In the previous lesson, the Lord God instructed Moses the items to receive from the children of Israel in order to prepare to build "the house of the Lord thy God; And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it." (Exodus 25:8-9)
In this lesson, the Lord God will instruct Moses on the use of the gold and acacia wood. “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. (Exodus 25:10-11)
"You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. (Exodus 25:12-16)
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:17-19)
"And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel." (Exodus 25:20-22)
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| Artist Recreation of the Ark of the Testimony (Covenant) & the Mercy Seat |
The Lord God was very clear about what to make the Ark of the Testimony out of, how to make it and what what to go into it. The Word of God, the Testimony which He would give them, was to go inside; and the Mercy Seat, where He would meet with them, and He would speak with them from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony.
A few interesting comparisons we must make note of: First, the Lord God is using an ark to again keep and preserve what He wants saved. He was instructing Moses in the same way He instructed Noah to build the ark, with every detail. (Genesis 6:13-22) But the purpose for Him having Noah build the ark was, "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you." (Genesis 6:18)
When the Lord God enters into a covenant agreement with us, He keeps it. Just like He kept Noah and all on the ark with Him during the flood, He was confirming with the children of Israel that He would keep them also, by putting His Word in the ark. He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,... (Psalm 105:7-10)
The second comparison is the cherubim are placed on the top of the Ark, the Mercy Seat to symbolize guarding it, just as the Lord God had done when He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)
The problem for Adam and Eve wasn't that they couldn't have access to the "tree of life". The problem was they had partaken of the tree that the Lord God commanded them not to, the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". Because of that, they nor any of us could partake of the "tree of life" until after God had prepared a way for us.
God's Word would be inside the Ark of the Testimony (Covenant) and cherubim would be on the Mercy Seat that sits on the Ark. Then the Lord God would come and meet with them and speak from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which He would give them in commandment to the children of Israel. The Lord God would give the children of Israel access to the tree of life, He would be with them and they were to carry His Word with them wherever He lead them.
He does the exact same thing for us today, but in a more personal way, through His Holy Spirit that is in us, after we put our faith in His Son, the Word in the flesh, Christ Jesus. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature,... (II Peter 1:1-4)
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