We read about Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant in (2 Samuel 6:1-7). According to the website GotQuestions.org: “God made a covenant (a conditional covenant) with the children of Israel through His servant Moses. He promised good to them and their children for generations if they obeyed Him and His laws; but He always warned of despair, punishment, and dispersion if they were to disobey. As a sign of His covenant, He had the Israelites make a box according to His own design, in which to place the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This box, or chest, was called an “ark” and was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The Ark was to be housed in the inner sanctum of the tabernacle in the desert and eventually in the Temple when it was built in Jerusalem. This chest is known as the Ark of the Covenant.”1
As one reads (2 Samuel 6:1-7) we see that Uzzah was helping to transport the ark when all of a sudden the oxen pulling the cart it was carried on stumbled. Uzzah thinking the ark might fall decided to take hold of the ark to prevent it from hitting the ground. What happened next seems, on the surface, to be an extreme act by God. For this supposed “good deed” we read: “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.” (2 Samuel 6:7).
The key to understanding why God took such drastic action can be found in the phrase, “because of his irreverent act,” found in (2 Samuel 6:7). There are several point to notice here.
First, according to (Numbers 4:15) touching the ark would result in death: “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.” Even if Uzzah thought he was helping God out, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s command and was to result in death.
A second act of disobedience concerned the way the ark was to be transported. It was to not be carried on a cart but upon the shoulders of men from the family of Kohath using the poles prescribed. It doesn’t appear that Uzzah was of the family of Kohath, certainly didn’t carry the ark on his shoulders, and, in addition, touched the ark. All of these were blatant acts of disobedience to God.
And third, Uzzah probably had become so familiar with the ark, since it was staying in his home, that he forgot to realize the great holiness it represented. In the Old Testament the Ark of the Covenant was the most holy object on earth and God had given Israel very specific parameters on how to interact with it. Uzzah seemed to violate all of God’s commands surrounding the ark and as a result, I believe, God took his life to show us the importance of treating Him as holy.
While God is loving and merciful, He is also a God of great holiness. The story of Uzzah should serve as a reminder to us today to take God’s commands seriously and always treat Him with the reverence due His awesome nature. So often we become too familiar with God that we forget that He is infinitely holy and deserves our utmost reverence.
I like the way the website GotQuestions.org summarizes this concept of God’s holiness when it says: “Something of God’s presence in the Ark of the Covenant seems to be lost in the church today. In the time of Moses, the people knew the awesomeness of God’s absolute holiness. They had witnessed great miracles when the ark was with them. They respected that God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). In truth, the more we try to bring God down to our worldly way of thinking or reasoning, the further away He will seem to us. Those who would draw near to God and have Him draw near to them are those who approach Him in reverence and holy fear. Uzzah forgot that lesson, and the consequences were tragic.”2
1What is the Ark of the Covenant? | GotQuestions.org
2 Why did God strike Uzzah dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant? | GotQuestions.org