Many people would assume that Uzzah simply preserved the ark of the covenant, so why was he still punished for it? Here is the explanation.
2 Samuel 6:2 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.
First off, David makes an error in taking the ark of the covenant on a journey with his people rather than bringing the priests, as only the Levi priest was authorized to touch or carry the ark of the covenant in the past. Therefore, David is to blame for Uzzah’s death as he didn’t act appropriately, which led to the death of another person. In the same vein, we must be cautious in whatever we do and never bring trouble into the lives of others.
2 Samuel 6: 5-6 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums, and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
In earlier battles, if they succeeded in taking away the god from a city they were engaged in combat with, it was considered a sign of defeat. The same thing took place when Palestine took the Israelites’ ark of the covenant. To carry it away, Palestine used a bullock. So when David goes back to the ark of the covenant. Instead of requesting a priest to carry it, David followed the Palestinians’ approach and transported it using a bullock cart.
Thus, the fact that they were transporting the ark of the covenant on a bullock cart was the second factor that contributed to Uzzah’s death.
Similar to this, occasionally we act based on what we observe others doing and wind up in difficulty, and that should be avoided. It becomes important for us to always carry the burden instead of passing it on to someone else. For instance, some people will ask others to pray on their behalf rather than ask God directly.
Now, what was Uzzah’s fault that led to his death?
There are two types of Levite priests. The job was divided between Kohathites and Gershonites. While the Kohathite priest’s job is to perform within the tabernacle, the Gershonite’s responsibility is to carry the ark of the covenant by the handles and never touch it. If we take a closer look at his character, we find that he is a Levite, despite the fact that he perishes.
Because of his familiarity and negligence with the ark of the covenant, Uzzah had a duty to tell David that it should only be carried by the priest. However, he chose not to do so. Uzzah’s death resulted from his knowledge of this and his failure to perform his obligations.
We often ignore things. Uzzah was forbidden from touching the ark of the covenant, but just by the handle. When he realized it was going to fall, he so fearlessly took hold of the ark of the covenant, which gives another reason for Uzzah’s death.
We frequently overlook things. Uzzah was only allowed to touch the ark of the covenant’s handle. Another explanation for Uzzah’s death is the fearless way in which he took hold of the ark of the covenant when he knew it was about to fall. Many times we might neglect something or replicate something and run into problems, but when we analyze the situation first and then act, we may identify patterns that work for us and everything will turn out successfully.