Return of The Ark

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:02 Speaker 2: I say we bring back the Ark of the Covenant here. If the Lord is with us in battle, the Philistines will undoubtedly fall like grass before the scythe. 00:00:12 Speaker 1: But in their fervor, they had failed to reflect on the true nature of their defeat. God's presence hadn't left Israel. It was their hearts that had drifted far from the Lord as a fleet of ships lost to the raging seas. As the Philistines neared the Ark, panic ripped through the Israelite ranks like wildfire. 00:00:35 Speaker 3: The Ark of God has been captured and all glory has departed. 00:00:44 Speaker 2: We cannot keep the Ark. 00:00:46 Speaker 4: Both Ashdod and Gath nearly perished because of it. 00:00:51 Speaker 1: The Ark was dutifully carried to Kiriat Jeharim. It was brought to the house of Abinadab. a reverent man who had devoted himself to caring for the Ark. He consecrated his son, Eleazar, to guard the Ark and did so faithfully for 20 years. 00:01:10 Speaker 2: He won't see my face until he brings me Michael. She will be my peace offering. This again, David? Please, for the love of God, let it rest. McCall is with another man. 00:01:25 Speaker 4: She's my wife, by right. 00:01:27 Speaker 2: I paid for her in Philistine blood. Saul gave her away like a trinket. I want her returned. 00:01:38 Speaker 1: Michal was torn from the arms of the man she had come to love. Her place was beside David now, by rites of first marriage and by the slow, cruel arithmetic of kingship. The skies above Jerusalem were clear, and the sun poured like molten gold over the city's stones. David basked in the light, arms outstretched, feeling the euphoria of victory. Having just vanquished the Philistines in battle and secured the borders around Gibeah, David knew it was time to establish Israel, as a thriving kingdom under the rule and reign of God Most High. He turned back to Mishal and Abigail, who were tending to the palace halls in preparation for a meeting of the elders. 00:02:36 Speaker 2: It's time to bring the presence of the Lord here, to Jerusalem. This can't be Israel's capital unless the Ark of the Covenant is here in our midst. 00:02:46 Speaker 1: Abigail smiled at the thought. 00:02:48 Speaker 3: The Ark resides in the house of Abinadab, does it not? The hope of Israel shouldn't be hidden and tucked away like that. 00:02:56 Speaker 2: My thoughts exactly. Michael, what say you? 00:03:00 Speaker 1: Michal shrugged, refusing to give David a passing glance. She had been torn away from her life, her husband, and brought to David like a piece of property. It was a failure of character David refused to admit. 00:03:17 Speaker 5: Do what you want, David. You do little else, it seems. 00:03:21 Speaker 2: Don't be so cold, Michael. We're talking about the Ark of the Covenant. The presence of God himself. 00:03:28 Speaker 5: The same God that turned on my father? Forgive me if I'm not bringing out my tambourines. Have your celebration. I'll be in my chambers. 00:03:39 Speaker 1: Michal left without looking back. Abigail watched her leave, then turned to David. 00:03:46 Speaker 3: She's not going to stop being angry with you. She was brought here against her will. It was the same. 00:03:53 Speaker 2: With me and Nabal. Are you really comparing me to Nabal? 00:03:58 Speaker 3: Of course not. But look at her situation. 00:04:02 Speaker 2: Michael and I had something once. I have to believe she'll turn around. 00:04:09 Speaker 3: David, as your wife, I can accept that as a king you need marriages to hold alliances... But Michael was brought for a different reason. 00:04:20 Speaker 2: And what reason is that? 00:04:23 Speaker 3: She's also your last tie to Jonathan. But having her won't bring him back. 00:04:29 Speaker 1: David winced at that. Abigail had always had a gift for prodding him in a way that turned his heart. She wasn't jealous or petty. She was a clear and sober thinker. David needed her. Abigail left, leaving David alone with his thoughts. Jonathan. David longed to have him by his side again. For counsel. For laughter. David sighed. 00:04:59 Speaker 2: Jonathan would agree. The Ark of the Covenant needs to be here. 00:05:04 Speaker 1: He smiled, forgetting his marital struggles, and turned to his attendants with a clap of joy. 00:05:12 Speaker 4: Gather all the young men of Israel. Gather the assembly of God and the musicians. It's time to bring the ark into the heart of our nation. 00:05:23 Speaker 1: A tide of joy swept the land. Sharp and bright trumpets rang through the streets and drums pounded with a cadence that stirred the blood. In the midst of this celebration stood King David, Arms thrown wide, his voice lifted with the people's songs. A sea of 30,000 men marched behind him, their faces lit with the fire of hope. He took them to Baal-i-Judah to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was hidden in Abinadab's home. where his sons Uzzah and Ahio stood reverently as the king approached. David approached with a beaming smile and booming voice. 00:06:11 Speaker 4: Abinadab, may the Lord bless you and your sons for your faithful stewardship over the ark of God. We've come to bring it into the heart of Jerusalem where it belongs. 00:06:22 Speaker 1: Abinadab looked over David's shoulders, brows up in confusion. 00:06:27 Speaker 2: My king. 00:06:29 Speaker 6: Where are the Levites to carry the Ark? 00:06:31 Speaker 2: Where are the Poles to carry it? I've done better. 00:06:35 Speaker 4: I brought a cart adorned with jewels and a procession of dancers and musicians. 00:06:40 Speaker 2: Only the best for our God. 00:06:43 Speaker 1: Abinadab's face bent in reluctance, but he had not the confidence to question the king. He and his sons led David through a narrow corridor to a chamber dimly lit by oil lamps. There... Cloaked in age and reverence stood the ark. David's throat tightened. He gazed at it, entranced. 00:07:06 Speaker 2: O Lord, it's time. Let the ark return. 00:07:11 Speaker 4: Let Israel be near to her God once more. 00:07:15 Speaker 1: The procession began. The ark was placed upon the cart. Uzzah and Ahio guiding the oxen forward, their hands trembling. Abinadab trailed behind, eyes shifting in worry. He knew that this wasn't the way. Around them the music swelled, lyres strummed, tambourines danced in eager hands and cymbals crashed like waves on the shore. David led it all, heart brimming with joy, feet stamping to the rhythm of worship. They had forgotten that the ark was not merely golden wood. It was fire cloaked in mercy, and fire when mishandled consumes. David was so caught up in his euphoria that he failed to notice the jagged surface of the path descending into Jerusalem. The oxen pulling the cart stumbled and the cart groaned under the sudden shift. A wheel lifted, the axle bent and the ark began to slide. The golden cherubim tilted and the sacred vessel teetered dangerously near the edge. Uzzah, son of Abinadab, saw it falling, his breath caught in his throat. He leaped to the cart's edge to catch the ark. Abinadab saw it all happen slowly. 00:08:45 Speaker 2: Uzzah, no! 00:08:47 Speaker 1: But it was too late. Uzzah reached out. David turned, and all time stood still. The moment his hand touched the ark, the sky broke open without a sound. It was like a single drumbeat. Azza gasped, clutched at his chest as if his heart had caught flame and crumpled to the earth. His body hit the ground with a sound like the end of a song. A terrible silence followed. The oxen were still. The musicians lowered their instruments. 30,000 men held their breath and not one dared move. David ran forward. He dropped to his knees beside the fallen man, gathering Uzzah into his arms. The young man's face, moments ago lit with joy, was now pale, cold, void. David's lips trembled. His voice, when it came, was small and broken. 00:09:51 Speaker 2: He only meant to protect it. 00:09:53 Speaker 1: David looked up at the Ark, brow furrowed in anger and confusion. 00:10:03 Speaker 2: Is this your justice, Lord? Is this your mercy? 00:10:08 Speaker 4: We sang of your greatness, your gentleness. We danced in your name and you strike down the faithful? 00:10:16 Speaker 1: No answer came. The ark remained silent, holy, untouchable. David rose to his feet slowly. Anger flared beneath his sorrow. He turned back to his men, to the priests, to the thousands who looked to him for strength. But there was no speech, no comfort. The king turned from the ark. 00:10:42 Speaker 2: Take Uzzah. Return him home with his father. 00:10:47 Speaker 1: They obeyed. lifting Uzzah's lifeless form and carrying him away with solemn steps. Behind them the great host stood like statues, awash in disbelief. David lingered, his eyes on the ark. He did not approach, could not. His heart, once so full, now thudded hollow in his chest. A single question gnawed at him like a worm in wood. 00:11:17 Speaker 2: Is the God I serve not who I thought he was? 00:11:23 Speaker 1: He turned away. Across the fields, nestled between twin hills, stood the home of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark was brought to him. No songs this time, no liars, only silence. David returned to Jerusalem with his men, but he did not ride tall in the saddle. David was terrified of the God he once called Good Shepherd. The fire crackled and danced before David. He sat with his elbows on his knees, hands folded over his mouth, eyes lost in the slow, spiraling drift of smoke toward the open rafters above. He had not spoken to anyone of substance in hours, perhaps days. The king was not often silent, but when he brooded, even the bravest of his men gave him space. Three moons had passed since Uzzah's death, and still the question lingered like smoke in David's soul. 00:12:36 Speaker 2: Why? Why death? 00:12:38 Speaker 4: Death? 00:12:40 Speaker 2: Our hearts were joyful. We were doing a good thing. 00:12:44 Speaker 1: He could not forget Uzzah's face, how life had fled it in a breath. David rubbed his temples and leaned forward, gazing into the coals. He was still staring into the hearth when the knock came. Nathan stepped through the door. 00:13:03 Speaker 2: Nathan, to what do I owe this visit? 00:13:08 Speaker 1: Nathan took a seat beside David and stared into the hearth. 00:13:12 Speaker 6: There's news from the house of Obed-Edom. 00:13:17 Speaker 1: David stiffened. He feared the worst. 00:13:20 Speaker 2: What's happened? Was he struck down? 00:13:23 Speaker 6: Quite the opposite. The Lord has blessed him. 00:13:27 Speaker 1: David turned slowly. 00:13:31 Speaker 2: In what way? 00:13:33 Speaker 6: In every way, it would seem. His cattle have doubled, his sons are prospering, and his daughters have taken godly men as husbands. I'm told his eldest is to have another child, his sixth grandchild. They say peace rests on the house like morning dew, and none can speak ill of them. 00:13:58 Speaker 1: David's mouth parted slightly, but no words came. 00:14:03 Speaker 2: How could this be that The Ark slays an innocent man on the road to glory, but blesses another, collecting dust in some farmer's home. 00:14:15 Speaker 6: Road to glory? Is that what you call that little parade of yours? What was so glorious about it? 00:14:23 Speaker 2: There were jewels, music, dancers. 00:14:28 Speaker 6: Yet no Levites, no wooden poles, no ephods, no bowl offering, no obedience. 00:14:39 Speaker 2: No obedience. 00:14:42 Speaker 6: Obed-Edom has not been stricken, he's been embraced. Not for his station, or for pomp or parade, but for reverence, for quiet, for obedience. The Ark had found a home in a place of humility. not spectacle, David. 00:15:01 Speaker 4: You're saying I should have somberly marched the ark to Jerusalem like a, like a funeral procession? 00:15:08 Speaker 6: I'm saying that the Lord does not see as a man sees, young David. If he wanted pomp and glitter, he would have kept Saul on the throne. The dashing warrior with broad shoulders, flashing banners and trumpets blaring behind him. But he chose the lowly Shepherd instead, one after God's own heart. 00:15:34 Speaker 2: I tried to usher God's glory into Jerusalem on wheels of silver and songs of grandeur, using gold and music to shout God's holiness. But the Lord has not asked for tambourines or silver-laced wheels on a wagon of gold. He's asked for reverence, for obedience. 00:15:59 Speaker 6: And to obey is better than sacrifice. 00:16:03 Speaker 1: There was a silence between them, cut by a grunt from Nathan as he stood up from his seat. 00:16:10 Speaker 6: I learned that one from our old friend Samuel, of blessed memory. Now I will leave you with those pearls of wisdom. Ponder well, my king. Pray, repent, but no more sulking. It's unbecoming of. 00:16:28 Speaker 1: You David watched Nathan leave, then reached for his lyre, the one he had not touched since the day the ark slipped and Uzzah died. His fingers danced once again on the strings with care. The melody came slow, like a memory returning through the mist. Then the words came too, soft and aching. 00:16:54 Speaker 2: Lord, I have given up my pride and arrogance. I shall not set my heart on things too great for me. Instead, I am calm and quiet, like a child in its mother's arms. My soul is still within me. O Israel, trust in the Lord now and forevermore. 00:17:25 Speaker 1: He played it again, then again, The tune stitched something back together inside him. David paused his strumming and looked out the window toward the night, toward the hill country where the ark now sat in quiet glory. He still had questions, but pride would no longer be his counselor. He would finish what he started, but this time not on his terms. This time the king would approach the holy with fear. Trembling, song and obedience. The morning air was crisp, a thin mist curled above the hills like incense. No warhorns rang, no banners flew, no golden cart gleamed. 00:18:18 Speaker 2: In the sun. 00:18:20 Speaker 1: There wasn't even a crown on David's head. He came barefoot, clothed in a linen ephod, simple, common, the garment of a servant priest. His hair was unbound, curls bouncing off his shoulders. The Ark of the Covenant was coming home, and David would not meet it as a king, but as a worshipper, a servant. David had gathered Levites, not soldiers, not nobles, to bear the Ark, not on wheels of silver, not by oxen, Their shoulders bore its sacred weight on poles of acacia, just as Moses had commanded, and every six paces they walked the procession halted. Blood stained the earth with every stop. Lambs and bulls were laid on carefully built altars, their smoke rising in solemn curls to the heavens. the air filled with the mingled perfume of praise and sacrifice, blood, incense, and the songs of men. David danced to it all. He did not walk with the measured steps of a ruler or the stiff march of a soldier. He danced with the wild, unrelenting joy of a man whose heart had been unshackled. He leaped and twirled clapping his hands his voice lifted in raw unpolished worship dust flew beneath his feet and tears streaked the sweat of his cheeks he was king yet he danced as a child he was a warrior yet he sang as a worshipper The ark passed through the gates and with it came the winds of change. This was no parade of conquest. This was consecration. They were not merely a nation of tribes. Now they were the people of the living God again, united beneath the Lord's presence. And David, dust-covered and radiant, was the shepherd who had led them there. Yet not all were enthralled by the event. Michal stood still behind the lattice of her window, looking down at it all. Her arms were crossed, lips curled in disdain. She watched David, the king, barefoot in the dust, smeared with sweat and soot, dancing like some drunk fool. She narrowed her eyes. 00:21:04 Speaker 5: That is the king of Israel? Everything around in rags, like a low-born zealot, half-naked and hollering in the streets. 00:21:14 Speaker 1: Her servants glanced at each other, unsure whether to nod or keep still. 00:21:20 Speaker 5: My father would have never stooped so low. 00:21:26 Speaker 1: David finished pitching the tent for the ark, stood and wiped sweat from his brow. He breathed deep as though the very air was sacred. Behind him Levites moved with solemn hands preparing offerings. Then he turned and called for his steward. 00:21:45 Speaker 4: See that every mouth is fed today. Meat, bread, raisin cakes. No one shall go hungry on a day like this. 00:21:53 Speaker 2: My lord, all of them? 00:21:57 Speaker 4: The sons of Israel shall remember this day with full bellies and glad hearts. Take care that the poor are served first and send word to the kitchens. I'll lend my hands. 00:22:09 Speaker 1: David made his way to the kitchens. He rolled up his sleeves, brushed flour from his palms, and stepped into the heat. 00:22:16 Speaker 2: Of the ovens. 00:22:18 Speaker 1: There, shoulder to shoulder with his servants, the king of Israel baked bread. He sang low and warm. The servants began to sing with him. Tension drained from the room. Laughter returned. Pans sizzled. Raisin cakes rose. In every gesture, every loaf, every song, David gave glory to God, not from a throne, but from the hands of a servant. And in the high tower above, Mishael watched and fumed. David returned to his household. The laughter of children greeted him at the door like a choir of angels. His arms were full with the last of the raisin cakes which he handed out to eager little hands. The scent of fresh bread and spiced meat filled the home. Little Absalom climbed into his lap and David held him close, his heart light. The room glowed with candlelight and joy, a rare stillness in a king's life. For a fleeting moment it felt like peace. He sat among his family, surrounded by faces softened by food and firelight. They drank and ate and told stories, and David, holding his son close, began to recount the tale of the ark and the journey it had taken to reach their city. His voice danced with awe, but warmth in the room chilled when Michal entered. She stood above him, arms crossed. David looked up and smiled, but her eyes were not kind. 00:24:06 Speaker 2: What troubles you, my love? 00:24:08 Speaker 4: This is a joyous occasion, and yet you carry yourself as though mourning. 00:24:14 Speaker 1: Michal dismissed his warmth with a flick of her hand. 00:24:18 Speaker 5: I was merely pondering how the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself like a common street performer. You should be ashamed of yourself. 00:24:30 Speaker 1: David's brow furrowed, and he sent Absalom to play with the other children. He looked across the table. Abigail gave David a knowing look. Rising from his seat, David looked into the eyes of Saul's daughter. 00:24:46 Speaker 2: Ashamed? Ashamed to worship the Lord among his people? 00:24:50 Speaker 5: They are your servants, David, not your equals. And you danced before them as though you were no better than they. Prolicking like a child in the dust. 00:25:02 Speaker 4: I danced before the Lord. The Lord who chose me above your father and his house. Who appointed me ruler over Israel, his people. And I will worship him gladly. If I must look a fool in the eyes of men to please the Lord, then a fool I'll be. 00:25:21 Speaker 5: You made a spectacle of yourself. 00:25:24 Speaker 6: No. 00:25:25 Speaker 4: A spectacle was made when I paraded the ark on a cart of silver, and a man died for it. 00:25:32 Speaker 2: Today was not a spectacle. Today was repentance. Today, I danced, not as a king, but as a servant. 00:25:43 Speaker 5: And your maidservants? What of them? Did they not enjoy your little display, seeing you half-naked in that ephod? It was undignified. 00:25:55 Speaker 1: David paused for a moment, feeling anger mounting. But then he looked closer at Michal. He could see the hurt underneath the anger. He thought about Abigail's words and realized that Michal's disdain was bleeding from wounds he had created. David's tone softened. 00:26:16 Speaker 2: If it is embarrassment you feel for their eyes upon me, then I shall be more careful. I will honor you in that. But know this, Michael. I serve the Lord first. I'll become even more undignified than this. I'll be humiliated in my own eyes. 00:26:40 Speaker 1: Michal did not reply. She pulled from his touch and swept from the room like a cold wind. David watched her go but did not follow. He pitied her. She had not chosen this life, not truly. She had been a daughter of Saul and swept away in games of jealousy and ego. David did not hold it against her. Still, a shadow passed over their marriage. No children were born to them, for no love was made between them. Steve Gatina, Max Bard, Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely and Chris Baig. 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