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God’s Mercy, Uzzah and the Ark — 22 Comments

  1. in a disrespectul manner and willingly, Uzzah touched the ark of God and he died instantly. light can not co- exist with darkness, God cannot co-exist with sin.
    The God we worship is very specific, how we should worship Him, which day to worship Him, what we should eat, dressing etc, He is very specific.
    Uzzah committed a spiritual suicide, so when we arrogantly do that which we know is against the law of God- we commit spiritual suicide and its a confirmation that Uzzah must really due. May God bless his family!

    (5)
  2. Great! I have had so many arguments about how God dispenses his justice and this example is one among many that shows us how God treats our disobedience. With our knowledge of His law, we need to be careful enough to do as He wills. Short of this, we are posed to endanger the communities in which we live, directing them to the wrong way and facilitating their failure to share in eternal life.

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  3. What a reminder to me and others who think that God understands even when we break knowingly His well-spelt out commandments. It does matter to God especially when we know what He says and we go against it.

    (4)
  4. I could not have put it any better, thank you for the article William.
    The mercy of God is seen in the fact that only Uzzah died in this most terrible deed of the Israelites. Had God not have been merciful, we could have been speaking about hundreds that died while the ark was being put into a cart. How tragic would the world be without mercy!

    (5)
  5. Thank you, William.

    At times, we struggle knowing what it is God's will is for us when making decisions. This illustration is a reminder that most of what He says to do in the bible is clear to obey.

    (4)
  6. Dear William,thankyou for explaining this story about Uzzah.I also did not understand it before and now see how mercyful God was towards the Philistines. Please could you explain the part that "...God's mercy may still save Uzzah at the resurrection as well." How can you know this if Uzzah died with unconfessed sins? What biblical evidence do you have for this?

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    • Steps to Christ 57, 58: The character is revealed, not by occasional good deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by the tendency of the habitual words and acts.
      White, E. G. (1892; 2002). Steps to Christp. 57. Pacific Press Publishing Association.

      (6)
      • William,

        Thank you for your post and comment, "God knows the heart, and if we would have confessed, had we been given the opportunity".

        We see so little of confession and repentance in the church. I can't even remember when someone said to me, "Please forgive me for ______".

        When we say, "I am sorry" it means you feel sad that something bad happened to someone. When we say, Please forgive me and then state the actual wrong we did to someone, that is true confession. As the lesson states this week, the dry bones, the church members, will be brought to repentance and to new life in Christ. This is something to look forward to.

        (5)
    • Oyinloye, but the Philistines touched the ark and lived. Of course they did not know any better. So there is more to it than just saying, we can't come in contact with God and live. After all, it was not God saying He could not be around Adam after Adam sinned, but it was Adam who ran from God. It was not Jesus telling the demons they could not be around Him, but rather the demons saying they could not stand being around Jesus. Your point is well taken, but there is more to the story.

      (6)
      • Hi William

        Although there is plenty in this sobering event for all of God's people in general, this example could best be directed at church leaders. In our day, SDA church leaders should ever keep Uzzah in mind as they ''handle'' and preserve sacred truths for our time. Don't get me wrong, I say this void of judgment just concern for what we see happening in our church today.

        (5)
  7. I can see clearly the mercy of God exhibited in the story of Uzziah in that the Philistines in their ignorance were not consumed. God's people must be able to differentiate between what is right and what seem to be right. It seemed like the right thing for Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and It seem like the right thing to worship on a Sunday because most people are doing it. Are these two situations sanctioned by God's word? of course not. How then is doing right related to the mercies of God? When we obey God's word we move from the wages of sin, which is death, to the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Obedience allows the mercies of God to be manifested in our lives.

    (2)
  8. Thank you for the post. I now have a reason to respond to someone who says God is worshiped any day.

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    • Eddie the comments do not justify worshiping any day you want. A question to ask is where in the bible does it say to worship on a day of any sort? If that is the difference under discussion then a number of Bible texts can be quoted. Neither Eve or Uzzah planned to disobey God. They both sinned because of unintentional actions. Eve would have told the snake that they would die, so they were aware.

      (0)
  9. Thanks William for the insite. At the death of my sister ,it turned my heart to God. Other wise,I might have lost my soul.

    (3)
  10. Personally, I believe that when God visits people with momentous judgment as with the case of Uzzah, it is usually not their first time of indulging in that sin or something close to that. In most cases, such individuals would have had at least 3 opportunities to amend their ways. This itself is an act of mercy.

    It is when they show no sign (or intention) of change that God chooses one of their evil/wrong actions to visit them with judgment. So, my point is this: when the Spirit is convicting us of a wrongful act, it is an act of God's mercy to prevent us from facing His wrath. If we don't yield or decide to yield, we cannot but get the Uzzah's treatment.

    (1)
    • 1 Samuel 16:7 - Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. More significant than the behaviour is the heart motivation behind/underpinning the behaviour. There are those who worship on Sunday that have a self-renouncing heart for God - and there are those who worship on Sabbath that have a self-seeking heart.

      Sin is primarily an issue of heart motivation. There was nothing wrong with the fruit that Eve ate in the Garden of Eden - it was the heart motivation underpinning the eating of the fruit that was the 'sin'(lawlessness: 1 John 3:4)) problem.

      Am I saying anything goes? No, those who have genuine heart motivation for God (rather than for self) will be led by the Spirit into greater and greater 'truth' - that is, the truth of how abundant life necessarily works. How far along that journey will each person get prior to this side of heaven? As far as they are able. This will not be an issue - again because it is heart motivaton underpinning a behaviour that identifies whether one is habitually a 'sinner'/self-seeker.

      (1)
    • Is worshiping on Sunday a sin?
      Jesus wants each of us to study His word that we might determine whether or not we are in harmony with His revealed will. Certainly forgetting the Sabbath day is sin for God asked us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Jesus reprimanded the spiritual leaders of the day for replacing the Commandments with customs and traditions of men. Matt. 15:9, Mark 7:7.
      The apostle Paul taught Titus that "the commandments of men turn us from the truth." Titus 1:14
      The apostle James teaches "therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin". James 4:17
      1 John 3:4 ". . . sin is the transgression of the law."
      Your question implies that you know which day is ". . .the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." The real question is; Will I yield to the Sovereign of the universe or will I join Satan in his revolution against the authority of God?
      I wish that this format permitted a fuller explanation but sadly, not. May God empower you to make a decision that will glorify Him.

      (0)
    • Yes, people worshiping on Sunday are sinners. People worshiping on Sabbath are also sinners, because we all have sinned. (Rom 3:23)

      However, if anyone (Sunday keeper or Sabbath keeper) rejects the promptings of the Spirit to make changes in the life, hearts become hardened to the point that God cannot reach them and save them.

      We understand that a time will come when Sunday keeping will become "the mark of the beast" because the issues will be so clear that keeping Sunday means rejecting the voice of the Holy Spirit. But that time has not yet come.

      (1)

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