Where is the Ark of the Covenant?

Transcript

okay so um I wish I could get rid of this Banner in front of me so where is the Ark of the Covenant and you know when we look at the physical Arc of the Covenant I have to start the class by saying I don't know so class over we can all go

home but you know when you look at at obviously the movies you can go to Raiders of the Lost Arc they say it's lost in the bowels of the Smithsonian um you can go to one of the uh Christian churches it's offshoot of the Copic Church in Ethiopia that says actually they have the ark and they guard it there's actually another contingent down in Zimbabwe that says they have the Ark of the Covenant but I think tonight what I'd like to do is actually go through and see where is it what is what's the meaning of this what do we why do we even have to have this this conversation and I hope you hold your comments till the end because if not I won't be able to make it through this I'll get completely befed so to to really understand this and this concept where is the Ark of the Covenant we need to go back to the start we need to go back to Exodus and so in Exodus 25 verses 10- 22 we have god-given the schematic for the building of the

Ark and so we know it was made of shamwood and shamwood is a light wood it's it's very dense but um but very light and on this it was overlaid with gold so if we just think about the kind of the physical attributes of this the fact that it was going to be carried there had to be something to take away some of the some of the weight of this and so the shid andwood would do that but it's overlaid with gold and on the top of it we have a crown of gold and with the four rings and remember the four rings would be used for the staves that would go through so that the priests the coites could carry this arc on their shoulders when they needed to move from place to

place and those two staves were also made of shamwood to be light and durable but they were covered with

gold the cover or The Mercy Seat however this was different this was made of pure gold and would sit on top of this box that was being

made and we have two cherubims on the mercy seat with their wings touching each other made of gold again so if we look at some artist con you know conceptions of this this is what it might have looked like we don't really know um we don't have any really good picture of it they didn't have iPhones back

then but what's more important is like I say this was a

box and so what did this box have in it and we know it contained three

things and the first thing it contained were the tablets of the law and God said this in Exodus 25:16 to Moses thou shal put into the the ark the testimony which I shall give thee and these tablets of stone remember were the ones that Moses had to make himself and Hue out of the mountain though God would write on them a copy of the law well the next thing that's that we know that's in the ark it's actually quite interesting because it was laid up before the ark was even

considered and that's the pot of mana and remember when when the children of Israel come out of Egypt and theyve crossed the Red Sea and they're now in the wilderness of Si before they come to the mountain they've run out of food and they they murmur to God and God sends mana and actually sends the

quail but God commands Moses to take the pot and put an R full of Mana therein and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations and it was a reminder of this time in the

wilderness and we also have Aaron's Rod that budded in numbers 17:10 and and the Lord said unto Moses bring Aaron's Rod again before the testimony to be kept for a token against the rebels and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me that they die not and remember what happened at this time when we have this budded Rod of aand well remember that was that was given at the time of the insurrection by cor Dayan and Aon when that happens and they're destroyed there another event had to take place in order to cement Aaron as the priesthood to show he was chosen by God it wasn't something that was just set up by Moses or somebody else God directly does this and so remember he has the Aaron as well as the the heads of the tribes of Israel take their staffs these dead pieces of wood and write the name of their tribe on it and so Aaron does this as well as the other elders and Aaron writes Levi on this and they lay it up before God and in the morning they go back and Aaron's Rod budded not only did it Bud it brought forth leaves and brought forth almonds this dead piece of wood was now resurrected to life and it would again cement Aaron as being chosen by my God as that

priest but there's actually something else and we know that these items were in it we go to Hebrews 9 1-7 and in Hebrews 9 it says this then verily the first Covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly Sanctuary for there was a tabernacle made the first wherein was the Candlestick and the table and the show bread which is called the sanctuary and after the second Veil The Tabernacle which is called the holiest of all which had the golden sensor and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold

wherein was the golden pot that had mana and Aaron's Rod that budded and the tables of the Covenant and over it the cherubims of Glory shadowing The Mercy Seat of which we cannot now speak particularly now when these things were thus ordained the priests went always into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of

God but what did it represent brother and sisters it wasn't just a pretty box but represented a physical place where God would meet with his people as and also the Covenant that he made with them at Mount

Si it demonstrated that he holds the law in his heart remember the law wasn't something that God just made up out of thin air these are the things that God believes in these are the things that are within him which he really wants us to have also doesn't he he wants us to have these things written in his heart and so it represented this this these this law that's written in God's heart and it's within this in this

Arc it also demonstrated doesn't it that he will provide for his people he had that pot of Mana that was laid up and should have been laid up forever before the people to remind them that God would provide for them to trust in God that they had not to want for anything if they would only do that and remember the Covenant that he made with them it demonstrated also that he chosen the high priest didn't it we just went through that with Aaron's Rod that budded it is God that's going to choose this it's not man it's not anybody else God has his plan in

mind and this was the place of Mercy

reconciliation and atonement this was the place where the high priest would go in once a year to make reconciliation and atonement for the

people and the interesting thing brother and sisters is remember the people had to have faith that the ark was there because they couldn't see it could they they were outside the the general population was outside the Tabernacle and they were outside the temple into the holy Place went the priests and we just read that in in Hebrews and Hebrews would also go on to say that once a year the day of atonement we'd have the high priest go in who would stand before the Ark of the of the Covenant of God but even then he wouldn't go in empty-handed he Andy with the sensor of incense as that incense en clouded him and enshrouded him so even what he saw was somewhat clouded in front of him but that incense representing the prayers of the people going to God and so we have the Ark of the

Covenant and in numbers 10:33 it says and they departed from the Mount of the Lord three days journey and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days journey to search out a resting place for them and this is the very first time brother and sisters that it's called the Ark of the Covenant and it's going to be noted that way about four in about 45 verses in scripture and it would seem for the most part brother and sisters for the most part most of these verses are in Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua and judges and then we're going to find a good portion of them in Samuel in the first book a little bit in 2 Samuel in the Kings and in

Chronicles but we also find that as the children of Israel went forward their history and they go into the period of the judges the symbol is started to be lost and by the time we come to Samuel and the birth of Samuel that that that symbol is is really going to the Wayside and so when we come to 1st Samuel 3: 1-3 it says this and these are verses that we know brother and sisters and the CH child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was precious in those days there was no open vision and the verse will go on to give us a hint as to why that was it says and it came to pass at that time when El was laid down in his place his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see he's getting older and he does have that physical ailment brother and sisters where he truly physically can't see that well but I would also say brother and sisters there's a spiritual blindness that's coming in there's a spiritual blindness that's coming upon Israel because we also know that Hof and Phineas have desecrated the office what should have the priesthood been doing they should have been teaching the children of Israel about this wonderful Covenant about this wonderful law about this wonderful God who could save them from all

things but this isn't taking

place and air the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God

was the lamp of God showing God's word which is supposed to go on for all time and there's there's um and and here it says went out a lot of a lot of versions actually say was going out there was still a spark there brothers and sisters there was still a spark there for God and of course we see that in the child Samuel and we're going to see that actually in some other

people but the symbol is lost brother and

sisters but the the symbol is

lost in 1st Samuel 4 we find what is going to happen here and what is what is so devastating says now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched in beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pitched in AEK and the Philistines put themselves in Array against Israel and when they joined battle Israel was smitten before the is the Philistines and they slew the Army in the field about

4,000 men now I want you to just stop there for a minute and think about this and think about what's taking place here because it's really quite interesting and we're giving some great

details when this battle takes place Israel is put to the worst and they Retreat back to their to their camp and the question actually come that you should be thinking if you really look at this verse is with this this happening and the the advantage to the Philistines why didn't they just immediately go into the camp and completely destroy the the

Israelites and I think it's because God stops it brother and sisters he has something else in mind because the people have fallen so badly we're going to see how this is this what where they have come to it says and when the people were coming into the camp the Elders of Israel said wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines this is why right here let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us that when it cometh Among Us it may save us out of the hand of our

enemies where does it say they actually went back to God and said what should we do they've taken it upon themselves to think that they have the answer and it's the elders that are doing this notice it's not being driven by the priests though the priests are going to go along with it let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us and notice that when it cometh Among Us it may save

us they've completely lost what this means they think that the ark has some magical power that when it's there in their presence they can do anything but of course we know that's not true Wiz

it it was a representation it was a

symbol and so the outcome of this brother and sisters we

know that symbol now was completely lost the ark was taken by the

Philistines the prospective High priests were slain that was ha th and Phineas who brought

it and Eli the high priest the last judge of Israel also

dies and so the ark goes into the hand of the Philistines the Ark of the

Covenant and so what was the Philistine

experience well the interesting thing brothers and sisters is what they do with the ark so we know when they take the ark they take it back to ashdod and they place it in the temple of deeon before their false god and when they do this more likely than not they bring it in in through the doorway and place it down and it's in front of their their statue of deeon so it looks like the Ark of God is doing obeses to

deeon but we also know what happens doesn't it brother and

sisters when they come in in the morning the statue of Deon falls on his face before the

ark the statue of Deon their God is doing obeses to the god of Israel

his but this is the whole statue that fell down and so you can also you can almost think of what they're thinking well somebody must have tipped it it must have been unstable maybe there was a little earthquake Tremor and the whole thing fell over so they set it back up in into its place and the next morning they come in and what do they find it says the statue falls again before the ark and breaks off the head and the hands and I'd like to read though that verse brothers and sisters because it's really quite interesting because it says in 1 Samuel 5:4 and when they arose early on the tomorrow morning behold deeon was Fallen upon his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord and the head of deeon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold only the stump of Deon was left to

him and so we need to think about this whole picture we see that the majority of this this statue has fallen down and indeed the head has broken off they can they can they can pray to Deon all they want but Deon cannot hear them he doesn't think he no knowledge he has no power his hands break off there's nothing that deeon can do for them he's just a god of stone but did you see that little reference here that that little detail only the stump of Deon was left to him the whole statue hadn't fallen down it had broken

off and what this would show was this was not a mere

coincidence this was by the hand of God God the god that they were desecrating brother and sisters and and and completely going not worshiping even though even though they've got a chance to do this because that's what the what the Israelites were doing in the land weren't they we know that they're there for an example they're there to teach the people but the people around them don't want to hear and so what's the next thing that happens while the Philistines are

plagued and so the Philistine remedy for this is to do something if we really look at the Timeline it's in their hands for about seven months and they plan to send it back but they truly stack the deck so what they do is

this they put it on a cart drawn by two mil cows and the other detail about these mil cows is they've they've never drawn on any carts before in their life they have not

worked and what's more is the two milk cows have calves and they leave them in the

Stalls so the next thing they do is they take the the the the the milk cows in this Arc with or in this cart with the Ark on

it and they take it out to the road and they let it go to see if it will go to Beth shemes or some other

place and actually the verse verse um uh eight of 1st Samuel 6 says this um take the Ark of the Lord and lay it upon the card and put the jewels of gold which he returned for him for a trespass offering and a coffer by the by the side thereof and send it away that it may go and see if it goeth up by the way of his own Coast to Beth sheemish then he God have done us this great evil but if not he shall know it is not his hand that smoted us it was by chance that it happened to us just a coincidence that these things happened but think about this brothers and sisters what would these two milk cows really want to

do even beyond the fact that they've never worked a day in their lives would they know what to do with this card would they know how to pull it they weren't trained to do this but what they want to do is go back to their to their calves that are Lo for them in the Stalls that's what the what what a mother wants to

do but it but they don't and they go on and they go to Beth

shemes and we'll find that there the symbol is still

lost because the reason why it goes to Beth

sheemish is Beth sheemish was aity city of the priests of the line of Aaron the high priest we find that in Joshua

21 the this was a a of the family of the high Priests of the Aaron's line who should know what to do with this

Ark but what do they do they're even worse than the

Philistines they desecrate the symbol they open it up they look inside and it says 53,000 of them die are destroyed and there's there's some different thoughts on what this number could actually represent and it's beyond what we're going to do

tonight but the fact that they did this breth and sisters and God's Wrath come upon comes upon them that's what's important for us to see here and so what do the men of Beth sheemish do does the city of priests they send it away they send it a little to the Northwest to kurath jir

and this was a gentile city and what this city was was this was one of the four confederate confederate cities with gibian and remember the story of gibian the story of gibian was at the time of Joshua when these men begin to see the Israelites coming in and destroying the the people around them and destroying the cities they don't want this to happen to them and so they send ambassadors

with their with their moldy bread and their bottles of wine that have been rent and their clothes with holes in them saying Oh we've come from a far country make a league with us and of course Joshua and the Elders of Israel instead of Consulting God do this and a few days later when they come to

gibian what happens well when he comes to when they come to gibian they find out that yes yes this was the the um cities that they were supposed to D

destroy but they

didn't and because of that because of that brothers and

sisters they know that they can't destroy these these these people because they made a league with them but what do they do well in Joshua 9 if we actually went down to the to uh verse 22 it says and Joshua called for them and spake unto them saying wherefore have you beguiled us saying we are very far from you when you dwell Among Us now therefore you are cursed and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God so they're put into the into the service of the

Tabernacle and so here they are and they will serve the Tabernacle and they will serve God more than the priests do they were in the city of Beth shemes so it goes into the house of abinadab and ab POS possibly was not in the priesthood he possibly was but possibly not and remains there for 20 years and the 20 years wasn't really the time that it that it stayed there completely but it was probably the 20 years until the time of the great Reformation that's going to be held by

Samuel but the next time we really come to know about

it this a time when the meaning of the symbol is is slowly being regained we have a great Reformation that takes place with Samuel he brings the people back to their God they begin to learn about their God again and know what their God can do the Philistines are routed once

again and we go through the time of Saul and we know there's waxing and waning and Saul himself really doesn't doesn't really follow his God but there is a man that does isn't it we have The Man David coming upon the throne and David wants to bring the ark to Jerusalem but the first time he does it he really doesn't do this properly at all he follows the example of the Philistines remember they put it on a card that's drawn by oxen and as it's going down the road it begins to shake and oza feels that the ark is going to fall off the off the cart and he puts forth his hand and touches it and of course he

dies and it puts the whole procession and to

disarray and David said how shall shall the Ark of the Lord come to me and I think brother and sisters that this wasn't just something he said I think this is put into the record to show that this was a prayer that he that he that he said but it it goes into the house of Obed Edom who is a levite of the division of

Kath and there it

remains until David realizes what needs to be done

and at that point in time what does he do now he prepares for it that prayer is answered how sh the ark the Lord come to me and I think it's probably through some of the the teachings of that he learns from OED Edom that it's supposed to be carried on the shoulders of the

coites but not just carried and put into the into the town for all to see it's supposed to be put into the Tabernacle and so David does this and there's a tabernacle set up in Jerusalem for

it and so we see the the symbol slowly being regained as to what it was what it

represented the Ark of the Covenant of the the at Mount Si given to the

people and so we have the meaning being regained but also there's a physical change that's happened with this Ark

and we learn about this actually at the time of of excuse me of Solomon and we know that Solomon builds the temple and brings in the ark the interesting thing brothers and sisters is in verse 10 where it actually talks about the change that took place it says there was nothing in the ark sa the two tables which Moses put therein at horror when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt so what happened to the pot of Mana what happened to Aaron's Rod that bued they were lost did the Philistines take them or possibly possibly what's even worse is this is is this some of the ways that the priests and Beth schemes had desecrated the

ark well the last record of the physical Arc of the Covenant at during the time of the king

happens at the time of Josiah and in 2 Chronicles 35: 1-3 at the time when Josiah is making his great reformation and bringing the the children of of Judah back from the brink of

disaster and he begins to bring the ark back and he begins to have a Passover which it says and we're read about this actually in a few days in our readings a Passover which there was n the like of this ever before it was so great and so it says this moreover Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem and they killed a Passover on the 14th day of the first month and he set the priests in their charges and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord and he sent unto the Levites that taught all Israel and see here they're doing their job again which were holy unto the Lord put the holy Ark in the house which Solomon the son of David King of Israel did build it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders serve now the Lord your God and His People Israel the priesthood is brought back to what they should be doing Israel is coming

back and it seems like at this point in time the Tabernacle was being moved from place to place and Josiah brings it back to that place that Solomon had built for it and not that Solomon had done this on his own but other under the opes and and direction of God and so it comes back in but what happens soon after this brother and sisters we know we go through the last few Kings of of

Judah and Judah is overrun by

Babylon and the house of God the temple that Solomon built is destroyed the vessels are taken away and we learn nothing more about the ark of the Covenant this is where it passes out of the annals of History brothers and

sisters but we have something amazing in prophecies given to to Jeremiah by God where he begins to talk about what is about the ark at the time when the children of Israel would be brought back into the land and in Jeremiah 3:1 16-19 it says this and it shall come to pass when you be multiplied and increased in the land in those days sayth the Lord they shall no more they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visit it neither shall that be done

anymore something is going to happen there's not going to be a need for this

anymore he goes go on to say at that time they shall call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord and All Nations shall be gathered unto it to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart in those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the North to the land that I have given them for an inheritance unto your fathers but I said how shall I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land a goodly Heritage of the host of Nations and I said

Thou shalt call me my

father and shall not turn away from

me a change was going to be taking

place this time the god of Israel would now be their father and isn't this what we pray brother and sisters we call him our our heavenly

father this is the name that God wanted the children of Israel to call

him in Jeremiah 31: 30 31 through 34 it says this behold the days come SE the Lord of gank a New Covenant with the house of Israel with the house of Judah not the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt which my Covenant they break although I was in husband unto them say the Lord but this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days say the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be no my my people they shall teach no more every man as neighbor and every man as brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them even to the greatest of them Seth the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no

more and so brother and sisters is that first Covenant begins to pass away we find a new Focus emerging and what's that new

Focus we have Mary giving birth to the Son of God and we have four gospels that detail his character his mission in his life and we can see it even more so in the writings of the

Apostles but let's look at some details that describe Jesus because these are astounding brothers sisters in John 1 1-24 and 17 it says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God the same was in the beginning with God and now notice and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father Full of Grace and Truth for the law was given by

Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus

Christ those tablets now now gone not

needed because we have that word that God had hold in his heart now made flesh in Jesus Christ who would live that word before us all it's a great example for all time where more details come out in John

6 vers 30 through 58 we're going to only hone in on a few of those Jesus describes himself as this he says I'm the bread of life your fathers that eat man in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die I am the living bread which came down from heaven If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my

flesh which I will give for the life of the world this isn't that Mana that was laid up in the ark this is that living bread the bread of

life well Paul goes on to describe him even more in Hebrews 6 and in Hebrews 7 even Jesus made an high priest Forever After the order of MDC that New Order not of the ironic line anymore but that New Order of high priest without beginning Without End not passed down from father to son anymore but ordained by

God the the the title and the office given to Jesus Christ the son of God well we have some more descriptions that we need to understand that happened his death and his

Resurrection so when Jesus is on the cross at the very end in Matthew 27 it says Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the spirit and behold the veil of the temple was rent in Twain From the top to the bottom the Earth did quake and the Rocks rent and the graves were open and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose so this place in the temple this place of the holiest of holies was now rent open for all to see not just for the one person to go in there once a year but now everyone had access to this through the death of

Jesus well there's more we learn in John 20 verses 1 through about Mary Magdalene coming to the Tomb at the first day of the week and finding the tomb the stone rolled away from the mouth of the Tomb she ran back for Peter help thinking that someone had taken away the body of Jesus and Jesus and probably John run to the tomb and John at first doesn't enter into the into the tomb but Peter does and then John goes in and after they see the sight in the Tomb they return

home and they see something that also Mary

Witnesses and in John 20 11 and 12 were told this but Mary stood without at the supper weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the seler and seeing the two angels in white sitting one at the head the other at the feet where the body of Jesus that

laid so brother and sisters when we put all this together what has been

described it's a living description of the Ark of the Covenant now made manifest by a better testimony and we know what that testimony is it's Jesus Christ so let's look at this then in detail so we if we start to compare these things we see the tablets of the law God's word Jesus is the embodiment of the word made flesh the Mana brother and sisters God provision for sustaining the lives of his people in the wilderness Jesus the manifestation of that token and that provision for the promise of eternal life given for

us Aaron's robit but it God's Declaration of his chosen high priest Jesus declared by his

father excuse me to be high priest after the order of MDC

forever well the comparison continue brother and

sisters the ark residing in the holy of holies only seen by the high priest the veil of the temple dramatically ripped in half exposing the way in for all to

see the ark with the cherubim closed remember the The Mercy Seat sat on top now the SR completely open and empty with the angel sitting one on each

end and with this also consider the significance of Peter and John entering that empty Tom they've entered into the holiest of holies as did

Mary because that was accomplished now in

Jesus that resurrection that takes place

Jesus

the Jesus the mediator of the New

Covenant in Hebrews Paul wrote for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and again is echoing the words of Jeremiah after those days so the Lord I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people and that he Seth A New Covenant he hath made the first

old now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish

away we have Jesus the mediator of that new

covenant and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of

Abel the Ark of the Covenant not needed anymore because there's a new covenant and all of these things had pointed to

Jesus and Jesus now makes them manifest for all time and also brother and sisters we have some insight into some words in Revelation in Revelation 11:19 it talks and the temple of God was open in heaven and there was seen in the temple the Ark of his testimony and there were Lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquak and great hail because that was the representation of Jesus and all can see him so brother and sisters we have the first Ark of the Covenant being replaced with Jesus the mediator and representation of the New

Covenant and so brother and sisters the next time we sing hymn 238 think of the words in that first

verse Oh God in highest Heaven Our God that hearest prayer through Christ whom thou Hast given our Advocate thine Heir now strong and hope United around thy Feast we meet receive from him our incense he is thy mercy

seat