Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Ark

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Chronicles 5:1–10, “Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up. Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.”

Solomon finally saw the Temple finished. When the structure was complete, Solomon brought the treasures that David, his father, had collected for the Temple, inside the Temple. He called all the national leaders together and told them to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple. At that stage the Ark was stored in the city of David. The Ark was central to Israeli ceremonial worship. As Israel believed in the Ten Commandments, they didn’t believe in having images of the Lord God of any kind. However, they escaped from slavery in Egypt where there were many different gods and many different images. In order for them to know that the Lord God is real and that He was always with them as they travelled, the Lord gave them to Ark so that He could continue to reveal Himself and His ways to Israel day by day, as they travelled. The Ark contained the tablets of stone, on which were carved the Ten Commandments, they would constantly know that the Lord was with them and they would also be reminded that the Lord God is far beyond their ability to describe. When the Ark was ready to be taken to the Temple many sacrifices and offerings were made to the Lord God. So many sacrifices and offerings were made that no one counted them.

No comments:

Post a Comment