Exodus Chapter 25 Deep-Dive: The Ark of the Covenant

Hosted by Joey and Matt 

biblebonesandligaments.com

Deep-dives into the Bible beyond what Sunday teaches you.

 

Ex Ch 25 (MOSES IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD ON MT SINAI … PARADISE, THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD … FOR 40 DAYS … THE TABERNACLE AND THE FURNITURE MOSES IS COMMANDED TO CREATE WILL BE REPLICAS OF WHAT EXISTS IN GOD’S HEAVENLY THRONE ROOM)

Exodus 25:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the people of Israel (THIS IS HOW GOD COMMUNICATES WITH HIS PEOPLE – MOSES SPEAKS FOR GOD), that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. (THIS IS NOT COERCION – GOD IS ALLOWING HIS PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE – FREE WILL – EVERY MAN WHOSE HEART MOVES HIM) 3And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4blue and purple and scarlet yarns (EXPENSIVE DIES) and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, 5tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE, OIL, SPICES, PRECIOUS STONES … ISRAEL IS A LITTLE OVER A MILLION PEOPLE (600,000 MEN) WANDERING IN THE DESERT – WHERE IS ALL OF THIS STUFF GOING TO COME FROM? Ex 12: 33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

GOD COMMANDED THE PEOPLE TO PLUNDER THE EGYPTIANS IN ANTICIPATION OF THE BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE … HE ALLOWED THE PEOPLE TO GAIN WEALTH IN ORDER TO GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE IT BACK TO GOD … FREE WILL OFFERINGS.

Ex 25:9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

GOD SHOWS MOSES THE HEAVENLY TABERNACLE AND MOSES IS TO MAKE THE EARTHLY TABERNACLE TO MIRROR THE HEAVENLY ONE.

Ps 11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

Rev 15:2 And I (JOHN, GIVEN A PEEK INTO HEAVEN) saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire … 5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened

THIS IS THE HEAVENLY TABERNACLE REFERRED TO BY THE WRITER OF HEBREWS – MOSES SAW SOMETHING THAT WAS IN HEAVEN … GOD’S THRONE IN HEAVEN, HIS TEMPLE, HEAVENLY THINGS THAT ALREADY EXISTED.

Heb 8:1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest (NOT OF AARON’S LINE, NOT A LEVITICAL PRIEST … A PRIEST SIMILAR TO MELCHIZEDEK {CH 7 OF HEBREWS}, JESUS, THE GUARANTOR OF A BETTER COVENANT – BETTER THAN THE COVENANT OF THE LAW GIVEN AT SINAI), one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They (LEVITICAL PRIESTS) serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one (GIVEN AT SINAI) obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

BACK TO EXODUS CH 25: The Ark of the Covenant (OF THE LAW) THE PLACE WHERE MOSES WOULD KEEP THE TABLETS OF THE LAW WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF GOD.

Ex 25:10 “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. 11You 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. 12You 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.

ARK: a wooden box or chest overlaid with gold that contained the tablets of the law. It served both practical and symbolic purposes and was instrumental in both rituals and miracles. The Israelites believed the ark of the covenant was symbolically Yahweh’s throne—representing His very presence on earth.

The Hebrew word for “ark” “aron” designates a common storage chest or coffin. However, the Bible makes a clear designation between the ark of the covenant and a common chest. While the most common name for the ark is “ark of the covenant,” it is also referred to as “the ark of God,” “the ark of might,” “the holy ark,” and “the ark of testimony” (or simply “the testimony”).

WHY ACACIA WOOD? Harder than oak and very durable because the wood-eating insects avoid it.

The Hebrew word used here, tevah, can refer to a vessel of any size. The same word is used in Ex 2:3 to describe the basket Moses’ mother placed him in.

CONSIDER THE ARK THAT MOSES IS DIRECTED TO MAKE WHICH WILL CONTAIN AND PROTECT THE LAW OF GOD TO THE ARK THAT NOAH WAS DIRECTED TO MAKE WHICH PROTECTED HUMAN AND ANIMAL LIFE FROM THE WRATH OF GOD

BACK TO EXODUS AND THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

Ex 25:13You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. (THE POLES WERE A PERMANENT PART OF THE ARK) 16And you shall put into the ark the testimony (TABLETS) that I shall give you.

THE POLES THROUGH THE RINGS OF THE ARK CREATE A TYPE OF PALANQUIN, OR LITTER. IT WAS TO BE CARRIED BY THE POLES – THE ARK ITSELF WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NEVER TOUCHED DIRECTLY.

THE NEED FOR THESE POLES BECOMES CLEAR IN 2 SAM CH 6 … DAVID IS BRINGING THE ARK TO JERUSALEM AND IT’S RIDING ON A CART … THE ARK SHIFTS AND UZZAH REACHES OUT TO STABILIZE IT BUT THE ARK WAS NOT TO BE TOUCHED SO GOD BREAKS OUT IN ANGER AGAINST UZZAH AND KILLS HIM … DAVID REACTS WITH FEAR THEN LATER REALIZES HE SHOULD HAVE HAD THE LEVITES CARRY THE ARK WITH THE POLES … AS GOD HAD DIRECTED IN THE EXODUS ... DESIGNED BY GOD TO CARRY THE ARK !!!!!!!!!!!

Ex 25:17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. (Heb “KFR” – WIPE/SMEAR/COVER SOMETHING, AS IN “YOM-THEY, KIPPUR-FROM KFR-WIPE/SMEAR/COVER). THE WORD ATONEMENT WAS MOST LIKELY INVENTED BY JOHN WYCLIFFE AROUND 1328 “AT-ONEMENT” BECAUSE HE COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO TRANSLATE KFR-WIFE/SMEAR/COVER. IT’S ACTUALLY THE LID OF THE ARK WHERE THE BLOOD IS SMEARED ON THE DAY OF “ATONEMENT.” “MERCY SEAT” IS THE NOUN FORM OF KFR (THE PLACE OF WIPING/SMEARING/COVERING …

The translation “mercy seat” is based on how the Septuagint (The Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (Genesis—Malachi) begun around 250 bc. Sometimes abbreviated with the Roman numeral for 70 (LXX) based on the tradition that 70 translators participated.) handled the Hebrew word KFR/kapporeth. Instead of the literal translation “lid, or, covering,” these ancient translations INTERPRETED the noun kapporeth term to mean “mercy” and the slab as “seat.” This interpretation is based on Num 7:89 (compare Exod 25:22), which describes Yahweh’s voice emanating above the kapporeth, and the phrase that Yahweh is “enthroned above the cherubim” (1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 1 Chr 13:6; 2 Kgs 19:15; Isa 37:16; Pss 80:2; 99:1). The kapporeth (LID, COVERING) was the place where God met Moses in the tabernacle. In the Day of Atonement the blood of the sacrifice is never sprinkled on the people – it’s sprinkled on the lid/covering – to RESET sacred space – bring it back to its original purpose. To CLEANSE sacred space, the tabernacle, from defilement. To wipe clean, to cleanse impurity (Lev Ch 16) to restore the sacred sanctuary to its original purpose, SO, a better translation of “mercy seat” would be “lid / covering” IN SUMMARY; It’s a box with a solid gold lid. The box is plated with gold. It’s made from acacia wood. It’s associated with God’s presence. God appears from above the lid to speak with Moses. God is never said to be in the box. He’s never said to be in the Ark. He is never said to speak out of or from the Ark. He appears above the lid, above the wings of the cherubim that are affixed to the lid. So the Ark doesn’t contain God. “Mercy” comes from God Himself, not from the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, and that was never the “place” where the forgiveness of sins came from on the Day of Atonement. In the original ancient Hebrew (kapporeth) the purpose of the lid of the ark was to be the place where the carved gold cherubim were located and the place from which God would speak with Moses. Remember, at Sinai God is speaking with Moses on the top of the mountain … God will move to the space above the ark once the tabernacle is completed … the ark will represent God’s throne in heaven.

BACK TO EXODUS 25:17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold (LITERALLY “LIVING CREATURE” – GUARDIANS OF GOD’S THRONE); of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

(CHERUBIM – FEARSOME – TO FRIGHTEN ENEMIES AND GUARD THE ARK – ATTACHED TO THE LID)

Gen 3:24So he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming, turning sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

2 Ki 19:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the face of Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel who lives above the cherubim. You are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the world; you have made the heavens and the earth.

Ez 28:14 You (KING OF TYRE … MAYBE SATAN?) were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

Ez CH 10 … I WON’T READ THIS CHAPTER BUT THIS IS THE SCENE WHERE YAHWEH PERMANENTLY DEPARTS THE TEMPLE RIDING ON HIS THRONE WHICH IS CARRIED BY CHERUBIM … NOTE HOW DISTINCTIVE AND TERRIFYING THEY ARE

BACK TO EXODUS CH 25

Ex 25:21 And you shall put the mercy seat (ATONING LID – WHERE BLOOD IS SPRINKLED TO RESET SACRED SPACE … THE SACRED SPACE OF THE TABERNACLE, WHERE GOD DWELLS AMONGST HIS PEOPLE) on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony (THE TWO TABLETS OF THE COVENANT – THE 10 COMMANDMENTS – MOSES DOESN’T HAVE THESE YET) that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat (LID-COVERING), from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

Nu 7:89 And when Moses came to the tent of assembly to speak with him (GOD), he (MOSES) would hear the voice (OF GOD) speaking to him (MOSES) from the atonement cover/lid (THE MERCY SEAT), which is on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, and he (GOD) would speak to him (MOSES).

BACK TO EXODUS CH 25 The Table for Bread

Ex 25:23 “You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 24You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these.

THE TABLE IS SIMILAR TO THE ARK, BUT IT’S NOT A BOX … IT’S A TABLE.

Ex 25:29 And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold.

THE PANTRY AND KITCHEN OF THE LORD:

1. PLATES FOR THE PRIESTS TO USE WHEN THEY EAT THE SACRIFICES

2. DISHES TO HOLD INCENSE

3. FLAGONS FOR DRINK OFFERINGS OF WINE TO BE POURED OUT BEFORE THE LORD. Ex 29:39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 40And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

THE ONLY MENTION OF DRINK OFFERINGS IN THE NT IS IN Phil 2:17 & 2 Tim 4:6 IN BOTH PASSAGES PAUL REFERS TO HIMSELF AS BEING A DRINK OFFERING BEING POURED OUT

4. BOWLS TO HOLD THE BLOOD FROM THE SACRIFICES WHEN THE BLOOD WAS TAKEN TO BE SPRINKLED ON THE PEOPLE, THE ALTAR AND THE MERCY SEAT – DEPENDING ON WHAT SACRIFICE WAS BEING OFFERED.

WHAT ELSE DO “BOWLS” HOLD AS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE … ? Rev 16:1 Then I (JOHN) heard a loud voice from the temple (IN HEAVEN) telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

BACK TO EXODUS CH 25

Ex 25:30And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.

WHAT IS THE BREAD OF THE PRESENCE? IN MANY PAGAN RITUALS FOOD IS BROUGHT TO THE GOD(S) … THE ISRAELITES SAW THIS IN EGYPT, THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE CONCEPT OF THE “FOOD OF/FOR THE GODS” … THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS. IN THE ANCIENT WORLD THE PRESENCE OF FOOD IN A HOUSE SIGNIFIED THAT LIFE WAS PRESENT. ABANDONED HOMES DID NOT HAVE FOOD IN THEM. THIS SHOW BREAD (TYNDALE’S INTERPRETATION) … SHOWS THAT GOD IS PRESENT. LEV 24:5“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. 6And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron (THE PRIESTHOOD DOESN’T EXIST YET) shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.” (THE PRIESTS EAT IT WHEN IT’S BEING REPLACED – IT’S A HOLY OBLIGATION AND PRIVELEGE – BUT ONLY FOR THE PRIESTS – THE PRIESTS DON’T FEED YAHWEH, INSTEAD, YAHWEH FEEDS HIS PRIESTS). WHO ELSE ATE THIS HOLY BREAD OF THE PRESENCE – SOMEONE WHO WAS NOT A PRIEST?

JESUS REFERS TO THIS BREAD … Mt 12:3 He (JESUS)said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?:

THE OLD TESTAMENT NARRATIVE REGARDING THIS CAN BE FOUND IN 1 SAM CH 21

THIS BREAD OF THE PRESENCE TIES IN WITH THE BREAD METAPHORS IN SCRIPTURE:

THE DAILY MANNA GIVEN BY GOD IN THE WILDERNESS, THE DAILY BREAD REQUIRED FOR HUMAN LIFE AS DESCRIBED IN THE PSALMS, AND JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE Jn 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

EXODUS CH 25 The Golden Lampstand

Ex 25:31 “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 35and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. 36Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent of pure gold. 40 And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. MOSES IS SEEING THIS

IT WILL BE DARK IN THE TABERNACLE – A HEAVY TENT, SO THIS MENORAH/LAMPSTAND IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE LIGHT IN THE TABERNACLE THROUGH THE SEVEN LAMPS ON IT …

HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT FIRST APPEAR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH ? Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from (1) him who is and who was and who is to come, and (2) from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and (3) from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. FROM – 3 DIFFERENT SOURCES. WHO ARE / IS “THE SEVEN SPIRITS WHO ARE BEFORE HIS THRONE?

Rev 3:1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Rev 4:5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

Rev 5:6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Isaiah 11:2,“The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” SO, THE REFERENCE IN REVELATION MAY REFER TO THIS PORTION OF ISAIAH’S “SEVEN SPIRITS:” (1) Spirit of the LORD, (2) Spirit of wisdom, (3) Spirit of understanding, (4) Spirit of counsel, (5) Spirit of power, (6) Spirit of knowledge, (7) Spirit of the fear of the Lord. The Bible doesn’t tell us specifically who/what the seven spirits are, they are the most likely the Holy Spirit, since “seven” is the number of perfection or fullness in scripture. Also, keep in mind that throughout scripture we see the Holy Spirit working, influencing and taking up residence in multiple people and locations at the same time.

SO, AT THIS POINT AT SINAI WE HAVE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ARK CONTAINING THE COVENANT OF THE LAW COVERED BY THE MERCY SEAT – GOD’S THRONE, THE TABLE WITH THE BREAD ON IT, AND THE MENORAH PROVIDING LIGHT …

AND THAT WILL WRAP UP EX CH 25

 

About

 

This is an audio broadcast, designed to encourage you to dive deeper into the most influential and impactful literature of all time: The Bible. This podcasts helps to show the benefits of reading/listening to the Bible, front to back, over and over and over endlessly. And study to fill the gaps for deeper understanding. Join us as we dissect the bones and ligaments of God’s written revelation to mankind through scripture.