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The Silence of Scripture

Introduction: 

What an extremely important subject!  Should we respect the silence of Scripture?  Our eternal life depends upon it.  The Restoration motto:  “Speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent” reiterates the importance of having authority for all we do religiously.

Example:  You order a new refrigerator.  When the men arrive, they unload a refrigerator, a range, and a dishwasher.  “Well, you didn’t say not to bring them!”  We understand about silence in the everyday world.  Why can’t we understand silence in religious matters?  God expects us to use reason and intelligence.

There are many examples in God’s Word which well illustrate this Biblical principle.  Remember Romans 15:4a “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning. . .”  NKJV  Let’s look at one of them.

Text:  I Chronicles 13:1-13

“Then David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is of the Lord our God, let us send out to our brethren everywhere who are left in all the land of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites who are in their cities and their common-lands, that they may gather together to us; and let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we have not inquired at it since the days of Saul.’  Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.  So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim.  And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, to Kirjath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who dwells between the cherubim, where His name is proclaimed.  So they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.  Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.  And when they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled.  Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.  And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzza; therefore that place is called Perez Uzza to this day.  David was afraid of God that day, saying, ‘How can I bring the ark of God to me?’  So David would not move the ark with him into the City of David, but took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.” NKJV

Body:

Exegesis of the Text:

The ark had been neglected for fifty years during the reign of Saul.  The ark was the symbol of God’s presence.  Now there was a sign of renewed interest.

The children of Israel prepare to move the ark of the covenant.  David gathered 30,000 men from Kirjath Jearim in Judah, which was eight to ten miles west of Jerusalem.  While moving it, the oxen stumbled and the ark began to topple over.  Uzza put his hand on the ark to steady it.  He probably thought it was the right thing to do.  Instead of receiving praise, he was put to death immediately by God.  Even David became angry against God and would not take the ark on to Jerusalem.

Many of us have probably wondered at God’s action.  “How could God kill a man who was just trying to help?”  Maybe you have even questioned God’s sense of justice and fairness in his dealings with Uzza?  The answer lies in God’s Word, in the silence of it so to speak.

God had already given explicit instructions on how and by whom the ark was to be transported.  How it was to be carried: (Exodus 25:10-14) “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood:  two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.  And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around.  You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side.  And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.  You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them.” NKJV  Those who carried the ark were to be from the tribe of Levi.  (Deuteronomy 10:8) “At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day.” NKJV  More specifically, it was sons of Kohath, a son of Levi, who were given the charge to carry the ark.  Kohath was the grandfather of Aaron and Moses.  (Exodus 6:16a, 18a, 20) “These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations:  Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18a And the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.  20 Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses.” NKJV  (Numbers 4:1-3, 15) “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:  ‘Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.  These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.” NKJV  But even they could not touch it!  Notice further these verses.  (Numbers 7:1-9) “Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, that he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them.  Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, who were the leaders of the tribes and over those who were numbered, made an offering.  And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle.  Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.’  So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.  Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.  But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was the service of the holy things, which they carried on their shoulders.” NKJV

Summary:

God commanded that the ark be carried only by sons of Kohath using the poles on both sides of the ark.  No cart was allowed.  No wonder God’s anger was aroused.  His commands had been violated!  There was no authority to move it any other way.

This showed irreverence.  Uzza was killed for his error.  Silent!  (II Samuel 6:7) “Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.” NKJV

David eventually understood why God had killed Uzza and had become angry.  (I Chronicles 15:1-2, 12-13) “David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it.  Then David said, ‘No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.’ 12-13 He said to them, ‘You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.  For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.’ ” NKJV 

 David admitted that they had not followed God’s acceptable order; they had deviated from the divine pattern! Notice the response.  (I Chronicles 15:14-15, 25) “So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.  And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. 25 So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy.” NKJV  If Uzza had remembered to respect the silence of Scripture, he could have shared in that joy.

Modern Applications:

We serve the exact same God that Uzza did.  We need to respect God and His authority.  Men today still show little regard for God’s order, the pattern He has left for us to follow.  We do not respect silence.  (Hebrews 7:14) “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.” NKJV 

It is seen in many different ways.

1.   The New Testament affirms that one must obey the gospel in order to be saved [believe, repent, confess, and be baptized].  It is silent about there being any other way.  (Romans 1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” NKJV  (Hebrews 5:9) “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,” NKJV  Those other ways come from man, not God.

2.   The New Testament affirms that Jesus built only one church and is the Savior of only one church.  It is silent about any other God-ordained churches.  They were all started by men and thus there is no salvation to be found in them.  (Ephesians 5:23) “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” NKJV  Jesus is the Head of the church and the Savior of the body. 

3.   The New Testament authorizes vocal singing which comes from the heart.  (Ephesians 5:19) “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” NKJV  As one searches the pages of the New Testament, he is met with silence regarding the use of instrumental music in worship or humming, clapping, whistling . . .  There is no authority for them. 

 

Conclusion:

Remember Uzza!  If we desire to enter into the joy of our Lord, we must respect the silence of Scripture.  Any departure from the divine will carries serious consequence.  That which is done for God must be done in God’s way.  We must ask:  “What would you have me do?” and “How would you have me do it?”

 

Invitation: 

 

Bobby Stafford  April 8, 2018