ARK OF
THE COVENANT
Part I. Old Testament
Contents of the
Ark
Power of the Ark
Sacredness of the Ark
Staff of Aaron
Place of Prayer
Contents of the Ark
Hebrews 9:3-4
“Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the
Holy of Holies, in which were the gold
altar of incense and the ark of the covenant
entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing
the manna, the staff
of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets
of the covenant.”
Deuteronomy 10:1-4
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Hew
two tables
of stone like the first, and come up to me on the
mountain, and make an ark of wood.2 And I will write on the tables the
words that were on the first tables which you broke, and
you shall put them in the ark.’3
So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the
first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand.4 And he
wrote on the
tables, as at the first writing, the
ten commandments
which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the
fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me.”
Power
of the Ark
The Ark is powerful. Cf. Fall of Jericho Joshua 6: 1-20
Joshua 6:2-20
“And to Joshua the
LORD said, ‘I
have delivered Jericho and its king into your power.
Have all the soldiers circle the city, marching once around it. Do this
for six days, with seven priests carrying ram’s horns
ahead of the ark.
.. When they give a long blast on the ram’s horns and you hear that
signal, all the people shall shout aloud.
The
wall of
the city will collapse, and they will be able to make a
frontal attack.’ Summoning the priests, Joshua, son of Nun,
then ordered them to take up the ark of the covenant with seven of the
priests carrying ram’s horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”
1
Samuel 5:1-8
“When the
Philistines captured the ark of God,
they carried it from Ebenezer to Ashdod; then the Philistines took the
ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside
Dagon.3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold,
Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord.
So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.4 But when they rose
early on the next morning, behold,
Dagon had fallen face downward
on the ground
before the ark of the Lord,
and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the
threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.5 This is why the
priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on
the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. The hand of the Lord
was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them
with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.7 And when the men of Ashdod
saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not
remain with us; for his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god.”8
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and
said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They
answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.”
So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there.”
1
Samuel 5:9-11
“So they moved the
ark
of the God of Israel to Gath! But after it
had been brought there, the LORD
threw the city into utter
turmoil:
he afflicted its inhabitants, young and old, and
hemorrhoids broke out on them. The ark of God was next sent to
Ekron; but as it entered that city, the people there cried out, “Why
have they brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our
kindred?” Then they, too, sent a summons to all the Philistine
lords and pleaded:
“Send
away the ark of the God of Israel. Let it return to
its own place,
that it may not kill us
and our kindred.” A deadly panic had seized the whole
city, since the hand of God had been very heavy upon it.”
Sacredness of the Ark
The ark was so holy that it was not to be
touched or carried in a normal or casual manner.
1 Chronicles 15:15
“The Levites bore the
ark of God on their shoulders with poles,
as Moses had ordained according to the word of the LORD.”
Exodus 25:10-16
“They shall make an
ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half shall be its
length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its
height.11 And you shall
overlay it with pure
gold, within and without shall you
overlay it, and you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about.12
And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four
feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side
of it.13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with
gold.14 And you shall
put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark
by them.15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark;
they shall not be taken from it.16 And you shall put into the ark the
testimony which I shall give you.”
Joshua 3:4-5
“ … But let there be a
space
of two thousand cubits
between
you and the ark.
Do not come nearer to it.” Joshua also said to the
people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will perform wonders
among you.”
2
Samuel 6:6-7
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nodan,
Uzzah reached out
his hand
to the
ark
of God and steadied it, for the oxen were making it tip.
But the
LORD was angry with Uzzah;
God struck
him on that spot, and
he died
there before
God.”
1
Chronicles 13:9-10
“As they reached the threshing floor of Chidon,
Uzzah
stretched out
his
hand to
steady the ark,
for the oxen were upsetting it. Then the
LORD became
angry
with
Uzzah and
struck
him;
he died there
in God’s presence,
because he
had laid his hand on the ark.”
[compare to the sacredness and purity that God
intended for sexual activity. It is not to be touched outside of
the marriage covenant. In previous, and less confused generations
it was called the marital act.]
The Ark represented the Glory that God had given
to the Israelites.
1
Samuel 4:22
“And she said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God
has been captured.’ ”
Staff
of Aaron
Exodus 7:8-12
“The LORD told Moses and Aaron, “If Pharaoh demands that you work
a sign or wonder, you shall say to
Aaron: Take your
staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will be
changed into a snake.”… Pharaoh, in turn, summoned wise men and
sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise by their
magic arts. Each one threw down his staff, and it was changed into
a snake. But Aaron’s staff
swallowed their staffs.”
Numbers 17:17-20, 23 and 18:1
“There the
staff of the man
of my choice shall
sprout.
Thus will I suppress from my presence the Israelites’ grumbling against
you.” … Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had
sprouted and …
blossoms
as well … The LORD said to Aaron, “… your ancestral house shall … the
responsibility of the
priesthood
shall rest on you and your sons alone.”
Numbers 17:17-20
“Speak to the Israelites and get one staff from them for each ancestral
house, twelve
staffs in all, one
from each of their tribal princes. Mark each man’s name on his staff;
and mark Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, for the head of Levi’s ancestral
house shall also have a staff. Then lay them down in the meeting
tent, in front of the commandments, where I meet you. There
the staff of the man of my choice shall
sprout. Thus will I suppress from my presence the
Israelites’ grumbling against you.”
Numbers 17:23
“The next day, when Moses entered the tent, Aaron’s staff, representing
the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth not only shoots, but
blossoms as well,
and even bore ripe almonds!”
Numbers 18:1
“The LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons
as well as the other members of your ancestral house shall be
responsible for the sanctuary; but the responsibility of the
priesthood shall rest on you and your sons alone.”
Place of Prayer
Psalm 99:5
“Extol the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!”
1
Chronicles 28:2
“King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brethren and my
people. It was my purpose to build a house of repose myself for the
ark of the covenant of the LORD,
the footstool for the feet of our God; and I was preparing
to build it.”
Exodus 25:18-22
“And you shall
make two cherubim of gold;
of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the
mercy seat.19 Make
one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece
with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends.20 The
cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy
seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat
shall the faces of the cherubim be.21 And you shall
put the
mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall
put the testimony that I shall give you.22
There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat,
from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I
will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the
people of Israel.”
See:
Part II New
Testament :
Ark in the New Covenant
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