The Ark & The Christ

Introduction

Well, I’m glad Tim was able to persevere and get to that seventh song, which is a song I requested. So I appreciate his work and leading us in praise and devotion this morning. Welcome to all who may be visiting with us today. We thank you for coming our way. And a good number of our folks who’ve been away have returned, with the exception of the Goodmans in Colorado for several weeks. And Gabe, who may never come home. He’s coming home today? All right. Gabe is coming home today, finally, after working and working and working in a faraway place. Has decided he cannot, he can come home. Besides those three, and maybe a few others that I’m missing, almost everyone has returned. And you know why that is.

School. Look at all the smiles on the kids’ faces. As they’re all excited about school beginning. And I’m excited for you. It’s good to see everybody today. I’ve already got an idea for next Sunday morning. I want to talk about brainwashing. Indoctrination. Have you been brainwashed? Kids, are you being brainwashed? Perhaps I’m very good at something I don’t know about. And I’m brainwashing you. Sometimes we get accused of that, brainwashing people. I want to talk about that next Sunday morning. And so I hope you can come back then. Tonight we’re going to sing. Scott, did you know that? You do now. Ton’s our regularly scheduled Sunday night singing. And this morning I want to talk to you about the Ark of the Covenant. Our young people may know more about that than us adults.

Whenever I think about the Ark of the Covenant, my mind turns back to 1981. Can you believe it’s been 30 years since that mega blockbuster movie, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Young people, that movie was way ahead of its time. The special effects, I know they’ve been eclipsed in the modern era, but for its time, the special effect, 1981. I was 18. I mean, it was awesome. And still a pretty good scene in that movie that I’ll get to in a moment.

Give me that torch. He looks into the cavern. Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? I’m with Harrison Ford right there, Indiana Jones. I’m from Indiana. So why did it have to be snakes? John Reese Davies. Asps. Very dangerous. You go first. I like that. But the part of the movie that we’ll all remember is the part that I still think was very good when those evil Germans took the lid off the Ark of the Covenant and all of the terrible things that unfolded. Faces melting, heads exploding. That’s the short of it. Because they had done the evil thing of looking into the sacred object. At least there was respect for God’s Ark of the Covenant. So much about the media and movies today don’t have any respect for God’s things at all.

I’m not sure it was exactly like that with the Philistines experienced. It was pretty bad. But still, a respect for this holy object of Scripture. And God expected Israel to treat it very carefully. That’s why the poles were inserted into those four metal rings, and they were never to be removed because the Kohathites, the descendants of Levi, that were instructed to carry the holy objects were very specifically warned that to touch them would mean certain death. This was a coffin of sorts. 45 inches roughly in length, 27 inches in width and height. Much smaller than a typical coffin. This holy object was made of acacia wood, which some postulate was very plentiful on the way to Mount Sinai. And it was also overlaid with gold.

It was a dramatic and impressive object that was placed in the temple in the most holy place where the high priest would enter once a year on the day of atonement. Anybody who touched this object, though, in its transport would die. And we talked last week in 1 Samuel about how that some of these symbols came to be misunderstood and underappreciated by God’s people, like Nehushtan, the serpent, the bronze serpent that Moses made in the wilderness that became an idol, or the temple, and how they improperly regarded it. Well, even the Ark of the Covenant, when they were being disobedient and God was allowing the Philistines to defeat them in battle, they thought, we need something special so that we can beat the Philistines. Really, they needed faith and obedience.

But they thought if we’ll bring the Ark of God down into the camp, and there was this roar in the Philistines were going, what in the world is going on? Didn’t deter them from slaughtering the Israelites. But what in the world is going on in the camp? And there were the sons of Eli, Tophney and Phineas. They ultimately would be killed in battle. Eli would break his neck and die. And a child would be born called Ichabod. The glory has departed from Israel. They misunderstood that it was not some kind of a magical object that had power, which sort of the raiders of the lost ark had indicated in that movie, that it had some kind of magical power in and of itself, but it is God that gave it its power and meaning, and that obedience to him is what this ark should have conveyed.

But we all know the story of 2 Samuel chapter 6, when the ark was being carried on a cart pulled by oxen. That wasn’t a good idea. The poles were made for people to actually carry the right people to carry the Ark of the Covenant. But let’s make it easy. Let’s help God out. Let’s put it on a cart. We’ll take it up to Jerusalem for the temple. And we all know what happened. The oxen stumbled. And the cart began to tip. And Uzzah puts forth his hand to steady the ark that was about to fall. And God struck him immediately. And he died. Because of the incident of 1 Samuel 4, most likely, and the time that the Ark spent with the Philistines until they finally said, Here you can take it back.

We don’t want it. By the time it was dedicated to the temple in the days of Solomon when the temple was built, only one of the initial three items remain in the Ark of the Covenant. Well, what were those three items? And I want to look with you at those this morning from Hebrews, actually. Not the Old Testament, but from the New Testament reference. In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 4, when the Hebrew writer is describing the most holy place and the objects therein, ultimately going to the fact that Jesus has entered the most holy place for us, that he has granted us access to the throne of God, one of the great privileges associated with the new covenant. But in the process, he says there was a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod, which budded, and the tables of the covenant.

So there were three things. Actually, the jar was overlaid with gold, as you just saw. Why did God have those three things put into the Ark of the Covenant? And the fact that two of them were no longer there didn’t change the fact that the Ark of the Covenant had to still be put into the most holy place and left there until it was probably ultimately destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC or carried off to Babylon. What did those things mean? I think the point of these three objects are the fact that the Lord cares. It speaks to the Lord’s chosen. And speaks to the Lord’s commands. What did that manna represent that God gave to them in the wilderness when they were hungry? What did Aaron’s rod represent as it was involved in the miraculous deliverance by Moses and Aaron in the presence of Pharaoh, the ten plagues, and then their deliverance from Egyptian bondage?

And what did those tablets of stone that Moses received on the mount, the first set of which was broken, and a second set replaced? What did those tablets of stone, the only article that was left, according to 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 9? What did those things represent? I want to talk to you this morning about the Ark of the Covenant and those contents, as I told you I would last week, and that the jar of manna represents God’s provision for the people. Perhaps it is the rod of Aaron that represents the leadership and the guidance that was provided by God for his people. And the stones, of course, represent the relationship that God had with the nation of Israel and His covenant with them.

By the way, when you see pictures of the tablets of stone, a lot of people think, well, we had Ten Commandments, so we’ve got five commandments on one side, five commandments on the other. Tablet of stone. Not likely.

One copy for each party. Most likely we have the whole covenant on one stone, and the whole covenant on the other stone. And in this case, the one tablet of stone would be Israel’s copy, and the other tablet of stone would be God’s copy, representing the relationship. God did not need to take his copy to heaven. Both copies are stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Well, where am I going with all this? There are greater spiritual realities involved in this Old Testament temple, as we see in Hebrews chapter 9, that’s where the Hebrew writer is going with that. The greater spiritual realities involved regarding Jesus. There are greater spiritual realities involved in this ark of the covenant and its contents.

1. Jesus Is Our Provision

And I want to make this very practical observance with you this morning, that these three items initially contained in the Ark of the Covenant, that Jesus fulfills all three of these things for his people today. And so I want to suggest to you, too, that regardless of who you are in this audience this morning and your circumstances, that Jesus fulfills your need. Jesus fulfills our need and is demonstrated in these three things and what he means to us. Briefly, number one. Jesus is our provision. This is why when Jesus came, he spoke of himself as being what? The bread of heaven. This was the meaning behind the feeding of the multitudes. If you’ll turn with me to John chapter 6, of course, people were impressed by the fact that just from a few loaves and a few fish, he could feed thousands.

He could feed multitudes. And he did that on more than one occasion. But the result of that is people missed the significance of the miracle. Just like they missed the significance of these symbols and what they were supposed to mean. They missed the meaning of his miracles. And he says to this crowd, this large crowd that’s following all over the place. This guy fed us. You’re seeking me for the wrong reasons. You’re seeking me because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not, what does he say in verse 27? Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you. For on him the Father, even God, has set his seal.

That sort of, that sort of spills over into my next point, actually. But he says, This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. And then Jesus goes into this long discussion about being the manna of the Old Testament. He says, It is truly, I say unto you, verse 32, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven. Notice the spiritual reality, as that manna came down out of heaven, supplied for them by God, so the true manna, Jesus himself, has come down out of heaven to do what?

Give life to the world. I am the bread of life. I love all the I am statements of the book of John. No man could say this unless, number one, he was either the real thing and something unlike anyone who has ever been here before, or he was raving mad, a lunatic. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. And then this he who comes to me shall not hunger. And he who believes in me shall never thirst. I want to tell you. When did you eat last? Some of you skip breakfast. Not a good idea. But if you ate breakfast this morning, still, it’s approaching 11 25. You don’t have to look at the clock now. And you’re starting to get a little hungry. Your tummy is telling you, growling, perhaps.

He’s going to be done soon, isn’t he? So we can go eat lunch. You ever notice that cycle? We get hungry again. Or thirsty. That even comes faster, it seems at times. I need a drink. When’s he going to be done so I can get a drink of water? What Jesus provides is ultimate satisfaction of our hunger and our thirst. And he’s not done with that. He’s going to go all the way down through this text about them eating the manna in the wilderness, and they still died, they still got hungry again. But he who eats the bread of life, and he says it again in verse 48, I am the bread of life. But if anyone eats the living bread, in contrast to the manna, in contrast to that golden jar and the manna that was there to symbolize God’s provision, Jesus is our ultimate manna.

Our ultimate provision. And he says, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. You have no life in yourselves. And that’s not talking about eating the Lord’s Supper. John 6 53 has very little to do with eating the Lord’s Supper. It has to do with being consumed by the Christ and consuming Him. It has to do with being all about Him, as we shall see in a moment. It’s about our diligence as His disciples. And because of that implication, that’s why many of His disciples withdrew and would follow Him no more on this occasion in John 6 and verse 66. And that prompted him to ask the disciples, Are you going to leave too? And they said, To whom shall we go?

Thou hast the words of eternal life. Okay, let me segue quickly. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I told you the great spiritual realities involved in all of this. As Paul recounts the nation of Israel, the brethren. He says, Brethren, our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food. Spiritual food. Greater realities than just eating that manna. And all drank the same spiritual drink. Greater realities than just drinking that water that gushed from the rocks in the wilderness. For they were drinking from a spiritual rock. Spiritual food, spiritual rock. They were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.

Now, I’m a success this morning. This sermon’s a success if you get this. Jesus fulfills our need. He is your provision. Your ultimate needs cannot be provided for by anyone or anything else.

2. Jesus Is Our Guidance

He’s it. He only is the spiritual rock. He only is the source of the spiritual food and the spiritual water. We need to be baptized into him for our spiritual life. Get this, young people? Jesus is our provision. But what about the rock? He is our guidance. I don’t think there’s anybody in our audience this morning who would say Jesus is not a king, that he has no right to rule. You can’t read the story of Jesus without concluding that he is a king. He was prophesied in the Old Testament, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one, would be a ruler of his people. The greatest ruler. He would rule in the lineage of David. His rule would be perpetual. They all understood that about the Messiah.

He’s the king. What they didn’t grasp is the nature of his kingdom, of course. He would stand before Pilate and say what? You can quote the verse probably.

Are you a king? Pilate says, thou sayest. But my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight. It’s a spiritual kingdom. In Luke 17, when he was talking to his disciples about the kingdom coming, not with signs to be observed. They’re not going to say, look, it is here, look, it is there, like an army on the horizon, and say, Here comes this invading kingdom. It’s not coming like that, with those kinds of signs to be observed because it’s spiritual in nature. It’s not physical, it’s not visible, as those kingdoms are. And he said, What about the kingdom? I love this statement. In fact, there’s sort of a nuance in translation there, which makes the translators not sure which way, but either way it works, translating it.

The kingdom of God is in your midst. Jesus says. Or the other alternate translation is the kingdom of God is within you. Which way do you like it? Different people argue different which one they think is the right one there. It really doesn’t matter because I’ll tell you what Jesus is saying. He is the embodiment of the kingdom. He’s the center of it. It’s all about him. He’s its king, he’s its ruler. He was in their midst as the king. This is the kingdom. What I am showing to you, my example, who I am, my identity, the bread of life. This is the kingdom of God in your midst. And how does that play out in the lives of his disciples? He must live within us.

The kingdom of God is within you. So either way you like it. That’s the very nature of the kingdom. He’s the king, he must live within us. Okay, we’ve said that. Nobody here disagreeing with that. But here’s the question. Did we mean it? A little while ago when we sang. I was looking for a pen. Thank you, Jared, for helping me out, because I forgot my pen today. Did we mean it when we sang? Remember what we said? King of my life. I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be? We’re going to take that with us? Tomorrow. King of my life. I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be. You know, the issue is not whether he’s the king, because he is. Now I don’t care what any man says.

I don’t care what any man thinks about me or thinks about us. He is the king. And that ain’t going to change no matter what any man says or does. But I tell you what does change. And that’s whether he’s the king of my life. When I am tempted to lust, is he going to be the king then? Am I going to be convinced that self-control and purity are the better way? When I am tempted to lie, to not tell the truth. Is he going to be the king then? You see, the Zion dweller, according to Psalm 15 and verse 4, tells the truth even to his own hurt. When I am tempted to grumble. And I might have more to say about that next Sunday night, as I’m sort of inspired by Paul’s comments in 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 10 about difficulties and distresses.

I may preach on that. When I am tempted to grumble, will I let him be king and respond with thanksgiving and joy? And when I am tempted to be neglectful spiritually, will I be convinced that diligence is the way of Jesus’ disciples? And strength will come from above. Wait upon the Lord. Those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. When I am tempted with neglect, will I let Jesus be king and let him supply the strength that I need? And when I am tempted to think secularly and love this world and be focused on the world, will I let Jesus be king?

And meditate on the greater spiritual realities. Again, the righteous one, according to Psalm 1, he meditates in the law, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water that yields its fruit and its season. And whatever he does, it shall prosper. Psalm 104, I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to him. As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord. You know, this is exactly what David was talking about in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

3. Jesus Is Our Relationship

What about the tablets of soum? They symbolize the relationship of God with Israel. Jesus is our relationship. He has brought us, the Hebrew writer says, into the most holy place. I’ll tell you, when we look at the New Testament, and all we see are rules. We’ve missed it. And so the Israelites, if all they saw on those tablets of stone, God has these rules. These rules are so hard and difficult. That’s the way they looked at it. And they missed the whole point of relationship. Look, young people, if you don’t give anything else I said this morning, would you get this? This is more than just rules. This is a guide to our relationship with God. Oh, yes, they’re rules, but they’re more than rules. They are rules that prevent self-injury.

You can say, rules, schmools. I don’t want these. Okay, you’re going to injure yourself. You’re going to hurt yourself. These rules are designed to prevent self-injury. They are designed to produce spirituality. They are designed to promote spiritual, selfless service. Do I need to repeat that? They are more than just rules. We must never see the Lord’s covenant with us as merely a set of rules that are sometimes challenging for us to observe. Believe it or not. And I have to remind myself of this.

They serve a purpose. And that purpose is our safety. Now you’ve seen the way people drive. If we didn’t have speed limit laws, really would the roads be a place in Houston that you could even go at all. We need those rules. Well, they might serve another purpose too. They help local governments make money when people violate the speed limit laws. But the overriding purpose, I’m told, and I do see the benefit is our safety. We get that. We should see that about God’s rules as well. But it’s more than our spiritual safety that’s in view, but the safety of others. And more than that, what is it? You need to be able to tell me this. Why are God’s rules so important? Because God promises me something that keeping the law of the land does not.

Immortality.

Everlasting life. Bliss beyond compare. Young people, you need to be able to explain that to your friends. It’s not about keeping these real sobriety. Nobody wants to do that anymore.

A vodka commercial. Okay, I wasn’t even sitting at the couch when I heard it come on. I was just, I was going to do something else and I heard it. Drink responsibly. Are you kidding me? How much vodka does it take before you can no longer be responsible? Not very much. And judgment becomes impaired. Sobriety. So restricting and limited. It’s for our spiritual safety. It is for the safety of others. It is for our immortality. Incomparable bliss. The law is not bad. Paul says that in 1 Timothy chapter 1. He was talking about the Old Testament law, first and foremost. The law was not bad. It’s helpful for transgressors to know this is not the right way. The law is good if it is used lawfully.

God’s law is good for us. We need Jesus to show us the way. Well, I’ve been at this for a while. Let me conclude here.

Conclusion

Why do you think God had them put those three things in the Ark of the Covenant? So that they would see this object when they thought of this object, that they would remember. God isn’t always going to feed them with manna. He isn’t always going to miraculously deliver them every day from Pharaoh’s and such. It’s not always going to be a Sinai experience. But those things symbolize important things that they were to remember, just as we are to remember the memorial of Jesus’ death for us every first day of the week. Lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow. Lead me to Calvary. May we remember. And where must Jesus be stored? Just like those items were stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Tell me the story of Jesus.

Right on my heart. Every word. Tell me the story most precious. Sweetest that ever was heard. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus needs to be stored in our heart, in our mind, in our soul, and in our strength. Let Jesus dwell within your soul. Israel lost sight of the holy objects and what they meant. We must not. Four verses, and I’m done this morning. Psalm 118. Psalm 118. I’m going to read these backwards. What does the Lord mean to us? Psalm 118, 25. O Lord, do save. We beseech thee. O Lord, we beseech thee, do send prosperity. Verse 24. This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Speaking of his salvation. Verse 23, this is the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. And so I commend to you Jesus who fulfills your need. Have you come to Him as a living stone to become one of His faithful servants and priests in His great kingdom? Can you say, I am of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, that I may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light? If not, won’t you come while we stand and sing?