We now know when the Israelites led by David decided to place the Ark of God into a common oxcart…
They had no idea they were breaking Torah.
As far as they were concerned, they were simply following the typical Middle Eastern conventions of the day.
This flippant attitude would not only end up embarrassing David but would cause the instant death of a worshipper.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only violation that David and his men committed.
The sages tell us that in their first attempt to transport the Ark to Jerusalem, the attitude and atmosphere in the air was completely inappropriate.
Look at verse 5.
It says…
“David and the whole house of Israel celebrated in the presence of ADONAI with all kinds of musical instruments made of cypress wood, including lyres, lutes, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.”-2 Samuel 6:5
Take a look at the word “celebrated” which I bolded and enlarged.
The actual Hebrew word here is SACHAQ or שָׂחַק.
It generally means to laugh, to play, or to mock, depending on the context in which it is used.
Its meaning can be categorized as follows:
To laugh: Expressing joy or amusement. For example, in Genesis 21:6, Sarah says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
To play: Often used in the sense of rejoicing or playing, as in the context of celebratory or joyful activities.
To mock: In some cases, it carries a negative connotation, referring to derision or ridicule.
For instance, in 2 Chronicles 30:10, the word refers to mocking.
The point is there was a kind of nightclub party atmosphere surrounding the Ark when it was being transported this first time around.
It ain’t necessarily wrong to translate SACHAQ as “celebrate” here as long as it’s understood that it was the WRONG KIND OF CELEBRATION that was going on here….something equivalent to a frolicking party atmosphere.
Ya feel me?
What’s even funnier is that many gentile Bible translators think “sachaq” means playing musical instruments.
So they’ll screw up the translation and say the house of Israel “played” them.
That’s way off and changes the real meaning!
Now, let’s examine the verse that describes David’s second and successful attempt to bring the Ark to the City of David.
“So David went and joyously brought the ark of God up from the house of ‘Oved-Edom into the City of David.”-2 Samuel 6:12
The key word in this passage is “joyously.”
Wanna guess what the Hebrew is?
It’s SIMCHAH or שִׂמְחָה.
It means joy, gladness, or happiness.
It conveys a deep sense of delight, often associated with celebration, worship, or blessings.
It’s frequently used in contexts of rejoicing, such as during feasts, weddings, or other happy occasions.
Finally, it also often refers to the joy found in God, His commandments, or His blessings.
You might recognize the word Simchah because Jewish Synagogues celebrate Simchah Torah at the end of their yearly Torah reading cycle.
Simchah is all about deep, joyful happiness from the heart.
My point is that when David and his men transported the Ark a second time, they did it with reverence and solemn respect.
It was the farthest thing from a rollicking party atmosphere.
This leads to today’s takeaway.
Since the 1960s, there’s been a push in Christianity to shift from deep reverence to a more casual, familiar view of God.
Yeshua is no longer the Messiah to be revered and worshipped.
He’s the cool, long-haired hippy dude you sit down and smoke a stick of marijuana with…
And God the Father is treated like a fun-loving, beer-drinking, pot-bellied grandpa who lets things slide…
While the Holy Spirit tells us to follow our gut and intuition and to do whatever we want as long as it feels good.
It seems like a lot of churches have followed suit with this feel-good philosophy.
They’re focused on getting more people into the pews and filling up that offering plate.
So they’ll do everything they can to make God more relatable.
All believers gotta do is show up at church and throw their bills into the plate when it’s passed around.
David, the Levites, and the Elders of Israel all made the same big mistake.
They thought that as long as they used God’s name…
They could do whatever the heck they wanted…
That they had unbridled freedom in the Lord!
That as long as they felt good and enjoyed the celebration…
The Lord would approve.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Well, this is exactly the state of modern churches today.
They swap reverence for God’s holiness with a focus on worldly happiness instead.
They even convinced themselves that following the strict rules of the Law was something for the past, not for them.
Let those who have ears to hear, SHEMA!
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