Category Archives: The Ark

God and Two

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The original focus of God and Two was on the occurrences of two angels being with God. When I did a word search, I found two other verses that just felt like they needed to be added. I am sure there are others, so add them to your study.

Angels

  • Genesis 18:2 – Abraham welcomed three men into his camp. One was God and the other two were the angels who went on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Exodus 25:22 – The Mercy Seat was formed with two cherubim. I still think the outstretched wings that were touching actually formed a chair or bench, making it a throne. This motif was in the plan that David received from God that Solomon put into the First Temple.
  • John 20:12 – Mary looked in the empty tomb and saw two angels sitting where Jesus had been laid. This is a type of the heavenly Mercy Seat. Remember, John, was writing to show Jesus as God so that we would believe. There are more than just seven miracles in John.

Others

  • Exodus 31:18 – Two tablets of the Law were written by the finger of God. Why two? God could have put them on one. These went into the Ark under the Mercy Seat.
  • Genesis 1:16 – God made two great lights and stars.
  • Daniel 12:5 – Daniel sees a “man” above the waters and then there were two more with that man. This is a theophany. I could not find that the man is Gabriel. (This still under study, as I found it recently.)

With the angels, I feel that three examples are enough to show a pattern. Ezekiel in his vision certainly had other groupings. What does God with two angels mean? I have no idea! I am just surprised that no one has ever named or identified them.

Going further: What would you name or how would you identify the two angels with God?

The Ark – Cherubim

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The most iconic part of the Ark of the Covenant are the two cherubim that form the Mercy Seat. How I wish the writer of Hebrews had taken the time to discuss the “cherubim of Glory”. It might have settled many things. Instead, we got the fertile minds of medieval pundits and Hollywood. The medieval pundits did do a better job than Hollywood. Another interesting source that I “flew” through in this study was the mystic Jewish believers. They have been studying angels for a few more years than we have. All of these are interesting, but don’t lose sight that it is the Father we worship and not angels.

Hebrews 9:5 – In this little verse the writer uses three words that are special. The Mounce Interlinear shows they are used here and nowhere else in the New Testament.

  • Cherubim is used 1x. Strong: G5502 For some reason Strong states these only have two wings, I am not sure why.
  • Shadowing or overshadow is used 1x. Strong: G2683
  • Mercyseat is used twice in the New Testament. (Romans 3:25) Strong:G2435

It seems in not discussing them, he still said a lot about their importance. Even though “cherubim” is used only once, the word angel is used almost 180 times in the New Testament (that depends on your translation).    

Ezekiel – This is the book to read if you want to study cherubim. Since I started this; there are no cherubim in his visions that have just two wings. It is more likely that the two on the Ark were only stretching out just two of their wings. (I have seen pictures where the artist has given the cherubim two wings stretched out and two covering the lower body.) I have a feeling that our concept of angel anatomy is off, why does it have to resemble human bilateral symmetry? There are things that the cherubim in these visions do that may be reflected in other visions by different writers. Two that I noticed are touching wings and forming a “chariot” that God uses to soar with or in.

Genesis 3:24 – The cherubs here are guarding (another repeating function) “the Way to the Tree of Life” along with an amazing sword. The movements of this sword sound similar to the wheels in Ezekiel. The mystic Jews consider the wheels a type of angel. Merkabah mysticism – Wikipedia This article is intense.

Back to the Ark – I am saying this again, when Moses oversaw the construction of the Ark, he was reproducing what he had seen in Heaven. Exodus 25:18 is the command to produce the cherubim, not the detailed blueprint. David also received instructions and details from God that he left for Solomon. Ezekiel saw the throne room of God and was given instructions about the Temple and land allotments. The Father wants us focused on Him, not His furniture or buildings. I believe that is why we don’t have detailed blueprints and pictures. Yes, they do offer messages and cast important shadows.

The “earthbound mobile” version of God’s throne room is where Moses and the High Priest were to meet with God and intercede for the people. This is seen in 2 Kings 19:15 where Hezekiah prayed to God who is enthroned “between” the cherubim. This phrase is repeated several times in Scripture and may have been coined by David or Samuel. How you see the cherubim, standing or sitting, and with their wings touching to form a bench or a chair, I believe this represents a throne where God “sits” to meet with us.

From David, we get another interesting picture and job of the cherubim. We also see this behavior in Ezekiel. The cherubs who are touching each other form a structure for Him to travel on. 1 Chronicles 28:18 (NIV) refers to a chariot (see 1 Kings 6:23) and 2 Samuel 22:11 and Psalm 18:10 talk about Him flying. This seems to agree with Ezekiel 1 and 11 which talks about cherubim and wheels moving.  That must be awesome!

Other Cherub Things

  • Solomon and Ezekiel’s temples have cherubim as decorations on the walls and curtains. I find it interesting that the guardians and helpers are artwork “standing guard” over holy places.
  • Not all of them look the same as far as faces and wings are concerned.
  • The symbols for the four Gospel writers are the same as the faces of the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1. These angelic beings are seen again in Revelations. What are the Symbols of the Four Evangelists? (catholicexchange.com)

The medieval pundits were right in the fact that there are different angelic beings, that seem to have specific duties. I always find it interesting that a taxonomy of heavenly beings has been created, even though we have never seen them in person. God help us.

More Study – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all lived at the same time. Each was given specific duties, places of ministry, and words and visions. Compare and contrast their angelic visions with their callings. (When you write your book let me do a forward for you:)

How many angels did God have with Him when He visited Abraham? How does this compare to the Ark and its cherubim?

Going to Pay the Bride’s Price-Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday has been labeled many things, but paying the bride’s price may be new to you. I have connected this ride with David’s return after running from Absolom, so seeing this as a king riding into his domain is easy to grasp. Zachariah 9: 9-13 is just one of the verses that foretell this ride. I would like to add this as another thing from Hebrew tradition that Jesus was fulfilling. Hebrew wedding traditions are sprinkled throughout the Bible but never listed, see The Ten Virgins post.

The Father picks the bride for His Son and the Bride’s Price is agreed upon. The Groom then goes to the home of His future wife and pays the price. This looked more like a parade than a busy deal and it was a very festive occasion. The Groom then leaves and returns to His Father and waits. The Groom’s Father decides when His Son returns and receives His Bride so the marriage feast may begin. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

While the Son/Groom is waiting to return for His wife He is busy. Future accommodations must be made ready. There are presents to be sent to the future Bride (Pentecost) and she must make herself beautiful and always be ready for the Groom’s return. Cleaning the house was important, like removing the yeast during Passover, Jesus cleaned the Temple and put an end to the unproductive fig tree.

Gold and jewels are mentioned as part of the adornment, sounds like Heaven to me. No one but the Father of the Groom knows when He is going to return to claim His wife. Before the return, a wedding feast must be prepared, and guests have to be invited.

To lend some stories and parables to back my thought up, I will use the Book of Matthew. Chapter 19 has Jesus leaving Galilee and going to the east bank of the Jordan River. There He is questioned about marriage and divorce. This was laying the groundwork for the disciples. Tuesday of Holy Week finds Jesus, first on the Temple Mount being challenged again about marriage and divorce by the leaders of Jerusalem. Chapter 22 is a parable about a wedding feast. As He is leaving to go to the second mount, the Mount of Olives, He prophesies about the Temple and its destruction. While on the Mount of Olives, He gives a second parable about marriage and being ready for the Groom’s return. Tuesday was a busy day for Jesus.

The price Jesus paid for His Bride was His righteous, sinless life and His shed blood. Only those two things would allow Jesus to walk into Hell on Saturday and claim the keys to unlock us from the legal hold of Satan over our lives. The “Second Adam” carried His blood to the heavenly Mercy Seat and sprinkled it to fulfill the demands of the Frist Covenant.

May the grace of Jesus, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you as you go into the fields and make disciples and bring glory to God. So, this Palm Sunday, think of the price Jesus paid to include you as the Bride for His marriage feast.

The Poles of the Ark and the Philistines

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1 Samuel 4 through 6 tells the story of the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant. For them to even put it on a cart they had to use the poles that were part of the Ark. In my other post, I explain why I think those poles represent the Holy Spirit. God allowing His Ark to be captured has always puzzled me and my study of the Poles really stirred a lot of questions. (Please read 1 Samuel 4-6 as I am not trying to tell the whole story.)

The first time the Ark was moved in this story. The army of Israel had been beaten by the Philistines. The elders decided to bring the Ark into the battle. Yes, Joshua marched it around Jericho, but God had told him to do it. I am not sure God liked being used as a good luck charm; it is bad luck to be superstitious. The idea may sound like a good one, but God had not told them to take His Ark into battle. Since Eli had sent Hophni and Phinehas with the Ark let us assume that Levities of the Kohath clan moved it on their shoulders and that the cover was over it.

Points to think about.

  1. This seems to be God’s plan to rid Israel of Eli and his sons.
  2. The High Priesthood changed hands that day because Eli’s grandsons were too young for service.
  3. Samuel was a prophet not a priest, he was not a son of Aaron. I have never found an adoption cause for being a Levitical priest.
  4. There were other Sons of Aaron who served. We see both families during David’s reign. As the number of men grew certain tasks were chosen by lot. Remember Zechariah, John’s father.
  5. Shiloh was still important, but the Ark did not return there.

The Ark was moved by the Philistines. Israel lost; the battle, two corrupt priests, and God. The Philistines had God and they were not going to give Him back; it took seven months and a lot of misery for them to change their minds. Two cities were hit hard by a plague and the third city did not want the Ark. See my post on rats for a possible tumor that may have cause agony.

From the battle field to Dagon’s temple and to other cities the Philistines probably used a cart, any cart. But someone still had to pick it up and take it off that cart. They had to use the Poles, that was the only part of the Ark that non-priest could touch and they were not Kohaths. (Hold this thought.)

What happened to the three layers of covers for the Ark when it was being moved? The covers are never mentioned. You would think that they were over it in Israel. Had some of the rules gone by the wayside? (It seems that Samuel slept close to the Ark. That should not have been allowed. David and his team did not know how to move it.) I cannot imagine the Philistines not wanting to take a look at the God they had captured. So, between no cover and touching the Poles, no wonder the Philistines started dying. If Israel had disrespected the Ark by not having it covered that may be another reason they lost the battle.

Numbers 4 tells of God’s concern for the Kohaths and what Aaron and sons had to do to protect them. We know that Uzzah disrespected the Ark by touching it when the ox stumbled-2 Samuel 6:6 and 1 Chronicles 13:9. So, why did God not “break out” against every Philistine that touched the Ark? How about one big teachable moment for two nations. I think this psalm says it well – Psalm 74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. (KJV) Plead could be replaced with defend, and reproacheth could be talks about. The Philistines still attacked Israel, but I am sure they wanted nothing to do with God or the Ark. Israel had to learn to take the promises of God with them into battle and not a good luck charm. Jesus, Peter, and Paul experienced God rising against those who disrespected God’s cause-the soldiers fell down, Ananias and Sapphira died, and Elymas was blinded for a time.

From the Philistines to Jerusalem – Chapter 5 was a bad time for the Philistines, by #6 they were thinking that the God of Israel was very powerful. Not wanting to accept that they constructed a test and a peace offering. I knew the “new cart” was a sign of respect, but it makes more sense if they had been moving it on any cart they had or carrying it by the Poles. The cows added a level beyond their natural world, those cows would not have been contented walking away from the calves. The leaders were happy and they could get back to making the Israelites miserable as long as they left their God out of it.

The sad story is that the Levities had to learn a hard lesson about respecting their God and the rules that applied to them and their life. Beth Shemesh was a Levite town, they should have known better than to look in the Ark of God. Why did they do it? Maybe they thought that the Philistines had gotten away with peeking, or Shiloh had farther-reaching fingers than we thought, (Eli had not taken care of business and things happened.) or they just had to check that nothing was taken. Seventy men died, that may have been the majority of men in that town.    

Kiriath Jearim was called, they were a town of priests. Even though priests are from the clan of Kohath, I am not sure they should carry the Ark. But if it was covered and the Poles were on their shoulders it had to be better than a cart.    

Towns with all Levities and all priest was part of the agreement with God for being chosen to serve the Tabernacle and the Ark. So, to extend that idea Eleazar was a priest and he now had Eli’s job. (Eleazar was a “priestly” name.) It seems the Ark stayed there a long time-twenty-plus years before Saul became king, all of Saul’s reign, and however long David let it stay in Kiriath Jearim/Baalah of Judah. (Just because-No, I do not think the Ark sat outside on a hill.)

Just because their story is not told, where did the Table and the Lampstand go? Were they left in Shiloh or moved away? David got bread from the Table at Nob, but there was no mention of the Ark in that story. You hope the articles of the Tent were united in Solomon’s Temple.

In 2 Samuel 6 David is on a mission to bring the Presence of God to him in Jerusalem. It seems that the knowledge of the proper way of moving the Ark was lost or ignored. Instead of using the Poles and having Levities carry the Ark, David copies the Philistines and puts them on a cart. Someone died. You have to know there were committee meetings and scroll searches but David finally got it right and he moved the Ark to Jerusalem. Again, there is no mention of the rest of the Tabernacle. It seems that David moved the sacrifices away from the Ark. (So many questions and few answers, sorry.)

My purpose was to explore why the Philistines could move the Ark. Another question soon appeared. What happened to Israel and the Ark?

Israel – These are just some musings.

  • Your thoughts and plans may not be God’s plans and desires. The elders had a “thought’ but they did not ask God or the High Priest.
  • The Book of Judges ended with a dark tale of doing what you think is right. This is an extension of that.
  • The Father holds His children to a higher standard than the Philistines. We should not act like them.
  • You can follow rules and not have your heart right with God. The Levities had forgotten the rules.
  • I believe there was a remnant, a “seven thousand” who still wanted God.

Philistines –

  • God will use whom he needs to for His plan to work. Their “victory” did not mean they were right.
  • Their pride brought their downfall. Would you have given back the Ark after the second time Dagon fell?
  • They treated Jehovah as they did their idols. God did not strike them dead immediately, like Uzzah, but rats, plague, and panic came and did their jobs.
  • The Philistines touched the Poles (the Holy Spirit) and disrespected the Ark of the Covenant of God. He took His vengeance.

Wow. My study spread out into areas I did not expect. Israel proved herself from the beginning to the end of this tale. Then it took twenty years for Samuel to spark a renewal. The Philistines were being Philistines, they hated God’s children before, during, and after touching the Poles of the Ark, the Father gave them a chance and they did not take it.

The Ark – Mercy Seat

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The Ark of the Covenant, which represents God, was made of three parts: the Mercy Seat, the Ark or Box, and the Poles. I have seen the Mercy Seat is a type of the Father, the Ark or Box being Jesus, and the Poles representing the Holy Spirit. These echo 2 Corinthians 13:14 – The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (KJV)

Christians, our triune God is still a mystery. Yes, He has given us His Spirit and His Word but there are still things about Him we do not know. Isaiah 45:15 says that He is a God who hides Himself. Jesus gave us hope of knowing Him when He said, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father”. I do wish that the writer of Hebrews 9:5 would have taken the time to explain the Mercy Seat. With all of that said I will share some things that are plain to see and some that we do not know about the Mercy Seat that I think represents the Father.

Moses got to see the real Ark and Tabernacle while he was in Heaven. The instructions he wrote for the Ark’s construction and purpose are in Exodus 25:10-23. The iconic Mercy Seat or Atonement Cover starts with verse 17. The sixth side of the Ark of the Testimony or Mercy Seat was two and a half cubits long by a cubit and a half wide. It sat within the crown that was made around the Box or Ark, which would have kept it from sliding off. It had two Cherubim as part of the top whose wings spread out over the Cover and those wings touched. God promised Moses that He would meet with him there. Not much or just enough information? The artwork through the ages has kept the basics but added embellishments to suit the artist and the times. As I said a mystery.

My Questions

  • How much gold was used for the base and the angels?
  • How thick was the base?
  • How tall and wide were the angels?
  • Were the wings horizontal or vertical to the base? (More on that idea later.)
  • How high were the wings off of the base?
  • How wide were the wings and how much did they touch?

This is where God would meet with Moses. What if, one set of wings were vertical and the other set were horizontal, they would form a seat or chair. Given the size of the lid and guessing with the angels, it would be a good size seating area with a low back.

Purpose

It is easy to get lost on what we don’t know, but the purpose of the Mercy Seat is a major topic.

1. Between the Cherubim and above the rest of the Ark is where God wanted to meet with Moses, His man of the hour.

2. Leviticus 16:2 shows another ceremony, that speaks about what did Jesus after His ascension into Heaven. This is where the Priest would sprinkle the blood on the Day of Atonement.

3. As the Cover for the Ark, it covered or hid the Tablets of the Law. They were the first things put inside the Ark and they were the only things that remained at the last mention of any contents. A pot of manna and Aaron’s rod were also put in there, but they seem to have disappeared. That is a mystery.

The Father “covered” these three items as they were “held” by Jesus. My original question of this study was-did they represent reminders of rebellion or did God show Himself as a giver of good things in the middle of our problems. Personally, I have not decided on that problem as I can see both in our great God.   

No, I have not covered all of the types and shadows of the Ark. I thought the Mercy Seat of the Ark would be the last post in this series, but I was given several other ideas.