Steadying the Ark

Sometimes I amaze myself with how much I read. Today I was especially on fire, and I'm not really sure why that was the case. I've been working on this book about receiving personal revelation for some time now, Hearing the Voice of the Lord, by Gerald Lund. It is really awesome. In the book he began to relate the Old Testament story of Uzzah found in 2 Samuel 6.

Admittedly, I think not until recently did I ever begin to understand this Bible story, which goes basically like this:

The Phillistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, and when David had become king, he was determined to retrieve it. The Ark is the most revered object in all of Israel and was to be kept in the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle, and later the Temple. Not even the priests who were charged with taking care of it were allowed to touch it. So while delivering the Ark back to Jerusalem, it passed through a rough piece of ground and Uzzah, not a priest, reached out to steady the Ark. In verse seven it says, "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God."

Harsh, right? At first glance, yes. If you're like me, even at tenth glance, it still feels a little extreme. This was Elder Lund's reaction to the story as mentioned in his book:

To some this may seem to be a harsh response. Were not Uzzah's motivations good? Wasn't he just trying to protect something very sacred? Why then would he be punished so severely? The account is very brief and thre may be other factors that are not given, but some things are clear. Uzzah was not a priest. Therefore he knew he had no right to even be close to the Ark, let alone touch it. These restrictions surrounding the Ark were well known to all Israel. What was Uzzah thinking? The Ark was the symbol of the power and glory of God. Did he think that somehow Jehovah was not capable of preventing the Ark from being damaged? Did Uzzah think that God depended on him and him alone to save it?

Emphasis is mine, but I think those questions he asks are insightful. It was very presumptuous for Uzzah to react the way he did, and that he did so instinctively was an indicator of his lack of faith in the Lord's ability to take care of His own work. Pertaining to this story, Elder Bruce R. McConkie said:

I think there is no occassion for any person in this Church to fear for the destiny of the kingdom. We do not need to steady the ark, but we do need to have in our hearts a fear that we may not make ourselves worthy, that we may not hew to the line of righteousness and keep the commandments of God with that degree of valiance which will give us our exaltation in the eternal worlds.

Anyway, it just got me thinking about the various ways in which we presume to know more than God, or that we feel that somehow we are ahead of the curve in being able to anticipate what it is that He will bring about and that we must do it for Him. There are so many minor and major ways in which this tendency reveals itself - when we presume to know better than our local priesthood leaders, or when we fail to accept direction from the Prophet himself.

Rather than react as Nephi who pondered, prayed, and then was caught away in his own vision when he had questions about his father's had revealed, we react as Laman and Lemuel, who stupidly confess that they could not understand the words their father had spoken. Nephi asks them if they bothered to ask the Lord, and they reply that the Lord made no such things known to them. And I love Nephi's reaction because you can almost hear the tone of his voice in this response (1 Ne 15:10-11):

How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? - If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believeing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

It's almost like he's saying, I can't believe you guys even made it this far with the attitude that you have. How do you keep any of the commandments when you don't even understand this one basic concept?

One of the most glaring examples I can think of is how members of the church respond to the same-sex marriage debate when the leaders of the church have clearly outlined our position. I know that it's hard doctrine, but do we just react like Laman and Lemuel and hear the words and assume that because the Lord doesn't declare with a big, booming voice why it's so that he doesn't want to tell us? I wonder in how many other ways we make these same mistakes because we fail to apply our hearts to understanding.

I just wonder how many attempts I make to steady the ark because my own faith and understanding isn't up to snuff.