1 Chronicles 13:1-14

The Book of 1 Chronicles

God rules History

1 Chronicles

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 13

David brings the *ark to Jerusalem – 1 Chronicles 13:1-16

The first part of the journey – 1 Chronicles 13:1-14

v1 David talked with all the officers of his army. He talked to the officers who led the groups of 1000 men. And he talked to the officers who led the groups of 100 men. v2 David then spoke to all the *Israelites who were present. ‘If it seems good to you, let us send a message to the rest of *Israel. If it is in the purpose of the *LORD our God, let us do it. Let us call the rest of the *Israelites to come and to join us. This will include the priests and the *Levites who live in their towns and on their land. v3 Let us bring back the *ark of our God. We did not use it to ask God for help while Saul was king.’ v4 All the people agreed with David. They all thought that it was the right thing to do.

v5 So, David gathered all the *Israelites. They came from as far as the Shihor river in Egypt and Lebo Hamath. They came to bring the *ark of God from the town called Kiriath Jearim. v6 David and all the *Israelites with him went to Baalah of Judah. Baalah of Judah is another name for Kiriath Jearim. They went to get the *ark of God, the *LORD. The *LORD has his *throne between the *cherubim on the *ark, which has his name.

v7 The people carried the *ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart. v8 David and all *Israel played music to God with all their strength. They sang songs and they played these musical instruments: *lyres, *harps, tambourines, *cymbals, and *trumpets.

v9 They came as far as the yard that Kidon used to prepare his grain. The *oxen that pulled the cart tripped. And Uzzah reached out his hand so that the *ark would not fall. v10 The *LORD was angry with Uzzah because he had touched the *ark. The *LORD struck him down and Uzzah died there in front of God.

v11 David was angry because the *LORD had acted against Uzzah in order to punish him. And even today, that place is called Perez Uzzah.

v12 David was afraid of God that day. He said, ‘I cannot bring the *ark of God home to me.’ v13 So, David did not take the *ark of God with him to the city of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom who lived in a town called Gath. v14 The *ark of God stayed with Obed-Edom’s family in his house for three months. And the *LORD was kind to Obed-Edom’s family and all that he owned.

Verses 1-4 David knew that God had made him king of *Israel. His first act was to try to bring God back into the centre (heart) of the nation. So, David wanted to bring the *ark of God to the capital city.

God’s *ark was a wooden box. Gold covered the wood on both the inside and the outside of the box (Exodus 25:10). In it, there was the book of the law that God gave to Moses. Also Aaron’s stick was in the box. So was a gold jar with the bread that God gave to *Israel in the desert (Hebrews 9:4). The *ark was the most holy object in the *worship of God. It was a sign that God was there in the holy tent among his people.

The *Philistines had taken the *ark of God in the battle at Ebenezer. That battle was in about 1085 *BC (1 Samuel chapter 4). They put the *ark in the *temple of their god Dagon in Ashdod town. But the *LORD caused the image of Dagon to fall and to break in pieces. The *LORD then caused the people in Ashdod to be sick. They sent the *ark of God to the town called Gath. The people in Gath became sick. So, they sent the *ark back to *Israel. The *ark of God then stayed in the house of Abinadab on a hill near Kiriath Jearim town. It was there and *Israel forgot about it for 20 years (1 Samuel 6:19 to 7:2). Then Samuel led the people back to God and to the *worship of God. But the *ark of God remained in the house of Abinadab for a further 50 to 60 years.

Kiriath Jearim was about 8 miles west of Jerusalem. It was on the border between the *tribes of Benjamin and Judah.

Saul had not come to the *ark to ask for God’s help. And Saul was not loyal to God. That was why Saul’s rule had ended. But David wanted to rule with the help of God.

David spoke about the *ark with the leaders of the army and with all the people. He called for the people to come and to meet with him. He wanted them all to agree that it was right to bring the *ark of God to Jerusalem. He asked the priests and *Levites to come. They should be the leaders of the people in the *worship of God. Part of their job was to take care of the *ark of God. All the people agreed with David’s proposal to bring the *ark to Jerusalem.

Verses 5-6 David gathered a large crowd of *Israelites. There were 30 000 men who were there on behalf of all *Israel (2 Samuel 6:1). They came from as far as the Shihor river in the south on the border with Egypt. They came from as far as Lebo Hamath, which was on the north border of *Israel. They came from all over *Israel to bring the *ark of God from Kiriath Jearim town.

In the desert, God told Moses to build a special tent where he would be present (see Exodus chapter 40). In that tent there was an inner room called the most holy place. The *ark was in this room. Over the *ark was a cover. The cover was of gold and there were two images of gold. The images joined as one piece with the cover. These two images were the *cherubim. *Cherubim are a type of *angel. They stood at each end of the cover. There, above the cover between the two *cherubim, God said that he would meet with his people.

Verses 7-8 The journey started with music and dance. It was a joyful procession. The *ark was so special that they put it on a new cart. But this was not the proper way to transport the *ark. The *ark had rings through which poles would go. The *Levites ought to have carried it on their shoulders by the poles (Exodus 37:5).

Among the musical instruments were tambourines. A tambourine is an instrument that you hit or shake to make a noise. There were also *lyres and *harps. These are instruments with strings. There were *cymbals. They make a loud crash when you hit them. And there were *trumpets. You blow into a *trumpet to make a loud musical sound.

Uzzah and Ahio were from the family of Abinadab. They controlled the *oxen that pulled the cart.

Verses 9-11 We do not know where Kidon had his yard. Such yards ought to be completely flat. But it was at that place that the *oxen tripped. Uzzah touched the *ark of God so that it would not fall. Because he touched the *ark, the *LORD killed him.

The action of Uzzah may seem reasonable. He just wanted to make the *ark safe on the cart. But there are reasons for the death of Uzzah. The *ark should not have been on a cart. The *Levites ought to have carried it. Nobody should have touched the *ark. Those who touch holy things will die (Numbers 4:15). The *ark had poles by it. Because of these poles, the *Levites would not touch the *ark when they moved it. And that is how God ordered them to move the *ark. There was a lesson for the people. They must give proper honour to God’s holy things. They must obey the rules that God had given about them. The *ark was a sign that God was with his people.

David was angry with God. But later that anger became fear.

They gave that place the name Perez Uzzah. The meaning of that name is not certain. But it could be ‘(God) burst out against Uzzah’.

Verses 12-14 David was afraid of God. He was afraid to take the *ark to Jerusalem. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom lived in a town called Gath. (This is not the same town as I have mentioned in my notes on verses 1-4. It is another town with the same name.) Obed-Edom was a *Levite from the *clan of Kohath. He was a musician and a guard of the holy things (15:18 and 15:24). So, he was able to look after the *ark of God.

The *ark was in Obed-Edom’s house for three months. And God was kind to him and his family.

ark ~ the ark of the LORD or the ark of God; the Bible also calls it ‘the ark of God’s special promise’. It was a wooden box with gold all over the outside and inside. It had two models of gold cherubim on the top (see Exodus 25:10-22). The Israelites kept the ark in the most holy place; first in the LORD’s tent and then in the temple.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
cherubim ~ special angels who were in the most holy place of the temple.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
angel ~ one of God’s special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
throne ~ the special chair for the king.
cherubim ~ special angels who were in the most holy place of the temple.
angel ~ one of God’s special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
lyre ~ a kind of musical instrument with strings.
harp ~ a musical instrument that has many strings.
cymbals ~ a kind of musical instrument. A person hits two cymbals together to make a loud crash.
trumpet ~ a kind of musical instrument; it makes a loud sound when a person blows into it.
oxen ~ plural of ox.
ox ~ a large and strong animal that farmers used to pull the plough. See also bull.
bulls ~ the male farm animals of which the females are cows.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Philistines ~ a group of people who lived to the south-west of Judah. They were a nation that frequently fought against the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
cherubim ~ special angels who were in the most holy place of the temple.
angel ~ one of God’s special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
angel ~ one of God’s special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
clan ~ part of a tribe, a group of families.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.