"This is where David made his
mistake. God had given specific instructions about moving the tabernacle and
its furniture, but David did not follow those instructions. Someone might
say, “Well, the Philistines didn’t either, and they got away with it.” They
got away with it because they were ignorant. Light creates responsibility.
If men have the light of the gospel, they are held responsible for rejecting
it. I am not going to argue with you about the heathen in Africa, but I
would like to argue with you about the heathen in my town and your town
because they can hear the gospel, and their responsibility is great. If you
turn your back on Jesus Christ, my friend, you can argue about the heathen
all you want to, but you are lost and doomed and judged and are bound for
eternal hell. That is the teaching of the Word of God. You may not like it;
and, if you don’t, you ought to move out of this universe into another one.
This is God’s universe and these are His rules.
So David goes to bring up the ark
to Jerusalem, but he does it in the wrong way. The ark was constructed with
rings on the four corners. Staves were put through those rings, and the ark
was carried on the shoulders of the Levites. On the wilderness march the
Kohathites put that ark on their shoulders and carried it. David simply did
not follow God’s instructions.
Friend, in just such a way God
wants the gospel to go out today. I sometimes wonder why He doesn’t get a
better instrument than I am and why He doesn’t write the gospel in the
skies. But Jesus Christ has to be carried through this world on the
shoulders of those who are His own. That is God’s way of doing it today.
That was God’s way of doing it in David’s day. David was wrong, so wrong. He
is going to get into trouble, just as God’s people today get in trouble when
they do wrong.."
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:199-200). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
See:
God and the Death Penalty by Bob Enyart
You Shall Not Murder