2 Corinthians, 3:14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Dizerner, you were in good company with Elijah there!
How nice to hear from you, Homer. Yay - an empathetic post!
In the account in 2Samuel 6, below, I see no 'positive command' of God to Uzzah or David, whose idea it was to move the Ark on the cart. Nothing said at all. No word of warning, just, zap!
There is nothing in the account of the ark incident that says Uzzah was a more evil man than David, whose treatment of Michal, not protesting when Saul took her back, then taking her from a husband who loved her, who followed, crying, when David claimed her as property he had paid for, then taking the five sons whom she had raised to give to the Gibeonites to hang in cold blood. Ayy!
I am scratching my head. I cannot fully trust someone I am afraid of, not knowing what will displease him next so severely, and be so quick to punish. I can understand the severity of God with such a people as even we, correcting us as a loving Father, but I cannot take everything in the OT as God's word to us for lessons in life. The Prophets called God merciful, slow to anger, and so many wonderful things; it is hard to believe that the one whom some others in the OT called 'the Lord' was really the Father whom Jesus loved and obeyed and represented fully. I am so glad we have him!
I am tending to think that the Bible is more the account of the progression of mankind from the awful cesspool of pagan living, and pagan ideas about God and gods, to the Kingdom of God, the manifestation of which we continue to look for with longing, and that is possibly why some of the OT writers did not speak of human sacrifice as such a shocking thing - witness Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter to fulfill a foolish vow he made. Not a word is said. Not even God said a word. I have always been thankful I did not live in those times when life was so cheap.
Bless you -
Ultimately, this is my song - from the OT nevertheless:
Psalm 149:1 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Here is the full quote of the account of Uzzah (ESV):
2Samuel 6:1 ¶ David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.
3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart,
4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.
5 And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
6 ¶ And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
"Anything you think you know about God that you can't find in the person of Jesus, you have reason to question.” - anonymous