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Sermon on the Mount
Part 9
Matthew 7:15-23
In our last Bible Study from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we mentioned that at the end of His sermon Jesus pictured 2 gates, 2 ways, 2 trees and 2 foundations. Travelers must choose their way; hearers, their
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message; and builders, their foundation. There are always 2 possibilities before us from which to choose. We can't choose both - only one.
We discussed the "narrowness" of the Christian life as we walk the narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14). There are not many ways to God as some
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say. Jesus made it crystal clear for all time when He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 There is only one absolute truth with no error. It is God's Word preserved down through the centuries for us to read and follow. But many teachers and preachers today
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really great letters." The president then would ask, "But what did you do about my instructions?" No doubt the employees would respond, "Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!"
I suppose you can guess what this story is an illustration of. God left us His Word, the Bible. Someday Jesus Christ will return. Will we have followed the instructions God has already given us in His letter to us, the Scriptures? Or will we be found to have ignored His instructions for us?
There is a story in 2 Samuel 6:1-15 that illustrates the problem of ignoring God's Word. I think that this passage is especially appropriate for the church today. This is because some people are doing things that are against or outside of Scripture. If they do this, they will have to face the "president" of the universe someday when He returns and answer for their behavior. Let's read the story of David and a man named Uzzah. I will stop along the way to fill in parts of the story from other places in
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the Bible and to comment on why this story is of importance for us today.
2 Samuel 6:1-3
David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of 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 that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
Notice that they set the ark of the covenant on a new cart. They had obviously planned to use this form of transportation for the ark ahead of time. All the time while they were building this new cart and getting more and more excited about bringing the ark back to the city of David, they never bothered to check the Scriptures for instructions on how to transport the ark. Or maybe they thought, "This is a
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new day. I'm sure God can see that we always carry things on carts nowadays." Maybe they even said in their hearts, "God is doing things in a new way today." But if they had checked the Scriptures, they would have found out how dangerous what they were doing was. Let's go back in Scripture to the time of Moses and check the Law that God gave about transporting the ark. First, let's read Ex. 25:13-16.
Exodus 25:13-16
Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark, the Testimony, which I will give you.
The ark was to be carried by poles that were made especially for it and the poles were not to be removed. How was the ark to be carried and by whom. Turn with me to Numbers 1:51 first.
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Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.
We discover here that the Law said that the Levites were to prepare and move everything from the Tabernacle. No one else was to touch it or even go near those things. Numbers 4:15 gets even more specific.
Numbers 4:15
After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to 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.
The Kohathites were a clan of Levi and were the ones who were to carry the ark. No one else. And even they were not allowed to touch the holy things, including the ark,
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