In my salsa dancing class, my instructor did a 30-minute lesson on technique. One move required the follower (typically, a lady) to close her eyes and be guided about the room by the leader (typically, a gentleman), all through the mere touch of hands. For the movement to work properly, there needed to be an exactness in the leader's efforts. He couldn't simply walk any which way he felt. Rather, he had to apply the right hand pressure, he needed to step with his whole body and not just with his foot and leg, and he ought to be watching out for other couples.
A similar theme of meticulousness was present in this week's readings. First Corinthians 14:33 states, "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace." God would like for us to experience the orderliness of his presence, like a follower should experience from her leader. I, dancing as a follower, can attest to how confusing it felt when the right pressure wasn't applied in my hands or when my partner moved with his feet instead of the center of his body. Because my eyes were closed, all directions had to be communicated accurately through touch. Otherwise, I became confused and followed too late, bumped into my partner's toes, and/or crashed into another couple.
God - not wanting his people to "bump into others' toes" - provides them with precise directions, all for their benefit.
Now in order for a salsa move to be executed flawlessly, the follower has her own responsibility - she must truly be willing to be led. One could be dancing with the most exact leader in the world, but if she isn't willing to follow, the dance will be spoiled. Quite frequently, this is the type of follower God's people chose to be. They would refuse to be led and confusion - or worse - ensued. Chapter 13 of 1 Chronicles demonstrates this with the tragic story of Uzzah. Here we have King David who so desires to retrieve God's ark that, even though exact instructions have been provided previously by the Lord about how it should transported, he and his men travel to Kiriath-jearim and carelessly place the ark on a cart. And when the oxen stumble, "Uzzah [puts] out his hand to take hold of the ark" (13:9), and he is fatally struck down. Later, when King David seeks to move it again, he says to the heads of the Levites, "Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule" (15:13). God had given instructions so that he could be represented with the ark; he didn't want his people to suffer but to benefit. But when they chose to ignore his directions, the consequences were costly.
Moses too experienced the expense of not following God's direction. In Numbers 20, Moses is given instruction about how to bring water from rock. The Lord says, "Take the staff [...] and tell the rock before [the eyes of the congregation] to yield its water" (20:8), but Moses lifts his hand and strikes the rock with his staff twice and, as a result, is not allowed to lead the people into the land that will be given them (20:11-12). Admittedly, this seems like the Lord is a tad nit-picky. Moses did as asked but in a slightly different way. Yet, knowing the mishaps which occur when I as a follower have turned a different way from what my dance partner has instructed, one wonders how Moses' slight difference in approach may have affected whatever God sought to accomplish for his people.
This is probably why Jeremiah warns, "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (48:10). God seeks to accomplish great things his people. Psalms 105 summarizes: he made covenants with Abraham and his descendants (105:7-11), he acted through Joseph to help his people with the famine (105:16-25), and he sent Moses to free them from slavery (105:26-38). And as partners in this work, they needed to be willing to trust his lead. Just like how it takes careful leadership and a willingness to follow for the best salsa move, so too does it work best between God and his people.
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