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Five Essential Bible
Truths – Part 5
The Temple of God
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The
Ark of the Covenant
Physically, the Ark of
the Covenant was a small box of acacia wood,
overlaid with gold, about 3 feet wide by 5 feet
long and three feet tall. (Exodus 25:10) It had
two rings on each side through which poles
enabled the priests to carry the Ark from place
to place without touching it. The top surface of
the Ark was called the atonement cover or
“mercy seat.” (Compare KJV Exodus
25:17; 26:34, 30:6 with later translations.) Two
golden angel figures (cherubim) stood on the top
of the box. (Exodus 25:20) The Israelites
regarded the Ark to be the most holy piece of
furniture because the Shekinah Glory hovered
between the two cherubim. (Exodus 25:22) A few
items were kept inside the Ark. These
items were the Ten Commandments that God wrote on
two tablets of stone, a bowl of manna and
Aaron’s rod that budded. (Exodus 31:18;
40:20; Exodus 16:33; Numbers 17:10) The
ceremonial laws, which God later dictated to
Moses, were placed in a “pocket”
attached to the outside of the Ark. (Deuteronomy
31:26)
A Hidden Ark
The ark was located
inside the Most Holy Place of the temple. The
High Priest was the only person allowed to see
the Ark and he could see it just once each year
on the Day of Atonement when he entered the Most
Holy Place. When preparing the Ark for travel,
the veil separating the Holy Place from the Most
Holy Place was used as the first layer of
protection around the Ark. Then, the Ark was
completely hidden from view by a blue covering.
(Numbers 4: 5,6) When traveling, the Israelites
had to keep a radius of about a thousand yards
(seven tenth of a mile between them and the Ark.
(Joshua 3:4) As the priests prepared the Ark for
travel, they always approached it by walking
backwards.
The hidden Ark conveys a
profound truth about God and sin. Before sin
defiled the human race, God communed with Adam
and Eve face-to-face in the Garden of Eden.
(Genesis 3:8) However, when sin separated man
from God, sin and sinners could not survive the
glorious presence of God. (Exodus 19:21)
Therefore, God hid Himself from man. At Mt. Sinai
He covered Himself with dense darkness so He
could be close to His children without His
glorious Presence consuming them. (Exodus 19:18;
20:21) The darkness at the time of Christ’s
death was also a covering from the Presence of
the Father. (Matthew 27:45) God is very near, but
we cannot physically see Him because of sin. When
Moses wanted to see the One with whom he spent so
much time with, God would not allow it. (Exodus
33:20) Consider the paradox: The natural eye
cannot see God, but the eye of faith can
behold His Presence! (2 Kings 6:17)
The Ark was hidden in the
Earthy tabernacle to illustrate how God’s
ways are hidden from the natural or carnal eye of
man. (1 Kings 3:14; Psalms 95:10; Isaiah 55:8; 1
Corinthians 2:14) Just as man cannot see (or
discern) the Heavenly Ark (and Heaven’s
order), so the children of Israel could not see
the Earthy Ark. Why then, did God hide the Ten
Commandments within the Ark? God understands
man’s tendency to worship something
tangible. He did not want people worshiping the
Ark or the stones of the law. Instead, He wanted
His people to absorb the ways of His law into
their hearts and worship Him, the benevolent
Creator!
The Bible predicts a very
sad time in the future when the Heavenly Ark of
the Covenant will be displayed to the people of
Earth! This marvelous wonder in the sky happens
at the conclusion of the seventh trumpet. “Then
God’s Temple in Heaven was opened, and
within His Temple was seen the Ark of his
covenant. And there came flashes of lightening,
rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a
great hailstorm.” (Revelation 11:19) Why
does God display Heaven’s Ark to the people
of Earth at that time? By showing the
Heavenly Ark, God confirms the reality and
authority of His holy law to all people. He
presents the legal basis of His forthcoming
torment on the wicked, which comes in the form of
the seven last plagues. (Revelation 15:1;
Revelation 16)
Just as God reveals the
Heavenly Ark of the covenant to the people of
Earth, I believe God will also reveal the secret
hiding place of the earthy Ark of the Covenant.
In this manner, God will also display His
covenant to Earth’s inhabitants. It seems
logical that God would reveal the Earthy Ark when
the judgment of the living begins – right
after the great earthquake marking the beginning
of the seven trumpets. This would also verify the
accuracy and legitimacy of Old Testament history.
The name “Ark of the
Covenant” is used 33 times in the Bible. It
is also called the “Ark of the
Testimony” 13 times. The words
“covenant” and “testimony”
refer to the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 40:20;
16:34; Deuteronomy 4:13) God revealed the truth
about His ways in the Ten Commandments. They give
testimony to what God regards as righteous and
unrighteous and He has offered life to all who
submit to the terms and conditions of His
covenant. (Ezekiel 18:9) The Ten Commandments are
unchanging and eternal. God wrote the Ten
Commandments on two tablets of enduring stone to
illustrate two areas of responsibility for man:
One tablet defines man’s duty to God
(commandments 1-4) and the other defines
man’s duty to man (commandments 5-10) The
Ten Commandments are a divine revelation which
define the moral codes of life and all humanity
is bound to them. The Ten Commandments separate
people who are submissive to God from those who
are not. The individuals who allow God to
transform their rebellious (sinful) hearts into
willing submissive (harmony) with the Ten
Commandments will receive eternal life. This
transformation happens through the indwelling
power of Christ – it cannot be humanly
produced. (John 3; 1 John 5:12,13; Hebrews
8:10-13) The Earthy tabernacle illustrates that
God’s biggest dilemma is not getting man to
Heaven, but instead, putting the ways of Heaven
within the heart of man.
When God created this
planet, He built everything according to law. If
Gods ways were not in harmony with law, all
Heaven would be moving toward destructive chaos
(as this world demonstrates) and God’s ways
would never make sense. To identify Himself as
the eternal “I AM” is no small claim.
(Exodus 3:14) This title can only be everlasting
if God’s ways are without conflict, orderly,
and according to law.
The
Mercy Seat
The golden atonement
cover (or mercy seat) formed the top of the Ark.
On the Day of Atonement, when the high priest
entered the Most Holy Place, he would eventually
sprinkle blood on this part of the Ark to
illustrate atonement for the broken law.
(Leviticus 16:14) “The wages of sin is
death.” (Romans 3:23) Notice what Paul
says: “In fact, the law requires that
nearly everyone be cleansed with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22) Therefore,
blood was sprinkled on a broken law because all
have sinned. (Romans 3:23)
The Ark of the Covenant
represents the character of God. The Ten
Commandments require uncompromising justice and
the atonement cover offers grace beyond measure.
The balance between God’s justice and
God’s mercy is defined as divine love. This
is why John says, “God is love.”
(1 John 4:8) God placed the Ark of the Testimony
in the Most Holy Place because His character is
the most important thing He owns. (Leviticus 11:
44,45) He will not allow anyone to bring reproach
upon His Holy Name without severe consequences.
(Exodus 20:7) God is King over the universe. He
established a parallel schematic of the
Earthy/Heavenly temples to inform man of the
orderly process that He follows, not only for
man’s salvation, but also to clear His Holy
Name of suspicion. Remember, through libelous and
scurrilous charges, Lucifer caused one-third of
the angels to harbor suspicion and malice toward
God.
The
Laver
“Make a bronze
basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place
it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and
put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash
their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever
they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash
with water so that they will not die. Also, when
they approach the altar to minister by presenting
an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall
wash their hands and feet so they will not die.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and
his descendants for the generations to
come.” (Exodus 30:18-21)
The bronze basin (NIV) or
laver (KJV) has practical and spiritual lessons
associated with it. On the practical side, the
text reveals how God required a state of physical
purity, orderliness and cleanliness among those
that served in the temple. The ever-present
“desert dust” soiled their hands and
feet of the priests who served in the temple and
God required them to wash before entering the
tabernacle (tent of meeting) so they might be
clean. On the spiritual side, the application of
water to the hands and feet reveal man’s
perpetual need to be “made clean” of
sin from time to time. Sin (like desert dust)
defiles our hands and feet and we, like the
priests of old, need to be made clean!
Notice the words of Jesus
to Nicodemus, “Jesus answered, ‘I
tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom
of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit.” (John 3:5) Some people
misinterpret this verse to make it say that a
person must be baptized in order to be saved.
This is not true. The thief on the cross was not
baptized, nor salvation comes through rites,
sacraments or works. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Rather,
the willing application of water (being
born of water) reveals submission to the
purifying experience of God’s
sanctification. In other words, Christians need
to be “washed of sin” from time to time
as they travel along the road of life. Baptism
marks the first washing. Then, the periodic
washing of one another’s feet as our Lord
commanded, serves as a “miniature
baptism” representing that we are made clean
by water from a basin (laver). The ordinance of
foot washing reminds us who we are, servants
– not masters. (See John 13: 6-8.) It is
easy to forget that our righteousness is as
“filthy rags” in God’s sight.
(Isaiah 64:6) Yet, we often allow pride and
selfishness to taint our attitude toward others.
The function and presence
of the laver in the Earthy temple indicates that
God requires physical and spiritual cleanliness.
Yes, He may accept mortals for what we are, but
He requires, as a minimum, that we physically
clean up before we approach Him. If this is true
of the physical realm, what can be said of the
spiritual? The Psalmist wrote, “Who may
ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his
holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure
heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.” (Psalms 24:
3,4) No doubt, this text is the basis of the
adage: “Cleanliness is next to
Godliness.” Before we leave the matter of
cleansing the hands and feet at the laver,
consider the implication of this verse concerning
those who will occupy mansions in the New
Jerusalem: “Nothing impure will ever
enter it, nor will anyone who does what is
shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names
are written in the Lamb’s book of
life.” (Revelation 21:27)
The
Golden Lampstand
“Make a lampstand
of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft;
its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be
of one piece with it…See you make them
according to the pattern shown you on the
mountain.” (Exodus 25:31,40) The golden
lampstand was made of one talent of pure gold
(about 66 pounds) and it had seven lamps on top
of it. It was placed next to the south wall of
the Holy Place, directly in front of the Table of
Presence. (Exodus 25:37,39; 26:35) The golden
Lampstand represents the agent of God’s
light of truth. Matthew 5:14; Acts 13:47) God has
a special relationship with the trustees of His
covenant. Notice how the Golden Lampstand
represents God and His people: First, the
Lampstand was made of pure gold that represents
God’s agape love for mankind. (Agape
love or divine love is pure, unlike human love.)
The purpose of any lampstand is light and this
was the practical and spiritual intent of the
Golden Lampstand. Israel was chosen to be a
“light to the world,” to represent
God’s love for man. God required the priests
to refuel the seven lamps daily with pure olive
oil so the seven lights would burn continuously.
(Leviticus 24:4) In like manner, the priests were
to continuously “refuel” the people
with love and adoration for God. The light of
God’s truth must never go out and that
responsibility uniquely rested upon the priests.
If they became negligent or careless in teaching
the ways of God to the people, darkness would
eventually fill the hearts of the worshipers.
Just as God held the priests accountable for
keeping the “lamp lights on,” they were
also responsible for communicating the
“light of truth” to His people. The
priests were “keepers of the flame.”
Unfortunately, the priests failed and
consequently, Israel apostatized. History proves
that, “As priests (religious leaders) go, so
do the people.” In fact, much of the blame
for today’s social rot lies at the doorstep
of religious leaders.
Carefully consider the
consequences of priestly failure. When THE light
of Truth came to the world, the priests of Israel
rejected Him. (John 1: 1-11; 8:12) God intended
Israel to be a “city of light” to the
world. (Isaiah 42:6) He even placed them
geographically in the center of the nations for
maximum exposure! (Ezekiel 5:5) In spite of all
this, Israel’s priests chose the ways of
darkness instead of the way of light and the
people of Israel followed their example by
rejecting the Messiah. This is why God eventually
abandoned Israel and raised up new trustees of
the covenant – Christians. (Matthew 23:1-38;
28: 18-20)
The Golden Lampstand was
intricately and wonderfully made, and the
glorious light from Heaven is reflected in
God’s PLAN of salvation. God’s PLAN for
saving the human race shines like a beacon of
light to reveal the ways, love and commitment of
Jesus to die as man’s substitute. Yes, this
knowledge is the glorious light from Heaven!
The
Table of the Presence
“Make a table of
acacia wood – two cubits long [44
inches], a cubit wide [22 inches] and a
cubit and a half high [33 inches]. Overlay
it with pure gold and make a gold molding around
it…And make the plates and dishes of pure
gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the
pouring out of offerings. Put the bread of the
Presence on this table to be before me at all
times.” (See Exodus 25: 23-30.) This
table represents the throne of God. All blessing
flow from His throne. The idea that the Table of
the Presence represents God’s throne is
surprising since in the Earthy tabernacle, the
focus was always directed toward the
“hidden” Ark of the covenant located in
the Most Holy Place. The Shekinah Glory of God
dwelt within the Most Holy Place. Therefore, the
second room in the Earthy tabernacle was holier
than the first room. The veil obscured the Most
Holy Place from the view of everyone but the high
priest, which indicted its extreme sacredness.
These facts have led many people to conclude that
the Ark of the Covenant must represent the throne
of God. However, here are three reasons why I
believe the Table of Presence represents the
throne of God:
Reason
# 1 – Name
“Put the bread of
the Presence [shewbread, KJV] on this
table to be before me at all times.” (Exodus
25:30) The table received its name from the 12
loaves of bread that were placed on it each
Sabbath. (Leviticus 24:8) The priests
baked the loaves on Sabbath while still hot. (1
Samuel 21: 3-6) At first, this practice seems
contradictory to the instructions God gave to
Israel in regards to appropriate Sabbath behavior
when He forbade them to cook and bake on the
Sabbath. (Exodus 16:23) However, this bread was
“special.” It represented a sacred
offering from the twelve tribes. The
presence of “fresh bread” on the
Sabbath was to reveal God’s intention to use
His servants (the priests) to offer “freshly
prepared” spiritual food to His people on
the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:5) The Hebrew words
involved (lechem – Strongs: #3899 and paneh
– Strongs: #6440) mean visible food, having
presence, within sight or showing. The idea being
conveyed by KJV translators is that the bread was
clearly visible – as in “show us the
bread.” Thus the name “showbread”
(NKJV). The idea presented by the NIV and other
recent translations is that the bread represented
the presence of God. Therefore, the teaching of
God’s presence on the Sabbath through
“freshly prepared” words of life is the
primary meaning behind the symbol of this bread.
Twelve loaves of bread
(for the twelve tribes) and other items were
placed on the Table of Presence for the priests
to consume at regular intervals. The Table also
had cups, bowls and pitchers associated with it.
(Exodus 37:16) When a person looks at the Table
in terms of the utensils and the food placed on
it, it becomes obvious this Table represents
“a Kings table.” The priests were
invited to eat from the King’s table because
they were highly honored. Eating from the
King’s table was not only a great honor, but
also showed intimacy with the King. It was common
for generous kings in ancient times to honor
special people by inviting them to eat at their
table for as long as they lived! (2 Samuel 9:7)
Even the wicked Jezebel captured the favor of
Baal’s prophets by feeding them at her
table. (1 Kings 18:19)
Eating at the King’s
table means having access to the King and his
throne. Jesus told his disciples, “And I
confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father
conferred one on me, so that you may eat and
drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.” (Luke 22:29,30) Therefore, the
Table of Presence in Earthy temple reflected the
special privileges of priests. Unfortunately,
Israel’s priests did not recognize this
great privilege for what it was. They failed to
commune with God and they misunderstood their
great opportunity. However, Jesus’ life,
death and resurrection opened wide the door to
all people and the privileges reserved for
priests were granted to each believer. Jesus
established what is called the “Priesthood
of the believer.” Revelation says, “…Blessed
are those who are invited to the wedding supper
of the Lamb!” And he [the angel] added, “These
words are the true words of God.” (Revelation
19:9; 3:20,21)
Since all that we receive
comes from God, and Jesus is the Bread of Life
(John 6:35) that has come down from Heaven, the
Table of the Presence reflects the source
of our blessings – God’s throne. From
this Table, the Bread of Life is served. So, “Let
us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need.”
(Hebrews 4:16)
Reason
# 2 – Location
The Table of the Presence
was located on the north side of the tabernacle.
In ancient times, the direction of
“north” was regarded as the direction
of divine judgment or authority. Destruction
and/or judgment always came for the north. Notice
these five examples (italics provided):
- Isaiah
41:25 “I have stirred up one from
the north, and he
comes – one from the rising sun who
calls on my name. He treads on rulers as
if they were mortar, as if he were a
potter treading the clay.”
- Jeremiah
1:14 “The LORD said to me,
‘From the north
disaster will be poured out on all who
live in the land.”
- Jeremiah
4:6 “Raise the signal to go to
Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For
I am bring disaster from the
north, even terrible
destruction.”
- Jeremiah
46:20 “Egypt is a beautiful
heifer, but a gadfly is coming against
her from the north.”
- Jeremiah
50:9 “For I will stir up and
bring against Babylon an alliance of
great nations from the land of the
north. They will take up their
positions against her, and from the
north she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like skilled
warriors who do not return
empty-handed.”
Notice the location of
the Table of Presence: “Place the table
outside the curtain on the north
side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand
opposite it on the south side.” (Exodus
26:35) No matter where Israel moved the Earthy
tabernacle, the Table of the Presence always sat
on the North side. What does this suggest?
Now, compare the location
of God’s throne in Heaven with the Table of
the Presence: “How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken
the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the
north: I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds; I will be like the most
High.” (Isaiah 14: 12-14, KJV) Why did
Lucifer conspire to place his throne “in the
sides of the north?” Because this is, where
God’s throne was located. To underscore the
immediate importance of the “north
side” location for the Table of the
Presence, notice this text: “Beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole Earth, is
mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the
city of the great King.” (Psalms 48: 2
KJV) Eventually, god intended to rule the world
from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 3:17), and the Psalmist
calls its global location, “on the sides of
the north” even though the land of Israel is
not regarded as located in the north.
(Incidentally, because of Israel’s failure,
God will reign from the New Jerusalem.
Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 3:12)
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