Is God's Silence Permissive

Steven’s Scribbles
“Is God’s Silence Permissive”
2 Samuel 6
    
    Is God’s Silence on a given topic permissive? Put more blatantly, can I do anything as long as the Bible doesn’t say “You shall not _______?” To answer this question, I would like to consider the instruction for moving the Ark of the Covenant. In Numbers 4:15, God commanded that the descendants of Kohath, also referred to as the Kohathites, were the ones who were to carry the “holy objects” from the sanctuary. This would include the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 3:30-31). In Exodus 25:10-16, God is specific about how to build the Ark of the Covenant, and also specific about how it was to be transported. “You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it” (Ex. 25:13-15). When God commands His people to perform a specific task in a specific way, we do not have liberty to change. In 2 Samuel 6 David had not long been King of Israel. He commanded the Ark be brought to him. In 2 Samuel 6:3-11 it tells how they loaded the ark of God on a new cart so it may be brought to David. However, while in Nacon, the ark nearly fell off of the cart because of the unstable ground that the oxen were walking on. Uzzah reached his hand out to stop the ark from falling. Was Uzzah doing a good thing? Certainly! Was Uzzah deliberately trying to disobey God? There’s not indication to support this. Yet, the text says “And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God” (2 Sam. 6:7). God has always expected exact obedience. Although God never said, “You shall not move the ark on a new cart,” God did declare to them previously His exact specifications. We me keep certain commandments today? “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). I love you all!


In His service,
Steven Hugley