The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-10-09
THE ARK BROUGHT TO ZION.
International Sunday school Lesson for
October IS, 1889.


GOLDEN TExr-The Lord iove,h tho gates
Of Zion more than all the dwellings OF
Jacob.-Ps. 81.
CENTRAL TRuTH-The institutions of re-
ligion blessing to the heart, the home and
the nation. 5i
TME-About B. c. 1912. six or seven
years after David became King over Israel.
PLACE-The ark was NJ KirjatE-jearim, ten
miles northwest OF Jerusalem, on the road
to Joppa
PARALLEL ACCoUNTs-A fuller account Is
given in Chron. chaps. IL, 10, IL.
lNTRoDUcTIoN-Davd was now firmly es-
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 Tho ark had
been at Kirjath-Jearim for about seventy
years. 1t had been brought there from the
Philstines, who had captured it in the bat
tie TO which Ellis sons had brought it Il
Sam. 41-1S; 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 Chron.
BID. !. The chose men IF Israel: dele
gates or representatives from all parts OF
the kingdom 2. From: describing the re-
turn to Jerusalem; the assembly gathered
here. Bddle Of Judah. the same rs Kirjath-
jearim forest city q Chron. 1876. See
Place. That dwelleth betuecn the cherubim: on
the mercy seat over the ark. Here God had
been accustomed to manifest Him.
SELF g. Set the ark upon u new
cart: in the same way in which it was
brought by the Philistines q Sam. go.
But the Phllistines had no means of know
ing the law. The Israelites should have
known that this was contrary to the law
mum. 4:l5; 7:9). 4. Abinadd6: the man in
whose care the ark was placed. He was
probably dead, and his descendants took
charge OF the ark. Gibedh: not proper
name; it means ahill. 5. Played: danced to
instrumental and vocal music. Psaheries:
lutes or Tyres. Timbrels: tamborines. g.
Took hold Of the ark: contrary to express
command (Num. 4:I5; / Sam. $40. The
oren shook it: the roads are very rough in
| Palestine unfit for carriages, and the oxen
stumbled q Chron. 1870. T. The anger Of
the Lord, not passion, but Indignation
against sin. And God smot> him: as by
lightning stroke. The punishment was
|
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 was. d splcdscd: 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. -. House Of Ubed-edom: probably
near the city. He was Levite, probably
born in Gath Rimmon of Manasseh, and
hence called Glttite; that is, Gathite ~.
So Ddvid brought mp the ark: for fuller
description, see l. Chron. chaps. Is and 16.
Ps "A, 6S, 49,, and the hymns given in !
Chron. IS the same as Ps. 105:15; SO; and
106:47, 49, 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 paciied
the civil aissensons Of Israel, and gained
the ascendancy over his foreign foes, he
turned his attention at once to the state Of
religion ut 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 tolo
in the lesson.
| COMMENTS David's 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,
| no haftf cd ha IA Uat a N
army of thirty thousand men and
with them marched to the house of
Abinadab-who was Levite, and whose
son Eleazar had been charged to keep the
ark (see Sam. I'D = 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 Le-
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 a
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 sons had been struck
dead by God. He should, moreover, have
remembered that God smote the men OF
Beth-shemesh for irreverence (see Sam
6:l9). In acting as he did David did
wrong, and was culpably careless. This
led to severe punishment. Que 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 hi:
hand and caught hold of the ark. AS .
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 a cart
and not on the shoulders Of the Levites
Uzzah himself was Levite, and ought t,
have known better David did wrong, bu
Uzzah did more wrong. The punishment
Of Uzzah was for lis own sin, and was
great and solemn lesson to all Israel, AM
to David as we'll, to obey Gods command
down to ths minutest detail.
Obed-edom seems to have been godl
man, and to have meekly received the ark
1 which David was afraid TO handle an,
. more. He was Levite, and hence o YER
proper person to have charge Of the ark
: There the sacred symbol remained 70
7 three months, and during that time Go
Q blessed the house Of Obed-edom richly
Q I'm what way God did this we are not told.
Q Tidings Of this coming to David's ears
Q again starts out, and this time, CAREFUL
4 observing Gods 8 enactments, brings tn