2 Samuel 6

God's Dwelling-Place

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edora the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his house. 2 Samuel 6:11.

Today I want to tell you the story of a box or chest a very wonderful chest indeed. Even to look at it was wonderful, for though it was made of acacia, or what the Bible calls “shittim” wood it was plated all over with gold. On the top of the chest rested a solid slab of gold which had a beautiful name of its own. It was called the Mercy Seat. At each end of this Mercy Seat was a winged figure called a cherubim and between these two figures, when the chest was put in its proper place, there rested a mysterious light. That light was the sign, the token, of the presence of God. Inside the chest were the “tables of stone” which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, tablets on which were written the ten commandments given to him by God. This chest, or “ark” as the Bible names it, was the most sacred and cherished possession of the children of Israel, and it was carried from place to place with great care, according as God commanded.

Several very remarkable things occurred in its history. When the priests bore it to the brink of the river Jordan, the waters were divided before it and they kept divided so long as the ark rested in the river bed. It was carried round the city of Jericho seven days in succession, and on the last day the walls fell flat, and the Israelites entered the city without opposition.

The ark was afterwards placed in Shiloh, and there a strange adventure befell it. It was taken into the midst of the camp of Israel when they were about to fight with the Philistines. The battle was fought, Israel was beaten, and the ark was taken captive. The Philistines carried it off and set it up in the temple of Dagon, their fish-god. “Now,” said they, “by this we proclaim that Jehovah, Israel's God, is the conquered prisoner of our god.” But the morning showed Dagon lying broken on the threshold. The frightened priests got rid of the ark as quickly as they could. From one Philistine city to another it passed, and everywhere its presence was marked by disease and calamity. So at last they huddled it into a cart and left the oxen to draw it whither they would. The animals made straight for the hills of Judaea, and rested in a harvest field of Beth-shemesh.

The ark was then left for a time at Kirjath-jearim, till David thought of bringing it to Zion. But, awestruck by the death of Uzzah, who rashly put out his hand to touch it, David ordered it to be carried into the house of a very good man called Obed-edom, where it remained three months. And all the time it was there, a blessing rested with it. There were no idols in Obed- edom's house, and he was not presumptuous like Uzzah.

He feared and served the God of the ark; so, instead of being a source of disaster, it was a blessing to him.

Would you like to know the rest of the story? After the ark had rested three months in Obed-edom's house it was safely removed to a special tent which King David had erected for it in Zion, that is, Jerusalem. David wanted to build a temple to be a fitting home for the ark, but God asked him to leave that to his successor. And so, when Solomon came to the throne, he erected a magnificent Temple and there the ark was placed in state. What really was the end of it we shall probably never know, but most people suppose that when Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, the ark was destroyed too.

Now I don't want you to think of the sad end of the ark. I want you to think of it as our text speaks of it, resting in the house of Obed-edom. Don't you think Obed-edom must have been very proud, and very awed at the same time, to think that the dwelling-place of the great God of Israel should be in his house? For Obed-edom, like the Israelites of his day, would believe that God came down and dwelt specially between the outstretched wings of the cherubim. But he would not understand what his countrymen were to learn later, and what you and I know today that God loves to dwell in every house and in every place where He is invited to come.

That reminds me of a story I read the other day. Some years ago there lived in one of the central states of America a certain farmer who had a wife and two children, a baby boy and a little girl of seven. He was not making a success of his farm, and when the great north-west country was opened up he resolved to move there and begin afresh. So he went off and secured a farm in a very lonely out-of-the-way spot. When he came home and told his little girl what he had done, her first question was, “Is there any church there, Dad?” (She was fond of church, you see.) Dad said, “No.” “Is there any Sunday school there?” inquired she. Again Dad said, “No.” Then, “Is there any God there?” she asked. And Dad didn't know what to say to that, so he answered nothing.

When they had moved all the furniture out of the old home and were ready to start for the train, the child was nowhere to be found. They hunted high and low, and at last her mother found her. Do you know where? In her own little empty room, kneeling in one corner with her face to the wall. She was praying aloud, and this is what she was saying “Dear God, we are going to North Dakota and there is no Sunday school there, and there is no church there, and there is no God there. Good-bye, dear God, good-bye.”

Poor little girl! Her heart was nearly broken because she did not understand that God dwells wherever He is invited to dwell. She did not know that His favorite dwelling-place is the loving heart of just such a little child.

Perhaps you would like to hear the end of that story. It has a happier ending than the story of the ark.

When the little girl's mother overheard the prayer she knelt down beside the child and asked God to send the Sunday school and the church to their new home, and to go with them Himself. And do you know what happened? Within two months a Sunday school missionary started a Sunday school in that place; and within five months a little church was opened, and the neighbors for miles round came there to worship God.

God, boys and girls, never refuses an invitation to come and stay. And where He comes He blesses as He blessed Obed-edom. Have you ever sent Him an invitation? Have you invited Him to your home? Have you asked Him to dwell in your heart?