Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, High Priest Ben-Levi, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.
A large, dark shadow moved across the canvas. The heavily breathing figure paused outside. He pulled back the tent flap and the sun streamed in momentarily. Eyes re-adjusted and focused on the mysterious visitor.
“Good morning, my dearly beloved children. My name is Ben-Levi, and I am the High Priest of Israel. Thank you for inviting me to your Tabernacle class today. I hear from your teacher, Priest Elnathan, that you’ve almost completed the Tabernacle module. Isn’t it amazing how much the Tabernacle teaches us about the Messiah we long for? Most of my priests ask me to teach the Ark of the Covenant lesson because, as the High Priest, I alone am permitted to see the Ark. And even I am only allowed to see it once a year.
Now, because I know children like pictures, I’m going to draw the Ark with these root-dyes on this goatskin. Look at my brushes. They are made out of a horse tail which an old Bedouin sold me last year!” The children began to relax. The High Priest was so friendly and kind — not at all like they feared.
The Covenant
Ben-Levi wrote four large capital C’s on the goatskin. Beside the first C, Ben Levi wrote Covenant and underneath he drew two stone tablets. “Beloved children of Abraham, 40 years ago, at Sinai, Jehovah entered into a covenant with our ancestors. We have a record of this in the second book of Moses [Exodus], chapters 19-23. Sadly, many Israelites, past and present, see this as a legalistic covenant. They think that keeping the law contained in the covenant can save them. But — please listen hard, children — they forget that divine grace and divine provision formed the foundation of this covenant. Listen to these words that introduce the covenant:
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.[i]
At the very beginning of the covenant, the stress is on all that Jehovah did for our nation when delivering us from Egypt. It is only after emphasizing the powerful divine initiative that Jehovah then sets forth the appropriate response of obedience.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people. [ii]
As if to underline this, even the Ten Commandments, which summarize God’s requirements, also begin with words of divine salvation:
‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’[iii]
Please, please grasp this. Whatever else you get from this class, get this: the divine redemption brings into a divine relationship, which is kept happy and healthy by divine rules. So you could sum up the covenant in three words — redemption, relationship (‘I will be your God and you shall be my people’) and then rules (‘Therefore, you shall…you shall not…’).
“Not surprisingly, my dear young friends, these covenantal ideas — redemption, relationship, then rules — are prominent in the Covenant Ark. Indeed, we might say that it was so named because nowhere else in our national life are these covenant ideas so clearly expressed. The Ark is at the focus of the annual Day of Atonement; it is the highest expression of Jehovah’s presence with us and, as we shall see, it contains the laws that guide our relationship to Him.
“But, however wonderful this is, we must always remember that this is but a picture of something, or should I say, of someone, someone even greater than this Ark. I’m sure Priest Elnathan has been teaching you to look through the Tabernacle pictures to the coming Messiah pictured in the Tabernacle. We don’t know exactly how, but we have a hope that the Messiah will be a kind of living Covenant Ark – embodying divine redemption, relationship and rules.
The Chest
“The second C is Chest. Let me draw it. It’s a wooden box, covered with gold. It’s 4 ½ feet long, 2 ½ feet wide, and 2 ½ feet high. Inside it is a copy of the commandments God gave to our forefathers at Sinai. There are two other items in the box — Aaron’s rod (signifying priestly leadership during the wilderness wanderings) and a golden pot of manna (signifying God’s provision in the wilderness).
“The presence of the commandments in the Ark explains why Moses also called it ‘the ark of testimony.’[iv] The two tablets of stone testified to the holy nature of God and His demands upon us as a people. By always putting it at the front of our marching column we are saying that we will follow Jehovah’s testimony wherever and whenever it leads. It led us when the Jordan parted [v] and when the walls of Jericho disintegrated.[vi]
“And don’t you think then that our Messiah will do all this and more? Will He not have Jehovah’s perfect law in His perfect heart? Will He not testify in an even greater way to the holy nature of Jehovah and to His demands upon His people? Will He not go before His people? Will He not lead them through the wilderness of this world and across the Jordan into the promised land of heaven? Will He not bring down the walls and idols of His enemies? Oh yes, children, He will do all this and much, much more. Put your trust in Him, and in Him alone.
The Covering
“The sun is setting; I must hurry on. The third C is Covering. If all we had was just a chest with the law in it, there would be no encouragement for sinners like us to approach Jehovah. Witnessing to our guilt and proclaiming our condemnation, the law could only thunder, condemn, and terrify.
“But, there is a covering for the law! The law in the ark is covered with a golden lid, a slab of pure gold.[vii] Some priests call this covering or lid the ‘mercy-seat,’ which explains its function. However, the literal translation is simply ‘covering’ or ‘lid.’ Being the same size as the chest, it fits perfectly, completely hiding the law contained in it. And just to be sure, a golden rim encircled the edges of the ark to make sure that the lid stayed on.
“However, children, just hiding the law out of sight is not enough. The law of Jehovah needs to be satisfied. So, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, I enter the Most Holy Place alone and sprinkle the golden lid with the sacrificial blood of atonement, thus making the lid the ‘mercy-seat.’ For me, that golden lid is the most important item of furniture in the whole Tabernacle. I wish I could draw it better than this.
“On this golden, blood-spattered mercy-seat, Jehovah meets with us and communes with us.[viii] As such, it is His throne here on earth, a throne that speaks not only of Jehovah’s just demands, but also of His merciful provision. He is able to dwell among sinners because He sits on a blood-sprinkled throne of grace. On this throne, then, meet the most contrary forces: law and mercy, righteousness and peace, God and sinners.
“Oh, children, I can see more and more clearly, every time I go in to the Most Holy Place and every time I teach this subject, that the Messiah will be our golden lid, our blood-spattered golden lid, our mercy-seat. He will not only cover God’s demands upon sinners but also satisfy them. In Him will meet the most contrary forces: law and mercy, righteousness and peace, God and sinners. He will be our throne of grace to which we all can approach to find grace to help in time of need.
The Cherubim
“As usual, I have spoken too long and the poor cherubim —our fourth C — will have to be squeezed into a couple of minutes. Let me quickly draw them. On either side of the mercy-seat are two golden cherubim.[ix] Cherubim are usually associated with the administration of God’s justice. For example, they bare the flaming sword of vengeance and judgment in the aftermath of the first sin.[x] However, in the Most Holy Place, they are disarmed and their posture is not one of righteous hostility but of subdued wonder. They bow their heads as they gaze in holy contemplation upon the blood-stained golden mercy-seat covering the law of God. And, most amazingly of all, the empty, man-sized space above the mercy-seat and between the Cherubim is often filled by a symbol of the glory of God, the glory-cloud which we call the Shekinah (lit., the dwelling).
“Two quick lessons from this. First, we believe that the redemption of the church is a matter of research and study, wonder and amazement to the angels of God. Secondly, and gloriously, we believe that the Messiah will come to fill the man-sized space; that He will shine forth from between the Cherubim as the luminous and splendid glory of God.
“As you run home to your parents in the fading light, pray that He who dwells between the Cherubim would shine into your life.[xi] And as you fall on your knees tonight, remember the adoring Cherubim and join them as they adoringly ponder the mystery and the wonder of salvation for sinners such as yourself.”
