Matthew Blewett - Class 1: Meet the Ark

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Bible exhortations, classes, and talks. Bible exhortations, classes, and talks. Bible exhortations, classes, and talks. So we have a theme presented to us that is complete. A theme that teaches a message that we should take cognizance of and think a lot of in terms of our understanding of it. So what we want to do during these six sessions is we want to look at the Ark of the Covenant not so much in terms of the stories as much as we've caught it on the road with the Ark, but more in terms of the spiritual underplay or the spiritual message that is coming behind what we are being taught through the Ark and the events that took place with the Ark.

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   And that's very important because I'm assuming that you know the stories very well. So we won't go into the detail of those stories. We'll just try and pick up the ideas that God was teaching, first of all, of course, to those who were in the presence of the Ark at the time. But more importantly, that we can take 2,000 or many thousand years later.

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   So that's going to be our focus. We're going to be trying to understand these spiritual lessons. And most of all, we're going to try and understand perspectives that God is teaching us that hopefully will be useful in understanding how God works with us today. And before we start that, really focusing on the Ark, I want to lay down some principles that I hope you're going to agree with.

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   Because if you don't, then perhaps all that we say thereafter may be quite difficult. But I'm sure you will. And, well, I live and hope. We are going to look at some of those principles. Before we do that, I thought I would do what Brother Mark wisely did, and that's show you what we're going to be covering.

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   And despite the topics being very succinct, I'm not necessarily a man of few words, so I'll also be watching the clock. But these are really what we're going to be covering is the first session is quite a simple one. We just want to establish together what was the Ark of the Covenant all about?

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   What was God trying to represent through this most sacred of the symbols that he put in place for the children of Israel in the time of the Old Testament? So that's what we're going to be doing very simply this morning. Then in our session tomorrow, we're going to actually look at some of the components of the Ark.

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   I'm sure many of you have done this before. But once we've gained a spiritual perspective, which is what I like to call it, we're going to start looking at the components of the Ark in the context of that spiritual perspective. And hopefully you're going to start seeing how each of those components in the context of the spiritual perspective have great meaning.

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   And I'm sure it would have had meaning to the children of Israel at the time. And then we're going to start the real journey, because the Ark will now be made. And then we're going to have to get a bit energetic. And we're going to have to go to the children of Israel through the Promised Land.

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   That'll take us about five minutes, because the Ark is not that mentioned in terms of the journeys of the Promised Land. And we're then going to cross over the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. We're then going to go into battle against Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant. And then we're going to experience the lows of the Ark of the Covenant as it goes into captivity.

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    And then we're going to experience, at the end of the week, the joy as the Ark is returned back to its home. So that's really what we're going to be covering. And through this whole process, hopefully learning a bit about these spiritual insights that I was referring to earlier. So here are some of these principles.

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    And the first principle is this, is that when we're looking at these things, we're looking at physical patterns that God has put in place to teach us about spiritual realities. And we've just come from, in fact, a class with the teenagers where we were talking about this in a similar way. That God is intent really on us, not just understanding all the details of the story as we know, and being able to piece together how it makes sense.

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    But moving beyond that to see what really is the reality that is being taught. And this is important in all aspects of our Bible study. But it's really important when we come to look at the Ark of the Covenant. And I'll explain that in a moment. But the point is this, God is spirit.

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    He lives in a realm that we don't understand. A realm that is invisible. A realm that Isaiah describes as his thoughts and his ways being completely different to our thoughts and our ways. But have you ever considered the words of Isaiah? Maybe we ought to turn there, Isaiah 55. And to do that, I'm just going to get my Bible.

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    It's very handy to have a Bible in these circumstances. Isaiah 55. I only really noticed this when I was in fact reading John 3. Because often when things happen in life and we don't understand the way God is working with us, we think of Isaiah 55. Because we understand that God is so completely different to us in the way that he thinks, in the way that he behaves.

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    But Isaiah 55 says something that is a clue in terms of what is expected of us in understanding God's thoughts and understanding God's ways. And there it is in verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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    And it's that phrase, as the heavens are higher than the earth. Think of John 3, when Jesus sat with Nicodemus, also talking about spiritual matters. He said, how will you understand if I have told you earthly things and you haven't understood? And now I will tell you heavenly things. And Jesus goes on, or in fact John makes the comment that no man has ascended into heaven.

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    We often use that particular passage, of course, in our first principles. But I think in the context, what John is talking about is that men and women need to raise their thoughts to heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And this is really what we've been taught here in Isaiah. Yes, our natural thoughts and our natural ways are completely different to the ways and thoughts of God.

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    But through the word of God, we have been given the opportunity to raise our thinking to heavenly places. And I think that's what we do when we look at patterns. God says, mine is the world of the invisible. Mine is a world outside of the principles and the limitations that you live in.

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    But I'm going to give you patterns to help you understand these spiritual realities. And so, as we look at these patterns, these copies, we begin to understand better the spiritual realities that God is teaching. 1 Corinthians 15, you know these words well. It says in verse 46, Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.

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    So, we're given this process of coming to understand the spiritual by first looking at these natural things that teach us of the spiritual. So, there's a lesson for us immediately, isn't there? I find it so easy for us to always fall back into natural thinking because we're of the earth. We're born into the earth.

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    We're limited by the limitations of the earth. And it's difficult for us, even though we have committed ourselves to being those who want to be led by the spirit, it's difficult for us to always be moving into spiritual thinking. But that's our calling. And especially at a Bible school. It's so much easier when we're talking to each other to ask about the weather and to ask how family members are doing.

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    But it's more difficult sometimes for us to engage in spiritual conversation. And that's really what the Word of God is trying to get us to do more of. And really, this doesn't come naturally. We have to develop habits that help us to think spiritually. And of course, what God has done to help us with that is He's given us all these patterns, not just in the Word of God, but in everyday life, that are examples that can get us thinking spiritually.

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    Not many of us do that when we first wake up in the morning and think, well, as we woke up, there was the pattern of resurrection. Most of us are just thinking about where the first cup of coffee will come from. All right, and while the kids are screaming and we're needing to prepare them for school, it's very difficult sometimes to move to the spiritual.

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    But that's part of our calling, to raise our thinking, so that we can start to see things from God's perspective. The second principle I want to establish. So the first is that we're going to be seeing patterns and we want to look to see what the spiritual reality is behind the patterns. The second is this, and this is my at card when you come and tell me that you don't agree with the point that I've made in terms of the spiritual reality.

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    And that is this, that we need to be careful. When we're looking from a natural pattern and we're trying to see the spiritual reality, that we don't sometimes use our natural reasoning in that process. All right, what am I saying here? Well, you see, given that God's realm is different from our realm, it doesn't necessarily operate in all the restrictions of our realm.

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    The restrictions of our realm, any scientist will tell you, is that we live in the realm of four dimensions. We have heart, breath, I always forget these three, depth and time. All right, these are the four dimensions that determine our reality. And believe it or not, all of you are very in tune into the principles of the natural world.

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    How many of you can be sitting down and seeing a child just in the distance there, putting a cup just on the edge of the table? We know the rules of the world. The children take a bit longer to work it out. And then you go diving over to grab the cup and normally you miss it.

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    But we know the rules of our world. Sometimes when we come to understanding spiritual matters, we try and bring some of that thinking process into the rules of the spiritual realm. Now, I'll give you a good example. And the reason I'm saying this is that, for example, when you come to the tabernacle, as coming sometimes with natural thinking, we come with our piece of paper and we say, all right, let's see what things could represent.

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    So we start off and we say the Ark of the Covenant. Perhaps that represents, as a spiritual reality, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we look at the mercy seat. We say, well, in fact, we're told that represents the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Sunday school, my children are already saying, but we've really got Jesus ticked off.

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    And then we start talking about the curtains. And we start seeing the curtains, in fact, can represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And the veil, we're told, represented the Lord Jesus Christ. But he's already been ticked off. You see, we can't come with a checklist and say we can get everything neatly in place.

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    All right, there are many dimensions operating at the same time. What I want to try and show you when we look at the Ark of the Covenant is that there is a perspective we can take in looking at the Ark of the Covenant that will help us to see these things. But the point is we mustn't limit our interpretation sometimes of these matters when we look at them together.

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    Now, when we come to look at the Ark of the Covenant, we are specifically in the realm of pattern. Come with me, if you will, to Exodus 25 to see this. And that's why I made this a fairly lengthy introduction because I think we're going to see this this whole week. And I don't want you to come to me and say, Matthew, we think you're reading too much into this.

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    Well, you can still come and say that to me. But I want you to see that this is, if ever, a place where God is saying, look carefully at the detail. Because behind every piece of detail, I'm giving you a spiritual lesson. Exodus 25, God speaking to Moses. According to all that I show you, verse 9, After the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.

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    Referring to the Ark of the Covenant. Cast your eyes down to verse 40. See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown you on the mountain. So here we have two verses that clearly show us that Moses was given a pattern. A pattern. Listen, it's interesting. I don't know if you've had this view.

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    I often thought that when Moses went up on the mountain, what he saw was the reality. And then he was asked to go and make a copy of that reality down on earth. I suggest to you that was not possible. A man like Moses could not have seen the reality. It's a heavenly, spiritual reality.

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    Moses was given up on the mountain the pattern. The Hebrew word there is, in fact, the word tabnith. I'm not sure if I've got a slide on that. I don't think I do. But I do have a slide that I missed, actually. Right. That was just showing us the various patterns that help us to move from the natural to the spiritual.

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    And, of course, we're looking at one of those now. But the Hebrew word for pattern here is the word tabnith, E-T-A-B-N-E-E-T-H. I'm probably not pronouncing that correctly. But here's the point. It means a model, a resemblance, a likeness. So the point is that Moses was given a model that he then had to actually make a earthly reality down on earth in the form of a tabernacle.

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    It's quite interesting. So God had already put together this pattern, this pattern that would teach about a heavenly or spiritual reality that Moses then came down and created a physical manifestation of, which we now see and read about in the tabernacle that we will be considering together. That's quite interesting because, in fact, this is the point that Paul picks up in Hebrews.

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    If you'll come with me to Hebrews chapter 8, Paul, in fact, picks up this idea of the pattern in Hebrews 8 that was given to Moses.

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    He says in Hebrews 8, and I'm reading from the World English Bible, verse 5, the context is the many aspects of the law, not just specifically the tabernacle. He says, all these things, chapter 8 and verse 5, serve as a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things. Even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.

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    So what we've been told there is that this tabernacle was a pattern of heavenly things, spiritual things, in the same context of what we've been talking about in Isaiah, of things that perhaps we couldn't understand unless God gave us some way to understand them. And so the tabernacle was given to the Jewish people as the way that they could understand these things.

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    And the writer brings in a very interesting idea in addition to the idea of a copy. He says it's like a shadow. Now what's interesting about that is he is proving a point that I think I made a bit earlier on, in the sense that this reality can have its physical manifestation in a number of different forms.

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    It's the same reality, spiritual reality, but it can be manifested in a number of different forms. And that's why a shadow is a great analogy. You can be the same person standing in one position and as the sun moves, your shadow, which is some teaching people about something, about how you look, is changing depending on where the sun is.

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    And so what we've been taught here is there is this spiritual reality that has been reflected in a number of patterns. And this is very helpful because, again, I'll have to use Sunday school examples. When you come to teach your children at Sunday school about the tabernacle, they get that point. Then you come to Solomon's temple.

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    They say, well, you know, what's Solomon doing here? Because what is Solomon doing? He embellishes everything. I mean, from the simplicity of the tabernacle, when you come to the temple, everything, you know, it's completely different. The aspects that are the same, but everything's more and bigger. And you might be tempted to say, well, you know, Solomon was a wealthy man and he thought he would just put a bit more into the tabernacle when he was building the temple.

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    But you would be wrong because it wasn't Solomon's temple, was it? Just have a look at this. 1 Chronicles chapter 28. Very important because we don't often spend enough time on the temple, Solomon's temple in this case, as we should because this temple is as much a pattern as the tabernacle. 1 Chronicles chapter 28, verse 18.

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    And for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims that spread out their wings. These are the things that Solomon was building and covered the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. All this said David, Yahweh made me understand in writing by his hand upon me even all the works of this pattern.

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    So, the temple of Solomon was also a pattern. I put it to you of the same spiritual reality. We haven't come to what that spiritual reality is, but of the same spiritual reality. And when we come to Ezekiel's temple, sometimes we can spend a lot of time focused again on the physical aspects of Ezekiel's temple.

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    I don't know why we may do that because we want to gain a clearer vision of the kingdom. But what does the word of God say about Ezekiel's temple? Well, Ezekiel chapter 43, verse 10. Son of man, show the house to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern.

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    It's the same word. Now, here we have three completely different, well, not completely different, but certainly not the same manifestations of the same spiritual reality. Shadows. And each of them, if you look at their detail, teaching different insights. About a reality that is so deep and full and complete because it is a part of the very mind of God.

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    And that's what we're seeing when we come to consider these matters together with the Ark of the Covenant. So those patterns can be in different forms as we see. Ezekiel's temple, Solomon's temple, the tabernacle, all teaching us about a heavenly thing from a natural perspective. So with that introduction, one last point before we go and look at the Ark specifically.

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    And that is, did you notice in the Hebrews reference that there was particular mention made and it's back there in Exodus by the writer of the Hebrews that Moses was to follow the pattern accurately. Of course, that makes sense because God is saying, I'm teaching you about a very important spiritual reality so you'd better make sure that the pattern is exact.

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    If you get the pattern wrong, what are you doing? then you are taking away from the more important spiritual reality. And so it says, Moses was admonished that he should follow the pattern carefully. Now two points come from that. First of all, it again allows us to look very carefully at the detail.

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    But there's a more important point for us. It just shows us how important God takes patterns. God has issued many patterns to us. Some patterns that we have to live out in our lives. And God is saying, those are patterns, yes. They're not the actual reality, but they are important because they are teaching people about the spiritual reality.

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    As angry as Moses was when he took that rod and probably we would say with just cause and struck the rock for the second time, the consequences were dire. And every time we do our readings and we come to that passage again, how many of us think, surely Lord, you could have let them go into the promised land with Moses.

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    After all he had been through. But God says, you broke a pattern. You broke the pattern that was giving people the opportunity to understand the greater spiritual reality. So when we look at patterns that we live out in our lives, like marriage, the patterns that we live out when we get married to husband and wife and we know that the word of God tells us that this is a pattern of a greater spiritual reality in Ephesians 5.

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    For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, the two become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I'm talking about Christ and the church. Your marriage is just a pattern of the great spiritual reality is what Paul is saying. Best you be careful about how you're working on that pattern.

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    Just like Moses had to be careful with how he worked on his pattern. So if I had to ask you, coming to the Ark of the Covenant, what does the Ark of the Covenant represent? I'll give you two seconds to think of what your answer might be because there's too many to get all of your answers.

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    So what I've done is I've done a little survey on people that I meet, brethren and sisters from South Africa and they may think differently to you. But the most common answer I get is in one of two groups. The first is the Ark of the Covenant represented the presence of God. That may have been the answer you were thinking of.

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    The second is that the Ark of God represented God as King on his throne. Very similar ideas, both referring to the very presence of God on earth. And I think both of those answers would be very close to the truth. But what I want to show you, the time that remains, is I think that there is a broader perspective that if we understand, it will help us in understanding many of the parts of the Ark of the Covenant and the stories relating to it.

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    So I want to draw your attention back to Exodus 25 if you'll come with me and we're going to have a look at verse 10 where we begin to see some detail on the Ark of the Covenant. Exodus 25 verse 10 Here is the commandment given to Moses. Go and build an Ark out of Shittim wood.

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    Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

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    So what was going to be the purpose of this interesting and holy item that was to be the center of the tabernacle? Well we're given a clue to that in verse 22 of Exodus 25 And there on top of the Ark, on top of the mercy seat I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat and 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.

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    And so there in verse 22 I think we can see why most people would say this Ark has to do with God's presence. Because God said this is the place that I will actually commune with you Moses. This is the place I will come and give you commandments. This will be the place of my presence.

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    But did one word catch your attention? It's the word meet. There I will meet with you. We might think that that refers to a casual meeting. We would be wrong. meet. The word there meet is a very specific Hebrew word. It means to fix upon. It means to engage. It means to betroth.

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    In fact one of the first occurrences of this word is in Exodus 21. You don't need to turn it up for time's sake but if you want the reference Exodus 21 verse 8 this is the exact same word as the word meet in Exodus 25 and it's the occasion of the slave. Remember the slave who was going to go free?

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    But if he stayed with his master he could keep the wives that he had been given? And in verse 8 it says if she please not her master who hath betrothed her to himself then shall he let her be redeemed. And that word betrothed this marriage that had taken place is the same word as meet.

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    This is an interesting word. Amos you know these words? He says can two walk together except they be agreed? Meet. It's the same word as meet. What was God saying here? This Ark of the Covenant is a place of marriage. It's a place of engagement. It's a place where we're going to meet in every sense of the word meet.

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    I find that outstanding. You know at home I don't know if you use it. We say to the children we're going to the meeting. Now I've never thought much of that the meeting. It's just a colloquial term. But when we come on a Sunday morning in every sense of the word we're going to the meeting.

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    We're going to the place where God is going to meet with us as he was going to meet with them above the Ark of the Covenant. It has a great significance especially in the context here of the Ark. You see what's amazing about this? All of the world religions had as it were their symbol, almost their idol of their God.

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    In a way there was Dagon and Baal and we know there was Nebuchadnezzar's image of the various gods that they worshipped. In a way when they looked at the Jewish religion and we'll see this later on, they perceived the Ark of the Covenant as the representation of the God of Israel, of Yahweh.

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    But you see when you start to look at this representation of Yahweh, it doesn't have so much to do with Yahweh as it has to do with us. That's the marvel of the God we worship. Have you ever stopped to think that God reveals himself to us purely, almost exclusively as a Savior?

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    Almost everything you read in this book is about God working with us. God has to be so much more than that. When you read Job, you start seeing God for a moment starts to tell Job about how much more he is, about the amazing creative work that he's done, of how he keeps things in control.

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    But how much does he really spend in the word of God telling us about that? God's revealed message to us is about him saving us. God is infinite, he is manifested in many ways, but he reveals himself to us as a Savior. Isaiah 43, you know these words, for I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

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    Isaiah 45 says, I am Yahweh, there is no God beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me, look unto me and be saved. God is obsessed, as I said in our exhortation, with saving us. And he takes the most sacred image, and I'm going to put forward to you that the spiritual reality of that image is a representation of God as Savior, of God working salvation in us, of God working a plan to meet us.

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    Just like when there was the first sin in Eden, the first thing God did was to provide a covering, a mercy seat, and then to begin the process of meeting again. In the Garden of Eden it was played out, and here in the Ark of the Covenant these things are being put in place.

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    Maybe just to really establish this point, we'll look at one aspect of this symbol. And this is the kind of questioning we have to ask ourselves when we look at these matters. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, given that God was going to choose this most sacred symbol to represent something about himself?

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    Why did he choose an Ark? Could have chosen anything. Could have been a tree. Could have been some other object. Why an Ark? Now, don't be sitting there thinking, well, he had to have some place to put the two tablets in, because that would be thinking naturally. Why an Ark? Now, for those of you who were listening very carefully, I said something in the beginning, and perhaps you would have thought a bit about that, I said that this is an Alpha and Omega theme.

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    It begins in Genesis and it ends in Revelation. You might have been thinking, well, not quite, Matthew, because the Ark of the Covenant is introduced to us in Exodus, and you are quite correct. Here it is, Exodus chapter 25. I want to suggest to you that there is something to be learned in Genesis that teaches us a very important lesson that we can leave here this morning with about the Ark.

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    I want to bring you, as our brother was saying this morning, if you want to look at a theme, often the best thing to do is say, where does it occur for the first time? So with the question in mind, why did God choose an Ark as the basis of this symbol that he was going to ask to be made, this pattern?

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    I want to bring you to Genesis for the first occurrence, and it's right at the end of Genesis, we just made Genesis here, Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50.

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    And it's almost the last word, we really did just make it, verse 26. So Joseph died being a hundred years and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

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    The word Ark is there in verse 26, hopefully you've worked it out, it's the word coffin. In fact, the word Ark actually means a chest, it also is translated, as you can see in this case, as a coffin, and mostly translated as an Ark. Now you might think, well, what's going on here?

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    What could be the significance of this particular reference in Genesis 50 and at verse 26? Well, of course, this was a very relevant occasion, which is mentioned a number of other times, especially in Hebrews, to describe the faith that Joseph had. That Joseph didn't want his bones to be left in Egypt, that he wanted them to put it in a coffin, because he really believed in the resurrection.

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    Hebrews tells us that. By faith, Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones. He knew that he was going to be back in the promised land at the time of the resurrection. It was his hope. And the first time we meet the Ark, the word, it's a coffin.

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    And what's it made of? It's made of acacia wood. My Bible dictionary, I didn't need to read this from the Bible dictionary because where I live, we are surrounded by acacia trees. But nevertheless, my Bible dictionary says, acacia, or shittim, as it would be written in the authorized version, a large thorny tree with rough gnarled bark.

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    And you're with me in Genesis. The curse, the thorns, the thistles that would come out because of the sin of Adam. What's going on here? A coffin made of thorn wood as the very core of the symbol of God.

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    Is this symbol about God or us? I put it to you, brothers and sisters, that the Ark of the Covenant is about God's plan of salvation. How he will take death, how he will take death and sin. And bring it to glory. That's our hope. And that is how God chooses to reveal himself to us.

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    That he is working in us salvation. That every one of you out there, though your destiny, just like Joseph's, is a coffin, you can change that to be a part of that host that we were speaking about yesterday, that cherubic host, those glorified saints. And God says, in this sacred image, which does represent my presence, my presence is there because I want to save you.

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    One last point to think about in this regard. We haven't mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that he is one of the great spiritual realities of the Ark of the Covenant. Have you ever thought about this? The Lord Jesus Christ was a perfect manifestation of the Father. This may create some discussion.

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    have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus was all God? Sorry, in everything that Jesus was, he represented God. But he wasn't necessarily every aspect of God. You might say, well, what are you saying here? When Jesus came, he was given the name Yahashua, Yah shall save. The aspect that Jesus came to manifest of God, which was the very aspect that God was working with us on, is the salvation aspect of God, the saving of God.

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    And in this respect, the Ark of the Covenant as representing God as a Savior, was perfectly manifested in Jesus, because he became the means by which God was going to bring that salvation. And so he became the one known as Yah shall save. He became the one known as Emmanuel. God with us.

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    There I will meet with you. God with us. He was the spiritual reality, not because he was Jesus, but because he was God's salvation plan in action.

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    And so, as we consider this Ark of the Covenant this week together, I want us to see how in this Ark, God was teaching people like you and I, how he intended to save them, how he intended to take them from a condition of hopelessness to a hope of everlasting life. And I want to leave you with one thought, to think about the God we worship.

95. 35:36

    Here is not a God that wants us to praise and worship him because he is on some desire to receive our praises and have his power magnified for the sake of his power being magnified. He is not like the gods of all the worlds out there. Here is a God that begins with us, who is absolutely, completely focused on our needs, such that the very core of the most sacred symbol that he gave to the children of Israel was speaking of our weakness, of our mortality, and our need.

96. 36:14

    And over this week, we are going to see how God deals with that and brings us to the hope of life. Amen. Amen.