THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #146 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #127

Lesson 3832

THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #146

THE LIFE OF MOSES #127

MOSES AT MT. SINAI #26

THE TRANSFORMING GLORY OF GOD #10

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT ( Part 2 )

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THREE ITEMS INSIDE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

The purpose for the Ark of the Covenant was to symbolize God’s visible presence on earth.

Exodus 25:22, "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

As a symbol of the very presence of God, it then shows you and I that when we follow the path to God that was laid out in the Ark, then we can have the very presence of God living within us right now!

What did the Ark of the Covenant contain? 

1. The first things that went into the Ark were the tablets of stone that contained the 10 Commandments of God.

These commandments were written in stone to show their timeless meaning and power to reveal sin the heart of man.

Ezekiel 11:19-20, "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Can you see what is happening here? 

God has taken the hard heart that we had when we were sinners, wrote His unchanging Law, set in stone, into that heart so that God’s Law could reveal our true condition and let us know that we need a Savior.

Because of God’s unchanging laws of justice, holiness, and grace; the stony heart is shattered and cultivated through the ministry of the Word of God and then the Holy Spirit continues to work on us until it is pulverized, broken and finally, born again into a heart of flesh that can feel the precious Love of God. 

The Blood of Jesus Christ begins to flow through that new heart in a man, bringing the Life of the Spirit of God back into us once more. 

This body may get its life through the blood, but my Spirit gets its life through the eternal life of the Spirit of God.

I’m so glad that this old heart of stone was converted into a heart of flesh and one that is ever searching to know more of the Love of God. 

The Law of God was a teacher to show me the error of my ways and to bring me to a place of repentance before God.

2. The second thing that went into the Ark of the Covenant was the pot of manna.

Manna, the bread from Heaven, was first given to the Children of Israel as they wandered in the Wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.

The manna was God’s provision but it had to be fresh every day. 

Every day brings its own portion of temptation and trouble our way and we must eat of that Bread of Life every day to maintain our ability to withstand the onslaught of the devil.

The Bread of Life that we receive is a daily portion that is never enough for tomorrow also.

The Law is proclaimed to us first, then, after we have received the law, and seen our guilt of sin, the next step is to see Jesus as our sacrifice for sin. We then partake of that Bread of Life by surrendering our born-again heart to Him in repentance, breaking up the hard stone of our old heart and allowing the Word of God to water us and make us pliable again.

3. The third thing that was placed into the Ark of the Covenant was Aaron’s Rod that budded.

Let’s read about it in Numbers 17:8, "And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds."

What a fitting symbolism for the new life in Christ that arises from the dead stick that we once were.

When God’s law was written into my heart in its stony, hard condition, then hope began to arise as I fell in repentance and accepted the Bread of Life. From that day on, the life that was provided through the Lord Jesus Christ began to bear fruit.

Roots began to grow as we learned more of God’s Word and allowed it to grown in us. Then we began to change, slowly and surely, into the man or woman of God that God wants us to be. Our lives began to blossom and to bring forth the fruits of righteousness.

Conclusion

The Ark of the Covenant is no longer the symbol of God’s presence in the earth.

God wrote a New Covenant for today. 

It was not written on tables of stone. It was written into the hearts of men.