Offended by God

And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. 1 Chronicles 13:11

I don’t have to read very far in the news today to find something in the world that doesn’t make sense to me. Almost daily, there are terrible events that make me want to question God. How could you let this happen? If God is both loving and all-powerful, how can he allow people to do such horrible things to each other? Even in reading the Bible, I find passages that offend my sensibilities. Today’s passage is one of those.

In the story, the people of Israel were transporting the ark of God on an ox cart. When the oxen stumbled, perhaps threatening to upset the cart, a man named Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark. In touching the ark, he violated one of God’s commands – No one touches the ark. For this simple act of touching the ark, God struck Uzzah dead. This, to me, seems terribly harsh. It certainly doesn’t appear to me that Uzzah’s crime was worthy of death. This didn’t make sense to King David either, as the passage goes on to say that David was angry with God for killing Uzzah.

I appreciate that the story tells of David’s anger. And I appreciate that David wasn’t chastised by God for questioning him. God, it appears, was able to absorb David’s anger. God didn’t explain himself, but he also didn’t punish David for questioning him. For David’s part, the event made him fearful of the ark (and probably of God), but still, David continued to follow God. Though he didn’t understand why God would do such a thing, he still recognized God as God and the event didn’t seem to shake his faith. He just went on, following God.

That’s a good lesson for me. I’ll never understand all of God. When I see that a child has been sexually assaulted and murdered, that will never make sense to me. And it appears to be OK that I question God. God doesn’t have to explain himself to me. I should not, however, allow that to change my faith. God is still God and it is my job to seek and follow his will, even when he doesn’t make sense to me, because he’s still God whether I agree with him or not.