Thursday, May 31, 2018

Steadying the Ark

Uzzah was the unfortunate guy who stuck his hand out to steady the ark when it was falling and was immediately struck dead. I struggled to understand the fairness of the whole event until I saw the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Just kidding.

I still struggle with the fairness of particular Old Testament story. I suspect it is just a matter of cause and effect. The Lord previously warned the Israelites that they were under no circumstances to touch the ark. I'd like to think that, all things considered, his touching the ark didn't weigh into Uzzah's final judgement.

Regardless of the meaning we are supposed to take from this particular account, I doubt it has anything to do with touching your sibling's stuff.

4 comments:

  1. So many life lessons can be learned from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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    1. So true. It's definitely my favorite movie of all time!

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  2. Well, for one, he was struck dead, not tortured. For two, it was an object lesson: If you try to correct God, you are worthy of death (although repentance can work wonders on that). For three, it got people thinking about the Final Judgment. For four, it teaches us that things that may seem imperfect or wrong can work for our good. Sometimes we have to trust that God will change our circumstances in the best way if we have faith in Him. And that best way may not be what we think.

    Lastly, we have to ask, was Uzzah punished? Yes. Was he punished severely? In the eternal scheme of things, maybe not. God can teach an object lesson without belittling the one who made it so.

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