Ark of the Lord
Surely that would have been enough, more than enough … so why did Jesus send His Holy Spirit?
In the book of Exodus, we read that God had the Israelites build the Tabernacle in the desert:
The Lord said to Moses, …
(Have the people) make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
“Have them make an Ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it… Then put in the Ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.
“Make an atonement cover of pure gold…
And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover…
The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, ... The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover…
There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you …. (Exodus 25:8-22 NIV)
So this Ark was very special: it was the place where Moses met with God. And, sure enough, when the Tabernacle was finished, we read:
When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the Ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him. (Numbers 7:8,9 NIV)
There are a few things I want to point out about the Ark.
First, the Ark was a box that was built to hold things. It held the Stone Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Later, it held a jar of manna and Aaron’s staff that had budded. And it also held far more than that. It also somehow held God.
Second, God wanted the Ark to be made of “Acacia” wood, from the Acacia tree.
The Acacia tree grows in the desert, which was convenient for the Israelites because they were living in the desert at the time.
The Acacia tree is one of the only trees that can survive in the desert, in part due to its ability to grow long roots in search of underground water. Its large, nasty looking thorns deter animals from eating its leaves, and, according to one website, when animals do start eating, the Acacia emits a toxic, bad tasting chemical.
Not only that, it releases a second chemical into the air as a warning to other Acacias. Within 15 minutes, surrounding Acacia’s have filled their leaves with the toxic chemical to protect against the hungry animals. (Nassrulla 2020)
So, the unassuming, gnarly Acacia tree is extremely resilient to enemies.
And third, God wanted the Ark to be made of Acacia wood, and then to be overlaid with gold on the inside and the outside.
It wasn’t just enough that it was covered with gold on the outside; it had to be covered on the inside too.
So the Ark was built to hold things, it was made out of Acacia wood, and it was covered inside and out with gold.
There’s a lot of symbolism here and we’ll come back to that in a moment, but first let’s look at the history of the Ark.
Forty years after the Ark was built, the Israelites were finally crossing over into the Promised Land, but there was a problem. To get into the Promised Land they had to cross the Jordan River, and it was at flood stage. In Joshua 3, we read:
Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the Ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.
Joshua said to the Israelites… And as soon as the priests who carry the Ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away… while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over …
The priests who carried the Ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (Joshua 3:6-17 NIV)
The Israelites were beginning to realize there was something special about the Ark – it held supernatural power. Just a short time later, its’ power was displayed once again. In Joshua chapter 6, we read how the Ark was carried around the walls of Jericho when those huge walls came crashing down. One of my favorite stories about how God showed His power through the Ark is found in 1 Samuel.
During a battle, enemies of the Israelites actually stole the Ark, carried it back to their land, and put it in the temple of their god. They soon found out that this was not a good idea:
After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God, they … carried the Ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.
The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The Ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.”
So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the Ark of the god of Israel?” …
… “Send the Ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” (1 Samuel 5:1-11 NIV)
Let’s look at those three interesting facts about the Ark again.
First, the Ark was a box that was built to hold things. It was meant to hold the Stone Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Later, it held a jar of manna and Aaron’s staff that had budded. And it also held far more than that. It also somehow held God the Holy Spirit.
Do you know where the Holy Spirit lives today? He lives in believers:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians chapter 3:16 NIV)
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit…? (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV)
… For we are the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV)
… God has chosen to make known … the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (NIV)
The Holy Spirit of Christ lives in us. God Himself lives in us!!
The box made of Acacia wood and covered with gold was the Ark of the Old Covenant; you and I are the Arks of the New Covenant.
The Ark of the Old Covenant was made Acacia wood from the Acacia tree. It’s thorny, it’s gnarly, and it’s ugly, but it’s one of the only plants that can survive in the desert because it knows how to repel its enemies.
It looks like there’s nothing special about the Acacia but there is something very special about it indeed: it never gives up. It’s resilient and determined. It digs a little deeper than all the other trees to find the water.
As Arks of the New Covenant, we may not the prettiest or the smartest or the richest, but that’s not what matters in God’s Kingdom. What matters, what sets us apart from all other people, is one thing: when we go through hard times, do we give up or do we dig a little deeper to find the Water.
1 Corinthians 1:
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV)
God has always used the foolish and despised things of the world.
Sometimes trees, sometimes people.
Why? Because in the hard times, sometimes the people who look average or even below average have been in the trenches before and they've developed a very special characteristic: they refuse to give up.
Instead of giving up, they dig a little deeper until they find the Water of Life, the Holy Spirit. And when they find Him, they become just like the Acacia wood that got transformed into the Ark of the Living God. Just like that gnarly wooden box was overlaid with gold inside and out, you get covered too.
You get covered on the inside and the outside with the blood of Jesus AND the Holy Spirit of Power!
When you get covered with the Blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you become a brand-new creation!!! Just like that wooden box made of gnarly ugly wood was all covered with gold until it looked like a box made of solid gold, in the Spiritual Realm you don’t look average or foolish or weak and lowly anymore; you look different now too!!
The world that we live in might still see you as average, but in the Spirit Realm, and to the demons, you look scary!
When you are covered inside and out with the Blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, do you know what you look like?
You look holy (see Col 3:12)
You look like you are dearly loved by God (see Col 3:12)
You look blessed and redeemed and blameless and forgiven and chosen (see Ephesians 1:3-11)
You look like you are not condemned anymore for your sins. (see Romans 8:1)
You look like you have eternal life in Heaven (see John 3:16)
You look like you belong to God (see 1 Cor 6:20)
You look like you are seated with Christ (see Ephesians 2:6)
and that you can now do all things (see Philippians 4:13)
I need to go on just a little bit more…
you’re one of those temples of the Living God (see 1 Cor 3:16)
and you have the Spirit without measure (see John 3:34)
and God’s making all things work together for your good (see Rom 8:28)
you are blessed in the city and blessed in the country (see Dt 28:3)
you are blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out (see Dt 28:6)
Everything you touch is blessed (see Dt 28:8)
and you can and will overcome the devil (see Rev 12:11)
The Holy Spirit flows through you (see John 7:38)
You are more than a conqueror (see Rom 8:37)
God always causes you to triumph (see 2 Cor 2:14)
God always gives you the victory (see 1 Cor 15:57)
and no weapon that’s formed against you will ever prosper (see Isaiah 54:17)!!
That’s what you look like when the Holy Spirit lives in you!!!! You may still look like an unassuming Acacia Tree in the eyes of the world, but in the Spiritual realm, you are amazing!!
When I was in high school, a revival broke out among some of the kids who went to a “holy roller” church.
One of these kids was in my chorus class. He was very moral, and extremely shy and quiet. But one day he came into class and loudly announced, “I got drunk last night!!!”
The whole class was stunned, and we just stared at him in silence until he burst out laughing and added, “drunk in the Holy Ghost!!!”
And as I began to hear more stories of what was happening in their church, I began to want what they had.
I didn’t know exactly what they had, but I just knew that I was empty and they were full. I had the Blood of Jesus; they had the Blood of Jesus… but they had MORE.
I asked the question earlier, “why did God send the Holy Spirit when the Blood was really all we needed for forgiveness and eternal life?”
It’s like God saw His children forgiven, but still living in this dark world that’s ruled by the devil, where there is so much gloom and doom and fear and confusion and guilt even among Christians and God said, “I want to give them MORE!!!”
I want them to have an abundant life!!
I want them to have peace, love, and joy!!
I want them to experience miracles and signs and wonders!!!
I want them to have power over the devil!!!
And so He poured out His Holy Spirit. And He says, “you are My Temples... My Arks – be filled!!!”
References
Nassrulla, T., 2020. Amazing Acacia - A Clever Species of Trees/Tanzania-Experience. https://www.tanzania-experience.com/blog/acacias-clever-species-of-trees/#:~:text=A%20zoologist%20from%20South%20Africa,release%20a%20chemical%20called%20ethylene.&text=Within%2015%20minutes%20all%20the,unappetizing%20to%20tree%2Dbrowsing%20animals. (Accessed 23 June 2020).
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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