Jerusalem housed the temple, which, housed The Ark, which, housed God's Covenant with man. The Ark contained the sign and the seal of God's presence upon the earth - the place where God's presence and glory dwelt. The Ark was carried for decades through the wilderness, to search out a resting place. Num 10:33-35. It was overlaid with pure gold, and was called, "holy." 2 Chron 35:3. It was, also, called, The Ark of The Testimony. Rev 19:10 tells us, that "...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
The Lord spoke and communed with Moses from the Mercy Seat, atop the Ark of the Covenant. Ex 25:22; Num 7:89; 8:1.
As God had instructed, Joshua told the priests to stand in the middle of the Jordan river with The Ark, and the water parted. Josh 3:8; 4:7. After, The Ark was removed, the waters receded. Josh 4:18.
At Jericho, seven priests bearing The Ark with seven trumpets, on the seventh day encompassed Jericho seven times. Jericho fell. Joshua cried out to the Lord before The Ark and God spoke to Joshua from The Ark. Josh 7:6,10.
The children of Israel wept, fasted and offered burnt and peace offerings before the Ark. Jud 20:26,27.
God spoke to Samuel from The Ark. 1 Sam 3:3,4.
When Eli heard that The Ark was taken, he fell backward and died. 1 Sam 4:18.
Phineas's wife named her child, "Ichabod," saying, "The glory is departed from Israel; for The Ark of God is taken." 1 Sam 4:19-22.
The Philistines put The Ark in the house of their god, Dagon. Dagon fell before the Ark, his head and palms broken off. 1 Sam 5:1-5.
Uzzah touched The Ark and was struck dead. 2 Sam 6:6,7.
God blessed the household of Obed Edom, while, The Ark was there. 2 Sam 6:11.
When The Ark was brought to Jerusalem, David danced before the Lord, with all his might. 2 Sam 6:12-15.
Solomon offered burnt and peace offerings before The Ark. 1 Ki 3:15.
The chief function of the temple was to house The Ark of the Covenant. When The Ark was placed in The Most Holy Place, nothing was in it, but, the Ten Commandments. 1 Ki 8:9; 2 Chron 4:10. And the glory of the Lord filled the house. 1 Ki 8:11. David called the temple, a house of rest for The Ark. 1 Chron 6:31; 28:2.
When The Ark was brought up from Kirjath Jearim, David and all of Israel "...played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals and with trumpets." 1 Chron 13:5-8; 15:28.
The Ten Commandments are God's eternal Covenant with man. Deut 4:13; 2 Chron 6:11; Ps 111:7,8. The Lord wrote this Covenant with His own finger in tablets of stone, which, were placed inside The Ark of the Covenant. The people had said, that, they would keep God's law in their own strength, but failed. Ex 24:7. The New Covenant is God engraving this same Covenant in our hearts and minds. Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:10. He gives us a new heart and His Spirit and "CAUSES US" to walk in His law. Ezek 36:26,27. It is the same Covenant in a different place. Now, if we are born-again believers, His Covenant is within us. He enables us by His Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29) to walk with Him in loving obedience to His Covenant.
The Ten Commandments = One Covenant. James 2:10,11 tells us, that, if we break one of the commandments, we become transgressors of His law and are guilty of breaking all of them.
The fourth commandment is the mark of God's authority as Creator and Redeemer. Deut 5:15. Our Creator - Jesus (John 1:3) calls the seventh day, "My holy day." Isa 58:13.
Christians were, still, keeping the Sabbath in 321 A.D., when Constantine instituted the first Sunday law, and in 364 A.D., when the Sabbath was "changed" to Sunday. The penalty for worshipping on the Sabbath was death! As a consequence, many Sabbath-keepers were martyred. One of the marks of The Antichrist is "...he thinks to change times and laws." Dan 7:25. He, only, "thinks to change," because, no man/institution can over-rule our Creator and change His law.
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God...For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Ex 20:8-11. Our Creator sanctified and blessed the seventh day, because, it was the day in which He rested from His work of Creation.
In Revelation 14:6,7 we read, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water."
The everlasting gospel is revealed in the fourth commandment, in which we see the three components of a seal:
1. His NAME: Lord God. Isa 42:8.
2. His AUTHORITY: Creator of all. Isa 40:25,26; Jer 10:10-12; Rev 4:11
3. His DOMAIN: Heaven and earth. Gen 2:1-4; Ex 20:8-11.
The fourth commandment is God's SEAL upon His Covenant. The everlasting gospel is calling us back to the one commandment, that, He told us to "remember." He is calling us to sanctify Him as Creator and Redeemer - Jesus, the "Lord of the Sabbath." Mk 2:28.
The Ark is symbolic of Jesus Christ. It is of wood, speaking of His humanity, overlaid with gold, speaking of His deity, and contains His law within. It, also, is symbolic of the New Covenant believer, who has His Covenant written within. When we walk with Him in loving obedience, it is an expression of a converted heart, and evidence of a Spirit-filled life.
"Know ye not that YE are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
Does His Covenant find in you a resting place?
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple The Ark of His Testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev 11:19.
The Apostle John wrote, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have RIGHT to the tree of life, AND MAY ENTER IN through the gates into the city." Rev 22:14.
The Lord spoke and communed with Moses from the Mercy Seat, atop the Ark of the Covenant. Ex 25:22; Num 7:89; 8:1.
As God had instructed, Joshua told the priests to stand in the middle of the Jordan river with The Ark, and the water parted. Josh 3:8; 4:7. After, The Ark was removed, the waters receded. Josh 4:18.
At Jericho, seven priests bearing The Ark with seven trumpets, on the seventh day encompassed Jericho seven times. Jericho fell. Joshua cried out to the Lord before The Ark and God spoke to Joshua from The Ark. Josh 7:6,10.
The children of Israel wept, fasted and offered burnt and peace offerings before the Ark. Jud 20:26,27.
God spoke to Samuel from The Ark. 1 Sam 3:3,4.
When Eli heard that The Ark was taken, he fell backward and died. 1 Sam 4:18.
Phineas's wife named her child, "Ichabod," saying, "The glory is departed from Israel; for The Ark of God is taken." 1 Sam 4:19-22.
The Philistines put The Ark in the house of their god, Dagon. Dagon fell before the Ark, his head and palms broken off. 1 Sam 5:1-5.
Uzzah touched The Ark and was struck dead. 2 Sam 6:6,7.
God blessed the household of Obed Edom, while, The Ark was there. 2 Sam 6:11.
When The Ark was brought to Jerusalem, David danced before the Lord, with all his might. 2 Sam 6:12-15.
Solomon offered burnt and peace offerings before The Ark. 1 Ki 3:15.
The chief function of the temple was to house The Ark of the Covenant. When The Ark was placed in The Most Holy Place, nothing was in it, but, the Ten Commandments. 1 Ki 8:9; 2 Chron 4:10. And the glory of the Lord filled the house. 1 Ki 8:11. David called the temple, a house of rest for The Ark. 1 Chron 6:31; 28:2.
When The Ark was brought up from Kirjath Jearim, David and all of Israel "...played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals and with trumpets." 1 Chron 13:5-8; 15:28.
The Ten Commandments are God's eternal Covenant with man. Deut 4:13; 2 Chron 6:11; Ps 111:7,8. The Lord wrote this Covenant with His own finger in tablets of stone, which, were placed inside The Ark of the Covenant. The people had said, that, they would keep God's law in their own strength, but failed. Ex 24:7. The New Covenant is God engraving this same Covenant in our hearts and minds. Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:10. He gives us a new heart and His Spirit and "CAUSES US" to walk in His law. Ezek 36:26,27. It is the same Covenant in a different place. Now, if we are born-again believers, His Covenant is within us. He enables us by His Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29) to walk with Him in loving obedience to His Covenant.
The Ten Commandments = One Covenant. James 2:10,11 tells us, that, if we break one of the commandments, we become transgressors of His law and are guilty of breaking all of them.
The fourth commandment is the mark of God's authority as Creator and Redeemer. Deut 5:15. Our Creator - Jesus (John 1:3) calls the seventh day, "My holy day." Isa 58:13.
Christians were, still, keeping the Sabbath in 321 A.D., when Constantine instituted the first Sunday law, and in 364 A.D., when the Sabbath was "changed" to Sunday. The penalty for worshipping on the Sabbath was death! As a consequence, many Sabbath-keepers were martyred. One of the marks of The Antichrist is "...he thinks to change times and laws." Dan 7:25. He, only, "thinks to change," because, no man/institution can over-rule our Creator and change His law.
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God...For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Ex 20:8-11. Our Creator sanctified and blessed the seventh day, because, it was the day in which He rested from His work of Creation.
In Revelation 14:6,7 we read, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water."
The everlasting gospel is revealed in the fourth commandment, in which we see the three components of a seal:
1. His NAME: Lord God. Isa 42:8.
2. His AUTHORITY: Creator of all. Isa 40:25,26; Jer 10:10-12; Rev 4:11
3. His DOMAIN: Heaven and earth. Gen 2:1-4; Ex 20:8-11.
The fourth commandment is God's SEAL upon His Covenant. The everlasting gospel is calling us back to the one commandment, that, He told us to "remember." He is calling us to sanctify Him as Creator and Redeemer - Jesus, the "Lord of the Sabbath." Mk 2:28.
The Ark is symbolic of Jesus Christ. It is of wood, speaking of His humanity, overlaid with gold, speaking of His deity, and contains His law within. It, also, is symbolic of the New Covenant believer, who has His Covenant written within. When we walk with Him in loving obedience, it is an expression of a converted heart, and evidence of a Spirit-filled life.
"Know ye not that YE are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
Does His Covenant find in you a resting place?
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple The Ark of His Testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev 11:19.
The Apostle John wrote, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have RIGHT to the tree of life, AND MAY ENTER IN through the gates into the city." Rev 22:14.
