The Weakest Link (Part 1)

One Year Bible (July 12)

I Chronicles 12:19-14:17

The Weakest Link (Part One)

There is a game show by this name that leaves only one champion standing to take home $1 Million if they escape hearing the famous last word, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.”

How humiliating it would be to appear on national television with all your friends and family watching, and hear those sad words.

Unfortunately, there is a man named Uzzah, who basically gets those exact words delivered to him in action from the living God. This encounter is startling and worthy of us stopping to look at how God speaks to us through his sovereignty.

Recently, I had an interesting question from a dear sister in the Lord who asked me, “How can we know when God is speaking?

Is it audible?”

Great question, isn’t it?

I pointed her toward all the varieties of ways we have seen God act, speak, and perform miracles in our short time together in “The One Year Bible”.

What are some of the memorable moments that stick out in your mind?

We can learn God’s voice by observing his Words, Ways, and Will…

There has been a word in our reading for today that just jumped off the page at me. The word is “BURST”.

The HOLY SPIRIT is the one that causes the WORD OF GOD to come alive or "BURST" as we read it.

So, I started researching the word, “BURST” as it captured my attention. I found some exciting things that answer our questions about how, why, and when God works.

In today’s readings, we see three different instances where God “BURSTS” into man’s lives in a way that they knew it was HIM, responded to HIM, and their lives were changed...

Today, we will look at, “BURST UPON” with Amasai, and “BURST OUT” with Uzzah. Tomorrow we will look at "BURST THROUGH".

God is mightily at work in all of these situations yet the outcomes are very different!

What do these encounters look like in our text and how do they fit into the bigger picture of what God tells us about himself in the Bible? These are some pretty big questions, aren’t they?

“BURST UPON”-- With Amasai and David. (I Chronicles 12:18)

In our first example, we meet “the leader of the Thirty”, and his name is Amasai. “The Thirty” were Mighty Warriors (army commanders) from Gad.

Here is what we are told about them, “The weakest among them could take on a HUNDRED regular troops.” (12: 24) One man versus 100.

(He is a pretty strong guy and he is the WEAKEST LINK!)

What about the STRONGEST LINK? (“The STRONGEST could take on a THOUSAND”.)

This is like an episode of a MARVEL because these guys were TRUE MARVELS!

David is coming up against them and doesn’t know if they will be FOR him or AGAINST him. (Nerve-Wracking!)

How does God handle these superheroes... Lightening? Zap Machines?

“Then the Spirit CAME UPON Amasai, the leader of the Thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David! We are on your side, son of Jesse. Peace and prosperity be with you, and success to all who help you, for your God is the one who helps you.” (12:18)

How is God’s power described and encountered in this passage?

The word “Spirit CAME UPON is also translated as, “Enveloped. Clothed. Empowered.”

God’s BURST of POWER “TOOK CONTROL of him” through the Holy Spirit.

There was a student who came into my classroom one day with bright fluorescent HOT PINK hair. (This is one of the things I love about my job; it is NEVER boring!)

The difficulty came in the fact that his hair coloring was ‘new, fresh, and not of the permanent variety”. It was dripping down his face from the minute he got there. Not only that but his fingers, papers, and my grey bean bag chair were “BURSTING” with a fluorescent FLOW.

This situation intensified when we went out to recess and he encountered two factors, light and heat! When we came back in the “PINK INK” was everywhere except on his hair! I will never forget the looks on the students’ faces. One sweet girl said, “Teacher, he’s melting!...”

Like my student’s hair, even the strongest of David’s rival warriors were “PINK PUDDY” in God’s hands! Without a word being spoken HIS “Light & Heat” changed everything!

“BURST OUT”--Against Uzzah (I Chronicles 13:11)

Next, we see Uzzah who merely reached out his hand to catch the Ark of the Convenient while it was being transported by David to bring it home.

King Saul had neglected the Ark and David wanted to honor God and bring it home. He was worshipping and praising God with all the instruments and singers when “WHAM! BAMN”, Uzzah had an encounter with “The Light” and he became quite COMBUSTIBLE.

(Like the pink fluorescent hair on steroids!)

This brings up another question that we may have concerning God and the way He communicates with us.

Are we sometimes afraid to pray because God might just “shine his bright light on our pink hair and we will COMBUST also?

Something had gone terribly wrong for David and ultimately took Uzzah’s life. In tomorrow’s passage, we will learn more about what David learned from this colossal failure in leadership.

Today’s story reminds me of my student with pink dyed hair… He was so excited and passionate until the pink all came running down his eyes… He obviously hadn’t noticed the instructions…

Unfortunately, King David didn’t either, and his servant came in contact with the strongest Force of Light in the world, The Living God…

I can just hear some little girl speaking up to David as well, “Teacher, He’s Melting!”

You see, our God can make the “Weakest Strong” and the “Strongest Weak” and on this day David was humiliated before the people as Uzzah was annihilated.

This was no game show, but it was quite a spectacle.

The words were inaudible but everyone knew what they were, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye."