Gilbert House Fellowship

GOD IS enthroned above the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Failure to treat the ark with proper respect, according to the Law, cost a teamster his life. This week, we discuss the move of the ark to Jerusalem and a section of scripture in 1 Chronicles 13 that’s difficult for many to accept. Why was Uzzah killed by God for putting his hand on the ark to steady it? The answer: The ark was supposed to be treated with reverence, carried by Levites with poles made specifically for that purpose (Exodus 25:12–14; Numbers 4:5–6, 15). Instead, it had been loaded onto an oxcart, like cargo in an Iron Age U-haul van. We also discuss an interesting section of a psalm of joy and thankfulness that is more supernatural than it first appears. Psalm 107:3 refers to the people gathered “from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” However, “north” is the Hebrew word tsaphon, a reference to “cosmic” north—the mountain sacred to the king of the Canaanite pantheon, Baal. And “south” is yam, usually