Hebrew Word Study – Personal Strength – Uzza – Ayin Zayin Aleph

I Samuel 6:19: “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.”

I Chronicles 13:10: “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.”

There are many miracles associated with the ark. I have written in the past that it was a ghost ark, that is it was present and absent at the same time.  Another strange characteristic of the ark is that according to the Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni Shmuel II 5:142, it is believed by many mystical Jews that the ark actually carried its carriers. When the priest lifted the ark for transport, instead of carrying the ark, the ark carried them. The poles on the ark that were used by the priest to lift the ark were never to be removed from the ark. Only a certain sect of the priests were permitted to carry the ark. In Numbers 7:9 we learn that the family of Kehat was assigned the duty of carrying the ark and specifically instructed to “carry it on their shoulders.” The ark was to move on its own accord and was not to be transported on a wagon, especially one being pulled or powered by a natural force.  The movement of the ark was to be purely supernatural.

We also learn in I Samuel 4-6 that when the Philistines defeated the Jews, they captured the ark and brought it back with them to their lands. We learn that many plagues and afflictions fell upon the Philistines because they took possession of the ark. It even destroyed their idol Dagon when they put it in the temple with Dagon.  They finally sent it back to Israel in a cart where the Levites immediately removed the ark from the cart and destroyed the cart using it as firewood to sacrifice the cows that pulled the ark.

We learn further in I Samuel 6:19: “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.”  It doesn’t say how these 50,070 people died, and the number is really disputed because the Hebrew is not really clear.  The text deviates from the normal or standard order of the numerals in the Hebrew. Also, the absence of the conjunction between the seventy men and 50,000 men in the Hebrew text suggests that Josephus may be correct that some Hebrew manuscripts which omit the 50,000 are more accurate. Particularly considering the village of  Bethsemesh could not possibly have contained such a number of people.  Then there are those that say 70 is the number of those who died and 50,000 is the number of those who were present. In other words, only 70 actually came close enough to the ark to be slain.

Regardless, of the number, there were many who died when the ark was opened. Various explanations are given as to why they died, varying from being disrespectful to the ark to disobeying God.  There are those who say that they were not properly sanctified or purified before drawing close to the ark to inspect the contents. I would follow that latter explanation and add the reason that they entered into the tzim tzum, that bubble between heaven and earth where only someone in a physical body that has been properly cleansed, made to be sinless, could enter. Otherwise, their corruptible bodies could not exist in that realm.

In general, God has two opposite modes, that is, the way or manner in which something occurs or experienced is done. He operates jointly in the revealed or natural realm and in the concealed or supernatural realm. In the natural realm, there is a seeming lack of Divinity which is the result of God’s ability or power to conceal himself.  Miracles, where the laws of the natural world are broken, are an expression of Godliness which is an opening of the concealed realm of God. Yet, the reality is that God is beyond both the natural and supernatural. He is neither entirely concealed nor is He entirely revealed. He is neither locked into operating in a hidden or limited manner nor is he bound by his infinitude. He is beyond both and can unite the two modalities if He so desires.

Humankind is locked into only one mode, the natural, and cannot pass into that other, supernatural, in a physical body.  Any attempt to do so without the covering of the blood of Jesus will result in the destruction of the human body.

The ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, which was the most sacred spot on earth. It was there that the supernatural reality of God was revealed. Thus, the ark did occupy space in the natural realm while at the same time it did not as it was in the supernatural as well. It was, as the sages say, the perfect kiss between Heaven and Earth.

There is a point for the believer when they approach death that they too, through the grace and the power of God, will occupy both realms at the same time, as did Peter, James and John from the natural realm and Moses and Elijah from the supernatural realm on the Mount of Transfiguration. We will have the same experience when we pass from this world. God will invite us into that tzim tzum, that bubble that contains both heaven and earth where He will give us that Divine Kiss, and like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, we will want to build a tent to dwell in that bubble, but instead where Jesus sent Peter back into the natural realm to complete his mission, our mission will be completed, and we will be allowed to enter His Father’s house.

When the priests were carrying the ark back to a permanent place after its captivity by the Philistines, the priests did not follow Hebraic law.  This was clearly done because they placed the ark on a cart pulled by oxen in total disregard to the laws and command of God.  If they disregarded this, it is likely they disregarded the proper procedures of cleansing that the priest had to go through in order to carry the ark.

When it appeared that the Ark was about to fall off the cart, a certain Benjaminite named Uzza, who was not a member of the priesthood, tried to steady the ark. We learn that he was struck dead. The name Uzza means strength, more specifically, personal strength.  Uzza was treating the ark like any other piece of furniture when he reached out to steady it. He gave no thought to God caring for the ark but decided to steady the ark himself in his own strength. He tried to enter into the spiritual realm, that realm of the tzim tsum in his own strength, so to speak, and as a result, his human body did not have the strength to endure that passage. Unlike Nadad, Abihu, and the two hundred and fifty Nisi, Uzzah was not prepared to enter the tzim tzum, nor was he seeking to draw closer to God. He was just using his own strength, his own resources to accomplish what only God alone could accomplish and that was to steady the ark. To him, the ark was just another piece of furniture, and He did not respect its significance.

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