In 2 Samuel 6, we see another idea about "bearing one's image" only this will not have such a pleasant outcome although a strong reminder of who God is will be in apparent before it is all over. David has decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant home to his city and he is going to do it in grand fashion. He has called up thirty thousand troops and a marching band to accompany him along the way. This procession will have everything! Can you just imagine it? And no parade is complete without a Grand Marshall and who will fit the bill but the Lord Almighty Himself. What's more, the delivery of the Ark will be stepped up a notch and they will add a 'float' to the celebration. It will be fantastic!
Right up to the fatal mistake, that is. One man, Uzzah will reach out and do the unthinkable. He would touch the Ark with his hand and that would be the last straw for God and he would keep his word as he always does. Death would be God's response to Uzzah for the disregard of God's Law. Harsh, you say? Yes, it is but should not have come as a surprise.
You see, rules for transporting God from place to place were laid out in detail in the 'handbook' of the Law and Uzzah would have or in any case, should have known the regulation. He was the Lord's representative after all, the keeper of the Law, and the example of spiritual attitude of obedience others should follow including the king. Yet, here he was changing the law up a bit to fit some extenuating circumstance. The Ark should have been transported by the priests, lifted up to their shoulders by poles that were threaded through rings that were attached to its corners. To me this is a picture of God glorified and the priest's submission as they carried him. Somehow the oxcart just doesn't portray that same feeling.
We do not really know for why David and/or the priests decided that the ark would ride rather than be carried but we do know God would not subjected to change by the priests and his answer would devastate a family and a king who so wished the Lord would reside within his city. The parade of celebration was over and a funeral march of sorrow would be put in its place.
Such a sad state of affairs. David's plan was to bring God closer, to celebrate and honor Him, in a way that seemed right at least in his estimation so how could it go so wrong? His intentions were good after all. What made this such a big deal? The problem was that God is not one who will be changed to fit our sensibilities. He has standards and they are not up for discussion. They are what make him who he is after all-Faithful and True-so we can depend on him. That's why it was important that God's agents, the priests, should carry him according to his instructions and not try to make him compromise with what they wanted. They represented him.
For each of us it is equally important to be mindful of how we carry God's image into the world. Is it an accurate portrayal of who God really is or has he been pushed and pulled it out of shape to fit your desires? Think about it. Have you asked God to go outside his word with you on something because you have a special set of circumstances? If you have you are running the risk of giving those around you a false impression of who God is. The truth is, as seen in this story, He'll have none of it. He doesn't work that way. He will not be manipulated. And for those who try to make him fit into their schemes, they like will find themselves like those in Israel on that terrible day devastated and full of sorrow. If we are to take on the task of carrying God, be his image bearers, we need to conform to him and his ways. That's what life is all about after entrusting it to God, learning to live it the his way. We need to become his 'spitting image'.
So we are back to that. Let me shed some light on that saying. The English phase-spitting image-comes from 'spit and image' which was a shortened version of 'spirit and image'. Ah ha... Now, we get it and that is just what we need when we carry God into the world. Just as my granddaughter looks so like her mother, our friends and our families and the world at large must see that God is our strongest feature. We need his spirit and his image to reside in our being as we take our rightful position, lifting him up for all the world to behold his glory.
"Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever."
-Psalm 86:11-12
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