Bible Study Discussion Questions
Bible Study October 16th 2019
2 Samuel 6: 1-23
When good religion goes bad
- What do you know of the ark? At this stage, the ark didn’t have a practical use anymore but rather a symbolic one. What physical objects is to you things with symbolic value? Where do you put these things in your mind and/or house?
- In this passage, the ark is carried on a “new wagon”. In numbers 7: 9 and Deuteronomy 10:8 we read how it should have been carried. What does this instruction tell you about how healthy religion should be practiced? (this is a tough one: try but don’t worry if you don’t find an answer. We will discuss it. I got ya back, dog!:-)
- If a person is struck dead by a loving God for a seemingly minor mistake most of us will make (like Uzzzah in verse 7) it creates all kinds of questions. One way to frame this would be to say that God very rarely let this happen and only if it carries an important lesson that can save many people’s lives. What important lesson can we learn from Uzzah’s mistake. Why was it so wrong to reach for the ark and prevent it from falling?
- David push “pause” and halts everything. Is pausing an important religious practice, especially when things go wrong? Why? How can we make ourselves pause?
- Strangely, the household of Obed-Edom is blessed because of the ark. “If your religion doesn’t make you a better person in the eyes of your non-Christian friends; it’s not the one Jesus had in mind”. Do you agree with this statement? Why (not)?
- A “linen ephod” (v14) was something akin to modern day boxer shorts, worn as undergarment. How do you feel about David dancing in his boxer shorts? Why do you think Michal didn’t like what she saw?
- What do you gather from v 19 about how religion should be practiced? Why is our “sisters closet” important to our spiritual health at City Centre?