1 Chronicles 13:1–14
13 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. 2 13:2And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. 3 13:3Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it 1 in the days of Saul.” 4 13:4All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
5 13:5So David assembled all Israel from the Nile 2 of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 13:6And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim. 7 13:7And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio 3 were driving the cart. 8 13:8And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.
9 13:9And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 13:10And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 13:11And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza 4 to this day. 12 13:12And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13 13:13So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14 13:14And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.
Section Overview
In Chronicles, David’s actions relating to the ark of God are his first act after being made king and making Jerusalem his capital, the Chronicler’s order being different from that in 2 Samuel.1 The literary rearrangement gives preeminence to David’s identification with the Mosaic covenant and its central object. Although the ark was almost certainly destroyed in the destruction of the temple (it is last mentioned in 2 Chron. 35:3; cf. Jer. 3:16), the narrative reminds postexilic hearers of the priority and centrality of the covenant relationship that is independent of a Davidic king.
The narrative from 1 Chronicles 13:5 on closely parallels 2 Samuel 6:1–11, but 1 Chronicles 13:1–4 provides a context of David’s plans being consultative, involving “all Israel” in the decision. The ark was brought from Kiriath-jearim with much celebration, but on the way one of the cart drivers put out his hand to hold the ark and died (vv. 5–10). As a result, fear of going any farther grew, and the ark was left in the house of Obed-edom. The passage ends, however, on a positive note with the blessing of “the household of Obed-edom” (vv. 11–14).
Section Outline
- II.B.1. David Crowned: Military Success and Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem (11:1–16:43) . . .
- b. David, All Israel, and the Ark of God (13:1–14)
Response
Many know occasions in which we go forward joyfully in some new venture with wholehearted commitment but something happens and we wonder what went wrong. David’s situation has been mirrored in the lives of many faithful followers of Christ. We may, like David, feel that somehow God has been unfair (as did Job). There may be other questions as we seek to understand: Is a holy God confronting us (Acts 5:1–11; 1 Cor. 11:17–32)? Do we need to be corrected, learning more of God’s ways (Matt. 17:14–20; 2 Tim. 3:16–17)? Or is this opposition for doing what is right (Matt. 5:10–11)? Is this a storm as we follow Christ (Matt. 8:23–27)? No one answer fits every situation! The writer to the Hebrews both invites, “Let us . . . with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, . . . in time of need,” and also warns us to come “with reverence and awe” (Heb. 4:16; 12:25–29).
David’s good intentions did not prevent the tragedy. Sadly, church history and personal life experience provide many examples of wrong done with the best of intentions—with often grievous consequences. Yet this passage is also an example that tragedy is not the end. God’s “anger” against wrongdoing is a motif throughout Scripture, but alongside and subsequent is his great patience, mercy, and faithfulness (Ex. 34:7: cf. “thousandth generation” [ESV mg.] with “third and fourth”; Isa. 54:7–8: cf. “brief moment” with “great compassion” and “everlasting love”). Further, we see here a foreshadowing of the way that, in Christ, Gentiles who are “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel” are being “built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:11–22).4
1 Cf. Overview of 11:1–29:30.
2 Knoppers, I Chronicles 10–29, 584–586.
3 “Gittite” is a person from the Philistine city of Gath, not far from the route. “Obed-edom” is also the name of a Levitical “gatekeeper” for the ark (15:18, 24), and it seems likely that for the Chronicler this is the same person, especially as later we read he had eight sons, “for God blessed him” (26:4–5).
4 Andrew Wilson, “God in Our Living Room,” Christianity Today 60/3 (April 2016): 34.