The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-10-12
THE ARK BROUGHT TO ZION.
International Sunday school Lssson IT,
October Is, 1859.

Jacob.-Ps. 81
! CENTRAL TRUrH-The institutions Of re-
IRion blessing TO the heart, the home and
the nation.
TIME--About b. C.. 1912, six or seven
years after David became King over Israel.
PLAcE-The ark was ~ Kirjath.jearim. ten
miles northwest Of Jerusalem, on the road
10 Joppa.
PARALLEL ACCoUNrs-A fuller account Is
given in Chron. chaps. 10, Is, 10.
lNrRopUcrIoN-David was now firmly e..
tablished on his throne. His capital was
fortified, his palace built. He had conquered
several enemies. His next duty was to re-
establish religion and thus bind the nation
together
| HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEs-The ark had
been at Kirjath- Jearim for about seventy
years. lthad been brought there from the
Philistines, who had captured it in the bat
tie to which Ellis sons had brought II Il
Sam. 4:l-lS; see Less q Third Quarter).
All this time there had been great neglect
OF religion. David prepared place for the
ark on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem Il Chr0n.
15:D. ]. The chosen men Of Israel. dele.
gates or represen tatives from all parts Of
the kingdom. O. From: describing the re-
turn to Jerusalem; the assembly gathered
jearim Qorest city, q Chron. 1850. Sec
Place. That d,cellSh oettreen the cherubim: on
the mercy seat over the ark Here God had
been accustomed to manifest Him
self. 3. Set the ark upon y neio
cart: in the same way In whASh it was
brought by the Philistines q Sam. go.
But the Philistines had no means Of know
ing the law. The Isyaelites should have
known that this was contrary to the law
Mum. AIS; 7:9). 4. Abinaddb: the man in
whose care the ark was placed. He was
probably dead, and his descendants took
charge OF the ark Gibeuh: not a proper
name; 1t means hill. S. Played: danced to
instrumental and vocal music. PSateries.
lutes or Tyres. Timbrels: tamborines. 8.
Took hold Of the ark: contrary to express
command Mum. AIS; Sam. $40. The
oxen shook it: the roads are very rough in
Palestine unit for carriages, and the oxen
stumbled Il Chron. 1879. Z. The anger Of
tho Lord not passion, but indignation
against sin. And God smote him: as by .
lightning stroke. The punishment was
severe, but % Uzzah should have known
better (2) Neglect of the law ut the begin
ming of new era like this would bring
neglect and error into the whole religious
ceremonial. 8. David Wds displedscd: the
death OF Uzzah broke up all David's plans,
and was great disappointment to the peo-
pie. This was their part OF the punish
ment 49, House Of Obsd-edom: probably
near the city. He was q Levite, probably
born in Gath Rimmon Of Manasseh, and
hence called Gittite; that Is, Gathite. II.
So Ddvid brought up tho ark: for fuller
description, see Chron. chaps. Is and 16.
Ps. "a, IS, l32, and the hymns given in
Chron. IS Cthe same as Ps. 10; 90; and
100 al, 4S) belong to this occasion.
LESSON FACTs-About seventy years had
passed since the ark OF the covenant had
stood in the tabernacle Of God. They were
years of great political disturbance and re-
ligious decline. After David had pacified
the civil discussions Of Israel, and gained
the ascendancy over his foreign foes, he
turned his attention at once to the state Of
religion at home. His first thought then
was the restoration of the ark to its former
place, and the renewal Of the worship of
God according to the ordinances given by
God to Moses. How he laid his plans. how
he failed to carry them into execution at
first, and how he finally succeeded, are told
in the lesson.
COMMENSURATE motive in wishing to
remove the ark TO Jerusalem was good. He
wanted to honor God and draw back the
people to their allegiance to their Heavenly
King. In carrying out his plans, he pro.
posed to do every thing on grand scale,
as befitted the occasion. SO he gathered an
army Of thirty thousand men and
with them marched to the house Of
Abinadab-who was a Levite, and whose
son Eleazar had been charged to keep tho
ark (see Sam. ~ in Gibeah, to bring
the ark to his capital with much pomp. In
all this there was nothing wrong, but it
was all frustrated because Of culpable care
lessness. The KING ought to have known
that God had commanded that only the LIE
vites should carry the ark, and that on their
shoulders. just as God would allow only
the high priest to enter the Holy Of holes,
and that only once year, in order to i'm
press holy reverence on the people, so He
had ordered that none but Levites should
touch the ark. 1t may be that David thought
that this regulation was of small account;
since the Philistines had put the ark on Q
cart, and Abinadab had had it for some
time in his house. But David had no bust
ness TO do any thinking" that was con-
trary 70 Gods express command. He
might have known that, for doing just
this, Aaron's two Sous had been struck
dead by God. He should, moreover, have
remembered that God smote the men Of
Beth shemesh for irreversnoe (see Sam.
$40. In acting as he did David did
wrong, and was cupably careless. This
led to severe punishment. One sin
always leads to another, and the wrong
OF one man may do harm to another.
When the ark began to move the oxen
stumbled, and Uzzah rashly put out his
hand and caught hold Of the ark AS q
consequence, God smote him and he died.
He was smitten, not SO much for touching
the ark as for taking part in the whole
proceeding Of putting the ark on cart,
and not on the shoulders OF the Levites.
Uzzah himself was Levite, and ought to
have known better. David did wrong, but
Uzzah did more wrong. The punishment
Of Uzzah was for his own sin, and was q
great and solemn lesson to all Israel, and
to David as well, to obey Gods commands
down to the minutest detail.
Obed-edom seems to have been g0dly
man, and TO have meekly received the ark,
which David was afraid to handle any
more He was Levite, and hence q very
proper person to have charge OF the ark
There the sacred symbol remained for
three months, and during that time God
blessed the house Of Obed-e dom richly
| In what way God did this we are not told