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2 Samuel 6 – Grace On Every Page
Grace is written on every page of the Bible. But blood is not. Grace is written in ways that blood does not need. The very breath we take is grace. God’s word breathed out through the Holy Spirit is grace. The breath Jesus exhaled declaring “it is finished” is grace. And God’s waiting breath, waiting for us to repent; patient with our every breath is grace. Grace is not always written in blood, but blood stained grace is always waiting.
God is more maligned and misunderstood than appreciated and comprehended. Therefore it is axiomatic that grace itself is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. Those needing grace often turn it into permission (Romans 6.1) and promiscuity (Jude 4). The sadness is that grace is needed because of the lack of divine permission and the excess of promiscuity.
One way that grace is misunderstood on the pages of the Bible is when God is silent. Silence is not authorization or approval. Silence is patience. This Divine silence is presumptuously interpreted as permission. To say that God approves because God does not say He disapproves says too much. I wonder if in heaven looking down, God just shakes His head, waiting for us to grow up and realize what we are doing.
Silence from God can be confusing because of the times Divine disapproval is declared quite drastically. Sometimes “The Voice” breaks through the heavens where all can hear (Gen.3.8-19). Sometimes what breaks is not heaven but earth itself, even swallowing whole as God declares His disapproval (Num.16.31-33).
That an action is not condemned by God does not mean it is approved. It is more a sign of grace and patience than approval.
Abram lied about Sarai being his wife to protect his own life. Pharaoh believed the lie, took Sarai, and God punished Pharaoh and his house (Gen.12.1-20). Unpunished and verbally uncondemned is God’s chosen one, Abram. Again the Patriarch lied, this time to Abimelech. But when God spoke to Abimelech, He called the liar a prophet, while being silent about condemning the lie (Gen.20). Does God approve of cowardice and lying?
Listen carefully. When I am saying that God is silent about Abraham’s deceit, I am saying that God is silent on the pages of the Bible. Not everything said and done is recorded. Therefore it is dangerous to read what is not there, and say God approves because He did not condemn.
Although God was not silent about how to move the Tabernacle furniture, when David assigned cows to carry the Ark of the Covenant, God stood silent. Silent until Uzzah reached out to protect the Ark from falling. His action seems more reverential than David’s although touching the Ark was forbidden and brought death (Num.4.15). Uzzah died “for his irreverence” (2 Sam.6.7). Because the action of touching the Ark is condemned in Exodus 25.14, the “irreverence” is the action and not the attitude. We know nothing about Uzzah’s attitude. We know everything about His action. And while consigning a cow to the work of the Levites is disrespectful to God’s command (Ex.25.14; Num.4), no one died for breaking that law. Did God approve of replacing sanctified servants with oxen? He didn’t condemn or punish, but who would argue that He approved?
And again, when I say God is silent, I am saying that God is silent on the pages of the Bible. We know God’s outburst (2 Sam.6.8) was not against David because he did not suffer the fate of Uzzah. Whether God verbally burst in condemnation is not recorded. Since not every action or word of God is recorded on the pages of the Bible, it is dangerous to assume that when God does not record His displeasure, that He is indeed pleased.
It is dangerous to say, “God did not condemn,” therefore God approves. Did God approve of Abraham’s lying and David’s “Levitical cows?” It is dangerous to say “God did not say not to.” Proponents arguing that Divine silence permits are faced with an ironic conundrum. In condemning those who say silence prohibits as for speaking for God, and speaking where God is silent, they commit the error they are condemning. When saying silence permits, they are in reality speaking for God. If speech is something, then silence is nothing.
When reading the pages of the Bible, and seeing “uncommanded” actions go uncommented on and therefore uncondemned, think more deeply. Just because we do not read of God commanding an action, does not mean God was indeed silent. Is it possible that instead of God recording His command on the pages of the Bible, God chose to record His unwritten command being obeyed?
Is everything God said through the prophets recorded? No. God also speaks through the actions of godly men, as their recorded examples obey unrecorded commands. Therefore to assume that Miriam (Ex.15.20) and David (2 Sam.6.14-16) danced and played musical instruments without authority from God, and yet with His approval, is to assume too much. Which conclusion respects more highly God’s holiness: 1) That God is pleased with worship He has not commanded; or 2) That when God is pleased with worship it is because He commanded it whether recorded or not.
Respect for God means I remain silent when He is silent. Therefore I will condemn the actions as contradicting God’s silence, without consigning guilt and eternal condemnation to those speaking in God’s place. As God is silent, I will wait for Him to speak concerning them. Why?
On every page of the Bible, there is grace. And blood is waiting to be applied. Don’t assume that because God allows something it means He approves. He allowed us all to sin. He allowed us all to live after sinning. By grace each of us is still alive and breathing, whether God approves of our lives or not. We are all living because of the grace of silence. The earth has not opened up thundering God’s disapproval. Don’t mistake patience for approval. Don’t misunderstand God’s grace. Each page of our life is filled with God’s grace.
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