The Bible makes reference to three arks: the ark of Noah, the ark of Moses, and the ark of the covenant. We have covered the first two, and now we move on to the last. The ark of the covenant is a beautiful type, richly symbolic of so many great things.
When the ark of the covenant was being built, God commanded to "overlay it with pure gold, within and without" (Exodus 25:11). In the Bible, gold is often symbolic holiness. Again we see the principle that God wants his people to be holy on the inside and on the outside. This same concept was reflected in Noah's ark. If Noah's ark is a symbol of salvation, perhaps the ark of the covenant is a symbol of the Christian life. We are called to reflect God's glory and God's holiness in our hearts and in our bodies (Psalm 51:10, Romans 12:1).
But the symbolic nature of the ark goes much deeper. The Bible says that within the ark were "the tables of the covenant" (Hebrews 9:4). These tables were the stone tablets containing the ten commandments that Moses received on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 8:9, Deuteronomy 10:1-5). And this divine law was within the ark. On top of the ark, acting as a lid, was what God called "a mercy seat" (Exodus 25:17). The mercy seat was what was seen on the outside. This is where the blood of the ram was sprinkled on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:15-16). Now follow the typology. As Christians, we have the law of God on the inside and his mercy on the outside.
His law is in our heart; as Jeremiah said "but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith 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 my people" (Jeremiah 31:33). Pay careful attention to the wording of this verse. God uses the word "covenant" and then talks about his law being "in their inward parts". This is a parallel description of the ark of the covenant! It is God's desire that his people have his law within them; as David said, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11).
But that is not all. His mercy is on the outside. As Christians we are living proof that God is still merciful. And how glorious this is! Look at this passage in Romans: "and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" (Romans 9:23-24). Notice how God describes those who are saved as "vessels of mercy". His mercy is on the outside, just as his law is on the inside!
There is one final thing I want to draw out of the ark of the covenant. The Bible says that the high priest went once a year into the most holy place where the ark of the covenant was; and there he offered blood for himself and for the nation of Israel on the day of atonement (Hebrews 9:7). The scripture goes on to say that this was all symbolic of the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 9:8). Another thing we need to learn from the ark of the covenant is the need for God's indwelling Spirit in our lives. 2 Samuel 6:2 describes God as "the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims". This verse is talking about the cherubims on top of the mercy seat. The mercy seat is the place where God's sovereign spirit dwelt (Psalm 80:1, 99:1). This is a type of God's spirit in our lives.
So let's summarize what we have learned from God's arks. God desires to save us, and to change us inside and out. He wants us to have a connection to him and his church with his abiding glorious spirit upon us and his law in our hearts. This is truly what it means to be saved from this world and to be in covenant with him. ~CJK
No comments:
Post a Comment