I believe that God gives us a lot of leeway in how to handle the daily routines of our lives. But I also believe that most things should be done in an established order – because order matters. We now live under mercy and grace because of what Jesus did – we don’t have to follow to the letter the hundreds of laws that God handed down to Moses. Those laws were strictly enforced and obedience or disobedience could be a matter of life and death – literally. However, those laws had merit, giving directions for living good lives. There were laws to help keep them healthy, laws to keep them morally upright, laws for the treatment of others, laws for governing, etc. As we read about them now, sometimes it can be confusing about why certain ones were so rigidly enforced or why they were even important at all. But we can also recognize that many of our societal expectations and laws are based on those laws.
There are times that we have really good intentions about things that we do, only to have them be a failure that turns out badly. That can create frustration and even anger at times. We wonder why we even attempted to do something good when it just falls apart. Is it possible that we overlooked (or ignored) something that was an important step? Did we disregard specific directions/instructions – thinking we could take a short-cut or that we knew a better way?
Recently in my daily Bible study I came across a couple of things that caused me to think about this idea of good intentions gone bad. So I took a little deeper look trying to determine what went wrong & why.
In 1 Chronicles there is the transition of leadership from Saul to David. David then conquers Jerusalem and establishes it as the capital. In 1 Chronicles 13:2-4 David: “…addressed the assembled men of Israel as follows: ‘Since you think that I should be your king, and since the Lord our God has given his approval, let us send messages to our brothers throughout the land of Israel, including the priests and Levites, inviting them to come and join us. And let us bring back the Ark of our God, for we have been neglecting it ever since Saul became king.’ There was unanimous consent, for everyone agreed with him.”
Then following that in verses 5-14 we read about how a great crowd went to the house where the Ark was and they put it on a new cart with the oxen being controlled by Uzza and Ahio. The people were jubilant – playing instruments, singing and dancing with joy. Then verses 9b & 10 say: “…the oxen stumbled and Uzza reached out his hand to steady the Ark. Then the anger of the Lord blazed out against Uzza, and killed him because he had touched the Ark. And so he died there before God.”
Whoa! David had good intentions to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. Uzza had good intentions to stabilize the Ark when the oxen stumbled. But God struck Uzza dead. Can you imagine being there and witnessing that – right in the middle of their huge celebration? We’re told that first David was angry at the Lord and the very next verse says David was afraid of God (verses 11&12.) Apparently David just threw up his hands in defeat and didn’t even attempt to move the Ark on to Jerusalem, instead leaving in the home of Obed-edom.
So what was going on there? Did David overlook the law about the transport of the Ark? Or did he intentionally disregard it in his eagerness to bring it to the city? Here’s some background – Numbers 4:1-4: “Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi. List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle. The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects.’” The following verses tell how when the camp was going to move that Aaron and his sons were to enter the Tabernacle and handle all the sacred items preparing them for the move. Part of that involved covering the Ark and then putting the carrying poles into the table that held the Ark. God then told them to go in with the Kohathites and assign them what they were to carry – they were never to go in alone to look at the sacred objects or they would die. (Verses 17-20)
In Numbers 7:4-9 Moses distributed carts to all the Levites that were to be moving the tabernacle and verse 9 says: “But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.”
So there we have the answer to what happened with David and Uzza and the Ark. It would seem that David neglected to verify how things were to be done. So he had some good intentions that went terribly bad – costing Uzza his life.
Lesson learned, because in 1 Chronicles 15 David has determined once again to bring the Ark into the city. Verse 2 David says: “‘When we transfer the Ark to its new home, no one except the Levites may carry it, for God has chosen them for this purpose; they are to minister to him forever.’” (Side note here – Uzza was not a Levite. So there was problem #1.) David then instructs them to prepare themselves to go retrieve the Ark and verse 13 says: “‘The Lord destroyed us before because we handled the matter improperly—you were not carrying it.’” And verse 15 says: “Then the Levites carried the Ark on their shoulders with its carrying poles, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.”
This move was successful in every way – because directions were followed – so no punishment, no anger and no fear. Good intentions gone right!
Another example of good intentions gone bad is found in Numbers 20. The Israelites are still in the wilderness and they’re in a place where there isn’t enough water. They start to rebel against Moses and Aaron – again. So Moses and Aaron go to the Tabernacle to seek the Lord. Verses 7-12 tell God’s instructions: “And he said to Moses, ‘Get Aaron’s rod; then you and Aaron must summon the people. As they watch, speak to that rock over there and tell it to pour out its water! You will give them water from a rock, enough for all the people and all their cattle!’ So Moses did as instructed. He took the rod from the place where it was kept before the Lord; then Moses and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock; and he said to them, ‘Listen, you rebels! Must we bring you water from this rock?’ Then Moses lifted the rod and struck the rock twice, and water gushed out; and the people and their cattle drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe me and did not sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, you shall not bring them into the land I have promised them!’”
Here we see an example of someone that totally disregarded directions on how to accomplish the good intentions. Why after all Moses had been through and done at the direction of God would he disobey this time? Actually, I think I get it. He had put up with SO much complaining, SO much questioning, SO much disobedience, SO much rebellion it seems he had reached his limit. He called out the people – calling them rebels. This was definitely some good intentions gone terribly bad though. God provided the water to the people despite Moses’ defiance, frustration and anger. However, not only Moses, but Aaron as well, suffered a horrible punishment. After all they’d been through, they were denied the privilege of going with the Israelites into the Promised Land. A huge price to pay for using a rod instead of his voice.
It seems the key to having success from our good intentions is obedience. Both of the above stories above seem to be good examples of that. So we’ll be well served to know how things are to be accomplished before we strike out on our own with those good intentions and then obey.
Written by Karran Marin
March 19, 2026
All scripture quoted from the NLT
[All bold emphasis is mine]
Karran's Korner 