Exodus 25:10-16 (ESV)
The Ark of the Covenant
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.
The above passage gives us the measurements of the Ark of the Covenant. In our measurement system the Ark would be:
45 inches long
27 inches wide
27 inches high
You could say that the Ark, without the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim, was about the size of a tall coffee table. The Ark would serve as the center of all the priest functions. This was the first element of the Tabernacle describe and the most important piece. This is where the sacrifices would be made and God’s glory would reside.
One of the key components of the Ark was the description of the four rings that would be used to carry the Ark, with two poles. Since the Ark was overlaid with gold and had the Mercy Seat and one Cherubim on one end and one Cherubim on the other end, the Ark would be quite heavy. Four priest would carry the Ark on their shoulders whenever God asked the nation of Israel to move. This might look like a minor point in the entire instructions about the Ark and the Tabernacle, but say that to a man named Uzzah. Note the following story when, instead of “carrying” the Ark with the poles and four priest, King David decided to put the Ark on a wagon and have oxen pull it:
2 Samuel 6:5-7 (ESV)
Uzzah and the Ark
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
The lesson here is obvious. There is NOTHING insignificant in God’s Word and instructions to us that we are to ignore or simply forget. God is specific about what He says and how we are to, by faith, obey His Word. Uzzah lost his life because King David missed this single command. It is quite plain! Imagine your car dealer telling you that to keep the car going you have to put oil in the engine. But, you ignore that part as you read the owner’s manual. Do you think the car dealer will take the car back and return your money? Yet, we think God will ignore our failings and simply look the other way. God demands we follow His Word to the letter. If not, we will suffer the consequences.
No comments:
Post a Comment