the tent, and were struck down dead by the Lord, with fire from presence of the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2).
The consecration took place. The chosen men grasped the poles and lifted the ark up onto their shoulders. The box itself was wood overlaid with gold and would not have been too heavy. The contents included the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, the weight of which would have been slight compared with everything else. But the cover of the ark was solid gold, a slab nearly four feet long and more than two feet wide with two winged angels, cherubim, cast in gold, on top. If the slab were simply an inch thick, it would have been 1260 cubic inches of gold, which would weigh 13,936 ordinary (not troy) ounces, or just over 870 pounds (that’s about 22 bags of salt, the kind we buy for our water softeners, also the big bags of dog food or cat food in the grocery store). That’s more than double the weight of a typical casket as it is carried at a funeral today. Since the ark was to be carried on the shoulder (verse 15), a practical consideration was not the weight distributed between eight, twelve, or sixteen men, but to take care that the men were of about the same height. Once the command of the Lord was understood and obeyed, then smaller details could be addressed. This is also the way that we address such things as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christ’s command for baptism is that we baptize– that is, apply water for the forgiveness of sins and the creation of faith– along with the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). When we know that we have done these things, we can address minor details of procedure (Acts 8:36).
David saw to it that music was prepared and performed as they brought the ark to the city. The clearest example is Psalm 132, which is quite long, but we will close today with these verses:
“O LORD, remember David and how afflicted he was,
How he swore an oath to the LORD
and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
‘I will not enter my house or go to my bed–
I will give no sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
We heard it in Ephrathah,
we came upon it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us go to his dwelling place,
let us worship at his footstool.
Rise up, O LORD, and come to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
let your saints sing for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
do not reject your anointed one.” (Psalm 132:1-10)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Chronicles 15:11-16 The ark is lifted