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April 7 - Evening
"David again brought together all the able young men
of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim
on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart
and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which
was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it,
and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all
Israel were celebrating with all their might before
the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres,
timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there
beside the ark of God.
Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath
had broken out against Uzzah, and to this
day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
David was afraid of the Lord that day and said,
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How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?' "
- Second Samuel 6:1-9 |
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| David Fails to Move the Ark of the Covenant Correctly |
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When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from the battle field with Israel they were struck with a plague, rats and tumors. In an attempt to rid themselves of these deadly problems they molded five gold rats and five gold tumors which were placed, along with the Ark, in a cart drawn by two cows (1 Sam. 6:1-21). The cart was not guided, yet the cows pulled the Ark of God back into the land of Israel up the Sorek Valley and stopped outside the city of Beth Shemesh, one of the Levitical cities. When the people of Beth Shemesh looked inside the Ark seventy of them died, so they begged someone else to take it to their city. At that time it was taken by some men from Kiriath Jearim into their town. It has remained there until the days of David ….
David had successfully subdued the Philistines in 2 Samuel 5:17-25. David’s route of the Philistines was so complete at the battle of Baal Perazim that the Philistines abandoned their idols and David’s men carried them off. With the anticipation that the Philistines will regroup, it is possible that David anticipates the Philistines could make an attempt at retaking the Ark of the Covenant in retaliation for Israel having plundered their idols. So, in the very next chapter, 2 Samuel 6, we see David getting 30,000 young men together to escort the Ark of the Covenant from the town of Kiriath Jearim, or Baalah (1 Chron. 13:6) seven miles into his new capital city of Jerusalem.
The problem is that David and his priesthood appear to be so ignorant of the Word of God and the Law of Moses that they simply imitate the pagan Philistines. This, of course, was the main problem with the days of the Judges that extended into the culture that Samuel tried to revive with teaching and it continued up through Saul’s reign into David’s day. There were very specific instructions concerning the treatment and movement of the Ark in the written text of scripture available to the priests, just as there were detailed instructions concerning many other areas of life and worship. But, David, his priests and his culture were ignorant of this divine instruction, so by default they simply imitated the Philistine’s treatment and movement of the Ark.
But, on the way from Kiriath-Jearim the oxen stumbled at about the 3.5 mile mark. The cart rocked, the Ark began to fall and Uzzah the priest saved the day by grabbing a hold of the Ark to prevent it from falling!...but, everything went wrong at that point since everything had been set up wrong by those who did not know the Word of God, but had instead imitated the pagan culture. Uzzah dropped dead…the procession stops…people start to back away and then run back to their homes…David gets angry…then, David gets afraid…David does not understand…David realizes he cannot bring the Ark into the city of Jerusalem, so he leaves it at the home of Obed-Edom.
The Ark was at Obed-Edom’s home for three months, but instead of people dying and being struck by the wrath of the Lord, the home was blessed!? (Map of the Ark's progression HERE.)
It appears that during this three month period David and his priests hit the books and started to attend some local Bible studies because they figured out what they had done wrong. They were treating God like pagans, instead of in accordance with how he had instructed Moses. |
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"[The] clash that is coming – and that has, indeed, already begun…[is] between those who claim the Judeo-Christian worldview and those who have abandoned that worldview in favor of the ‘isms’ of contemporary American life…a family called ‘the secularist orthodoxy.’ ”
– Robert P. George
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Inspiration Points of Doctrine
1. All Scripture is inspired.
(2 Tim. 3:16)
2. Scripture comes from the mouth of God. (2 Tim. 3:16)
3. Scripture reveals God’s plan and God’s ways to man. (2 Tim. 3:16)
4. Scripture did not originate in the thoughts of man.
(2 Peter 1:20)
5. Scripture came through men who were carried along by the Holy Ghost in their thinking, speaking and writing. (2 Peter 1:20)
6. The Words of Scripture were written through inspiration. (1 Cor. 2:13)
7. The Words of Scripture continue to be inspired throughout all time. (Mark 13:31) |
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Paraklesis (Gr) – Comfort (Eng) – paraklesis is Greek word that means “a calling to one’s side.” Paraklesis comes from para, meaning “with” plus klesis, meaning “call.” The idea this word expresses is “an exhortation,” “consolation,” and “comfort.” Paraklesis is translated “exhortation in Luke 6:24; Acts 9:31; Romans 15:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 14:3. In Luke 2:25 paraklesis is
equivalent to waiting for the Messiah and for the deliverance he would provide. |
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Genetic scientists have found shared markers in the Y chromosomes of Jewish men who claim to be descendants of Jewish priests. These markers are not found in other Jewish men. Since the Hebrew word Cohanim means priests it can be assumed that last names such as Cohen, Coen, Kohn and Kahn can come from the descendents of Aaron. Testing of these Y chromosome markers provides date calculations based on the mutations that show a time frame for the Cohen line of some 3,300 years. That is the time of the establishment of the priesthood of Aaron in Sinai. (Details here, here, here here and here.) |
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Do I imitate pagan worship or do I know and understand God's Word and God's ways?
I will be attentive to worship and live like a man of God and not a religious pagan. |
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"Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
-Proverbs 31:31 |
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Ask God to convict you of sin, error |
Opportunities to share the gospel in church and in community |
USA and Israel relationship |
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| Pavement under today's Damascus Gate set in place at the time of Herod Agrippa I’s expansion of the city walls to the north and west in 41-44 AD. The first century gates from this time have been uncovered and can be seen here. (More detail here.) (click on image for larger size) |
Map showing the start of the church in Antioch, Syria
by believers from Cyrene and Cyprus
as recorded in Acts 11:19-20.
(click on image for larger size) |
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| Details and Explanation of Sets & Reps Devotional System Here |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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