In 2 Samuel chapter 6, we find King David, along with 30,000 of his choice men, on a
journey to bring the Ark out of the house of Abinadab and transport it into the City of David.
This occurs after David defeats the Philistine army. After obtaining the Ark, David and his men
place the ark on a new cart pulled by oxen. As David and his men are transporting the Ark,
scripture states, that all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of
instruments. I can imagine the excitement not only on David’s face, but on all the men as they
journey home. They are in a literal sense, bringing the presence of God unto their people and
into their city.

During the journey however, we see that in verse 6 of 2 Samuel chapter 6, the oxen
stumble, and Uzzah puts out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it. Scripture continues
to state that the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his
error, and Uzzah dies there by the Ark of God.

David, in fear, dares not to continue on this journey of bringing the Ark of God into the
City of David, but rather, he takes the Ark aside into the house of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom has
the Ark of God for 3 months, and the entire house of Obed-Edom and ALL that belonged to him
were blessed because of the Ark of God. After hearing these things, David then returns to
Obed-Edom’s house, much better prepared this time, to properly transport the Ark of God unto
the City of David.

Scholars state that the distance from Obed-Edom’s house to the City of David was
approximately 6 miles. In verse 13 of 2 Samuel, King David offered a sacrifice of oxen and fatted
sheep every 6 paces. These next few details are mind blowing to me. To put this scene into
perspective, we can assume that each pace is measured by placing one foot in front of the
other in a normal stride. When taking 6 normal steps (paces), the approximate distance is 9ft.
There are 5,280 ft. in a mile which would total 31,680 ft. in a 6-mile distance. When David
offered a sacrifice every 6 paces (9 ft), that means he offered approximately 3,520 oxen AND
3,520 fatted sheep on his 6-mile journey from retrieving the ark from Obed-Edom’s house and
escorting it into the City of David. That’s a total of approximately 7,040 animals that were
sacrificed on this single 6-mile journey.

In today’s market, a single ox can fetch between $2,500-$12,000 each just depending on
weather the ox is male or female and the overall quality of the ox; while a sheep will cost
approximately $300-$500 each. Knowing King David as a man after God’s heart, I’m sure he
insisted on only using the best sacrifices for his God. To be conservative however, let’s just use
$5,000 as a value for a single ox in today’s market and a value of $400 for a single sheep. That
means that David’s sacrifice of 3,520 ox was valued at approximately $17,600,000.00, and the
sacrifice of 3,520 sheep were valued at $1,408,000.00. That’s a grand total of approximately
$19 million for this 6-mile journey. Can you also imagine the amount of time involved in
sacrificing each ox and sheep every 9ft? This was probably a very long and laborious venture.

The point being made here is not necessarily the dollar amount, nor the time involved,
but that David valued the presence of God far above anything and everything. Money nor time
was an object to King David when it came to pleasing and honoring God. David spared no
expense and was not concerned about the length of time in which it took to make this journey.
The presence of God was not an afterthought, nor was it secondary for King David. The
presence of God was the epicenter of everything for him, and to put it bluntly, David put his
time and money where his mouth was. David valued the presence of God far above anything
and everything.

I could spend hours and hours, unpacking 2 Samuel, but the main stake I want to drive
into the ground here is this; the Ark made its way into the home of Obed-Edom prior to making
its way into the City of David. God is uniquely calling his people to erect and build altars in our
homes and family units once again. Jesus is thirsty for something. He’s thirsty for true worship,
and I believe one of the primary works he’s up to is establishing this within the family unit.
Let me pose a question, could it be, that the reason we have yet to experience true
lasting revival, that creates cultural change is because we are attempting to bring the
presence of God into our city’s, church buildings, schools, etc. without it first being
established in our personal lives and in our homes? To put it bluntly, we’re contending for an
outpouring in many areas of culture, which is important and commendable, yet, it’s digging
the well of worship in our homes and family units that God is longing to restore.
Gone are the days where we just encounter God in a church building, church conference
or revival meeting. I believe in attending church and being part of a body; I also believe our
homes, the place where we eat, sleep, wash the dishes, do the laundry, play with the kids, and
do life with our families, has been forgotten and even treated as less important, than perhaps
attending a weekly church service. We pour everything of ourselves into our jobs and into our
local churches, which is commendable. But what if our weekly church services became a
corporate extension of what God was doing intimately in our lives, our homes and in our
families? What if the coals of the fire we’ve cultivated in our homes become so numerous and
flaming hot, that when we gather together at our local church body, a literal spontaneous
combustion occurs in the building?

Friends, this is what restoring the altar in your home is all about. It’s about becoming a
people, whom make the presence of God the very epicenter of everything we do. Where God
living and breathing in our homes is no longer an afterthought, but it becomes the very
heartbeat of our lives. I believe if we will restore the altar and welcome the presence of God in
our homes, just as Obed-Edom, the presence of God will then spill over, making its way into our
city’s, our public schools, our governments, our job sites, church services, business meetings,
and the list goes on.

This is something we want to do together, with you, in hopes that you will continue on
this journey of ministry unto the Lord, and ensuring that his glory is forever present in your
home and in your family. As the old saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles, begins in the
place you currently stand and with a single step forward.” We want to take this step with you!

Tiffany and I want to personally invite you on this journey with, and alongside of us. Join
us weekly for live worship every Wednesday at 12:00pm EST. This will be a time where
together, we will pray, intercede, release prophetic worship and begin restoring the altars of
worship in our homes. We pray that this time we have with you becomes a seed that ignites
inside of your own heart, to create room and time for the presence of God in your own life,
home and family. Friends, it’s time we enter into the season of Obed-Edom and we bring the

•  presence of God into our homes!

~Christian & Tiffany Ryman