Right Thing. Wrong Way.

The story of Uzzah and Ahio (2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13:1-14) is one of the most fascinating, yet troubling stories found in the Old Testament.  What happened to Uzzah and Ahio just doesn’t quite seem fair.

The Ark of the Covenant—Israel’s national treasure and most sacred object—is built to be mobile. When David becomes king and establishes his throne in Jerusalem, he determines to restore the ark to a place of prominence by bringing it to the new capital. His action is designed to make Jerusalem both the political and religious center of the nation. There the Ark of the Covenant will provide the focus for worship and serve as a rallying point for the nation.

With considerable pageantry the ark is placed on a new cart pulled by a team of oxen and brought from the home of Abinadab (where it has been housed for 20 years), with Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio, guiding it.  Ahio is in the lead, walking in front of the ark, and Uzzah is walking beside it.  David himself leads the procession, and all Israel joins him in worship—singing at the top of their lungs, accompanied by every kind of instrument they could round up.

The parade is going great until they reach the threshing floor of Nakon. Then things go horribly wrong. In one awful moment, the oxen hit some uneven ground and stumble, causing the cart to lurch. It looks as if the ark is in danger of falling off the cart. Uzzah instinctively reaches out to steady the ark, which is the last thing he ever does. He is immediately struck dead.

As you can imagine, this sudden tragedy casts quite a pall over the festivities.  David is badly rattled by the incident. First, he becomes angry, feeling more than a little embarrassed.  Then he grows fearful and decides to stop the proceedings. He orders a halt to the parade, sends everyone home, and places the ark in the nearest shelter, which happens to be the home of a man named Obed-Edom.

There is a great leadership lesson in this story: It is not enough for leaders to simply do the right thing.  Leaders must do the right thing the right way.

The wisdom of moving the ark to Jerusalem is not in question. It is the right thing to do.  Jerusalem—the political center of Israel—also needs to be the religious center.  It is appropriate to relocate the ark. The issue is not what David determines to do; the issue is how David determines to accomplish it. One does not transport the ark the same way one would carry a load of turnips to market in Jerusalem.  In Numbers 4, God gives specific instructions on how the ark is to be carried.  David ignores those instructions.

The number-one pitfall of leadership may very well be doing the right thing the wrong way.   The process is as important as the product.  Leaders need to keep in mind that determining the right thing to do is only half the job.  The other half is determining the right way to do the right thing. The means are as important as the ends.

Excerpts taken from Eddie Estep, Who’s By Your Side? More Leadership Lessons from the Life of King David (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2016).