Poor Uzzah. The Israelite gets a terrible rap because he had the nerve to reach out to press his hand on the Ark of the Covenant, to stop the holy box from tipping over and falling. As a result, he was struck dead…

And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

(2 Samuel 6:6-7)

God cares about what God says. He doesn’t shrug and say “oh well.” He can be merciful, yes, but His mercy is formulaic and particularly designed. You know when and how to attain His mercy, in other words; it’s not something that He gives out on a whim. So when God says “don’t do that,” you can be sure that if you do the thing He said not to do that you will be punished. Uzzah touched the Ark. He was not authorized to touch the Ark. God made it clear, long before, that if you touch the Ark without permission, you’re dead.

The Ark was not where it was supposed to be. The Ark was not being carried in the way it was supposed to be carried. The Ark was not being handled by people who had permission to handle it. And when the Ark started to wobble and looked like it was going to fall, Uzzah reached out purely on instinct and pressed his hand to the box, intending only to prevent it from falling. His intentions were good…

All the way to the grave.

But still I say “poor Uzzah.” I say it not to excuse or condone his actions. He should never have been in a position to touch the Ark in the first place. Still, I can at least sympathize with him in that final moment of his life: He only wanted to help. Unfortunately, it takes more than good intentions to be right with God.

I say all that to say this: There are many people today who are much worse than Uzzah. While the Israelite in question was wrong for making a snap judgment, many today would make the same error after long deliberations. Many today would talk themselves into touching the forbidden Ark of God. They would jump through whatever mental hoops they needed, and justify it however they had to in order to convince themselves it was okay to do the thing God said not to do.

In the end, the result is the same: If you do the thing God said not to do, whatever your motive, and however you have rationalized it, it doesn’t matter; do the forbidden thing…and you’re dead.

~ Matthew