Exodus Of The Numbered Vespers Series

The Ark – Exodus 37:1 – 9

Exodus 37 King James Version (KJV)

37 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it (1 meter long),
and a cubit and a half the breadth of it (3/4 of a meter), and a cubit and a half the height of it (3/4 of a
meter):
2 
And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.
3 
And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side
of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.
4 
And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.
5 
And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
6 
And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit
and a half the breadth thereof.
7 
And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the
mercy seat;
8 
One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the
mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
9 
And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat,
with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

 The Sanctuary and it’s services all point to Jesus Christ.

Exodus 25: 22
22 
There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will
meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

Since it represented the presence of the Lord, the ark came to express several important ideas about the
Lord.

1. Place of Revelation and Worship (Today, as in the past, all heaven is watching to see the
church develop in the true science of salvation. Christ has bought the church with his blood,
and he longs to clothe her with salvation. He has made her the depositary of sacred truth, and
he wishes her to partake of his glory. But in order that the church may be an educating power
in the world, she must co-operate with the church in heaven. Her members must represent
Christ. Their hearts must be open to receive every ray of light that God may see fit to impart.
As they receive this light, they will be enabled to receive and impart more and more of the
rays of the Sun of Righteousness.)

God localized Himself in this place in order to instruct His people and reveal to them the will of
the covenant Lord. Direct access to this most holy object was restricted to Moses and Aaron, but
from there God was accessible to all the people of Israel. For the Israelites the tabernacle was a
tent of meeting or encounter with the Lord. But in reality they stood before the kapporet from a
distance, to be instructed by God through sacrificial and priestly mediators. Priests took the
people’s joys, gratitude, and sins, and gave them to the Lord, who sat enthroned above
the mercy seat, and from the Lord they brought to people the assurance of forgiveness,
acceptance, and blessings.
It is amazing that our God would make Himself available to His people at a particular space—
in this case the tabernacle, and within it the space between the two cherubim on the ark of
the covenant.
Since the ark, located in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, was a symbol of the Lord, people
worshipped Him in the direction of the tabernacle/Temple: “I lift up my hands toward your Most
Holy Place” (Ps. 28:2; cf. 138:2). Joshua fell and prayed before the ark, and the Lord answered
him (Joshua 7:6-11). The Israelites did not worship the ark, but they sought the Lord there as the
place where He would meet with them, and where they could offer Him their prayers and
praises.

Hebrews 10:
24 
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

When the people focus more on the symbol than the actual presence, the result is “Reverence
without Holiness” –where the people revere the temple or the services thereof but with
unsanctified and unrepentant hearts. Hypocrisy and pretence takes over. Jesus said to the
Pharisees they were whitewashed tombs who looked beautiful on the outside but on the inside
they are full of rotten dead bodies and bones
Proverbs 31:30
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Proverbs 11:22
Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

Even The presence of the ark in war did not necessarily mean that the Lord was present among
His people. His presence was directly connected to covenant faithfulness. When the covenant
was violated, the presence of the ark was useless, and God’s people were defeated (1 Sam. 4:1-
11).
 As a preacher this affects me a lot. My ability to deliver a sermon fluently and eloquently is not a
reflection of my Holiness or God’s presence. Many a times, ministers, preachers, singers etc
have stood up representing God but without God. The condition of the last days where we will
seek to maintain a form of Godliness but denying the power of it. I can go on the pulpit in the
morning yet last night I was fornicating. And I can confess my sin not because I have repented
but because I want to use Prayer as a symbol to summon God’s presence to an unrepentant
heart. Taking the ark into battle without repenting.

The attitude or true reverence and holiness has been lost. Perhaps like in the story of Uzzah God
wants to remind us of how important this issue is. Too much familiarity with Holy things can
lead us to disregard His presence. Notice that David was surprised by the death of Uzzah, and
consequently he feared the Lord. The new king of Israel needed to regain a sense of God's
greatness and power, the seriousness of coming into contact with His holiness. Familiarity
with God does not mean disrespecting Him. God wants us to take Him seriously when He
addresses us. This was extremely important for the new king to learn. The next time David
moved the ark, he followed God's instructions (2 Sam. 6:12, 13), thus showing sincere
reverence to Him and His will. Second, the story of Uzzah's death is followed by the story of
Obed-Edom. The symbol of God's presence in his house resulted in blessings from the Lord.
When His presence is taken seriously, it is a source of blessings and life.
Perhaps we need to recover the sense of God's holiness and stop treating Him as our "buddy."
We show respect to our Creator and Redeemer by being submissive to His gracious will.

In Ezekiel Chapter 8, the prophet is shown a vision of the sins of the Elders and of the people. He
saw them worshipping idols and the women crying for Tammuz and all the detestable things
that defiled the temple of God. Then in Chapter 10 he is shown that the Glory of God departed
from the temple. Ii is very possible that we can chase away God’s presence and remain holding
on to the symbol. Do not be fooled by symbols. Seek God with all your heart. Seek his presence
more than the symbol

2. Place of Judgment and Mercy

The ark is often called the “ark of the testimony” because the covenant law—the Ten
Commandments—was placed inside it as a testimony to the covenant relationship between God
and Israel

It was at this point where God met His people that Justice(the Law) and Mercy(the mercy seat)
kissed. Unfortunately in today’s meeting places, the people now magnify the law more than
mercy. We now magnify Justice. We are well known for being a church that is just but merciless.
Where sinning is met with stern judgement but no mercy. In God there is Justice and mercy. We
don’t condone evil…we rebuke it but our rebuke must be redemptive. Many souls have been
lost by rebuke without redemption. The Ark of the Covenant is a reminder…not only of the Law
but also mercy as represented by the mercy seat. How oten have we written off people through
our desire for Justice?
Where there is justice and no Mercy, the people tend to be legalistic. Like the Pharisees who
sought to administer Justice on the woman who was caught on the act because her act was a
violation of the Law and their violation of the Law demanded no justice because they had not
been caught.
Where there is Mercy and no Justice, the people tend to be too liberal and indulge in sin as they
wish because there is no system of Justice.

But where there is Justice and Mercy, there is Redemption, there is Salvation, there is
Repentance. And in Christ Jesus, at the cross even, Justice and Mercy kissed and by that death,
Salvation was brought to the fallen race.

John in 1 John 2:1 and 2 says

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world.

And the apostle adds and says in Hebrews 4:15 and 16

15 
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need.