6 David again gathered all the chosen men of
II Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 is part of an account in 6:1-23 of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. The Ark was a symbol of the presence of the Lord on behalf of Israel, especially in covenantal relationship and military victory. The Ark was moveable through the years in the wilderness and through Israel once it returned to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. The assumption is that the Ark is still at Kiriath-jearim, seven miles south-west of Jerusalem. The whole chapter pictures David as ready to serve the Lord, humble yet powerful. Jerusalem is the center of political and religious life. Saul could not accomplish political, military, and religious unity because he never achieved enough independence from the Philistines. The net effect is that, as David has united political and military power in Jerusalem, he now unites religious forces in Jerusalem. Prior to the construction of the temple (which David sought but was unable to build), the Ark was the most important religious artifact in Israel, symbolizing the Lord’s presence on earth among the chosen people. The Ark is on the move again. This time, the Ark symbolizes a shift in the politics and worship life of Israel, as David sees the need for the tribal federation to become a unified kingdom. The Ark will symbolize the rise of sacral kingship, a period that will last from for five centuries. The city remains the holy city in Judaism, as it is still the direction in which the faithful Jew will pray.
1David again gathered all the chosen men[1] of Israel, thirty thousand, an exaggerated number, although some think “thousand” could refer to a smaller military unit. 2 David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark (‘aron[2]) of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. The earliest textual evidence concerning the ark (Numbers 10:35-36) suggests that the ark functioned first as military paraphernalia, being carried into battle so that (or as a reminder that) Israel's warrior deity could fight on Israel's behalf (cf. Joshua 6:1-21; Judges 5). The phrase here reinforces the military understanding of the ark. Although the cherub throne would later take on strictly religious meaning as "a mercy seat" (Exodus 25:17), and although later artistic tradition "cherubim" would represent them as chubby-winged babies, the original ark, with its sphinxlike guardians that in the ancient near east flanked the royal throne, with the body of a bear or lion, a human face, and wings of an eagle, was the fearsome site of the earthly presence of a warrior god, imbued with potentially lethal power. It was the throne of the “Lord of hosts,” or the Lord of the heavenly armies. It also carried the tablets of the covenant that defined the relationship between the Lord and Israel. It will be the holiest object in the temple that Solomon will build. 3 They carried the ark of God on a new cart, as a mark of reverence for the ark in using a cart undefiled by previous use, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, where in I Samuel 7:1 the ark has been, and for which his sons were consecrated to care.. Relocating the ark required a military expedition first and a religious procession only later because, in addition to its status as the most sacred object in the Israelite cult, the ark was also Israel's talismanic representation among its neighbors. Therefore, enemies would have considered it supremely valuable war booty. The ark's capture by the Philistines (I Samuel 5:1-2) occasioned a major political, social, military and religious crisis in Israel, and its recovery required divine aid (I Samuel 6). This rectangular object, approximately 45 x 27 x 27 inches, was made of acacia wood, overlaid (according to Exodus 25:10-16) with gold leaf inside and out, and gold molding. Poles inserted through rings attached to its sides allowed people to transport the ark, and priests and Levites carried it in Israel’s most solemn processions. The ark was an object of great veneration, surrounded by an aura of sanctity that precluded all but the specially authorized from coming into contact with it. It appears that the chest of the ark was flanked by cherubim (fearsome sphinxlike creatures, not the chubby babies of later Christian paintings who bequeathed us the word “cherubic”), whose outstretched wings met above the lid of the ark. The resulting throne-like structure was understood to be the throne (or, possibly, footstool) of the invisible “LORD of [the heavenly] hosts,” Israel’s divine patron. As was customary throughout the ancient Near East, when worshippers carried the image of a deity into the city designated as that deity’s domicile, a procession of instruments, singing or chanting, and dancing, along with sacrifices, accompanied the entrance, as indicated here. Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC. It disappears from history.[3] The next mention of the Ark is in Revelation 10:19, where the temple in heaven opens to reveal the Ark of the Covenant within it. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4 with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. Here is an example dittography, which is a mechanical or unconscious repetition of words. 5 David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, a correction of the Hebrew, “with all kinds of cypress wood,” made from I Chronicles 13:8, the Hebrew letters being very similar, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
This passage suggests movement of the people of God. It also suggests the joy of worship, especially with instruments and dance.
Suzanne and I like to dance. We met dancing. Would you like to see us dance? We are not very good because we do not get to do it very often. We have a few steps that are part of the swing type of dancing. One thing about dancing is that the man leads. Suzanne is very good at reminding me of steps I have forgotten. She is also exceptionally good at noticing little pressures on hand or side to let her know what we are going to do next.
One thing that stops people from dancing is that they think other people are watching. They get self-conscious. They are afraid that, like David in II Samuel 6, someone will react with disgust. In that case, it was the wife of David. Yet, in that case, a large group celebrated and worshipped, to the point where David was willing to do something more contemptible than this if it meant worship.
The point is, to learn to dance, you cannot be too worried about what people think. Even Mikhail Baryshnikov once said that he does not try to dance better than anyone else does. He only tries to dance better than himself.
Dancing requires teamwork, breathing properly, practice, and having fun. In other words, once you learn the mechanics of a particular dance, you learn to relax and to have fun. You enjoy yourself.
When we dance, we have to focus upon the moment. The joy that can come in dancing is so refreshing. Problems you have had do not disappear, but you can gain some perspective. James Brown once said that one could solve any problem in the world by dancing. He was going too far, of course, but I find it amazing how much better I feel when I have had chance to be around people who are dancing.
I suppose dance, especially in a group, can help us spiritually. Too many people ignore the body in their spirituality. I think that is a danger.
There is a Hasidic tale about a famous rabbi who accepted an invitation from a small village to come to visit and answer questions about the Torah. The long-awaited day finally came. The excited villagers ushered the wise man into a large room, where they had all gathered. Rather than inviting the people to ask questions, the rabbi walked slowly and deliberately around the room, silently looking each villager in the eye as he softly hummed a religious tune. So engaging was the rabbi’s gentle manner that, before they knew it, the people found themselves humming his tune. Slowly, the rabbi started to dance. Soon the people found themselves dancing with him. The movements grew wilder and more frenzied, and the people of the village soon lost themselves in the dance. Together, they moved as one. When the dancing finally ended, the rabbi took one more walk around the room, looking deeply into the eyes of each person in turn. “I trust I have answered all your questions,” he said.
We need to consider worshipping God in dance. Paul reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that they should glorify God with their bodies (I Corinthians 6:19-20. We are to lift up holy hands in prayer (I Timothy 2:8). In prayers of confession, kneeling and prostrating oneself on the ground appears common. In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, “rejoice” and “dance” are the same word. Thus, one dances and leaps for joy (Luke 6:23) and dances in the Spirit (Luke 10:21).[4]
12b So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; 13 and when those who bore (priests or Levites) the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling, suggesting appeasement of the Lord for any advertent mistake. This indicates David's spare-no-expense approach to the festivities. Here is an acknowledgment of the holiness of the ark that one approaches only with humility. The seriousness of taking the life of an animal marks this moment as readiness for the journey of the ark to Jerusalem. 14 David danced before the Lord with all his might; David had girded himself with a linen ephod, a priestly garment. The incident naturally raises the question of whether we have ever felt like we needed to dance before the Lord. It was not spontaneous. The dancing involved rotating and skipping. He wore a linen ephod, like what the priests wear. This was a short article of clothing. David arrogated for himself both royal and sacral roles, a consolidation of power that met with vociferous and unyielding resistance from Israel's prophets, beginning with Samuel (I Samuel 8). He made several burnt offerings, blessed the people, and distributed the food. 15 David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. Michal objected on grounds of modesty rather than David’s presumption in donning priestly livery to the latter garment. His frivolous behavior is unfit for a king.
The story shifts to a celebration. The journey ends as it began with sacrifice, blessing of the moment, and a feast. 17 They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it, a tent being its accustomed residence as in Exodus 40 and Joshua 18:1; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. The tent that David had prepared for the ark was some version of the historic tent-shrine (tabernacle) that had accompanied the ark from the time of its construction, through the wilderness wandering and into the promised land (cf. Exodus 26:31-35). 18 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, thereby exercising priestly functions,19 and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. David continues to exercise priestly functions. Then all the people went back to their homes.
When King David installed the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem, he introduced a subtle but far-reaching change in Israel’s religious history. No longer would Israel understand the God of Israel to have an earthly dwelling in a mobile sanctuary that could be located at any number of shrines in Israel. Henceforth, the Divine Presence, as represented visually by the sacred chest containing the tablets of the law, would be located only and exclusively in Jerusalem, making the political capital of Israel its holy city as well. Political and religious strands weave themselves into the background of this text, which were never entirely separate in ancient Israel. The story of the ark parallels, in many ways, the political, military and religious history of pre-exilic Israel; the story of David’s rise to kingship follows similar broad outlines. David’s achievement in creating the united kingdom of Israel rested on a number of factors, his military skill chief among them. Through several victories against Israel’s nearby enemies (especially the Philistines; compare, e.g., II Samuel 5:17-25), he was able to bring both relief from external threats and consolidation of his own power within and among the twelve tribes. Those expeditions (e.g., I Samuel 30:1-20; II Samuel 5:1-10) lay behind the word “again.” One of David’s most important early tactical decisions was to make the ancient Jebusite city of Jerusalem his capital (II Samuel 5:6-12), a political decision that was reinforced by the religious decision to bring the ark into the citadel that became known as “the city of David” (II Samuel 5:7, 9; 6:10, 12, etc.).
I would like to bring the movement of the Ark and its celebration in song and dance into alignment. The text views all of this as directed by the Lord. The Lord endorsed the movement to sacral kingship and the eventual covenant with David and his descendants. The Lord endorsed the movement to settled worship in the Temple. In fact, for several centuries, the Lord blessed Israel with prophets, priests, kings, and poets, who took the covenant of the people of the Lord seriously. Yet, it did not last forever. Another movement of the Ark would come. This time, the movement would come forcibly. Babylonians captured the Ark and melted it down the gold for their use. Theologically, the Ark will reappear in the heavenly temple. The Ark keeps moving, as the challenges of the times dictate. The people of the Lord had much to learn about their God, as well as what it would mean to be the people of the Lord. They will have to see how they can embody the covenant with the Lord in their new historical setting. To put it yet another way, the Lord keeps moving and the people of the Lord need to synchronize their worship and life around where the Lord is moving. The people of the Lord discovered that land, city, temple, and Davidic king keep receiving new life and interpretation considering historical events that prophets, priests, kings, and apostles view as revelation.
[1] Or “elite men” referring to the military muster that predated Israel's standing army. The Hebrew term refers to a young male in the prime of manhood. The emphasis is on physical fitness.
[2] English translates two Hebrew words are translated as “ark.” The first, teva, is used to describe only two objects: the vessel of woven reeds in which the infant Moses was floated on the Nile (Exodus 2:3, 5), and the wooden vessel in which Noah and his family and menagerie survived the great flood (Genesis 6:14, etc.). The other Hebrew word, ‘aron, is used almost exclusively to describe the sacred box or chest which held the two tablets of the law. (Apart from this usage, the word is used only to describe Joseph’s coffin, Genesis 50:26, and the collection box for offerings in the temple, II Kings 12:9-10.)
[3] One of the strongest claims about the Ark's whereabouts is that before the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, it had found its way to Ethiopia, where it still resides in the town of Aksum, in the Saint Mary of Zion cathedral. Church authorities, however, say only one man, the guardian of the Ark, is allowed to see it, and they have never permitted it to be studied for authenticity.
Another claim is that the Ark was hidden in a warren of passages beneath the First Temple in Jerusalem before the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 B.C. But that theory can't be tested either, because the site is home to the Dome of the Rock shrine, sacred in Islam. Digging beneath it simply isn't an option.
[4] Suggested by Renewal Journal (No. 6), Lucinda Coleman writing about worshiping God in dance.
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