VERSES: 2 Samuel 6:1-23
MEMORY VERSE: 2 Samuel 6:7 "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Deuteronomy. Write "Deuteronomy" on small slips of paper and hand out to students at the end of class.
PRAYER: Pray that we will always remember that God says what He means and means what He says.
SPECIAL SONG: The Books of the Old Testament (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog)
VISUAL AID: Bible map, showing where Gibeah and Jerusalem are on the map. Draw a large Activity on the whiteboard or chalkboard.
LESSON POINTS:
- The ark of the LORD had not been with the Israelite people for many years; it had been in hiding all the years of Samuel and King Saul in the house of Abinadab in the town of Gibeah. David decided to go and get the ark of the covenant and bring it to Mount Zion where he had made a special place for it. So they set the ark of the covenant on a new cart and it was driven by men named Ahio and Uzzah who were sons of Abinadab who had been keeping the ark of the covenant safe all those years.
- Do you remember when we studied about the ark of the covenant a little while ago? Who were the only people who God told to move the ark? That's right! Only the priests from the tribe of Levi. And how were they to move the ark? The priests were to carry the ark on poles. Ahio and Uzzah were not priests, but they were moving the ark of the covenant, but not on poles. Uh-oh! Whenever people don't do what God says, there's always trouble.
- Ahio and Uzzah had the ark of the LORD on a brand new cart hooked up to oxen and they were guiding the oxen down the road. David and all the house of Israel were playing music. When they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, the oxen shook the ark of the LORD and Uzzah reached out his hand, touching the ark of the covenant to steady it so it wouldn't fall. God had said that no one should touch the ark of the covenant and Uzzah did. As soon as Uzzah touched the ark, the LORD was angry with Uzzah for touching the ark of the covenant and Uzzah died right there by the ark of the covenant.
- Uzzah's death made David fearful of moving the ark of the covenant, so he took the ark of the covenant to a man who lived close by whose name was Obededom and left it there for three months. While the ark of the covenant was at Obededom's house, the LORD blessed Obededom and all of his family.
- David heard of how Obededom's house was blessed with the ark of the covenant, so David went to get the ark of the LORD and had it moved the proper way like God wanted it to be moved. David was blessed and happy that the ark of the covenant had come to Mt. Zion.
"Older Student" Tips:
- God says what He means and means what He says. Always. David was displeased that Uzzah had died, yet David learned God's ways concerning moving the ark of the covenant because he moved it the right way the second time. We can learn from our mistakes.
ACTIVITY: Uzzah's Good Intention
Materials needed: 9" x 12" yellow construction paper, 2" x 6" dark brown construction paper, 4" x 4" light brown paper, two 3" x 3" dark brown paper, 1" x 3" red paper, scraps of extra paper, 2 fasteners, glue, scissors, crayons, markers.
- Hand out yellow paper. This is the foundation.
- Hand out dark paper.
- Glue rectangle of dark brown paper to middle, right-side of yellow paper.
- Out of light brown paper, cut oval, two ox legs and a tail.
- Glue two legs to middle of oval. This is an ox.
- Glue tail to back of ox.
- Cut scrap of paper for a tongue of a cart.
- Glue tongue to cart, touching ox.
- CAUTION: DO NOT GLUE WHEELS TO CART, OTHERWISE, THEY WILL NOT MOVE AROUND.
- Cut corners off of both 3" X 3" squares to look like wagon wheels.
- Poke one fastener into each wheel and poke in place on cart.
- Move wheels around, so they move around.
- Fold small scrap of gold or orange paper in half; cut small triangle out of the middle. This is the ark of the covenant.
- Glue ark of covenant on top of cart.
- Cut four tiny snips of paper for rings.
- Glue rings on ends of ark of the covenant.
- Cut a small scrap of red paper on top of red rectangle. This is Uzzah's arm and robe.
- Glue red rectangle to bottom of yellow paper.
- Write "Uzzah's Good Intention" and "2 Samuel 6" at top of yellow paper.
- Make road that Uzzah is laying upon.