God Must be Put First in Everything (Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9)

7/14/2008 9:33 AM

My Worship Time           Focus:  God must be put first in everything

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 25:10-22; 37:1-9

            Message of the verses:  “10 ¶  "They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

11  "You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it.  12  "You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.  13  "You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.  14  "You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them.  15  "The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it.  16  "You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.  17  "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.  18  "You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.  19  "Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.  20  "The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.  21  "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you.  22  "There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.”

            “1 ¶  Now Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half cubits, and its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits; 2  and he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding for it all around.  3  He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet; even two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.  4  He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.  5  He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry it.  6  He made a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.  7  He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat; 8  one cherub at the one end and one cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at the two ends.  9  The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.”

            The Ark of the Covenant is the first piece of furniture that was to go into the tabernacle that is mentioned.  The Ark of the Covenant was put into the Holy of Holies and no one was to go into the Holy of Holies except the high priest who went in on the Day of Atonement with the blood of a sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of the nation of Israel.  Jesus Christ fulfilled this by His death on the cross and shedding His blood for all the sins of the world (Heb. 9:11-10:14). On the top of the Ark of the Covenant was the mercy seat which was made of wood covered in gold as the entire ark was made of.  On the top of the mercy seat were two cherubim that were facing each other.  Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the tablets of the law, a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded. 

            As mentioned in a previous SD the Ark of the Covenant is a picture of Jesus Christ, as the wood represents His humanity and the gold His deity.  The articles that are in the Ark of the Covenant also represent Jesus Christ as the law of God was in His heart and Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed and fulfilled it (Ps. 40:6-8; Heb. 10:5-9).  “6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.  7  Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.  8  I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.’”  “5  Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; 6  IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. 7  "THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’" 8  After saying above, "SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them" (which are offered according to the Law), 9  then He said, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL." He takes away the first in order to establish the second.”  Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life who gives eternal life to all who receive Him (John. 6:32), “Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.”  He also lives by the power of an endless life so we can be fruitful for God (Hebrews 7:16).  “Who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.”

            At the time of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross the curtain that separated the Holy place from the Holy of Holies was torn apart from the top to the bottom which signified that believers could now come into the presence of God through their prayers and they would not need a priest to intercede for them because all NT believers are priests. 

            I want to go back to the Mercy Seat which is on top of the Ark of the Covenant.  The word translated Mercy Seat in the NT is propitiation, and this word is mentioned in Romans 3:25; and 1 John 2:2, “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”  The word means “a means of appeasing” and Christ’s death on the cross was a means in which God the Father was satisfied or appeased for all the sins committed that were ever committed.  God is righteous and God demands justice and I have been taught a long time ago that the cherubim’s that were on top of the Mercy Seat represented God’s justice and God’s righteousness and when the blood was sprinkled on the top of the Mercy Seat both God’s justice and righteousness were satisfied and therefore He could forgive the sins of His people.  In the same way when Jesus Christ died on the cross God was satisfied with His sacrifice and therefore He could forgive the sins of those who come to Him seeking forgiveness. 

            “The ark of the Lord and the pillar of cloud led the way as the Jews marched from place to place (Num. 10:33-36).  In their pilgrim journey, the people of God get their directions from the throne of God and follow the glory of God.”  (Warren Wiersbe’s book on Exodus)

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I wish to quote from Revelations 11:19, which is the last time the Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in the Bible, and also quote a note from Warren Wiersbe’s book on Exodus for this part of my SD.  “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.  “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”  “In this context, it is a symbol of the faithfulness of God to keep His covenant with His people, and an assurance that His law will be vindicated and His glory revealed.”  God gets the last say so and all the wrongs in the world will be made right.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. I know that God is in control of my life, and I would not want in any other way even thought at times like that are going on right now I have a difficult time understand the direction that He wants me to go, which makes me very frustrated.

Memory verses for the week:                      Exodus 20:1-3

1. Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2. I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3. You shall have no other gods before me.

7/14/2008 10:49 AM