Ark  of  the  Covenant

 

( MIDI playing : MESSIAH )

 

 

 

The Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ

 

The Children of Israel had never crossed the Jordan before therefore they had to follow the Ark of the Covenant which was led by God.  The Ark of the Covenant is a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ.  True Christians follow Him wherever He goes. 

 

The Ark of the Covenant was composed of two materials and it points to the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The wood represents His human nature and the gold represents His divine nature (Ex. 25:10-13).

 

God spoke to the Children of Israel through His chosen servant from above the Ark of the Covenant.

 

 

“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.  And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Ex. 25:21-22)

 

Now God speaks to His people through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;” (Heb. 1:1-2)

 

On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant (Lev. 16:14). 

 

 

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14)

 

 

The Ark of the Covenant shows God’s Will for His People

 

The Ark of the Covenant contained three articles of extreme significance to God’s people (Heb. 9:4).

 

The Ten Commandments is the standard of God’s judgment for mankind (Ecc. 12:13-14). The first four commandments deals with man's love towards God. The last six deals with man's love towards one another.  The Lord Jesus Christ fulfils the Law (Mt. 5:17-18). He said that keeping the Ten Commandments enables one to have eternal life (Mt. 19:16-19).

 

The Rod of Aaron that budded - God miraculously caused Aaron's rod to bud with blossoms to show the rest of the tribes of Israel that it was His will for Aaron to be in charge of the Priesthood (Numbers 17). The Rod that budded signifies the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to give life to the dead (Jn. 5:24; 11:25-26).

 

The Golden Pot of Manna  represents the food which God miraculously provided for the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (Exodus 16).  The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the Bread of Life” (Jn. 6:48).  “I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (Jn. 6:51)

 

 

The Ark of the Covenant shows God’s Will for His  Servants

 

The mercy seat that is sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice signifies God’s mercy given through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The mercy seat is on top of the Ark with two cherubim at the ends.  “The cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings.  They face one another; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.” (Ex. 37:9) 

 

Angels are fellow servants with God’s ministers (Rev. 19:10).  “The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.”  God wants us His ministers to always preach the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:2).  Cherubim “guard the way to the tree of life” therefore ministers of God must always make the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ the central theme of their ministries (Gen. 3:24). 

 

The cherubim “face one another” and “spread out their wings above”.  This signifies ministers of God should reach out to one another and pray for one another.  With their faces looking towards the mercy seat the cherubim bow to one another.  This indicates ministers of God should be respectful to one another.  God met and spoke with Moses “from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim” (Ex. 25:22).  God’s presence will be with ministers that do His will.

 

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Crossing  the  Jordan