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The Ark of the Covenant Although All of the Items That Our Heavenly

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The Ark of the Covenant Although All of the Items That Our Heavenly The Ark of the Covenant Although all of the items that our Heavenly Father ordered Moshe (Moses) to make for the service of his Tabernacle were sacred and purposeful in their own right, undoubtedly the most unique of all these items was The Ark of the Covenant, also referred to as The Ark of Elohim (1 Sam 3:3); Ark of the Testimony (Ex 25:22) and the Ark of Yah’s strength (2 Chron 6:41). The blueprint for the making of the Ark of the Covenant begins with Moshe and the Tabernacle of Yahweh in the book of Exodus. Interestingly enough however we should recognize that before Yahweh had Moshe build the Ark of his Testimony, he had Noah build an ark that would literally carry the life of the world within it’s walls. Essentially the ark of Noah was a precursor to the Ark that Yahweh would later build. Both were built in order that people would receive life and/or death. Noah’s ark gave life to the eight people and all of the animals that were protected within it’s inner walls during the time of the Great Flood. Death was given to all of those people that did not enter the ark during that time; those people chose instead to walk in the ways of the world and their decision caused them their life. We find several similarities between Noah’s ark and the Ark that Moshe would later build. Noah’s ark carried the humans and animals that would eventually replenish the earth. This ark was used as a tool that assisted in the covenant that Yahweh had made with the earth; the rainbow was given to us as a sign that He would not destroy the earth this way again. 12 And Elohim said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Gen 9:12-13 A vast difference between Noah’s ark and the Ark that Moshe built was without a doubt the fact that that in the Ark of the Covenant the very spirit of Yahweh would dwell with men, to guide them, to protect them and to defend them. The Ark of the Covenant by itself was not Holy, it was made Holy by the very word and presence of Yahweh. Let us now review the story of the Ark of the Covenant and let us then put things in perspective as to how the Ark still applies to us today! Our story begins in Exodus 25 where Yahweh gives Moshe the blueprint for the making of the Tabernacle that would eventually hold within its inner sanctuary the Set-Apart things that Yahweh would use to dwell with men. And Yahweh spake unto Moshe, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, 5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. Ex 25:1-9 We find that Yahweh requested all of these materials because he would use them in the making of all of His set-apart tools and furniture that the people of Israel, primarily the Levitical priests would use in their worship of Yahweh. These items of course included the Table of Shew Bread (Ex. 25:23-28); the Golden Utensils (Ex 25:29); the Menorah with its tools (Ex. 25:31-39) and of course the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:10-22). We read that the Ark of the Covenant would be used as a storage box that contained inside it, the Ten Words, commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments or the Testimony (Ex 25:16); the staff which budded (Num 17:10) and a sample of the Manna (Ex 16:33) which the Israelites ate in the wilderness. In addition to the fact that the Ark was used as a storage box for Set-Apart things; we find that Yahweh also used it as a means to be able to live with his people so that He could guide, teach and protect them. Through the Mercy Seat he was able to counsel them, teach them truth and protect them when they went to war. If and when the Israelites were in trouble it was through his presence in the Mercy Seat that he would lead them to Victory! The cost of glory however did not come without penalty. Yahweh instituted some very strict rules about the handling of the Ark. For one thing only the Kohathite Clan which were of the Levitical tribe could carry it or handle it (Num. 3:30- 31 & 1Chro. 15:2). In addition directly touching it put one under penalty of death . It should be understood than that although Yahweh did dwell with the Israelites and perform many miracles through the Ark, He was adamant that the Israelites would obey all of His commandments. In 1 Samuel we find a very important principle of how the Commandments of Yahweh are actually very much in line with his mercy. For from his Mercy Seat (hence the name), he gave life to those that obeyed, but death to those that disobeyed. The principle here of course is that true mercy only goes so far and it involves righteous judgment. Mercy described and/or demonstrated by Yahweh is not based on a worldly, philosophical thought that you can do away with any of the commandments or that we don’t have to do anything that Scriptures commands us mentality. On the contrary, the mercy that he has given us is based on our obedience of His Word. This of course involves keeping his commandments, ordinances, decrees and statutes. It is vastly important, from the Mercy seat, Yahweh demonstrated his mercy towards the Israelites but He also gave many judgments towards those that disobeyed. Similarly His mercy today carries love, charity and kindness for those that obey him but misery, sadness and destruction for those that don’t. As already mentioned, we get this very important principle in the story given to us in the book of 1Samuel when the Israelites had lost the Ark to the Philistines: 5:1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of Elohim, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of Yahweh! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of Yahweh! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 1 Sam 5:1-5 The story goes on to teach us that eventually the Philistines decided that the burden of having the Ark within their midst was too much to bear and so they sent the Ark back to the Israelites along with two sacrificial animals and some gold items. Eventually the Ark made it’s way back to the Israelites and the people rejoiced. However to their dismay they disobeyed Yahweh and opened the Ark to see if the items were still inside. 19 But Elohim struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh. The people mourned because of the heavy blow Yahweh had dealt them, 20 and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of Yahweh, this holy Elohim? To whom will the ark go up from here?" 1 Sam 6:19-20 By taking the Mercy Seat (the cover) apart from the rest of the box, (the Commandments), the people had placed themselves apart from the mercy of Yahweh and they had placed themselves under judgment. And thus they were killed because they separated the mercy from the commandments. There are many people today that think that because nothing happens to them when they disobey and/or change the commandments that they are under mercy. It is evident however that mercy and the commandments go hand in hand. It is because we obey the commandments that he covers us with his mercy. So for those that separate mercy from the commandments they will receive the judgment on the Day of Yahweh! 6 Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty….every man's heart will melt. 8 Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor.
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