“Thirty-four right, twelve left, and then thirty-six right. And don’t forget to clear it first, that old padlock can be stubborn” his dad said.
“Okay awesome! This is so cool dad! I can’t believe you’re letting me do this!” yelled Randy as he burst out the front door.
A few minutes later he was spinning the combination of the padlock that secured the door to an old shed. Inside was the family ski boat. This was the first time Randy’s dad had let him take the boat on his own up to the lake. His heart was pounding.
But the padlock remained locked.
“Stupid lock!!! Okay, let’s try this again,” Randy said to himself. “Thirty-four right, twelve left, thirty-six right.” Nothing. He tried it again. Nothing. After several more attempts failed, he started back to the house.
He was thoroughly frustrated. “Why the heck doesn’t dad get a new lock? That thing’s older than me!” He continued toward the front door, but hesitated before he went in. “What if dad changes is mind and doesn’t let me take the boat?” he speculated.
So he sat on the front porch, not sure what to do.
Suddenly the front door opened. It was Randy’s dad. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Um, I can’t get the lock open,” answered Randy. His dad began to say, “Thirty-four right, twelve left…” when Randy interrupted, “Yeah, then thirty-six right. I know. That’s what I did.”
Then his dad asked, “Did you clear it first?” Silence. “Did you clear the lock?” his dad again asked. Shrugging his shoulders, Randy sheepishly replied, “I don’t remember you telling me that.” “Yes I did,” his dad answered. “That’s very important. I don’t think you were listening very good.” His dad smiled, then in a deep baritone voice said, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” Puzzled, Randy looked at him and said…
“Wait, What? Who’s E.F. Hutton?”
Several thousand years ago, 2 Chronicles 13 recorded a horrible event. The story starts out good enough: David had conquered Jerusalem and decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the city. He finds out where it was and goes to get it. But then story takes a negative turn.
“When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?” He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.” (1 Chronicles 13:9–13)
Many things have been written, said, preached, etc. about what happened here. Everyone makes careful note of David’s passion to get God’s presence back and Uzzah’s presumptuous and deadly mistake, but few make much of David’s response.
We are told that David was angry, then became afraid, and then gave up bringing the ark back to Jerusalem altogether, leaving it at the house of man named Obed-Edom. Totally frustrated, David plopped down in front of Obed’s house.
But God didn’t let David sulk for too long.
While the Ark was parked at Obed’s house, David discovered that hundreds of years prior, there were actually very clear directions given for the handling of the ark, but over the years these steps and procedures had been overlooked and forgotten.
“Wait. What? Who are the priests?”
David shouted as he learned that not only was the ark to be carried in a very specific way, more importantly, it was to only be carried by priests.
It didn’t take long for him to figure out who the priests were. He called Zadok, Abiathar, and other men, who were of the tribe of Levi. Then he gave them the lowdown,
“The bad news is that carrying the ark without guys ended in disaster. The good news is that God has given us some clear directions on how to do it and that’s where you come in.” (1 Chronicles 15:13, JHP)
After this, the ark was successfully brought to Jerusalem. David danced and twirled with joy. His anger had vanished. His fear was gone. And God blessed his rule, calling him a man after His own heart.
And the boat was successfully launched at the lake. Randy was smiling from ear to ear as the wind blew in his hair. He looked at one of his friends and said, “I’m not sure who E.F. Hutton is, but I’m sure glad I listened to my dad!”
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