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I was thinking about the House of Obed-Edom. Yes, his house was blessed by the presence of the ARK and yes, his family prospered. But the Ark remaining in Obed-Edom's house was NOT the original intention of David or of God but in David's desire to bring the Presence of God back to the House of Israel...he COMPROMISED by placing the ARK on a new cart (a man made vehicle) and in that compromise someone died. ( II Sam 6:7 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. )
(Obed-Edom's name means "Worker of Edom" and comes from two words noted in the Strong's as 5647 and 123. I have included these below.
5647 `abad aw-bad' a primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc
123 'Edom ed-ome' or (fully) oEdowm {ed-ome'}; from http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=hebrewle xicon&isindex=122 - 122 ; red (see Gen. 25:25); Edom, the elder twin-brother of Jacob; hence the region (Idumaea) occupied by him:--Edom, Edomites, Idumea. )
It could seem a very romantic. desirable thing to be the House of Obed-Edom considering how he prospered because of the Presence of God on the ARK of the COVENANT and it would be easy to want to be of that HOUSE. But Obed-Edom was about the works of man's hands...the work of the Flesh AND Obed-Edom was a descendant of ESAU who SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT. It was Jacob's descendants who were the sons of the Birthright...the Israelites.
AND THE ARK WAS NOT BUILT FOR THE EDOMITES...IT WAS A VESSEL OF GOD'S PRESENCE AND BELONGED AMONG THE ISRAELITES. IT WAS NEVER GOD'S WILL FOR THE ARK TO BE IN OBED-EDOM'S HOUSE.
The ONLY reason the ARK was in Obed-Edom's house was because of the compromise and slackness of David in not bringing up the Presence of God the way God ordained it.
It is true in the "church" today that man has done the same thing many times over. They have tried to bring the Presence of God into the midst of the people using man's methods, done man's way and their actions have been full of compromise and excuses. And lately we have seen that a few people have gotten "fried" along the way just as UZZAH did. (Uzzah comes from 5798 in the Strongs and is a masculine noun meaning "strength".) And once again we encounter the flesh, the strength of man in trying to bring in the Presence of God.
I believe that the church "system" in the past few decades IS the House of Obed-Edom. If you look at it you can see that the strength of man and compromise has riddled the system. In the past there was some blessing from God's presence but that time is over. At some point we HAVE to move on and the ARK (Presence) of God must come to whom it is meant for. Those who are the children of the BIRTHRIGHT (Those who are born of the Spirit of God).
AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD MUST BE BROUGHT IN WITH NO COMPROMISE AND ACCOMPLISHED COMPLETELY ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT BY THE FLESH OF MAN.
Yet...even those who have denounced the system, walking away from it and saying they understand that God wants to do a new thing...still are willing to endure compromise. And we run here and we run there right smack dab into the midst of the flesh of man and his works thinking we are going to find God there. I understand the hunger, I understand the longing but I truly have to say that I think it is the fact that God's people are willing to compromise that has kept the fullness of a true move of God from happening among us. When we stop the compromise and do thing ONLY God's way...we will see the Presence of God restored to our midst.
It took David some time but when he figured out what really went wrong when they were bringing the Ark up...then he was able to go and bring in God's presence. I am sure he had to humble himself in the process. It is arrogance to think that we can carry God's presence in any kind of vehicle that is man made no matter how we romanticize it.
Sherry Mason
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